The Daily Spectrum - Gallery Wall Talks # 6

Rockland Harbor

This painting measures 30in x40in and was painted in my studio using a photo reference.  I have one set of colors that I prefer using on my palette and can mix any other color I need from them.  I have great confidence mixing colors in order to have the shade I want.  Painting is an intuitive act for me.

I like working large areas.  The water color proved challenging as it set the mood for this whole painting. I searched a variety of mixes of blues before selecting the one I thought best for this painting.

Painting the reflection of the masts were challenging as this was my first attempt at such a thing.  I had to make sure the blue water was mostly dry before attempting to glaze on the white of the masks. This was quite a tricky matter.

This painting holds a prominent place on my wall today at it reminds me of summer even in the depth of winter.  There is an overall warmth that radiates from it.  The rouge of the evening sky compensates for the cool water giving an overall balance to the hot and cool colors.

Until next time,
The Happy Painter,
Jill

The Daily Spectrum- Gallery Wall Talks #4

College Days...

This was a time for me to learn new things, make mistakes, and try again.  There were many first attempts of various works of art that have not survived from this period. For example, all my figure paintings.  The human anatomy is one subject I have yet to master.  Thus all my renditions of Picasso-like nature have been duly painted over.

What does remain, however, are a couple of florals.  One is of Parrot Tulips which has found a home for itself at a friends' house, and the other floral, one of my multiple award winners, of Siberian Irises in a green vase was also given to good friends in Georgia.  It went perfectly with their newly remodeled kitchen wall colors.

One professor, who I had for a drawing as well as a painting class, asked me - "How is it that you can't draw, but you can paint?"  I replied, "I didn't care for the junk you put out in the studio."  I paint beauty...whatever strikes me as beautiful I try to render it in paint.

Until next time,
The Happy Painter
Jill

The Daily Spectrum - Gallery Wall Talks #5

The next batch of surviving paintings were done in Mid-coast Maine containing backyard dreams, ocean fantasies, to actual onsite locations, florals and an animal portrait.  The one unifying element in all my paintings is the use of bright color.  Vibrant color evokes the happiness I feel while painting.

Most of the color is intense - bright sunsets over the ocean and on Waterman's Beach in South Thomaston, Maine.  One painting is cold, and dreary - The Olson House, in the neighboring town of Cushing.  Maine's winters can be harsh on the psyche.  I did another winter painting of blue and white entitled Fantasy Pond that my daughter, Margarette, now has. This painting was of a happier feel to it as the blue was vibrant even though it still contained the cold of winter within it.

The Pier painting was done in Thomaston, Maine before Hurricane Katrina took it out.  A new pier has been built there since.  I especially likes the geometric pattern on the pilings that hold it up.  The wispy clouds in the background done in texture adds interest to the overall design.

In 2003, I attended an Adult Educatiuon painting class.  We began the eight weeks doing a barn painting.  Another session was the Olson House. The last session I did, I volunteered my daughter Catherine as a model for a portrait painting session.  She was 15 at the time and gorgeous.  I will treasure this painting (pictured below) until the day I die.

Until next time,
The Happy Painter,
Jill

The Daily Spectrum - Gallery Wall Talks #3

I'd love to say that all the paintings between 1987-1993 have been sold, but they haven't. While I was in search of a book I wrote called, Soul Colors, I unearthed five paintings from this time period. There were two portraits, one of my daughter and the other of myself at the age of 21. There was also a still life of a fruit bowl and two woods landscapes.

We learned how to paint the woods in En Plein Air (which is French for "in the open air") and the art work is created outdoors instead of in the studio where natural light is a key element. I developed a palette of colors that I particularly liked to use that has remained with me. I learned about the bugs and the heat verses painting in the shade and that I had a lot to learn about being prepared for the weather while being out in it for any length of time.

I also painted three 8ft. x 4ft. murals. One is still hanging in the Athol Massachusetts High School.  The other two have been cut up and painted over. They were done on Masonite board and were too heavy, too big, and too bulky to move from place to place with us all the time.

Another painting done during this time period is called, Peace. It, too, was a view out my window at dusk when a full moon was rising...my neighbors' house was conveniently left out of the painting to make the composition stand with the focal point being the moon. That's also the beauty of artistic license!

