Breakfast
I don’t even want to think about how much time I spent on the border all told. It’s enough that I always enjoy a border, once it’s there. I will probably continue to do them, at whatever sacrifice of time. It’s hanging now in a show at the Iowa County Courthouse in Dodgeville, 2nd floor.
(Update: I donated this painting to the Nursing Home where my mother died in October of 2014.)
Prefatory Statement: I’m on a quest to own all of Dick Francis’ novels on audio CD, so that’s why you will see so many of them reread this year. I’d rather listen to Tony Britton or Simon Prebble than anyone else on earth. I have read all these novels before, some of them at least twice before, but I’m listening as I’m painting and Dick Francis always bears listening to again.
Detail from Hazelnut Torte with Beverly of Graustark
Cleopatra, a Life by Stacy Schiff — an excellent biography, eschewing the stereotype of Cleopatra as a vamp and emphasizing her political shrewdness and determination, not to mention the ruthlessness that characterized all the Macedonian rulers of the Hellenistic Age.
Proof by Dick Francis — In our family Dick Francis novels are reread many times as tried and true entertainment
Flying Finish by Dick Francis — possibly the most exciting ending of all his books
The Beacon at Alexandria by Gillian Bradshaw — at least my fourth reread, the perfect historical novel
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson — I loved this book! I loved everything about it: it’s Britishness, it’s humor, it’s decency, it’s funniness! Highly reommended!
The Sun’s Bride by Gillian Bradshaw — a newer (and shorter) novel of Bradshaw’s about piracy (seagoing) and the arts in the Hellenistic world. As usual, I was rooting for Bradshaw’s characters and enjoying historical fiction that is entirely palatable, not full of gratuitous violence or a bleak estimation of human nature.
I Think I Love You by Allison Pearson — by the author if I Don’t Know How She Does It, recently made into a movie, this one was equally good; about a girl who wins a contest to meet David Cassidy, but doesn’t find out for 24 years. As in the first novel, the reader is privy to virtually all the character’s thoughts and feelings, and the plot sort of grows out of it. I enjoyed it.
1434 by Gavin Menzies — how the Chinese jumpstarted the Italian Renaissance; very eye-opening and completely fascinating!
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain — biographical novel about Ernest Hemingway’s first marriage and their life among the literati in France and the Riviera; paints a very good portrait. I completely enjoyed it.
Churchill by Paul Johnson — short biography of Winston; his 2nd WW leadership was moving and inspiring. Winston Churchill painted when he was defeated and depressed, because “you can’t think of anything else when you’re painting.” I agree that painting is the best remedy for despair. You really can’t do both at the same time, unless your painting actually generates despair, which it sometimes can.
I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron — fun, light reading
Lost in Shangri La by Mitchell Zuckoff — true life adventure story about being stranded among head-hunting aborigines in New Guinea. Great reading!
Out of Character: Surpising Truths about the Liar, Cheat, Sinner (and Saint) Lurking in All of Us by David DeSteno and Piercarlo Valdesolo — interesting discussion of psychological tests that demonstrate how human nature really works. The explanation of conscience by evolution sounds fantastical to me though, and I would have preferred not to be bothered with such unconvincing discursions.
An American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin — good read; Portrait of a Lady with a happy ending; doesn’t have the literary elegance or penetration of Henry James or Edith Wharton, but it’s a quality novel.
A Brief History of Anxiety by Patricia Pearson — a very well-written personal memoir, with critical reflections on how anxiety disorders are treated in the US. I recommend it.
Her Royal Spyness, A Royal Pain, Royal Blood, and Naughty in Nice by Rhyss Bowen — Geneia and I enjoyed these light mysteries about a destitute, but plucky royal — 32nd from the throne — during the 1930s.
Second Wind by Dick Francis — our favorite travel author; I’ve only read this one once before, so I wasn’t able to quote it verbatim
Trial Run by Dick Francis
Conquistador by Buddy Levy — very good history of the conquest of Mexico by Hernan Cortez. The narrator was criticized on audible.com for sounding like the Frito Bandito when speaking for Cortez, and I had to admit he did a bit. I think he was doing “tough soldier” and that just happened to sound like “you know who,” but the narrator does an excellent job of pronouning all the Aztec names and of not losing the listener. I highly recommend it.
