THE POINSETTIA TREE

18 x 36, Oil, St. Germain

NOTES

- Still need to put in place finishing touches, here and there. 

I call this my poinsettia tree, 

a variant of the tree that is decorated in this season. 

Three colors  of this plant is all I could handle:)

- The Christmas balls were an afterthought. 

Decided to add them after one of my friends imagined the balls

in the Christmas tree to be gifts.

All you had to do, was grab 'em!  Thought that was a wonderful idea for life.

Go ahead, get any gifts being up there - they're there for the taking!

WHAT AM I PAINTING ?  Find out  around Dec. 24....

BRIDAL VEIL FALLS WATERCOLOR

NOTES

- One of my early watercolors, signified by the sharp edges of Bridal Veil Falls at Yosemite. This scene was this year totally immersed in water!

Thought it would be fun to do my pic of my painting for Midweek Blues, hosted by Rebecca

http://thedustycellar.blogspot.com/

 for Watery Wednesday at http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/, hosted by 2sweetnsaxy, 

for Skywatch at http://skyley.blogspot.com/ on Friday, and for 

Weekend Reflections at http://newtowndailyphoto.blogspot.com/hosted by James. 

I thank all these hosts!

ASCENT AND DESCENT

Ascent and Descent, 36 x 36 inch , oil, St.Germain

NOTES

- In one of my next posts (in next few weeks) on main blog MYSTERIES

read why I posted this painting....

Some interesting anecdotes surrounding the painting when it was  finished

- Design wise, the "ladder" (ascent and descent) started with an "X" 

with the angels displayed on the "X" with more of a loop.

- my take on angels is that they have different personalities, fitting with their task

ACTS TWO

The phenomena described in Acts 2 was always very intriguing to me. 

Always wondered what it would look like to see

a sea of red fiery tongues above people's heads. Never knew 

how to paint it till one day. 

Suddenly I "got" it that it was the dove (symbol of the Holy Spirit) 

descending on people should be center stage, 

and that the visible phenomena were a" by product."

 ACTS TWO. 24 x 30 Oil, StGermain

NOTES

Here the Dove is not a sign of peace

or a sign of new life (Noah)

here, the dove is a sign of fiery consuming power
So enjoyed painting the broad strokes,
the warmth of burnt sienna
lighting up van Dyke Brown and
Payne Grey
the White in motion
a force to reckon with!

***************

THE PAINTING THAT STARTED IT ALL

Genesis 24 x 30, Oil, St Germain

My first abstract painting
actually was meant to be a background
for a collage of leaves,
but everyone told me,
"It's not a background, it's a painting!"
Even my dear hubby, who does not 
comprehend abstract, saw all kinds of things in it!
So, I called it Genesis, for this one proved to be
the beginning of a whole new way for me
of working in oil.

GONE BESIRK? NO, ABSTRACT!

© 9 x 11 Pastel on Paper, St.Germain

 NOTES

Has been long, since I did something totally abstract,

so I was careful not to chew off too much

My sketch on black art paper with pastel.

So far, so good:)

© 18 x 36, Oil, St. Germain

Rain of His Presence

NOTES

Rain 

dripping like honey

from heaven's throne

traveling through a thousand blues

mingled with blood

so freely spilled

falling on rich brown earth

creeping into any crevice of 

each atom coated

enveloping me

with eternal love

© St.Germain

LITTLE BOY'S LUNCH

Little Boy's Lunch, 24 X 30, Oil, St.Germain

NOTES

Refer to main blog this time for Notes
thanks!

© Life's A Beach, 22 x 30 Watercolor, St.Germain

NOTES

- layers of color showing, 

symbolizing layers of meaning

concerning view of life & motivation.

More details this Friday on main blog (7/23/2010)

NOTES

- This Oil painting is part of my Celebrity Collection of 15 flowers   

that I painted a few years ago. 

- All flowers are painted on a 24 x 24 canvas.

- Believe it or not, I spent most time painting on the leaves, 

so they would not look stiff or formal.

- Since the Netherlands are going to face their final game 

in the world cup soccer this week,

I'll give Holland three cheers with these tulips!

HALF DOME - Pastel of Mountain in Yosemite National Park

© Half Dome, 12 x 18, Pastel, St. Germain

NOTES

It is said that historically the right part (known as Half Dome) 

was connected to the mountain on the left

This pastel I painted a few years ago. It is the most painted mountain 

in Yosemite National Park, California.

