Robert Genn's newsletter....

Below find today's article by Robert Genn. I loved it so much I reprinted it in it's entirety.

He is not only a great painter by a great writer. Reading this is a great way to start the New Year!...Ginny

I don't think our daily newspapers are going to be with us much longer. Right now we get two of them. They're delivered a few minutes apart in the early morning by two separate guys in gas guzzlers with challenged mufflers. Every time I step out to get them I think of trees. If I read the trees in bed they make a rustling noise that bothers Carol. The iPad is better.

Paper books. Libraries are now places for homeless people to keep warm. The Kindles and other electronic readers will win out. You read what you want when and where you want to; no waiting for Amazon to deliver or the local library to open up. With electronic delivery, authors get paid just the same, perhaps more. Electronic books are easy to hold, and with their uniform, controllable lighting they cause less eyestrain.

Our postman, a really nice guy, is also pretty well toast. As the P.O. goes the way of the Druids--watch it--the institution will get more weird, more expensive and less efficient. When people get used to the various systems of electronic money transfer, checks in the mail will be dead ducks. Junk mail will be pre-junked. By the way, did you know the frequency of letter writing is way up in the last decade? Who can compete with a legible email that gets to Hackensack right away and it's free?

But look out. Fine art is on the way in. In our gadgety, thing-happy society where Walmart and creeping meatballism threaten, painting is hot. Old fashioned as the shoeing of horses--about the same methodology for the last six hundred years--art fills a vital human need for life enhancement. Art reboots the cerebral cortex, teaches new skills to underutilized hands, arouses dormant sensitivities and promotes latent passions. If need be, art gives us something to talk about besides the kids, grandkids and celebrities, hence making us more interesting people. And it's cheap--a month of art supplies for the average Daumier is about the same as a round of golf.

They're now estimating 12 million painters in North America. Our sources figure four percent of Western populations have paint and brushes, up from three percent two decades ago. More painters are painting today than in the whole history of art. Done well, art has lots of ploys, feels good, makes you proud, is so frustratingly difficult it makes grown men cry, and it's not golf.

Winter Solstice

Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night in the Northern Hemisphere.

Poets over the ages have proffered plenty of advice for the coming months. Poet Pietro Aretino, born in the 15th century, said, "Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius." William Blake wrote, "In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy." There's a Japanese proverb that says, "One kind word can warm three winter months."

Emily Dickinson wrote, "There's a certain Slant of light, Winter Afternoons — That oppresses, like the Heft Of Cathedral Tunes." Existentialist Albert Camus wrote, "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." Victor Hugo once said, "Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart."

American writer Minna Antrim gave these instructions-in-verse:
"Brew me a cup for a winter's night.
For the wind howls loud and the furies fight;
Spice it with love and stir it with care,
And I'll toast our bright eyes,
my sweetheart fair."

This was taken from my daily message from Garrison Keillor. Do you get it too? The Writer's Almanac is a wonderful daily message of poems and other interesting facts. Click here.

I did this little santa (watercolor on Yupo) a year ago as a possible Christmas card and then rejected him in favor of something else. But I've always liked him. Although I am in Florida this solstice...we have had some chilly days here over the past weeks....so a little hot cider and a warm blanket can feel good down here too in December and January. I wish you all a very merry holiday!!! Sorry I've been so slow to blog this fall and I resolve to be back to my studio and sending out more frequently.

Special tribute to Leslie Johnson

It's every teacher's hope that their students will not only learn something but also have fun in a class. Today I had such a lovely gift.

One of my students from a class on paper painting that I taught in mid September up in Wisconsin was kind enough to share her finished painting.

The unfinished painting is a photo I took during the class. She's come a long way, baby!

Isn't it spectacular!!!? I am so proud of her.

You will remember from early posts on this technique (based on Elizabeth Nelson's work) that we painted our own papers (in acrylic) and using the papers we make a collaged painting.

This was done on 11 x 14 canvas board.

I sure would like to see Leslie do another one!!!

Ken Austin Demonstration

On Wednesday November 17 I had the good fortune to watch a demo done by Ken Austin at the Mt. Dora Florida art league meeting. I had seen Ken's work before and admired it.