I feel calm when I see it and will always treasure this painting.

Until next time,
The Happy Painter,
Jill

The Daily Spectrum - Gallery Wall Talks #2

"Rainy Day Irises"

This oil painting is still one of my personal favorites and will be part of my collection for as long as it survives - it holds a special place in my heart as well as on my wall.  It was painted at our first home back in 1995 on a rainy day. I was overcome with sadness as I gazed out my front window and observed my Irises being plummeted by the rain.

I began with a wet canvas of white medium, then added a mixture of pink, light blue and then green.  I made fierce downward strokes with a large brush (about 1 inch wide) to create the rain image.  Next I took a painters' knife and danced in the purple waves of the petals.

The painting was completed within an half an hour and I was feeling let down that the fun was over so fast! Looking back, while I consider it a floral art work, it has an abstract look and feel to it.

Until next time,
The Happy Painter,
Jill

The Daily Spectrum - Gallery Wall Talks #1

This painting was one of three that made it into my first showing that was held at a bank in Athol, Massachusetts. It was also my very first "semi-professional"painting.  It was painted in Auburn, Mass. back in 1987.  It's called Winter Sun. It was painted using the then-popular wet-on-wet technique - although wet-on-wet, or alla prima (which is Italian for "at first attempt") - had been used for hundreds of years.

The wet-on-wet technique was popularized in the general public's eye primarily by a man named William Alexander - a.k.a. "the Happy Painter".  He had a weekly show that was featured on PBS and was televised for years.  He made this technique seem so easy to master that I had to try it when the opportunity arose.  A class was being given by one of his students using this technique.

It was a fall day and the weather was balmy.  Our oldest daughter was 18 months old then and my husband David promised to watch her so I could do this seminar.  I was an excited child given a new toy.  I had trouble following directions and wanted to explore what I could do with the paints.  It took every ounce of prudence I could muster to stay on task and do what I was told.  The result was a winter sunset with birch trees extending from the oval.

The wet-on-wet technique, although it can be done quickly, is sometimes rather difficult to execute.  The paint can easily turn into a muddy mess if one color too many is added. Basically, the process involves painting in the background first, then layering other paint on top - all before the first layer dries. The convenience of this technique is that is doesn't take days or weeks for layers of paint to dry and thus a painting can be done in "one sitting".

I was told when I went to college for fine art that this technique isn't "real painting". Looking back, I feel this opinion was solely the belief of a biased professor with the strong possibility he meant the TV show didn't teach real painting. As I researched the wet-on-wet technique, I found that numerous oil painting masters from Jan van Eyck, to Diego Velazquez, to Monet and Van Gogh, either used or experimented with wet-on-wet.

My daughter, Margarette, was given this painting on her first wedding anniversary as it is her favorite.

Until next time,
Another Happy Painter,
Jill

Back To The Drawing Board!

The Daily Spectrum hasn't been quite as "daily" as I had hoped or envisioned. My life experiences have radically changed once again - once again for the better.

My husband and I recently moved into an apartment in the downtown area, which will serve as a "home base". Our new digs are spacious, but fairly warm since we're on the 4th floor. To compensate for all this "free" heat, we have to open the living room windows - yes, in January - and we now hear the squeal of brakes, the whim and whir of various engines as well as the occasional crash when motor vehicles collide at the busy intersection we reside at. This was especially the case during the "epic" blizzard of 2015 (named Juno) which we experienced earlier this week.

I am in the process of settling in. Most of my stuff is either unpacked or somewhat organized (read: shoved) into the huge hall closet. Some of my stuff isn't even here yet - it's in storage at my youngest daughters house. After living and traveling in our RV for over 15 months, it does feel good to spread out. Each item seems new and many feel as if they have been my long lost friends with news to share.

We humans can be funny that way - our stuff telling the story of our life and where we've been. With this in mind, I've decided to take a trip down memory lane to revisit with my past work. To remember why I painted it and to hear its story.

Folks say you have to know where you've been in order to know where you are going. I will embrace this concept with my gallery wall that is pictured below. I will begin at one end and discuss one work at a time, then change it up until all my surviving and unsold art has been featured.

The end result? Sharing my passion and the hope that I will get a clue where to paint next...

Until next time,
The Happy Painter,
Jill