I’ll be traveling to San Diego, California in April for the San Diego Artwalk in Little Italy. (Booth #192 – Come say hello!) One of my favorite things about visiting other towns is looking at homes, apartments and shop-fronts to see the way local residents paint their clapboards, arrange their flower beds, and adorn their porches with cushioned chairs and potted plants. (The reference photo for the painting above came from my daughter after a trip to Albania.) The ornamentation of home-fronts and shop facades says a lot about a community. I get inspired to paint or draw the “feel” of a place from the photos snapped while strolling around the neighborhood. Do you paint building portraits too?
I’m winding down from a printmaking marathon in my studio, and I have a pile of drawings underway for some mid-size and larger watercolor paintings. The question I’m wrestling is – should I add a couple of street scenes, or some interior room-scapes, or maybe a few still life paintings???
We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us even in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavour. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.
Yes, I am attracted to rustic buildings – old barns and wonky houses. I tend to paint small, sometimes in miniature. but your paintings don’t give the impression of “small” – lovely work.
Your cityscapes are stunning and I am particularly impressed by the perspective of the Albanian Apartment Building – such an interesting angle. And of course the colors! I am amazed at how the small 4″ square size can convey the grandeur of the New Orleans scene. I hope to be able to paint scenes of my own city and your work inspires me
Thanks so much for the compliment, Barbara! I’ve seen your lovely neighborhood paintings and they are wonderful!
Hi Belinda,
I hope this reaches you. Beautiful painting. Yes I do paint buildings and am
always moved by the differences from one town to the next.
Wonderful post.
XOXOXOXOXOXO Barbara