Laundry Day

Ahhh...There's nothing like the smell of freshly washed sheets that've been hung outside to dry in the breeze. Koda, who is a little over six months old now and eager to help with domestic chores, triumphantly marched off with my clothes pin bag. The photos for this painting were taken just a week ago on the first day of real summer like weather. Koda supervised as I did some much needed yard work.
The composition in this 5 x 7 study falls short of my original vision, however. Because of the space between Koda and the clothes line there seem to be two subjects in the painting instead of one. The clothes basket needs toning down to push it further into the background and I'd like to bring the horizon line down too.
Stay tuned as I work through this process...

Young at Art

This spot is dedicated to my grandchildren who all love to draw and paint. The drawing here is by my precocious seven year old grand daughter Madeline and was executed in the studio today while I sat by sketching her in graphite and marveling at her colors and composition. She really gets into the making of art ... her face pushes close to the paper with intense concentration and focus. Now and then she stands back to look it over and think about her next stroke.
Her goal is to become a famous artist and I believe she very well may. She gets great support from her parents but particularly her mother Susan, who is very creative with impressive skills in metal work, cabinet making, felting, and cooking. There are always craft projects going on at their house and many of Madeline's finished pieces are spotted through out. One of my favorites is a papier mache bird she made at the age of four while taking private art classes.
I asked Madeline to tell me about this delightful image and she said it was the sun, and the star in the middle is it's nose. The heart is "just because" the sun is happy and bright. I couldn't agree more.