The pic of this mountain you can see in my travel log I'm doing this week on my main page

© Half Dome, Watercolor, St.Germain

A few  years before the pastel painting I did this watercolor rendition of Half Dome. 

Which one do you like more?

FREE TO EXPRESS AND EXPERIENCE

No matter how old we are, we need to have an outlet for our expression, without skill or experience being a requirement

just hang...you know

just "be" without any pretense, I think that's the strong side of an artist

One of them had printed a poem to display.  So I started painting her, imagining  how her pages would fly into the sky in her chase for words

The Poet, 24 x 24, Oil, St.Germain

DANCE OF LIFE

© Dance of Life, 22 x 30, Watercolor, St.Germain

NOTES

- Each generation has its own dance

-all connected, yet dancing our own individual dance
in our personal cave crystallized by time

- the past represented by the shadows 

are a part of the present!
- the rocks are a foundation, 
yet not static, but swimming
in a certain direction

A MEMORY OF POLAND

© A Memory of Poland, 24 x 30, Oil, St. Germain

Notes

-In Poland we drove by endless oceans

of yellow sunflowers

it was like being in a dream

- fairly easy to paint 

after accounting for all the petals! 

-wonder how an abstract 

with sunflowers would look like...

THE FACE OF PASSION

© 24 x 24 Oil, St. Germain
SOLD- but still available in Print  
(different sizes in smooth art paper or canvas) 

NOTES

I had this face in mind for weeks,

taking up my whole visual field

now finally I got to paint it:

the face of passion

coming out of nowhere

the expression of fire 

to make symbolic images

FLOWER OF MY DREAMS -PROTEA

©  24 x 24 Oil, St.Germain

Notes

I saw her and I had to paint her

for I gazed and was taken up in a dream

of vivid colors, 

roselike petals 

and dreamcatchers' feathers

-more detail than usual 

to make sure this dream stays with me 

till I'm ready to catch the wind 

and the clouds form another dream

WHITE IS THE SUM OF ALL COLORS (no first of April joke!)

 Since in 2006 I was on a stint on painting flowers which  started a few weeks before Easter, it occurred to me that I had never painted flowers for Easter, while I often did buy them for that holiday. That year a lot of them were blooming by the back entrance of our office, and was very taken by their beauty.
Of all the flowers that I painted, the white ones seem to be the 

 NOTES

-most challenging, because the heart of the flower is darker, 

not lighter than the petals

- another challenge is the background

- since white is the sum of all colors,  reflections of colors 

of surroundings are seen in the white

- careful that  flower does not look like a "cut-out"

- white is a symbol of resurrection 

- a hope so pure, nothing can surpass it

© Calle Lillies, 24 x 30 Oil, St Germain

If you click on "Mysteries" in the right side bar, it takes you to my main blog, where you read the poem for these flowers and see a few other white flowers. 

Am away for Easter weekend, so I scheduled this post, and am looking forward to your comments when I get back. Have a great Easter all of you, my friends!

FIRE CHASERS

This watercolor is still in process. If you enlarge the image you may see that I'm contemplating to add a third figure, which would be the poet.

FIRE CHASINGS
seeking to revive
dying embers
dancing ferociously
sparking flames
blow by blow
on melodies of flute and narration
Prophetic voices
explosion of colors and paint
soaring to eagles heights
travel of ebb and flow
like ocean waves
with lightning speed 
of handmade
footprints of percussion

NOTES

Began to paint this at the Art Event on the first Thursday 
in March 2010 (see main blog).

Technically it should be called  a Mixed Media painting, 
since pastel was used for the patches of the blanket 
and then painted over with a wet brush

We'll see what happens...

YOU AND I -A WINK TO DIEGO RIVERA

 © 16 x 20 Oil, St. Germain
Sold, but available in Print (see sidebar)

You and I is a painting from my early period. For details why I came to to paint this, please read the post on the main blog. For easier reading, I repeat the poem

You and I

Your colors are my country

my home is wherever you will be

you are always around me

your voice and touch

as far as the horizon

I see.

© St.Germain

NOTES

The unspoken bond between parent and child is so strong that it goes beyond countries, it is a global phenomena, symbolized in the rounded horizon.

The house, a symbol of a  place where families live,  also goes beyond borders. In my own family, we have spread out into Indonesia, China, Netherlands, and USA.

For me personally red signifies redemption. It is often the child that brings a redeeming quality n our life. When the child is there, we (the parent) are forced to grow up!

