DRAMATIC ROCKS AND TREES

I'm taking a class with Tom Pollock at the Art School at the Old Church in Demarest, NJ.  One of the class members gave me a compliment and said this painting was "dramatic".  ...or "dynamic"....I can't remember.
Tom is a teacher who lets everyone paint what they want and goes around helping each person reach their potential.  He has been continually on my back to go "darker"...so "darker" I went.  Watercolor can be a little scary...and I've always been afraid of going darker.  He says he's trying to get everyone in the class to "go on the dark side."
So..this is a painting of my favorite park along the Hackensack River...next to the Riverside Square Mall in Hackensack, N.J.  Not many people find this park, but it is a favorite place now for my group of art friends, sponsored by the Cresskill Congregational Church, UCC ....www.cresskillucc.org.

A QUICK LOVELY SWAN PAINTING

Last summer, my partner and I travelled to Rockport, Mass.  We spent a week and then visited my son and his family who were in the process of moving to the Boston area.
One afternoon, we walked along the ocean shore in Rockport.  There was a small inlet with just one swan swimming in circles.  He (or she) was very gentle and complacent.
As I watched her swimming, I felt very peaceful.  Sometimes it's good to be alone, just "being", thinking and enjoying the sunshine.

I did this painting in Paulette Cochet's class at the Alpine Community Center.  The first thing we did was wet the whole watercolor sheet and then (leaving areas white), come back with blue, yellow and light red primary colors.  When I looked at the area of white, the swan just seemed to fit in there.  I had a photograph I used as reference....and there he (or she) is.

TRYING TO DO PORTRAITS

Well, I took a class last summer at the Montclair Museum art school.  It was just a one day session ...doing a portrait....with pencil and white conte crayons.
I actually succeeded.  Here's the portrait I did at home after the class. This is one of my granddaughters and it actually looks like her!
But now...I keep trying....and I'm still struggling with getting a likeness of my other two grandchildren.  FRUSTRATION!   But that's what art is.

Hi everyone,
I haven't added a painting to my blog in a couple of years....because I've been so absorbed with making quilts at the Teaneck Senior Center.
Here's a photo of my latest creation, destined to be delivered to my son's new apartment in the Boston area...very soon.
Love those wolves and polar bears!  I'm hoping it will bring the energy of the animals to their new life there.
I am getting back to painting again, taking classes with Paulette Cochet at the Alpine Community Center.

She's a great teacher with lots of interesting techniques to share.  Send me an email to kathylindner123@yahoo.com and I can let her know you'd be interested in being on her email list.

Peace and Calm at a Bed and Breakfast

This painting is of a room at a Bed and Breakfast on Chincoteague Island, Virginia. I believe it was called the Watkins House, but I am not sure they are still in business.
There is nothing more wonderful than a night or two at a B and B to calm your nerves, give you time to think and contemplate what you will do next on this wonderful life journey. I stayed here for two nights after a long trip back from North Carolina when I visited my daughter and her family...a couple of years ago. When I look at the painting, I have the same feeling of calm and relaxation I felt when I was there. I am grateful to all the B and B owners who make this possible for us.
This and the paintings below are now for sale, complete with dark walnut frames. If interested, call me at 201-928-1787. Plan a rest for yourself soon!

PAINTINGS FOR SALE

Here are two other 12 x 16 water-soluble oil paintings for sale, including the one in the post below. The first is a cozy house next to my favorite park in Teaneck, NJ. Title: Cozy house. The second is a scene in Votee Park in Teaneck, NJ.
Title: My favorite rocks. Each comes with a deep walnut frame.
If interested, call me at 201-928-1787

Inspiration from Edward Hopper

I recently took a class at the Art School in Demarest, NJ. I experimented with water-soluble oil paints. I used to work in oils, but couldn't stand the smell.

Now I have found a new medium that looks like oil...but it is odorless and cleans up with water.

One of our assignments was to copy a master painter in our medium. Hopper worked in regular oils, but I copied his Coast Guard house. See how he is a master of having the light hit the building. Now if I can just do that on the paintings that are my ideas.

This 12 x 16 painting and several others I did in the class are for sale. Call me at 201-928-1787. The other paintings are in the posts above.

Koi fish to make you happy!

Have you ever watched Koi fish? Recently, I photographed the Koi fish swimming in a tank in our local Chinese restaurant.

The owner was so excited that I was photographing his fish. When my camera's batteries died, he eagerly found some replacements for me...so I could keep photographing.

The Koi, originally brought to rice paddies to serve as food for the workers, were patiently bred by the Japanese for their glorious colors and patterns.

They are the subject of beautiful Koi art, myths and Japanese folklore.

