Spruce Tips

In May I read about making simple syrup or infusing vodka with fir or spruce tips.  I happened upon it about the time the trees were about to put out new growth.  So over a period of a few days I patiently  gathered a few cups of the tips.  (See photo below) When Alison visited us last I tried to make her a spruce tip martini but it wasn’t great.  Then we had the idea of using the spruce syrup to make lemonade to which we added the spruce-infused vodka.  That was awesome.  When we’re all together with the Calif. contingent this week I’ll make some spruce drinks– rural sophistication!

 

Last Clouds for Now

Glow       oil on masonite    18 x 24″     $500

Here’s the last of the 5 in the show that I don’t have on the website.  The scene is entirely out of my head but I think it’s a memory of a lake in Georgia where my parents lived.

We leave Utica tomorrow for Strafford where our son and his family will arrive from L.A. on Monday.  It’s going to be a very busy week!  I’ll miss the fast connection here.  We don’t even know whether the satellite guy has done anything about the problems we were having before we left.

Almost Effortless

Roll     9 x 12″ (image)  gold leaf frame   $400

This last small painting in the show was one that quickly painted itself.   These clouds remind me of  lumbering creatures descending.

Effort

Twist  oil on birch panel  9 x 12″ (image)  gold leaf frame  $400

This little painting is one I worked on for a long time–funny how some pieces just fall onto the board and others change and change before you’re satisfied.    It started as a more vertical piece but ended up in a horizontal format.  I did a lot of sanding down and repainting before it felt right.  I was pleased with the colors and the final shape.

Another Small Cloud Painting

Light  oil on birch panel  9 x 12″ (image)  $400

 

We’re at our daughter Alison’s in Utica.  Ed starts music camp tomorrow at Colgate and will commute while I get to have time with the family.  I’m so excited to have a fast connection here.  The last week before we left we had almost no service due to some kind of satellite failure.  After 5 days the tech still hadn’t bothered to return our phone calls so we may not be able to get on the Internet when we return–frustrating!  Life in the woods is mostly  great and I guess having pretty primitive technology  teaches us patience.

Here’s the second of the four small paintings that are in the cloud show but not on the website.  It’s sunset on a lake in Georgia, my home state.  You can see a small strip of red clay on the bank.

Finally!

 

Sail   9 x 12″ (image) oil on birch panel  in gold leaf  frame   $400

 

I’ve been working on cloud paintings for nearly 2 years so it’s a relief to have them all out of the house for now.  Last Thursday Ed and I with the help of our Tai Chi teacher Todd hung my cloud paintings in a beautiful glass hallway at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.  It took over 3 hours to hang 23 pieces because many of them were large and heavy.  But I was very pleased with the way everything looked on the wall.  My studio is in our basement and although there are many big florescent light fixtures that are supposed to duplicate daylight they really don’t.  So seeing everything in actual natural light was a pleasure.  Gavin has updated my website:  andreasart.doughtie.com to include a “recent paintings” section that has all but 5 of the pieces in the show.  I had intended to put them on the blog but the reproduction on the website is better.  Prices vary from $2000 for the 36 x 48″ paintings, $1800 for 24 x 48″ and the smaller sized from $400 to $800.   I’ll  put the last 5  paintings on the blog starting today.

Back Again

Plus Ca Change (top photo)    oil on birch panel 18 x 24″  $700

Next week I hang over 20 paintings for my cloud show that I’ve been working on forever.  As I’ve said, I don’t want to post them until the show goes up so that’s why I haven’t been blogging in a very long time.  I have just finished one still life  and thought it might be interesting to see photos of a work in progress.   I didn’t really start off with a concept but as I arranged my materials it occurred to me that the painting might be a metaphor for some of the recent attempts to control women.  The apron and peter pan collar remind of the fifties, a time of considerable role rigidity.  And of course the pumpkin is a reference to the nursery rhyme  “Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater.”  I’d like to do a whole series with my studio mannequins but I don’t know.  Painting subjects that are so small makes measuring difficult.  A variation of a hair’s width represents a huge difference.    I find the mannequins a bit creepy but maybe that will inspire me.