Deconstruction

 
 

The work had been planned for months. The original flat roof for my studio needed to be replaced, and we were pleased when the contractors showed up to begin during a sunny week. They had to strip the roof down to the rafters to replace rotting boards, but one of the workers lost his balance and punched his leg through the studio ceiling, knocking out a huge chunk of plaster board. He wasn’t hurt, but I was suddenly faced with an unplanned project—the deconstruction of my studio. I scurried to get my printer out of harm’s way, and since the repair was going to require quite a bit of putty and sanding, I had to remove everything from the surfaces. Decades worth of careful piles had to be moved, art proofs taken down from the walls, plants relocated, and the space emptied of everything but the cabinets. I felt like a mother bird whose nest had been removed—I just kept circling around the empty room squawking. We wrapped the remaining cabinets in plastic, and my husband and I started making plans to repaint. I had to stop feeling sorry for myself and remember my window taping skills. Now three weeks later, I have a freshly painted studio and new blinds on the way. A clean space ready for new energy. Unplanned perhaps, but now gratefully appreciated.

Busy Bees

 
 

My Mexican sunflowers (titonias) have been the stars of the autumn garden, blooming generously and providing plenty of golden food for the pollinators. The bumble bees have been particularly drawn to them. I swear they’ve taken up residence! On rainy days, I find them taking shelter under the petals, and now that the mornings are getting colder, I find them asleep in the centers of the blossoms.

Pan-o-grams

 
 

I never know where my inspiration is going to come from, but I’m often surprised. In a month of frustrations, where nothing I attempted creatively seemed to lead anywhere, I started noticing the parchment paper I pulled off the bread I bake each week. I thought the browning looked like the footprint of the bread, each one different. Instead of tossing them into the trash, I tacked them in a pile on my studio wall and jokingly referred to them as my pan-o-grams. The bread was trying to tell me something, and I’d wait to see if I got the message. While cleaning out some drawers in the studio this summer, I rediscovered a box of oil pastels and made a connection. These would work on the parchment! So I started a drawing exercise where I take down one of my pan-o-grams and see what I can discover in it. The process is relaxing and fun, and it sometimes yields surprising images. Just what I need to get myself out of the creative doldrums.

Second Flush

 
 

A handful of mixed zinnia seeds tossed into a sunny corner of the garden has given me a fascinating laboratory for observing color. The zinnias blossom into bold, saturated hues— cheerful pinks, sunny yellows, and deep orange reds. Very satisfying. But as they begin to fade, pigments in the petals alter. The magentas adopt an orange blush, the yellows deepen to ochre, the reds darken, and the pale pinks transform into a range of violets, from lavender to deep purple. Twice as much beauty!

Passing Through

 
 

A hawk has left its calling card in my garden. I wondered what had become of the mating pair that nested in the cedar last spring. The rain (or was it the crows?) drove them out of their nest. The migrating starlings will start showing up in the bamboo soon. This hawk seems to be one step ahead.

Near UV

 
 

We humans aren't supposed to be able to see UV rays, after all they are harmful to our eyes. But when the sun hits my purple morning glories, I fancy that I'm getting a glimpse of the impossible

Artful Camouflage

 
 

While searching for sharks with my grandsons at the Norwalk Aquarium, I was struck by the artful camouflage of this exotic rock fish. Its unusual pattern looked like the work of a whimsical designer, and the turquoise eyes were stunning.

Klowd

 
 

Drawing with my six-year-old grandson helps me reconnect with the excitement of the creative process. For one thing, judgment is suspended, and anything goes. And for another, he learns fast! I was introducing him to pastel pencils, and we started looking at the colors out the window. The grass isn’t really green, I pointed out, and clouds aren’t really white. He looked more closely at a cloud floating by, naming all the colors he saw. Then he started drawing. This diagram was the result, with all the layers carefully catalogued: white, green, dark green, yellow, purple (with a hint of red), black, and golden. A masterpiece of observation.

 

Patient Hands

 
 

I thought I knew Cezanne’s work—I’ve been to several retrospectives of his paintings over the years (in the US and in France), and I’ve hiked and photographed the landscapes he loved around Aix-en-Provence. So I was genuinely surprised by the exhibit of his portraits at the National Gallery in Washington—60 paintings spanning his entire career and collected from many museums throughout the world. It doesn’t take long to realize that, just as his mountain landscapes aren’t about Mont-Ste-Victoire, his portraits aren’t about his sitters. The people in his paintings are subjects for his roving eye. He’s working out form and color relationships, and noting how each brushstroke relates to every other as he develops his pictorial vocabulary. And he’s certainly not interested in making his subjects look good! He usually painted only people he knew (including himself). I found his many portraits of his wife, Hortense Fiquet, especially moving. She always sits calmly in a chair (her dresses and the chairs seem to be the real subjects of the paintings) and glances away from her husband, her lips held in a determined line. But it is her hands that reveal her feelings—they are clasped together as if holding back all the energy she can’t release. She grudgingly accepts the long hours of sitting in front of her intense husband and tries not to show the disappointment she feels at the plainness of the face he paints. Her hands wait patiently.

