Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving America!!!




" Quietly Rusting Away" The Gibson Homestead, 6th Line Oro - oil on canvas 20x24 inches




Yesterday, we enjoyed another gift of sunshine and a continued impunity from the clutches of impending... but indecisive final winter cold. While the actual afternoon temperatures hovered around the freezing mark, it was the absence of wind combining with the warmth of afternoon sun which made the entire afternoon of painting pleasurable and productive.


I had earlier spent the morning combing through this year's images to select the one that we will use as the theme for our annual Christmas card to friends. I always enjoy this task because it gives me the opportunity to look back over the breadth of my painting adventures during the past year to identify those works that seem to be unique in technique or perhaps subject matter.


I try not to lock into only a winter mode or even a large painting format, despite the fact that it is Christmas... and that traditionally, Christmas cards by and large follow a winter format. On occasion, I have selected a "daisy"... in lieu of a "rose."That is to say... a very simple and painterly sketch... as opposed to the larger and more manicured style of the studio works. Daisies are my favourite flowers! Many of my longtime friends have walls in their home dedicated to my annuals... and I try to send them along something new and exciting for their Christmas surprise.


I had no problem selecting my favourite this year. It is one of my "intuitive" works... that is... paintings that predictably embrace my impressionistic preference in style... bright colour and attention to light. However... I purposely take a sketch and reconfigure its reality... adding a playful and expressionistic interpretation... creating exaggerated rhythm and movement in parts of the work. "Minuet d'Hiver"... or Winter Dance/ Minuet captures the Algonquin Landscape in a stately.... yet at the same time whimsical fashion.


I feel this was one of my better canvases this year. Surprisingly... despite grabbing a whole lot of attention from visitors to the Gallery... the painting remains unsold. And that doesn't bother me in the least... for I enjoy it every time that it catches my attention. I know that it too... will have its day to leave... but for now... it's mine to enjoy!!! ... "I" dance with the trees! HA HA!!!


I wanted to get my teeth into a larger canvas after all the small Hillsdale sketches. So I headed out... with no particular agenda... other than to achieve this end. It didn't take long to decide. Today's subject is a tin clad homestead belonging to an octogenarian... and somewhat stern Hobart farmer, Howard Gibson. It was his family homestead... and now sits empty... mouldering into eternity. He lives alone... farming the very same acreage as his predecessors... in a nearby white clapboard frame home... next door to Hobart United Church and Cemetery where his parents lie interred. This place is a favourite haunt of mine... you might call it "The Honey Hole"... for this ol' Bear!


I have made countless paintings up and down this 6th Line Oro... I feel most at home when I am painting along it! When I first came to the Oro-Medonte to paint, the 6th Line, like most of the Line Roads was unpaved... and virtually untraveled. Often my easel was set up in the middle of the road. Now paved and heavily used at peak times by homeward bound commuters to cut cross-country... doing thus would certainly mean moving the easel frequently... and in some settings it would be down right foolhardy to do so!


This derelict tin clad relic is unique really in this region. It has such an appealing patina for the painter's eye... with its mixtures of weather-produced rusts and aluminum paint. Surprisingly... that despite the absence of habitation for such a lengthy period... it still stands proud and tall... the ridge line of the roof remains plumb... meaning that the field stone foundation and footings are remarkable intact and stable. I omitted the large barn located directly behind the house behind the tree... because I enjoyed the relationship that seemed to exist between the tree and the house. The sun-raked and sloping middle ground of a variety of matted browning grasses and weeds made an excellent foil to the strong vertical form of the house and tree.


The blue sky... scumbled with very light cloud cover gave a wonderful cool complement to the warm grass and house beneath it. It was a very easy picture to step into... and fairly "painted itself"... from start to finish and despite the very heavy car and truck traffic on the four-laned Highway 400 running alongside me. "The Flow" draws attention away from such usually distracting annoyances.


In these late November days of tawny transition and cold... usually unattractive to many artists, one can find pleasing subjects if one makes the effort to get "out there." Look for some major subject of interest to be cradled by the myriad of rusts and browns. Good painting material can be found. This is an example of the kind of reward that awaits a painter... willing to get off the couch... dress warmly... and pack in his or her imagination along with the painting gear. It's worth the effort!


All in all... it was another magical ... another day in Paradise... Another blessing enjoyed... to be shared!


Happy Thanksgiving America!!



