Vacation

  Hal and I spent the last 2 weeks in east Tennessee helping our daughter and son in law screen their porch.She bought a 1932,  and is gradually working on things.  The porch looks very nice.
The area was at the height of fall color....really beautiful. We were with them for our 49th anniversary so that was special  for us.
  Did a little sight seeing in Jonesboro, the state's oldest town.  They celebrate story telling each year.  That sounded fun to me and hope to go next season.  We did find  a lovely small gallery and bought myself a necklace and earring set,  An interesting little town.
  My right hand is still very shaky, but went to my acupuncturist yesterday and hope to see some improvement.  I will give it a real test this week when I start painting from one of my sketches.
At lease I won an award on a watercolor at a small exhibit here so I have some hope on things.  Next week I'll find out how it goes.
  Last night I went to a debut exhibit for Sara Beth Baca at the Imperial Arts Gallery in Rosenberg.  It was a nice showing and a nice artist.  I hope she does well.
  Til next week.......

Sketch

My computer and I haven't been speaking this week, but got a photo (not necessarily a good one) of a possibly usable sketch for a painting.  The printer is not speaking to the computer either, so I had to take the pic with a camera outside and download it to here. 
But it rather obviously is a relationship between a couple and their server.

I will be off the computer until I get the bugs out, so will be back in a couple of weeks hopefully.

I realize it's kind of hard to tell what's going on.  So thanks for looking, anyway.

back to the beginning

Time this week has really sped by and I have been so busy reworking my studio I have gotten much else done.  But I wanted to tell a little bit about how I decided on this "relationship" series.  It was something that had I had on the back of my mind for years, but hadn't worked out how to translate to paper/canvas.  We went out to dinner and this young man came up and "My name is Jimmy or Janis and I will be your server tonight.We smiled politely and said hello and maybe placed out order and didn't think about it anymore except when our food was put before us.  I don't know about you, but I doubt if I could remember his face or even his name by the end of the night.  He was almost invisible.

    Do you see him in this picture?  I guess he really is invisible.  Look for him soon.

Step 2 in my sketch/painting.

'With this Ring"

This is my working sketch for the finished painting.  I will add a few minor adjustments

when I paint it  In a small sketch it's hard to apply small accents.

Development of an Idea

Newest sketch for my relationship series, it's called simply "wedding vows".  I was taken by the joy and love these two young people felt at their wedding.  But, how much do they really know about each other,  As a long married woman, I am very comfortable with my husband and love him dearly.  But there is an inner part that neither of us will truly comprehend about the other.  We have learned to accept these strange (to us) parts and can sometimes anticipate reactions, when out of the blue he can come up with a truly unexpected thought.  And  there is always that little masculine or feminine reaction that the other can never quite decipher.
So I decided to include the young, romantic in this series.
This is a first sketch.  I thought you might be interested to see how it progresses from here to finished painting.

Relationship Series

"Siblings"

I don't know why this is blue, but it doesn't really matter.

This piece is a bit more obscure.  I was just so taken by the pose that I hope you will be, too.  Of course, I know the real relationsip between these two.  But I want you, the viewer, to find one of your own making.

This sketch may need a bit of refinement, but over all, I think I got what I wanted.  I hope you enjoy building your own interpretation.

I have another idea in the making. That is, another slightly "obscure" one.  But then in a series I have to give myself a little room to expand. But this is a series a long time in the planning.  Kind of a hoping I can figure out how to translate my thought's into 2D.  Painting them is still vague in my mind.  I feel it lends itself to watercolor more easily  I haven't worked in watercolor for awhile and my little finger is still tingly.  The last time similar to this a really challenging commission and I was under the gun because I had broken my arm (same right arm as now).  Actually I found working in watercolor was great therapy for my wrist.  That painting was a success though, so it gives me courage.  I think I'll work on more ideas first.  It's funny how once you make a jump into the first one, find a road into your mind so to speak, it's like a sieve, for a little while anyway, and new ideas keep dropping out.  Of course there's always the danger of running dry. So I break it by drawing and let my brain catch up.  Otherwise, my brain gets too crowded and I feel overwhelmed.

Somehow, now that I am old, I have become acutely aware of all the jokes about us OLD guys, who can't remember things (true, sometimes) and know I can't let that interfere with creating.  And so, I will just keep on keeping on for now and hope I don't lose sight of the few things that don't change too much.  Hence, relationships..

Thanks

  I appreciate so many of you responding to my sketch. It is interesting to see the different conversation it had with people, but they all seem to embrace the concept.
   Now I am debating whether to do these pieces small in watercolor, or medium size in oil. My right hand is still pretty shaky and not helped by a tingling little finger.
   Funny how once I got started the ideas are coming fast.  I better get to work.

Thinking about my Challenge

This is a pencil drawing which I didn't photograph too well.  I was thinking about a guy whose car was in the shop and had to ride a bus for the first time. The woman in the foreground is the closest and thus has more detail.  I would love to have some comments on this first conception.

"Vanishing", watercolor

STRANGERS I SEE

Have you ever driven down the street and seen people standing at a bus stop and wondered where they're going or what their life is like?

Have you watched cars passing by, or trains and thought about the life of those inside

How about your server at the restuarant who introduces himself.  What is his life like when he goes home?

I want to see them..really see them, not just nod or wave or smile.

How do I put this on a 2D surface?

Well, I've thought about this for many years.  I thought about making them invisible almost or eliminating parts of them or even just a blurring.

Now I"m going to experiment.  I've thought about seeing those no longer living as being behind a blue curtain.  You can see them in a blur but cannot touch.  Sometimes I think a hand or a foot sneaks out.  Sometimes I see them in my dreams....standing alone on an old deserted road, calling to me.  I always see my mother in the grey skirt and white blouse she wore so often.  I painted her once in watercolor, fading out the window into the background..