Cézanne Portraits, National Gallery of Art, March 25 – July 8, 201

Old Friends

 
 

It’s been more than a decade since I haunted the U.S. Botanic Garden in DC, photographing for my book, “A Botanic Garden for the Nation.” There were always plenty of amazing plants to capture my eye (and there still are!), but I found myself returning to the orchids with every visit. How could I resist? Orchids have such extravagant form and color, their sensual beauty draws photographers as easily as pollinators! So it was a treat to wander through the spectacular orchid show at the New York Botanic Garden while visiting my family last week. Orchids, like this tropical Lady Slipper (Paphiopedilum), seemed like old friends. I had to elbow other photographers out of the way, but I had the help of my six-year-old grandson, who buzzed around the orchids like a curious bee.

Dinner Discovery

 
 

The mosaic pattern of a ratatouille, the geometry of a cut artichoke, the way the serviceberries accent the color of a bowl—these are my “dinner discoveries,” the accidents of art that appear magically as I prepare a meal. Like the hypnotic swirls in this red cabbage, I have to stop to admire and photograph. My appetite is doubly satisfied.

 

Too Soon

 
 

It’s early March, and the cherry tree down the street is in full bloom. After a gray, damp winter, it’s a welcome sight, but my gardener’s alarm is going off. It’s just too early for cherry blossoms! If this strange heat wave is anything like last year’s, I’ll be out next week covering the tree peony and the hydrangeas to save them from a killer frost. Nature has its own course to follow, and it’s been a pretty erratic one for several years now. Nothing to do but hang on for the ride. And enjoy the frothy pink blossoms whenever they show up.

Breath Cocktails 2018

 
 

As I prepare to start a new year full of hope and good intentions, one item always appears on my list of goals: Remember to breathe! It really only takes one conscious deep breath each morning—inhale slowly, exhale slowly—to get me started on the right track. And as my breath goes on quietly keeping me alive all day, I know I can deepen it any time I need a little extra help with the stresses that inevitably appear.

So raise your glass of champagne to toast the New Year, and let the refreshing bubbles tickling your nose remind you that relief is only a breath away.

Breath cocktails all around!

Happy New year!

And as I write about the breath—I'm going to be taking a breather from my blog. For the last four years, I've posted every week, sharing a photograph and some insight into its creation. Several ongoing projects are demanding my creative attention now, including revamping my website, so my postings will be erratic. Thanks to all my readers for your support and feedback!

 

Fire Moon

 
 

My week started serenely, with Sunday’s full moon floating over the hills surrounding Linden Vineyards, Virginia. I was there in the late afternoon taking down my “Paris Leaves” exhibit, and I glanced out the big terrace windows as darkness engulfed the vines. My eye caught a bright orange glow at the top of a nearby hill. My instinctive thought was “fire!” immediately replaced by awe as December’s huge “supermoon” crested the back of the hill. It rose in orange splendor, enormous and clear, and its glow had the warmth of firelight. I’ve returned to that image often this week as I’ve watched the devastation of the Thomas fire in Ventura County, California. Our East Coast family has had a front row seat on the horrific events, as our West Coast family has dealt with evacuation, homelessness, and unbreathable air. The Santa Ana winds off the dessert wreaked havoc with the fire, pushing it at unbelievable speed across the drought-parched landscape. The beautiful hillside where we attended a family wedding only a few weeks ago (and where our son and daughter-in-law were married) was swept by the racing fire, leaving ash and flame-gnarled trees, though the house below was saved. Family members are still waiting for water and electricity to be restored before authorities will allow them to return to their homes spread throughout the area. And the fire continues to rage across the mountains, even as the moon begins to wane. From the hellish destruction of fire to the cool tranquility of the rising moon, Nature’s range is sometimes hard to fathom.

 

Vermeer and Fellows

 
 

Vermeer has always been one of my favorite painters—his ability to draw me into a space is uncanny, and once there I want to reach out and caress the fabrics and furniture. But there is always a person in that room, caught unaware in a moment of contemplation, and so I tiptoe away, sensing that I'm being nosy. Vermeer's output was limited—only 35 paintings have been authenticated—so each of his canvasses is a masterpiece. I've been lucky enough to view the Vermeers in New York, Boston, and Paris, and I regularly visit the four gems that reside in the National Gallery of Art in DC. I was especially fortunate to get to see the 1996 Vermeer exhibition at NGA three times (despite crowds, bad weather, and  politically motivated government closings). So I was curious to view the latest exhibit at the National Gallery, "Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting: Inspiration and Rivalry." Observing his work in relation to his contemporaries was a revelation. During the 17th century, the Dutch were masters of genre paintings that depicted daily life in genteel interiors. The paintings here represent the best of the best—small, ravishing canvasses illustrating stories about the denizens of those interior spaces. It becomes obvious that, although Vermeer was inspired by the same subjects as his contemporaries—women playing musical instruments, women at daily tasks—he wasn't telling stories, he was observing, spying even. The writer in "Lady writing a letter with her maid" may be intent on finishing her love letter, but her maid glances wistfully out the window. Is she bored? Does she wish she had her own lover? Can she even write? The scene remains unresolved, and the serenity of the light drifting onto the table accentuates the transitory nature of the setting, as if Vermeer is painting memory.  I could wax on about his amazing color sense and the perspective in his compositions, but instead I encourage a visit to NGA before the show closes in January.

"The Lacemaker," c. 1669–1671. "Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting: Inspiration and Rivalry," October 22, 2017 – January 21, 2018. Be prepared for crowds on weekends and near the holidays.

And for more information than you could possibly digest on Vermeer, go to this fascinating site, Essential Vermeer.