Many blessings... and Good Painting to ALL!!!








18 comments:

  1. And a very Happy Thanksgiving to you. Love the painting of the old house.

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  2. Hi there Angela!... Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family members! Enjoy each other's company around the table... and may rich blessings fill your life and Home!

    Glad that the "old house" pleased you!
    Thanks dor visiting and commenting!

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

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  3. Hi Bruce, I love this one. It's so full of late autumn light. I like the subject too, with the tree and house standing together, like two old freinds.

    Do I sense a lifting of the November blues?

    All the best,
    Keith

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  4. Hi there Keith!... Thanks for your comments and always welcome visit!

    The analogy of the tree-house relationship in the late light of autumn was really what went through my mind as I painted. I'm glad that you felt that feeling throught the scene as well.

    Onward and upward... another November nearly passed... and along with it "the blues". The American Thanksgiving... always at the end of this month... signals a reminder that following Remembrance... comes the need to give thanks for the blessings such as friends like you Keith! Family and friends... that's indeed what life is about!

    Good Painting!... Happy Thursday... and many blessings!

    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

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  5. You do sound happy today! beautiful painting it really is lovely to behold. Happy painting!

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  6. Hi Caroline!... Thanks for the favourable compliments and for your visit!

    Couldn't be happier with the day... or the painting. It was a fine autumn day... a bonus for this usually grey and unsettled time of the year!

    Love the beautiful handling of the sky in your new piece! It really works with that warm patch on the land directly below! A gem!

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

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  7. Truly a gorgeous old homestead, Bruce. I love the surrounding land, the line of trees. Perfection! You can almost see the original family, the warmth of hearth & home, the simple rustic life full of good food, laughter, and family values.

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  8. Hi there Sherry!... Happy Thanksgiving to "You" and your family!

    Thank you for your compliment on the homestead piece... and for sharing what it brough to mind for you.

    I truly hope that you enjoyed all of those wonderful blessings that you mentioned on your special day... to give thanks!

    We art truly blessed!

    Good Painting and Writing!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

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  9. Your paintings are more than mere depictions, they give the viewer an emotional reaction, well at least to me that is, is it their sheer beauty, it's hard to define. I viewed some of your paintings on your gallery web-site and fell in love with them all!

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  10. Hi there Diana!... Welcome to my blog forum!

    Thank you ever so much for your deeply appreciated remarks about my paintings! Given the quality of your own work and the passion that is displayed in each of them... your words are high praise in my books!

    For me... the twinning of pictorial and emotional expression results in the overall feeling of success of each painting attempted for me as the artist... and finally the feeling of connection to the work by the viewer.

    Thank you for recognizing those virtues and goals in my work! Do visit again!

    I visited your wonderful site as well... and greatly admire your consistent attention to detail and design... so strongly present in each of your still life paintings.

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

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  11. Thank you Bruce for your comment on my latest painting it is much appreciated as my battle was trying to make the land glow and the sky interesting!

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  12. Hi Caroline!... I am Glad that my comment helped you in your struggle with the sky! Always nice to be able to help a peer!

    We all encounter those battles... sometimes partly with a passage in a painting... and many times with the Muse. Such is the plight of the creatively driven mind and spirit!!

    Paint on!... and enjoy! Your work is always pleasurable to view!

    Sarmest regards,
    Bruce

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  13. Really nice painting and very good title as well. Trying to predict what will sell or get picked in a jury show is impossible!... at least for me.

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  14. Beautiful painting Bruce. I actually left a comment when this was first posted. It didn't take. Oh, well, hope this goes through.

    all the best to you,
    Joan

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  15. thank you bruce!! this is a stunning piece! beautifully done!

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  16. Hi Shirley!... Welcome to my blog!

    Thank you for your encouraging comment! I always try to have an idea in mind either before I begin... or during the painting process. I think that the verbal and non-verbal aspects of painting are interchangeable.

    I paint for myself first... the other two things either don't matter... or take care of themselves! HA HA!!

    Hope that you'll visit again!

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

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  17. Hi there Joan!.... Thanks for visiting... and revisiting... and your compliment!

    Blogger has been acting funny at my end as well! Don't know what's up there. Some technical thing probably!
    Good Painting!

    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

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  18. Hi there Suz!... Thanks for dropping by... and for leaving the uplifting comment! Always means a great deal coming from you... with your own wonderful set of skills!

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

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