Moonrise

Spring Moonrise

24 x 24

Available at Hildt Galleries, Chicago

Hello All! Yes, it's been a long time. It's not that I haven't been writing (I have) but just elsewhere. But, I have wanted to get back here for a long while, and here I am. Hope some of you are still out there.

Moonrises have been on my mind this week. I am teaching an online class on Nocturnes right now, and since this week is the full moon, it is not only the best time to observe the moonlit landscape but also to observe moonrise and moonset. That's because when the moon is full, it rises at about the same time as sunset, and sets at about the same time as sunrise. The sun in the opposite sky from the moon makes for lots of evocative light and color and also for interesting compositional opportunities.

Moonrise, Flood Tide

24 x 30

Private Collection

The moon and moonlight are full of mystery and mood. At full moonrise, before it is dark, we can feel the day slipping away, giving way to the night. Unfortunately for me, the skies in northeast Texas are too cloudy to enjoy the show. But, if its clear where you are, be sure to watch for moonrise at sunset tonight and moonset at dawn tomorrow!

Moonrise over the Pines

36 x 30

Private Collection

Moonlight

Salt Marsh Moon
10 x 12

Moonlight is really the subject of this little painting. Our eyes adjust to the darkness, peer into it, searching. The cool light envelops and softens the nighttime world, revealing and hiding it from us at the same time.

Painting the Night

Moonlighting
12 x 12
Available at Blackheath Gallery, London

Its probably no secret to those who have been reading this blog for a while that I love nocturnes. Like many of my visual obsessions, this one goes back to childhood. Like a lot of kids, I stayed out on summer evenings to catch fireflies and count the stars. But my most vivid memories are of a cottage on a lake where we stayed for a few weeks one summer. There was long dock with a covered boat house and screened porch where I could wile away hot summer nights watching the moon rise or the reflections of the lights from the other side of the lake.

These days I sometimes wake early to watch the full moon, huge and glowing, set outside my window. Here is a favorite poem that puts words to my fascination. Enjoy.

Moon & Water

I wake and spend
the last hours
of darkness
with no one

but the moon.
She listens
to my complaints
like the good

companion she is
and comforts me surely
with her light.
But she, like everyone,

has her own life.
So finally I understand
that she has turned away,
is no longer listening.

She wants me
to refold myself
into my own life.
And, bending close,

as we all dream of doing,
she rows with her white arms
through the dark water
which she adores

Mary Oliver

Moon Over Myakka

Moon Over Myakka
7 1/2 x 10
Vine charcoal and white conte on Twinrocker handmade paper

I made this drawing as a study for a painting for my solo show at M Gallery of Fine Art in Sarasota next month. My husband says its hokey- well actually, I asked him if he thought it was, and he said yes. Note to self: don't ask questions you don't want the answer to. I prefer to think its romantic.

The trouble is that images of Florida can seem trite even though they are of real places that actually exist (like this one). There is a sort of image overload out there that can't sort out what's real, photography, fine art, or a plastic place mat at the diner. But, of course, there are people out there that think the landscape itself is trite, and how sad is that?

I was born and raised in Florida. I am intimately acquainted with both her real beauty as well as the cheap dime store lipstick and plastic alligator version. I just hope I can do her justice.

Blue Moon

Blue Moon - 11 x 9
Vine charcoal and white conte on Twinrocker handmade paper
Available at Deborah Paris Fine Art

The full moon - the blue moon- was incredibly bright this week- lighting up the night and making for some wonderful moonlit landscapes. This drawing was made on one of several new papers I received from Twinrocker last week. I've been doing a little research on laid papers which were used by late 18th and early 19th century artists like J.M.W. Turner and Thomas Girtin. Both Turner and Gertin used a blue laid paper similar, I think, to this one. This one is called Cornflower Blue and is actually bluer than it appears on the screen. I'm getting great pleasure from experimenting with these different surfaces.

I've only a couple of spots left in the Drawing & Painting Trees online class starting in February. I've also scheduled a new Painting the Luminous Landscape online class which begins March 26, and a brand new class called The Painted Sky. Information and registration for all classes is here.

My very best wishes to all for a Happy New Year!

Early Moonrise

Early Moonrise
36 x 30
Available at Hildt Galleries, Chicago

"To rise, I must have a field to rise from."
Mary Oliver

I've been looking into phases of the moon lately and moonrises in particular. Online you can find out when the moon was full a hundred years ago or when it will be a hundred years hence (remember, hope springs eternal). What surprised me though was how often the moon rises at midday or early afternoon. When I was out walking this afternoon I looked for it. There it was almost directly overhead at 6PM. So, those early moonrises on summer nights when the moon rises as the sun sets are not so early after all.

Summer Moon

Summer Moon
36 x 30

Sold

The last week has felt a little like trying to walk fast in waist deep water. You know that feeling? You are moving but it feels like slow motion. Its part decompressing from the show, the trip home, having to deal with a bunch of stuff immediately and having a painting deadline for some larger pieces looming.

The full moon in June was just a few days before the summer solstice, which means it followed the lowest path across the sky of all full moons. That makes it appear larger to us- scientists have a number of theories about why that is, but everyone agrees its some sort of optical illusion. I'm not so sure.

Rick's Pool #4- Christmas Moon

Rick's Pool #4- Christmas Moon 6 x 6 oil
$100+$10 shipping
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The moon on Christmas Eve was huge. It never ceases to amaze me how illuminated the landscape is during a full moon.