They have individual personalities, make wonderful pets, and can be trained to eat out of your hand. I read one account where the owner would pick up his koi, throw him back in the pond, and he would come swimming back for some more "play".

Perhaps we have many things to learn from the koi fish. Here's a painting I did of two that looked like they were "in love".

CHINCOTEAGUE HORSE

This past June I travelled to Chapel Hill, N.C. to visit my daughter, Carla, husband, Jeremiah and their 3 year old twins, William and Sophia.

As she has lived there, I've had other opportunities to see new scenes along the way.

This time, I stopped for two nights on Chincoteague Island, off the coast of Virginia. I stayed at the Watson House, a lovely B &B and enjoyed the day visiting the horses on the island.

There is a "Rune" stone I picked once which represents the horse. It's called Ehwaz. Ehwaz is a Rune of transit, transition and movement...of new dwelling places, new attitudes or new life. It also signifies movement in the sense of improving or bettering any situation. " As I cultivate my own nature, all else follows." Sometimes I just need to visit horses.

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

from THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

by Robert Frost

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence;

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

When I travelled to Ithaca to see Ethan, my son, Amy, my daughter-in-law and Lily, my granddaughter, there are two ways to travel. One is out Rt. 80, the other is out Rt. 17 West. I chose Rt. 17 and was astonished at the scenic views along the way. The photos I took have made all the difference in the reference material I now have for my paintings. Wouldn't it be wonderful to live on this farm? Perhaps some day I will have a house in the country where my children and grandchildren can visit. We could watch the birds, turkeys and deer as my son and his family do... in Ithaca....and I would have more and more scenes to paint.

WHICH ROAD WILL YOU TAKE.....IN LIFE?

SNOW HAD FALLEN SNOW ON SNOW

This painting was done from a photograph I took on the way to visit my son and his family in Ithaca, New York. I planned the trip to coincide with seeing the snow on the barns and the breathtaking views as I drove up Rt. 17 in New York State.

The snow in winter always gives me a sense of peace, warmth and quiet. It is a time for me to slow down, as if I was a hibernating bear... to think, plan and reflect on the year before and the year ahead....when the spring will finally come.
As I was painting, all I could think of was the hymm:
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow on snow, in the bleak midwinter long, long ago.
Christina Rosstti (19th C))

GOD'S GARDEN

God's Garden is not really a place where flowers grow. It is a place where people grow. It is where all of us are right now. We are always in this garden from the time we are born until the time we die. Hopefully in life we will grow in the right direction and that direction is toward God. We are all here for the same reason. We have to sprout and grow wings like a bird in order to fly there. Either way it will be a rough journey and growing is usually a pretty painful process. Our lives here are not about what we are going to get....but about what we are going to give.

I painted this painting from a photograph of a garden in Bay Head, N.J. I had seen and painted this garden before, but, somehow, I was drawn back to it. I wanted to see it in a new way.

I was in Point Pleasant, N.J., nearby, preparing to sell my deceased parents' house. My brother, who had lived in the house, had passed away in Jan. 2007. It was a difficult time for me.

This garden represented hope for me. The whiteness of the fence and the beauty of the flowers was like a balm for my grief. Many of the plants in my parents' home are now still living and settling in to new peoples' homes. We all need to move on after difficulties in our lives.

I encourage all my artist friends, and others, to use their creative talents to focus on the immediate beauty around us. I know so many people who seem to seek to travel all over the world to find new sites and experiences.

Think about looking in your own backyards or down the street to see things in a new way. It is at that point where you notice something that you haven't really looked at before......that you will gain new insights and, perhaps, be able to create a really beautiful work of art.

I WISH YOU ALL CREATIVE ENERGY.....AND HOPE!

Love, Kathy

WHERE THERE IS DARKNESS

This is a painting in watercolor and pastel of a column in a hall at the Cloisters in New York.
I was fascinated by the original photograph with the small window leading to the light.

HELP US IN THIS ADVENT SEASON TO ALLOW THAT LIGHT TO SHINE THROUGH US, SO THAT THE DARK AREAS OF OUR LIVES CAN BE PIERCED BY CHRIST'S LOVE.
From a service at the Cresskill Congrega-
tional Church,
Cresskill, N.J.
Sunday, Dec. 2nd.
http://www.cresskillucc.org/



WHERE THERE IS DARKNESS,
LIGHT

From the Poem of St. Francis

If there is darkness in your life at present, it is my holiday wish for you all....that light may shine through and make your way easier.


BLESSINGS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT A TOWER....

