For several weeks I've been eagerly searching for the first harbingers of spring, but the balmy temperatures last weekend just days after the snow earlier in the week still caught me by surprise!
I puttered happily in my garden, fertilizing the raised bed, planting snow peas, pruning, and bagging debris. Planting a rose my sister had given me last year became a major project--as I began to expand the original flower bed, it became necessary to move several large stones that formed the edges. The stones were so heavy I could not lift them, so I ended up rolling them one by one into their new places for a better looking shape. Now all we need is some rain (and a back massage).
Along with the shoots emerging from the ground, dormant spirits rise as this artist prepares for a new cycle of growth. I was reading from Hensche on Painting*, and came upon this:
Therefore to study color, it is best to to take the less complicated forms; still life objects in scale, and obvious color, is the ideal study. Starting with the head or figure is not advisable. As Chase said, "Where there's still life, there's hope.
After taking the still life class this past winter with Lee Boynton, who was one of Hensche's students, I heartily agree. Now I think I'm ready for painting outdoors once again.
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* Henry Hensche, (1899-1992) was the leading teacher of American impressionism at the Cape Cod School of Art from the 1930's until his death.
