Events

Painter’s block – yes, it’s a thing.

Posted by Cranford
Floating market in Indonesia

I spent close to 40 hours preparing and painting, and over three months pondering how to complete, a 3′ x 4′ work based on the photo of a floating market in Indonesia. It is a fantastic photo, apparently taken from a bridge, of women in longboats full of fruits, vegetables and grains on a muddy river. I wanted to somehow convey the path of some of this produce from this market, through various other markets, finally ending up in a supermarket basket, all in the framework of these boats.

I still think it is an interesting concept, but can I make it beautiful? What Bucky Fuller said kept haunting me:

“When I’m working on a problem, I never think about beauty.
But when I’ve finished, if the solution isn’t beautiful, I know it’s wrong.”

Of course, I was thinking about beauty.

So, today, I painted over all of the boats and the few women and the few bunches of bananas and baskets of fruit I had painted. It was the emotional equivalent of a writer shredding the first 50 pages of the next, great American novel.

I have another idea for the canvas. Hopefully, you will see it posted here in less than four months.

Update, 10/14/2019: I finished the new painting on this canvas over the weekend. It took me over a week to do. I just finished it with an intense session out in the public at the Franconia fall Fest of Saturday and the early Sunday mornig before returning to show it there. Here is the result.

Valentine’s Day Paintings 2017

Posted by Cranford

For Valentine’s Day, this year, I painted on 6″ x 6″ stretched canvasses for each of our five grandchildren. It was not planned this way, but as it turned out, they all have purple or lavender in them. They say purple is the most provocative of colors. I think it is fun. These paintings have been well received on Facebook. Here goes!

Asters, etc.

“Asters, etc.” is for Brigitta, age 9. She loves green and is a very good, abstract artist in her own right (better than me). In art, anyway, I find it hard to break free from physical reality. This is a freestyle interpretation of asters, with a couple of undefined, red weed flowers blooming, above the jumble of mixed foliage below.

Goldfinch with pulple coneflowers

“Goldfinch” is for Elijah, age 9. He loves it! It is based on a photograph I had taken through the front door window of our house on Front Street. It was the same goldfinch who had serenaded me at arm’s length while I paused on my morning walk just after my open heart surgery.

Lavender Sunflower

My painting for Isabella is of a  sunflower, but with lavender petals. When she saw it, she said, “Poppop, you are a genius!” I surmise she likes it.

Bizaro Skittles

Jacob’s 11th birthday is next week. He wants a cat. His dad does not want any more animals in addition to his three sons in the house. So I painted him “Bizaro Skittles.” It is a portrait of my cat, mirrored, in purple and pale green.

yes!

“yes!” is for our 12-year-old grandson Aidan. I wrote around the sides: “Even when the answer is No, it says YES! I love you. 2 Corinthians 1:19”
It came to me that he is of the age and temperament that he needs to hear this. When his parents or other adults tell him no, it is not because they don’t want him to have fun, it is because they love him and want him to have a long and happy life. I explained this to him when I gave him the painting. He gave me a huge, tight, long hug-of-war hug.

Fun-A-Day 2017

Posted by Cranford

Fun-A-Day is a creative project that happens in various communities across the country during the month of January. Some are centered around a theme. Some are centered around a certain craft or field of art. Others are more free-form. Almost all are open to participants of all ages and skill and experience levels. The challenge is to create something new every single day of January. This is my first year participating. I just started painting on canvas, on March 1, 2016, so that is what I chose to do, illustrating each successive number on 4″ x 4″ canvasses. I have been posting these on Facebook. It has been quite a challenge. They have caught the eyes of some fellow artists from far afield. I have gained fans from India, Vietnam, Sweden, Minnesota and Pittsburgh.

I have not been doing this alone. I challenged our granddaughters, aged 9 & 10 to participate with me. They are each decorating a popsicle stick each day and arranging all of their sticks on a 12″ x 12″ canvas that gets photographed each day. My number is reduced and edited into the photos to sequence them. In the process, they are learning some basic painting and craft techniques, and we are having fun together.

My “15” took hours to paint. It was the most ambitious to date. There are 15 colors on the wedges radiating from the center (which wrap over the edge of the 2″ thick canvas frame) plus black and white on the 15.

Mark your calendar to reserve the date. The art show to view and purchase my and about a dozen other participants’ art from the greater North Penn area will be in Lansdale on February 18, from 7 pm – 11 pm. I will post more details as soon as I know them.