I just read a great article by Rosanne Cash

While she is writing about music, I found a lot of truths about visual arts in the piece. 

http://measureformeasure.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/dont-fact-check-the-soul/index.html

 

 

Got Worms?

In heavily wooded areas it can be tough to find a view to paint. But with any problem, there is a solution. So I went out Saturday with my brother Matt to the Coosa River in Hokes Bluff, Alabama in his fishing boat. Even to go out with him, I am required by Alabama law to have a fishing license. So armed with my fishin’ license as well as my artistic license, my plan was for him to let me out somewhere while he goes off fishing for a few hours. However, the banks were either overgrown or on private property. So we found a good spot where he thought he could catch some fish and I set my easel up in the boat and painted from there. We went in the afternoon, so there weren’t many people fishing on the river when we were there. There weren’t any other painters, either. Maybe we’ll run into a few next time.

  

I Resisted

You see, last Friday I went to Atlanta’s High Art Museum for the Friday Jazz night, which occurs once a month. In addition to great live music and drinks, they also setup a model and offer free life drawing. I got there late, but below are a few sketches I did. And in this post, I came up with dozens of bad puns incorporating the word ‘high’. But I resisted. I’m not going to do it. I do encourage others to post comments with puns. 

The drawing was a lot of fun. There were about a dozen or so people there, most of them working in pencil. In my quest to be more like Marc Taro (see the link to his blog to the right; his stuff is fabulous and you should check it out), I took watercolors and these cool pen/brush things he turned me on to. I’m still experimenting, but plan on doing more color sketching in watercolor this way.

 

 

Pasture Eyes

I love a good pasture. Sometimes, when stompin’ around north Georgia it can be tough to find painting scenes. There are awesome views, however there are also a lot of trees in the way. In addition, many good views are on private property. Many of those post signs that say “Beware of Dog” or “Beware of Dale and his 12 Gauge”. I went up to Amicalola Falls State Park a week ago and found one view I really liked at a nearby farm. It had a sign by it that said “Buck’s Corn Maze” and I saw a truck leaving the house next to it. I stopped them and asked if I could paint on their property. They were super nice, and Truman and Bobby unlocked the gate and let me go where I wanted. So this fall, be sure to support your local corn maze and if you live in North Georgia, be sure to stop by Buck’s.