The tree speaks of nurturance and provision to live (fruit).

The simplicity of the minimum style of painting speaks for the child's view. In his or her world, only the parent exists.

PORTNER'S SHED -First watercolor 20 YEARS AGO

my bare beginnings of the small oil...

of a fun-filled weekend in Big Bear Lake at 9000 feet: 
a girl from a flat land in the mountains.

Get the whole story and pics of the painting on my main blog on Wednesday

NOTES

A comeback to art after 20 years.

First time in water color

A new rendition in oil (because I could not find my original after our move)

Decision which kind of  background to focus on:

bare or more natural

©  11 x 14 Oil, Portner's Shed, St. Germain

-the shed is on a slight incline
-what was so effortless in watercolor (the snow covered branches)

was the most challenging for me in oil!
See the double doors are slightly opened?
- had to tweak the sun rays on the doors several times:)

-Almost finished
sorry for the color distortion!
In reality the white is more white
and the yellow in the tree 
on the left is a brighter yellow

MY INFATUATION WITH POST IMPRESSIONISM

© Bend in the Road, oil, St Germain

NOTES

One of those experiments of every artist

- to copy one's favorite artists
- my own signature style is still in there:
ultramarine blue!
-prefer the wildness in van Gogh's sense of form
over the ultra-precison of Seurat, 
which result in a somewhat 
stifled impression.
-the dots are addicting, but I have 
to find my own way of expression!

TRAIN RIDE

 © Train Ride, watercolor, St.Germain


NOTES
- taped off for painting the window
- staring out of an opened window
- mood: waiting
curious
contemplative
- in background:  the window of the other side
- display with blue matte, so it becomes
- a window  of a window in a window

BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER

Some design problems need to be worked out. 

So I made some sketches.

- direction of the light coming from the eye:

influences the direction of the bridge

- bridge: straight, or going in a bend?
- with both sketches, the viewer's eye goes 
away from the focus  (not good!)

- with this direction of light,
the pillar on the bridge pulls the eye, 
the bridge and the water together

© Bridge over Troubled Water, 24 x 30, Oil, St.Germain

- choppy water, something new to paint !

-a fiery, yet stormy sky

-still to do: painting the supports of the pillar 
to the bridge

- will do when I get the painting back home!

PAINTING SOMEONE'S DESTINY

On first impression this little painting seems an innocuous goodbye gift. But it is more.
This gift was given to a woman who dared to venture out of the security of being a stay home mom with kids, and becoming a business woman in big Los Angeles. Ont only does one need guts for that, but also smarts. 

She started out very small. She operated out of her family van. Two of her daughters helped her when she would cater coffee at a big conference, wedding, or other event. That is how she still operated when she moved to a Northern state.
In the little painting I put her name on the coffee shop, which was not a symbolic gesture. 
I could see her in my imagination owning a coffee shop, and starting a chain of coffee shops.

©  Oil, St.Germain

 I believe art is not only a "different" way of seeing reality. I think with art we can "foresee" with our imagination what potential lies in the future. After all, creating means: making something out of nothing, after the Master Creator who created the earth and the universe. It is no wonder that Vincent van Gogh said, "God is the greatest artist of all."

I believe this principle is not the monopoly of artists.  The greatest gift one can give to someone else, is to relate to them the potential you see in them! 
With that, I have seen timid students during my teaching time who barely could make a C (passing grade), bloom into confident A (highest grade) students.

BRINGING GIFTS FINISHED

© Bringing Gifts, 9 x 12. Oil, St.Gemain


The wise men....

they seem to stand out this year. 

Was it their knowledge about the stars? 

Was it their passion? 

Was it their sacrifice to travel so far?

Or was it their gifts?

It seemed so foolish to give the most 

exquisite gifts to a baby in a barn. 

Which brings me to conclude that 

sometimes wisdom appears foolish

And it's foolish not to learn from that.

Notes

- focus on worshipful attitude of wiseman

-the wonder of Mary

- the star that brought the wisemen 

to visit the stable

- display of their knowledge about the universe

- purple robe...color of kings

BRINGING GOLD, INCENSE AND MYRRH

© Gifts of the Wise Men, 9 x 6, Oil., St.Germain 

- Still unfinished, what I started on Dec. 26

- since January 6 is it is the celebration of the Wise Men

 hope to finish it by then with notes 

on my meanderings of 

this little 9 x 6 inch oil painting