Break In and Bolt by Dick Francis — among my favorites. I love the relationship between steeplechase jockey, Kit Fielding, and Princess Cassilia, for whom he rides.
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin — I had to read this again before I saw the movie and I enjoyed it just as much the 2nd time. Believable characters.
The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough — McCullough writes about the Americans whose lives were changed by the culture, education and freedom they found in a Paris residency over the course of the 19th Century; not necessarily the ex-pats most known and associated with Paris. I found most moving the story of Elihu Washburn, the only diplomat of a major country to stay in Paris through the Franco-Prussian War, the seige and the terror of the Paris Commune. He was a brave, compassionate, and unself-sparing man who helped protect as many as he could. I’m excited to tour his house in Galena, now that I’ve read about him and found him so inspiring.
Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer — old favorite from highschool
The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearlsey — enjoyable romantic fiction about time-travel, Cornwall, the Jacobite Cause. It reminded me very strongly of Mary Stewart’s The Ivy Tree. It was fun to find out that Mary Stewart is Kearsley’s favorite author. We are kindred spirits!
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles — extremely well-written evocation of 1930s New York. I’m not kidding; this guy’s prose is jaw-dropping! He’s one of those very few men who can write convincingly in the persona of a woman, like Arthur Golden in Memoirs of a Geisha.
Confessions of a Shopaholic and The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella — These books are so much fun and narrators, Emily Gray and Roslyn Landor, are absolutely perfect in their two roles.
Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength by Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney — not that willpower really had to be rediscovered by us nonpshychologists, but this is very interesting and useful read. I highly recommend this!
Hannibal by Harold Lamb — very good book I read as an introduction to the 2nd Punic War
Breakfast being revised
As I’ve posted recently, I’m revising old paintings I still have around, improving them without completely repainting them. Here I am in the process of painting a border around a painting I did in the 90s. It’s a picture of my daughter and her friend, Callie, eating breakfast in our dining room. This room (backdrop) has gone through revisions too and the rosemalled Schrank visible in the corner has moved. Now, I have Scandinavian-looking, built-in cupboards and a window seat at the end of the room. This painting did not originally have a border. There was a time when I was painting borders regularly. They add a storybook quality to a painting and visually augment the framing. I’ve had a very positive response from viewers. The thing is, as worthwhile as they are, they add a considerable number of hours to the creation process…(Also see how my studio reflects complete concentration on painting and none on organization — I’m so disciplined!)
Repainting the border
As you can see in the first photograph, I had originally painted the border a light blue with an off-white Celtic Knot design on it. Then, I decided it was too pale. I wanted to draw out the primary colors in the painting, like the dark blue trim of the tiles and the red, Scandinavian runner, so I repainted it with a cobalt blue mixture, all the while refining the Celtic knots. When I’d finished, I decided I still didn’t like it and repainted it a sort of lilac. I know that doesn’t sound appropriate, but I had done a smaller version of this painting, with the figures in a different position, as a hostess gift for my father’s cousin’s family (Olli Heikkinen) when we went to Finland in 2000. We stayed with them in Helskini. I loved the colors in the border of that one. See below.
Hostess Gift July 2000
The image of this painting is actually a photograph of a print I made of it before I went to Finland. The original was painted on an untempered masonite panel, rather than a canvas, so it is smoother and more watercoloresque. The colors aren’t as brilliant, but I’ve always loved it. One of the artists who give me positive feelings of coziness and comfort is Carl Larsson, who did many paintings of his family and home in Sweden. Those paintings have provided inspiration in the decoration of my kitchen and dining room. Anyway, as you can see, the border is rather lavender or periwinkle, so that is why I went in this direction after the cobalt border.
Here it is in its current manifestation:
Breakfast
Artemis and her Hounds
I’ve been waiting for it to snow in southern Wisconsin, so I could finish this painting, the fourth in my Greek Myth series, of the goddess of the hunt, Artemis. My huntress has left the brilliant sunlight of Greece for northern climes and the peace of the snowy forest. Last Sunday I skied in fresh snow on the hills of Governor Dodge State Park, where this landscape is set. Today, I went skiing in Blue Mounds State Park in very warm weather. I didn’t need my Norwegian sweater, so Artemis can keep it a while longer.
Here is a poem about the north, written by someone who is also Finnish, and shares my love of the north woods.
