Strange happenings in the park

 

Where did it all begin?  I guess it all started last October when my newly discovered sister-in-law (newly discovered as a real sister-friend) took me on a golden day's trek around her part of almost-rural Massachusetts -- Concord Bridge, Walden Pond, and a favourite place of hers, the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum.  Of course, this over-sized head drew me like a magnet.

And then there was my 100 Hands project.

 

-- and my own unfinished "Bird in the Hand" cedar sculpture, about 25 years old and weathering gracefully in the back yard.  (Unfinished because I'd decided early in the game that clay would be an easier medium).

And how about those art student friends of Pontormo's -- and then a giant-sized hand sculpture that I read about in an art newsletter -- maybe one of these.

Picking up the vibes, I decided to let some art students loose in a sculpture garden.

I'd previously enjoyed the process of "carving" a painting out of a dark background so I thought I'd try it again.

I should have remembered that strange things can happen in a park after dark.  So far, there's a wise bird's head shaping up in Massachusetts marble:

  

....a pair of eerie hands...

 ...a funky student haircut...

...and other miscellanies that aren't yet ready to see the light of day.

I plan to keep nurturing this painting:

 -- and maybe next post, I'll be able to announce thumbs up.

Time for a new wardrobe

Seriously:  It's time to put winter away.  My winter doldrums paintings lingered on past the equinox but, just in time for some warm weather, I wrapped them up at the end of April.

Both of these were started in January,  inspired by strong contrasts in colours against the (psychological?) surroundings of winter darkness.  And in the tiny quick studies I made, they looked promising.

The idea for the first one hit me one day as I stepped into the commuter train.  Everyone was wearing black and almost-black garments -- a wall of blackness, with the exception of the female in the foreground with knock-out blue coat and red scarf, along with her magenta hair, and the guy with the black-white plaid scarf.  When I came to plan the painting, I added some more colour with the female on the right, another commuter I'd sketched on another day.  My crowd scene is called inevitably "Rush Hour."

The second originated with another strong contrast.  Looking into a coffee shop window near a bus stop, I was struck by  the warm golden wood table contrasting with the young woman's all-black garments and hair.  It also amused me that with all the hype about offices (and coffee shop offices!) becoming "paperless" she was still dealing with a lot of paper.  And so emerged "The Not Quite Paperless Office."

I'm not crazy about either of these, but they presented some learning opportunities -- that overworked phrase!  (Could we somehow blend Learning Opportunities with LOL !?)  And despite the winter of my discontent that I'm leaving behind, they at least confirm my continued interest in working with faces and figures.

Now let's head for the garden!