There is something about a tower of a building that brings me closer to God. I often choose to paint a tower, a steeple or a lighthouse, reaching up to the sky.
It seems to reach up to heaven. This is the tower of the Tenafly, NJ railroad station that has been turned into "Angelique's cafe." The food is great!
Last time I met a friend there for lunch, a train actually went by like in an old-time movie.
"What lovers of beauty seek in paintings, in sculpture, in dance, in music is just a reflection of the absolute beauty that is God."

From Words to Live by, Inspiration for Every Day, by Eknath Easwaran

I WENT TO THE WOODS

I went to the woods because I wished to live

deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. Henry David Thoreau

This is a watercolor/pastel painting of the Celery Farm pond in Allendale, NJ.

The shape of the two trees seemed "linked together". The pastel makes the painting more powerful when used over the watercolor. The water did remind me of Thoreau's Walden pond in Massachusetts. Spending time in nature helps me slow down, THINK, and just BE.

FOCUSING ON DRAWING A TREE!

I drew this tree in the Tenafly, NJ town park as our Artists' Circle group was working there in Sept. 2007.
There were many scenes to draw, but I decided to focus on a large beech tree. I drew the outline of the tree trunk and branches, but then never looked at the tree again.
I realized I couldn't focus on the tree and drawing the tree. So I concentrated on just looking at the paper as I worked. The pale beige pastel paper became the light areas of the tree. A single piece of dark brown pastel chalk was used for all the ridges of the bark. None of those ridges were actually on the real tree, but by focusing on the drawing, the tree was formed and actually looked like an oak tree. The pale blue was added to the center trunk, making it look a little further away.

"Your focus will emerge naturally out of your sense of who you are and why you are here, and it will most likely resonate with your God-given talents and interests." Thomas Kinkade

Balancing Act

This painting was done this August, 2007 from a photograph of the Catskill Creek in Freehold, N.Y.

When I saw the balancing rocks, I was amazed. How did they get that way? The rock emerging from the water had another rock perfectly placed on top of it! Perhaps the creek was higher at some time, causing this unusual arrangement.

I reflected on things happening in our lives: the death of a loved one, a change of a job, conflicts in relationships, etc., that cause us to be "out of balance."

The lesson of the rocks is to come back to our center, take deep breaths and regain our balancing point.

"To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out ot the nest." from Pema Chodron - When Things Fall Apart, Heart Advice for Difficult Times.

Meditate on these rocks when you may need them.

Fall is coming!

Hi to all my friends,

Fall is coming! The days are getting shorter. When I am up at 5:30 walking Alex, my dachshund, it's already dark here in Teaneck, NJ.

I hear from my son in Ithaca that it's already getting cold up there. And it's only mid-August.

For your viewing pleasure, here is one of my favorite paintings.

I did this last year after our church's "pumpkin festival". Soon the pumpkins will be out on the lawn again..for sale.

The painting will be hanging in the church lounge soon, after the renovations of the interior of our church are completed.

You can sit all day and look at pumpkins. The light hitting one side of them makes them look so beautiful!

Get out those sweaters!

Kathy

ARTISTS' CIRCLE GATHERING - Aug.11,2007

The Artists' Circle has been meeting one Saturday a month since Sept. 2006, sponsored by the Cresskill Congregational Church in NJ.
After I attended Judi Bett's art class last summer (also at the Hudson River Valley Art School) one of the artists suggested a book: Art and Fear by David Bayles. The author suggests the following in order to motivate yourself to keep working at your art: "Make friends with others who make art, and share your in-progress work with each other frequently!" Well it's worked. Here we are at our recent meeting at a member's lovely home and pool. We enjoyed a delicious barbecue prepared by Elaine and Bob. There's my partner,Darryl, and friends Lorraine, William, Zohra and Wendy busily sketching and painting by the side of the pool. There were a total of 20 artists there that day. As we looked at each other's work, it was amazing to see how each member keeps improving! There is a group energy happening that keeps everyone excited and eager to do a "next" painting.
At our art show at the church in June, we actually sold a few things! Please send me an email at kathylindner123@yahoo.com if you'd like some more information about joining our group.
"Uncertainty is the essential, inevitable and all-pervasive companion to your desire to make art. And tolerance for uncertainty is the prerequisite to succeeding!" David Bayles and Ted Orland, from Art and Fear.

Stanley Maltzman's art class - Drawing Nature

I worked with Stanley Maltzman at the Hudson River Valley Art School July 22-28, 2007. Here he is doing a demonstration of a pastel impression of the Catskill Creek.
What fun carrying all our art stuff down to the creek, sitting at the water's edge and working on a painting.
Stanley is in his late 80's and has more energy than most of us in the class.
He also teaches a winter class of drawing trees and snow...also at the Hudson River Valley Art School.
Soon I will show you the painting of the creek I am working on at home.