Spring Dances

Daya was on stage tonight.

She had a solo in one of what was possibly the most difficult dances i have ever seen her in.

There was no music...none..... the dancers' BREATHING was choreographed!

It was astounding.

Daya has not had a good experience with this show (I don't know why) and she has been very negative.

(She has been very negative in general... we don't have much contact these days, I'm leaving her alone.)

But she cannot inflict her negativity onto others who love the show and are there for a positive experience!

And truly, she's ASTOUNDING on stage.

I don't even know how it is physically possible for her to do what she can do.

Grace's daughter Hannah came from NJ to see, and Kedrin also joined.

Daya is on the end at the right.
(I couldnt get a good picture)

Roz Chast Chat

Roz Chast gave a free talk at The League tonight, and I went.

It was good.

Here are some of the cartoons she showed.

Beach Painting Time Again

It's nice to have enough daylight after work to go paint....... and today I decided it is time to start Beach Painting Season.

Of course it is still quite cold and gets colder as the sun sets, but that's fine by me!

I did have a dog friend come up and want me to throw his frisbee, and I was happy to oblige.

Today I decided to focus on the sky mostly, because there were some nice silver-lined clouds.

I am critical of them even though the values work... i don't know, maybe I will never be happy with my clouds and water.....

My new Vasaris are like glowy butter and are proving extremely useful for the sky, especially getting it down quickly.  This painting is glowier in person than I could get in the photos; cameras can only do so much but that is true of all paintings.

Next week my goal is to get a second painting in but during the actual sunset colors.  I didn't do it tonight because it was getting a bit cold and also I wasn't up for it mentally... I had the overnight on the hotline last night and I'm running on 2 hours of sleep.

Beach 94th, Far Rockaway 8x10 oil

********

I am very grateful to have access to so many different kinds of places within an hour of home.

Maybe an hour sounds like a lot of travel time, but for NYC it really isn't.

Or I am just used to it. It's an easy trip for me, just a long bus ride, no transfers, and a short walk home.

Here, if you have a commute one hour or less it is considered good.

I need to work on my water more.

Clouds and water.

Maybe I need to do some quick practice paintings at home.

Quick gestures, like 20 minutes.

For some reason when I attempt water from a photo I can't do it very well, I get too fussy and it just feels so different than being out there working from life. But I think some practice drills at home with the water not moving constantly might be helpful.

Here are a few beach photos from tonight's sunset:

Anglerfish of Doom

Today I finished my Anglerfish of Doom.

He took 5 weeks in class, somewhere between 15-20 hours painting time, and so many layers!

Doug gave excellent wisdom and guidance, and the painting is better than it would have been otherwise because of him.

8x10 egg tempera on Ampersand Claybord

I got to use this silver pigment, which I like:

And of course many cobalts and other blues...

And here are some progress shots:

And the reference, which is that anglerfish who washed up earlier this year and made the news:

Two Paintings, a Nightmare, & More Vasari

Two Paintings

Kedrin and I had a chat the other day.

It went something like this:

Me: It occurred to me that you are actually a bigger paint snob than I am, because while I love my premium snob paints, you will ONLY use Old Holland, and I will use anything artist-grade.

She: That's true. I wish I was less of a paint snob.

Me: No way, I admire this about you!

She: I think I want to go back to Vasari and get a dioxazine violet.

Me: That's a great idea! Do you also have one in Old Holland?

She: Yes

Me:  Oh, you can compare them! Let me know if you go.

*********

We coordinated because Kedrin is in nursing school and wasnt sure when she would get out today.

I painted near Bellvue so we could meet up after.

I brought my Belly River box again and did 2 paintings, booth 6x8 oil:

Crocuses

Tree Trunk

(I ran out of time on Tree Trunk, the foreground needs some sharp detail, but it's ok)

We walked from 28th and 1st to 27th and 10th to Vasari.

On the way over, I told Kedrin my nightmare.

Nightmare

Last night I had a plein air nightmare!

I dreamed I took my new Vasari paints to a nice park with a lake.

Weirdly, all the nice spots were taken by other painters, many werent even at their easels... there was a class or something and it was annoying.

I set up next to some guy and then a raccoon came over and stole my bag of Vasaris! I went after him and he went INTO THE POND and so did I!
The bag was open and the paints came out and I got three of them.... tried to get the rest of the bag but the pond got steeply deep and i lost them! Oh it was a TERRIBLE dream!

More Vasari

Steve was there instead of Gail, and he's a lot friendlier.

Gail is a fantastic colorist but she's not so friendly.

I am an enabler, and Kedrin is easily influenced by nice paint.

She didn't do as much damage as I did the other week, but she did end up buying 9 tubes instead of 1.

And she's not even actively painting right now because of school!

Kedrin, Steve and I talked for quite a long time.

He's very friendly.

He laughed at my raccoon nightmare.

I bought one more tube, a brand new pink they have which they did not have 2 weeks ago.

Kedrin had a box with 2 empty slots in it and Steve said Do you want free samples?

We didnt realize he was offering her two FREE tubes of paint!

In all honestly that pissed me off because I have been their customer for 15 years, I have spent so much money there, honestly over the years probably over $1k, ($434 2 weeks ago!) and I have never been offered free paint. 

AND it is because of me that Kedrin was giving them business.

I said... wow, mentioned all these things, and Kedrin backed me up.

Steve made good on it though, and I got a replacement Nicosia green earth (my tube is a bum tube, all oil, and he believed me, laughed, and said "I probably made that one!" ... I was surprised he was so willing to just give me a new one.

I picked 2 series 1 tubes, Kings Blue extra pale which is basically a cool-tinted white, and French Anthracite which is coal... that's interesting.

I really didn't know the extent of what Steve was willing to give me, and he offered the Indian Yellow he was showing us earlier.

It is a $40 tube of paint and he gave me one.

So, he made good and my initial sour feeling is gone... but wow, I'm absolutely shocked he just gave out a bunch of free paint like that. He gave me about $70 worth of free paint. (I don't count the Nicosia because I have been meaning to bring that one back)

Painting & an Evening Walk Through Central Park

I needed to get out after work.

We have rain in the forecast today but not til 9pm, which is enough time to paint.

Today I went over to The Ramble.
The lawn at Cedar Hill is closed, which was where i intended to go, so I walked around a bit and decided to go to the wooden bench because it was comfortable.

I was going to just paint the grassy area and foliage but then saw the tree next to me which has been carved with many messages.  That was an interesting texture study.  I also brought out my old Belly River box and worked 6x8.  I still use this box every week in egg tempera class but it hasn't been outdoors for a while.

Permanent Messages, 6x8 oil

There is a lot of Vasari Orchid in the painting and it doesn't photograph well.

(I had the same problem in Boston photographing violet Monet paintings)

My old reliable Belly River box, which was my main plein air box for 13 years.

**********

I decided to walk down the park instead of either doing a second painting or taking the bus down.

The Ramble starts around 79th street, and I walked down and exited at 59th St.

Trefoil Arch:

I walked under west to east- this is where I was last Friday painting.

Bethesda Fountain

The Bandstand, I sat here for a few minutes watching the light change.

The Mall, looking backwards towards the Bandstand.

Thankfully, I did get home before the heavy rains started.