Driving at Night
Up north, dashboard lights of the family car
gleam in memory, the radio
plays to itself as I drive
my father plied the highways
while my mother talked, she tried to hide
that low lilt, that Finnish brogue,
in the back seat, my sisters and I
our eyes always tied to the Big Dipper
I watch it still
on summer evenings, as the fireflies stream
above the ditches and moths smack
into the windshield and the wildlife’s
red eyes bore out from the dark forests
we flew by, then scattered like the last bit of star
light years before.
It’s like a different country, the past
we made wishes on unnamed falling stars
that I’ve forgotten, that maybe were granted
because I wished for love.
–Sheila Packa
Artemis and her Hounds, Oil on Canvas, 22×28, Sold
I didn’t retouch Orpheus and Eurydice, but I did write a sonnet about them:
Orpheus and Eurydice
In myth, a man could claim from death the one
he loved, could find the entrance to the place,
spelunk its spacious, hallways woebegone,
Cerberus quell with serenade, retrace
his steps and charm the beasts, flatter Hades
in his lair with a voice so soulful sweet
and mien so comely, naiads, dryads, ladies
fair, languished ‘bout. Yet how this feat
resolved in naught is cautionary, the stuff
of tales: Eurydice lost by a backward glance
as Orpheus led the way. It’s like enough
his turning round was nothing but mischance,
but when I think, I’m impelled to query,
“Was her walking behind him necessary?”
NBH
Orpheus and Eurydice
Odysseus and Circe retouched
On the Salesman and the Farm Wife, I softened the contrast of the grass against the gravel on the road at the back of the painting. I touched up the pigs almost all of them and repainted the grass. Last year, I painted down to the wire for the Artsbuild Show 2011 and submitted the painting still wet. I wasn’t quite satisfied though and always intended to go back to it. I also intensified the contrast of the sun shining on the Salesman’s hair, worked on his coat a bit and darkened the frame of the doors. I didn’t touch the Farm Wife. I still think she’s perfectly lovely, like a French model…..in an American farmhouse. Go figure!
But it’s myth, right? So anything can happen.
The Salesman and the Farm Wife, aka Odysseus and Circe, Oil on Canvas, 12×24, 12×24, $1200 USD
No Frigate like a Book
In preparation for being the featured artist at Longbranch Gallery (Mineral Point) in December 2011, I retouched some paintings, improving edges, heightening or diminishing contrast, or just changing things that bugged me. On No Frigate like a Book, I softened the edges of her upper arms, her shoulder on the right, the back of the chair and repainted the shine on her hair. I also gave the pages of the book a bit of sepia tone, though you can’t tell at all in the picture. I immediately liked it better, because the areas of greatest contrast and interest were enhanced. The parts I wanted to draw less attention to, even though they were well lit, like her upper arms, now have softer edges. It’s a better painting now.
Girl with Pug retouched
On Girl with Pug, again featuring my beloved model, Anna, I softened the shadowed side of her sleeve to make it recede more. It’s not the way it actually was. The old, muslin fabric of the blouse became whiter where it doubled at the crease. In reality, it looked quite bright on the underside of her arm, but it always bothered me. So, I changed it.
No Frigate Like a Book, Oil on Canvas, 20×24, $1000 USD
Girl with Pug, Oil on Canvas, 11×14, $425 USD
Sculpted Bark
The second step in making Faux Bois is pressing the concrete mixture into the wire armature. You can see three steps in the pictures in this Blog entry. On the right side of the bench above and in the picture below, you’ll see one coat of concrete.
Concrete forced through wire armature
I began with the supporting legs and the back.
Second coat, beginnings of bark
I didn’t immediately cover the entire bench with concrete, because I wanted to keep it from getting too heavy to lift. I was working in my garage here in early October, with winter coming on, heating the space with an electric heater, using daylight, when it was available, and reflector lights, when it wasn’t. The heaviest part of the bench will be the seat, so I left that concrete free for the moment. After the initial layer of concrete had cured, I began laying on a second coat. You can see a sort of Red Pine look on the right cross-support. In the top picture, I’ve decided I wanted Ash bark instead.
At this point, I have the entire bench covered in concrete. It is sitting in a corner of my garage for the time being. I’m hoping I can arrange a better (read warmer and brighter) place to work on it over the winter, but if I can’t, it will simply live in my garage until spring.