The part that fascinated me the most was his gouache/ink technique.

This painting is an example of this.

I need to find out more about it...but it seems that after the gouache is completely dry, he gently paints the whole painting (this was a full sheet) with black ink. (not acrylic ink). He says Sennelier makes a shellack-based ink he thinks works best for this.

He leaves this on overnight and then takes the painting outside and "gently" washes off the ink with his garden hose! He mentioned as an aside that sometimes he has to press the fully dried painting at the end to remove any warping.

He mentioned that he purposely leaves white space that will be black as he paints.

I was wondering if any of you has tried this technique and has anything to offer. See this link.

Missing in Action

My blog buddies are complaining to me...why am I not posting??!!

I stand contrite. I have arrived in Fl (Oct 24) and hit the ground running...squeezing art in between other activities instead of making art first and squeezing in other things. Tsk Tsk.

I am coming back. And I do miss my art creation. I am currently preparing a syllabus for an ATC class and will send a photo VERY soon. I promise. Don't desert me. Meanwhile, let's celebrate a birthday.....

It's the birthday of Georgia O'Keeffe, born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin (1887), who was an unknown 29-year-old art teacher when a series of her charcoal drawings wound up in the hands of the photographer and art promoter Alfred Stieglitz, and he put the drawings in his art gallery on Fifth Avenue in New York City without even asking her. At first, she was angry that her work had been exhibited without her permission, but the drawings made her famous, the first American woman to be taken seriously by the art world.

She eventually met Stieglitz; they hit it off and got married. O'Keeffe eventually became even more famous for her paintings of flowers, but when asked why she chose flowers as her subject, she said, "Because they're cheaper than models and they don't move."

Promoting Watercolor

I spent this morning at the local Hawthorne Park Activity Fair promoting watercolor. I brought my journals and did a little discussion of travel journals!

We had a pastel, acrylic, collage, china painting and clay among many others for new members to the park to look over. All the clubs (over 80) presented a booth. Amazing!

Can't wait to get into my studio and get going again!

It is 93 here today in central FL...quite unusually hot for this time of year. I pray that all of you in the Midwest are okay...we hear the weather is WINDY and so dangerous!

Just got back from 11 day trip cross country between northern Wisconsin and central FL (home). Many wonderful adventures.

A few of the sketches here out of my moleskin...Top one is from Horseshoe Curve in Altoona, PA last Wed and the second was my last sketch at the north woods cabin before we left.

I have missed following blogs and posting...hope to get my art stuff unloaded and back to painting now!

A Tribute to Cezanne

"He set out to reinvigorate painting and he did just that. The French artist became the conduit between the Impressionist past and the Modernist future that was fully ushered in by the likes of Picasso and Matisse, both of whom revered Cézanne’s work. But the subject matter that propelled such success in the artist’s career was oftentimes relatively humble—apples, figures in the landscape, and kitchen scenes."

Artist Daily blog talks about Cezanne today and I am reminded how wonderful his work was!!! Still Life with Apples was painted in 1879. "Artist Daily" is a nice blog...if you google it I am sure you can find it.

Having a little fun with Tulouse

On Wednesday it was the last meeting of the Manito Art League (Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin). Artist, Jane Schmaltz, presented the group with a wonderfully creative diversion between the meeting and the pot luck lunch!

She first created mini versions of several famous Tulouse Lautrec paintings. Then she cut them into pieces and then she took blank watercolor paper and enlarged the shape of the pieces (see below).

We each took several and enlarged them without knowing what the original was. We worked in all kinds of mediums.

Assembly came later.

It was a lot of fun. Thanks Jane!!!

A Canoe Ride in northern WI in October

Our canoe ride this afternoon was quite magical.

Little Lake Tippecanoe is settling down now to wait for winter.

The reds have turned to rust and the yellows have turned to pale raw siennas. Oak leaves in burnt siennas float down around us like confetti and float like a million tiny boats all over the lake.

A late turtle hangs out on a log and a lone eagle circles above us.

The sky is cloudless and a heavy silence lays over the lake...
A lone fisherman fishes in the cove as we paddle silently by. The loons are long gone. So are most of the ducks (we find a small flock of 7 still beside one of the islands).

