Magic Evening

Magic Evening

8x10

Have you every read a quote that speaks to the heart? I love to collect quotes from many different sources and write them down in my black leather journal.  It's where I turn for inspiration when I'm feeling off kilter.  But this quote turned my thinking upside down.

All life is an experiment.  The more experiments you make, the better.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I was struck by the utter simplicity.  To me it means that no matter how proficient we are or what we have experienced in life, we're still always learning.  As an artist, it is especially freeing to think that every time I pick up a paintbrush, it's an experiment.  I may follow a formula or certain rules, but I can never predict the outcome.  Thanks, Ralph!

Magenta

 After bypassing this color for so many years, I found that I'm head over heels in love with magenta this spring.  I always considered it to be too bright, too loud or too something for my own palette.  Somehow it crept up on me and wormed it's way into my artist soul.  And looking back, I've always admired this color in other artists' paintings.

 Maybe it's because the crab apple tree looked so luscious this year.  I stare at it through the front window and am amazed that it looks like a giant bouquet of flowers.  At sunset the flowers turn a lovely magenta color.

 The scattered petals at the bottom of the tree on the lawn look like faerie sprinkles.  So utterly charming.

As with any new love affair, it takes a while to work things out.  These small studies are just the beginning, as I certainly need to put in a lot more studio hours into the relationship.  And to be honest, I don't know if this will be a long term relationship or just a fling.  Only time will tell.  But for now, I'm totally enamoured  with magenta.