Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Painting

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We are at the end of our first week on the new blog posting schedule. It’s worked out very well for me. Though I loved the discipline of writing every day, having three days free at this point has been very nice indeed. I still have to write ‘Blog’ and ‘No Blog’ in my planner, but it will soon become habit.

So remember (if you somehow missed my post about the change) Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday are the days I’ll be posting. I will not post on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.

For the past three days, I’ve been working on a painting based on a photo I took of one of the roses in the memorial garden. I’m more pleased with it than I thought I would be! It’s still very much ‘in progress.’

Here’s what I have so far:

I’ve just sketched in the leaves as they were in the photo.

I find I love – just as I did with the Pottery series – the process of adding and subtracting and refining that comes with a little time away from the painting. I often discover that I’ve been looking at a portion of the subject the wrong way, that I’ve been missing a little detail.

A big bonus: I tend to lose myself in the process. I think there’s no better feeling than that.

I was going to paint upstairs in the office but it’s a bit too warm up there in the summertime and I find I like painting at the kitchen table. Don is usually around, often strumming his guitar, and I like knowing he’s there. There’s a shared creative energy in the space. Plus, the light is much better in the kitchen, which has windows on every wall.

I am a beginning explorer of this medium, someone who grew up feeling that my talents were focused elsewhere, that Dad and a couple of my siblings had the talent for this particular medium, not me. That was fine, because I knew I was a singer and an actor and that I would make my living in the theater someday. I knew I’d been blessed.

But I can’t help thinking how chuffed my dad would be to see me playing with paint. I often think of him during these sessions. I miss him.

And to add to that, we began watching another Nordic series last night and one of the lead actors looked so much like my brother that it momentarily took my breath away. He could be his twin.

I miss him, too.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

Friday Catch-UP

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Lots of eastern swallowtails flitting around the flowers lately. A few groundhog sightings, mostly the adult groundhog who lives under the shed. We had rain yesterday but today is sunny and lovely.

There are so many flowers in bloom now! This is the time of year that makes so proud (if I might say so myself) of what I’ve created here on the property. There were a couple of plants here when we moved in and, of course, lots of trees. Everything in the six garden beds was planted, on a budget, slowly over the years. And now, almost 18 years since we moved here, we have such a lovely property. I was driving back from the library the other day and I was coming up to the house, preparing to turn in the driveway. I couldn’t believe how lovely it looked! And I had the thought that people driving by might just smile when they see it.

Anyway. It’s just beautiful out there today and I’m going to try to take it all in and appreciate it.

I went down to the mailbox on Wednesday to get the mail. Often, there are envelopes from SAG/AFTRA for Don. He gets residuals from his many appearances on television over the years. At this point, the checks are for very small amounts of money – sometimes, as little as two cents! I’ve been wondering if I would ever see an envelope addressed to me, since I qualify for residuals from Spoiler Alert. Well, I saw three SAG envelopes and as I quickly flicked through them, there was one with my name!! I couldn’t believe it! I walked back to the house and told Don. Honestly, he was more excited than me. Now, let me say the residual from Spoiler Alert  was modest – quite modest. But I didn’t care. It was just such a kick to get a residual for my little scene in the movie.

So Don isn’t the only one getting residuals.

I bought one of these dresses last year and I just purchased another one – one a year. They’re by The Pumpkin Belle, who lives in England, and they are simply exquisite. Magical! It arrived the other day and here are two of the girls modeling it;

Mabel, a pinky vision of loveliness. There’s a blue tulle petticoat which you can just barely see. Helen hand dyes her fabrics and the detail is simply stunning. There are three little bottoms at the bottom of the sleeves, as well.

And Harper. Isn’t the dress gorgeous? Helen does something to the fabric because the dress has the most beautiful scent. These dresses are a treat, of course, only for special occasions. And the girls are NOT to play in them.

I’m working on little painting of a flower. I’m not sure if I like it all, but this is the time to experiment, so I’ll keep tweaking it. I’ve also been watching a British series from a few years back: Landscape Painter of the Year. It’s fascinating. I know there’s also one for Portrait Painter of the Year. I like watching what the painters create in the four hours that are allotted to them. And how they use the paint.

And then I get overwhelmed and think, “What are you doing??? These  people have talent.”

But that’s normal. And, in the end, this is for me.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Reading and Painting

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A rainy Monday here at the cottage, and I believe tomorrow will be rainy as well.

I started a little project yesterday. I’m going to do a little oil painting every other day or so. Maybe every day, who knows? They are intended to be done quickly without too much editing (though I did do a little editing later in the day.) The intention is to simply get in the habit of painting. To see what happens. I have no idea what my style is; frankly, I don’t think I have a style. I’m a beginner, and that is painfully obvious.

So yesterday, I put a few blobs of different paint colors (I think 5) inside a little tin, grabbed a couple of brushes, and sat down on the glider on the porch. I painted one of my favorite views on the porch. It’s what? Impressionistic? Childlike? I’m not sure. But I did it in less than an hour.

That sketchbook was a gift from reader Kathy. (Kathy, I didn’t prep the paper at all. I suppose I should, but it’s thick enough to take the paint.) I didn’t have the exact colors of paint I needed and because I had vowed to stick with what I had, this is what you get.

I guess you’d call it a ‘study?’ Or a Grandma Moses-type painting? Or maybe just a Claudia-painting.

Anyway, I’m okay with this one. Don LOVES it, but I am more critical. There are things I’d do differently if I had another go at it.

I’m going to take this little journey and find out who I am as a painter. Though I loved painting all the Roseville Pottery, I don’t want to do just that. We’ll see what I come up with.

I’m posting this here to hold myself accountable. You’ll see the good, the okay, and the “what was I thinking?”

I finished the first Richard Osman – The Thursday Night Murder Club – yesterday. I thoroughly enjoyed it! It’s so well-written and plotted. How refreshing to read a book that makes me laugh out loud! While I was reading it, I ordered the next book – The Man Who Died Twice – from the library and because it turned out my local library had it on the shelves, I got it right away. I’ve just started it.

And to prove that reading a chapter a day of an epic classic really does pay off:

Check it out! Look how much we’ve read! (I say ‘we’ because Don is reading W & P, too.) We are heading toward the finish line. Sometimes I fall behind and have to play catch-up, and sometimes, like now, I’m ahead by a chapter or two. TOLSTOY!!! A frigging brilliant writer. Stunningly brilliant.

Next year we’re doing a chapter a day of Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell Trilogy, which includes Wolf Hall, Bring Up The Bodies, and The Mirror and the Light. I’m not drawn to historical fiction and usually avoid it, but when Mantel died, I read a lot about these books and I had a glimmer of an idea that I should read them. Then, when Simon (who hosts the readalong) suggested these books for next year, I was thrilled. A message from the Universe, I think.

I have no idea what I’m going to paint today, Hopefully, I’ll find some inspiration despite the gray skies.

Okay. Remember our new schedule: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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