People look at artists and say "I could never do that" meaning the drawing technique.  When the real work is not the technique at all, but how it is translated from inside your head onto the paper.

I'm writing about this so that I will actually give it a try.  I hope some of you who read this will let me know if it is working, hat is if it makes you respond.  My finger is still numb and I don't know what it will do.  However, time is running out.  If I don't try now, I probably never will.

Stay tuned.

Defining Yourself

  How does a painter define himself when he is unable to paint?

So many years spent trying to figure out who you are and where are you going, only to find that by the time you figure it out things have changed.

Now, as I await gaining the use of my painting hand, I realize so much else has changed.  I got old.  Don't know how that happened.  I was dancing along through life when it suddenly caught up with me.

Now what!

My greatest problem was figuring out my next series and how to put it into a 2D format when everything changed.  So, am I still a painter?  If so, what do I say.  I was so busy for awhile, running the gallery, meeting people, working on business details, that I didn't have time to think "what next".  Now that I have time I'm afraid my creative energy is running out on me, chased off by pains of broken bones and knowledge that time is running out.  Man, I better make the most of it.  Right?

For a little while now I can't do much.  But the question is, do I still have it.  The business end of art got in the way.  Now that I'm free again, where will I go.  Who will I be?  Is what I feel relevant in today's world?

There are so many excellent painters today all over the Internet.  Some painting are so discordant....I really wonder what they're tell their viewer.  And realism has approached photography.  "Isn't that a wonderful painting...it looks just like a photograph."  Is that a compliment?  A goal?  A technical achievement, certainly.

I admit to being drawn to the weirder pieces.  People with birds for faces, wonderful pieces of light and amazing colors.  I really love some of the paintings I made in the past.  Paintings to make one think or point its viewer in a new direction.  If someone reading this is familiar with my work or my website, "franknueppel.com" let me hear from you.  Did I touch something for you?

Well, in another couple of weeks I will have to start over again.  Find a new road?  Maybe I'll find a way to show the unseen world behind what we see.  I've been looking for a long, long time.  Wish me luck this time before the clock runs out.

I always considered my self a figure painting!

That statement may surprise some of you since I been doing mostly landscapes in the last few years.  This is mainly due to lack of models.  I really like painting from life, not photos.  Cameras cannot capture all the nuances in value and color.  I turned to landscapes because material is literally EVERYWHERE.   I love trees when they're bare and you can see all the great shapes in the branches.  I love when they're leafed out and you can see how the shadows work.  They're never quite like you think they are.  I love all the colors in my garden.  And anyone familiar with my work knows my love for color.  Too, I can step out on my back patio and do "plein aire", and still have all the comforts of home.
Lately I have trying to capture more in my trees.  When an artist tries new ways it isn't as easy as it sounds, or should be.
In the meatime, age and cancer have come to our house.  One does not necessarily mean the other, but combined they increase the problems in the situation.
I hope to do better.  I guess an artist is seldom satisfied that the latest painting is the best.  It is always hardest to satisfy yourself.
I remember when I painted mostly about social realism.  I felt I did a good job.  Landscapes are pleasant and often more popular but I find it harder to please myself.  Would my work be better if I used less color?
Is my subject matter relevant?  Is it trite?  Have I lost the ability to be creative?
My cat is sleeping on the lounge next to me.  How contented he looks.  His sister is in the doorway looking at the patio  Does she see the gorgeous red amaryllis? Actually she is probably looking for lizards to catch.  Should I try to paint them?  Would anyone care?  But me, of course.
I have a mirrored hanging in my garden and love to watch the light bounce around.  But no painting would do it justice.
What is relevant today?
What work would make a difference?
Can I produce a painting that would sufficiently capture how i fell when I look at anything?  Does anybody care anymore?   Our lives seem rather superficial.  Do my viewers want beauty..or relevancy...or emotion?
Wow!  Boring!
I you're still reading maybe this will give you a clue to the artist's dilemma.
I guess I want to do all of the above.  Probably not possible.
If anyone is listening to my internal debate....tell me what you think.  Painting is a lonely occupation.  Even small feedback helps.  Let me hear from you. Pose for me!  Argue with me!  Tell me how you feel!  Help!

Life Gets in the Way...

As time passes sometimes unexpected and unavoidable things jump into our life without notice.  Over the past two years so many things have hit me and mine that it's been hard for me to catch up.  Anyone who is still watching this, thank you.  I plan to do better in the future and perhaps a little more behind the scenes.

Been a Long While...

After our lovely vacation I caught some awful bug.  Haven't been that sick in years.  It lasted about 2 weeks, then Hal caught it.  Started a couple of new works, but didn't get very far with them.  Now we find Hal's cancer has returned and he will start radiation next month.  Been a tough time.  I'm wondering how to paint how I feel.  It may take me awhile.  In the meantime I am learning how to paint trees better.  I guess trees are comforting to me.  Please bare with me.  This is just a little bigger bump in life than usual.
Here's to happy painting to all.  Thank you for reading.

Vacation

Spent 10 days in the snow and cold in Sun Valley, Idaho.  It was beautiful, but I must admit I am glad to be back home where I don't have to wear so many layers.  It was a great time with my daughter and her family and my first time to be in the snow.  We walked, rode a sleigh, sat by the fire and drank wine.  I've never been on skis and don't think I should begin now.  Visited most of the art galleries....always fun for me.  Drank hot chocolate and ate lots of really good food.  Also celebrated 2 family birthdays.  Now back to cool and very damp Houston.  The rain is welcome.  My fish are cold.  The cats love the fire.  All's right with my world right now.  Will I paint some snow?  Maybe, one or two.  Keep turned

Holiday in the Snow