Piers are piled along the shore line.

Somewhere in the distance we hear a hammer...a neighbor is putting on new roof before winter comes howling down the lake.

Most of us are summer folk...headed now to warmer climes. But about half a dozen homeowners stay year round. They split their logs now in preparation for the snowy days and make sure the snow plows and snow mobiles and skis and skates are nearby.

We make our tour around and between the islands enjoying the last of the water lilies and listening for the call of the geese.

We lean lazy on our paddles now and then and see the world upside down in the reflections. The sun beats thinly on our heads now with long shadows coming early in the afternoon as the days grow shorter.

We have a week to bid our lake farewell before we head to Florida for the winter. Today was a jewel to slip into the memory box.

Paper Painting Peppers

Say that 5 times fast! :-)

I did this as a demo of the underpainting at my class on Sept 15. But for the actual paper painting I worked on the dairy cow. Now, I've begun to add some of the papers to this one.

I filled in all the dark in the background and now have just started the green peppers on the left top corner. That's probably as far as I am going to get here in WI. I am starting to pack up the studio now and get ready for the annual trek back south to Florida.

I am thinking of continuing on during the Fine Art Open House in Florida on November 5th. If I get some interest in the technique I may set up a 2 morning class. There are a number of people who paint with acrylics in our park. I'll take some extra canvas boards and rice paper.

We plan to leave northern WI either Wed the 13th or Thursday the 14th of October. October, can you believe it!!! We have a pretty solid shut-down schedule as we do this each fall. My hubby has the lakefront closed down now, pier in and boats winterized. Now we will start on the summer porches and yard furniture. Then move into the house. We drain the pipes and shut things down tight. We are a team! Nights are like 31 degrees here now and our leaves are all falling down! It was pretty but it didn't last long!

I'll probably post a few more times before we leave and maybe get out my sketchbooks during the last weeks.

A Few Subtle Changes

My hubby is always my first critic. He liked this painting very much. Words like "bright", "cheerful", "eye catching", "fun" and "hey, there's your apple peeler" were his first words! But he had some trouble "reading" the bag of flour which appeared to have too many disjoined shapes to be a single object. He's often right about these things!

So, I have simplified the flour bag shape (you can scroll down to yesterday's post to see the difference). I darkened some shadows on the bag a little and added a tiny bit more printing on it. I did glaze that apple again but in the photo it does still read pretty orange. So I think I will do a few more glazes on it and see if I can "red" it up a little more.

Now It's Time to Wait

There's always that time...when you wonder if you are done. And of course, as Judi Betts always says, "No painting is ever done. You just find an interesting place to stop."

So I'll prop it up now for a week or so and look at it when I go by. No matter what, it was entertaining and fun to paint. It will be a good illustration for the Apple Cake recipe and I will print the recipe and put it on the back of the painting! A bonus!

I see it as a nice painting for a kitchen or entry way. A sort of "welcome to my kitchen" or something. I think I may re-glaze the apple in the left foreground with more red...it appears a little too orange. Otherwise, right now...I am feeling happy about it. Someone commented on the painting being "almost an abstract". I feel that way too. More about shapes than anything.

Letting the Still Life Emerge

There are some fun styles I like to work with on black gesso. There is NO problem getting things to "pop" out. Color just has a "boing" to it.

If you scroll down you'll see the initial sketch and the first blocking on this still life.

I have a lot of fun decisions to make on this now...nothing like a rainy day to help you concentrate on "play". This kind of painting is just totally fun "play".

Working title: "Apple Cake"

It is acrylic 16 x 20 on stretched canvas.

Blocking In

Today is a good day to do a little work in the studio so I pulled out that image I did of the Apple Cake ingredients.

I did the preliminary sketch in pastel pencil on 16 x 20 canvas over black gesso. Next I will go back and see about light/dark, how to indicate the light source and what details I want to put in. Here I am just looking at composition and a little work with how I want to arrange the colors. Just fun! All girls want to do is have fun!

It is POURING rain in the north woods today. We are under a flood warning! But it cozy in the studio with music on and the sounds of the rain on the roof.

Officially Autumn

Today is the first day of fall, the autumnal equinox, where the sun is directly above the equator and the length of day and night are nearly equal. The autumnal equinox occurred early this morning at 3:09 UTC, Coordinated Universal Time. But here in America, the equinox occurred last night, at 11:09 on the East Coast.

I looked up the daylight hours for Lac du Flambeau, Wi (northern Wi) and we have 13 hours and 7 minutes of daylight now. And we are losing 3 minutes and 13 seconds of daylight each day.

Normal temperature for today is 59 and we'll be at about that temp most of today. Although we are in a flood watch today with 100% chance of thunderstorms. A perfect day to paint!!!

These leaves are from my walk along the forest roads two days ago shortly after a rain storm...the sun came out and we had a brilliant morning and the wet leaves on the roads glistened like they had been freshly painted! Or freshly given a gloss coat of varnish! The sky after the rain was so clear it gave you a sense of being in a 3D movie. And the sky was a deep Cobalt blue against the gambouge yellows of the birches. I am holding off painting leaves this fall...and rather concentrating on a still life of apple cake and my glorious peppers.

We have 3 weeks left in the north woods now during which time we will see the leaves all fall and probably some snow showers arrive turning fall to winter in such a brief flash. I see from reading my favorite north woods almanac Graced By the Seasons: Fall and Winter in the Northwoods by John Bates, that in the year 2000 on October 7, Lac du Flambeau area had 7" of snow! I wonder if I should invest in a pair of boots?

Setting up for a Still Life Painting

One of the things we did in my class last Wednesday was to talk about "themes" or painting in a "series" and how powerful that can be.

One theme I enjoy is cooking. Although I do not do a lot of baking or gourmet cooking which I am sure some of you do...I still find the ingredients to be wonderful and beautiful and there is surely an element to food that applies and touches us all.

I was thinking of that today while I made my apple cake. I shall have to post this again when it turns into a painting!

Recipe for Ginny's Fresh Apple Cake

3 eggs

1-3/4 cups sugar

1 cup oil

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

5-6 apples peeled and cut thick

1 cup halved walnuts

Do not use a mixer for this cake. Blend eggs, sugar, oil. Add flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda. Add apples and nuts. Baked in greased 9 x 13 pan at 350 for l hour.

I top this with a dollop of cool whip or whipped cream. Good warm with vanilla ice cream.

Smells like fall when baking!

Paper Painting Today

The paper painting and acrylic class I taught was today in Woodruff, WI. I taught 5 gals and we so enjoyed being together in a cozy place on a cold and rainy Wednesday!

Here we are mid-morning watching Elizabeth St. Claire Nelson's video as part of our preparation for the technique...which new to everyone!!!

One person started her Christmas card with birch trees, wreaths and a lovely cardinal...and the other painting will be a big pot of beautiful plants with leaves of all colors! They all did a great job and we all had fun!!!

Paper Painting Class

One always has SUCH a variety of subjects and styles in any class. This one was no exception.

The pumpkins are in underpainting stage with the pumpkin in the far back the only part with paper on it.

Lots more happening on the bear painting...directly from a photo of one in her back yard recently. (Remember we are in the north woods of Wisconsin!)

The eagle is a local guy too...and she has "just" begun to put the paper on this one.

PhotoShop

My friend, Lou Fitton, in Canada was talking by email to me the other day about "posterizing" a photo and then using it as a useful tool for creating a painting.

So this evening I booted up my photoshop to see if I could play with some images.

I used my 14 year old grandson, Nate, for the portrait image.

There are a ton of ways to posterize the image...this top one is just one of hundreds of ways. It boggles the mind.

The second image is called "ink sketch" and the last one is "colored pencil" . Each of these images can be tweaked about 50 different ways also.

I am sure many many of the friends of this blog have used Photoshop in tons of ways to enhance a photo for inspiration.

If anyone has a favorite one or can give me (and Lou) a heads up on any good art tips based on photoshop, let us know.

Looking at these makes my fingers itchy to get started!

Meanwhile I am preparing to head out in the morning to Woodruff, WI to teaching an acrylic class in paper painting. Photos to follow.