Two Small Paintings, Ready to Go

These little landscape paintings are only 6" by 8". Yesterday I took this photo before I wrapped them up and took them down to Boston for the "Circle of Giving" show at Galatea Fine Arts, going up today.  This is going to be a show of small works, with part of the proceeds benefitting our neighbor, Pine Street Inn. Titles of paintings are "Colorado Red," and "Green Mountain Range".  They are acrylic used as watermedia on Aquabord, which provides a 2" birchwood "cradle" so they don't need to be framed.  

Three Paintings from "Colorado Memories" Show

This photo shows three of my paintings hanging at Galatea Fine Art: "Snowscene from Boulder Overlook," "Pikes Peak Daydream," and "Loveland Pass in Mid-Summer". My solo show "Colorado Memories" closed today at Galatea, so late this afternoon, we drove into Boston to pick up my work.  On the drive down, I felt a bit sad because the show was over, but when I saw my paintings, I was happy instead, glad to see them, happy to have painted them, and grateful to be part of Galatea.  And my paintings are still on display on Artsy: https://www.artsy.net/show/galatea-fine-art-randa-dubnick-colorado-memories-1

Tree and Carriage House at Lynch Park (with Prisma filter)

This is another photo that I took on Wednesday during a late afternoon walk at Lynch Park.  Today I added a Prisma filter and cropped the original to get this composition.

November Sky at Lynch Park (with Prisma filter)

Yesterday's post was a photo of the late afternoon sky at Lynch Park during Wednesday's walk at Lynch Park, here in Beverly, MA. Today's version is the same photo, but with a Prisma color that gives the sky a purple tint.  I edited it to reduce the saturation. The original does a better job of capturing the feeling of gray skies in November, but still I like this image for the beautiful colors in the sky.

November Sky at Lynch Park

On Wednesday, we took an afternoon walk at Lynch Park. The trees had lost their leaves, and it really looked like November. I missed the colors of the leaves, but the sky was beautiful.

Reposting: Grateful for Flowers (Drawing)

This is a little drawing I did with my Sharpies.  It is 6 x 6 inches and it is one of six such drawings that are currently in the virtual "Small Works" show at Porter Mill.  It's true, I am grateful for flowers, and happy to draw them.  I am posting this today because I am grateful to be connected to all my facebookers and I hope these little flowers make you happy, too.

View of Surprise Snow (with Prisma filter)

Yesterday's post was a photo that I took after our surprise snow on October 30.  I also created this version with a Prisma filter added, and I am posting it today.

View of Surprise Snow

I am finally getting around to editing some photos that I took right after our surprise snowstorm of October 30.  The leaves were still on the trees, and that created some interesting effects.  I tried a Prisma filter on this one, and plan to post it here tomorrow.

Colorado Red (Acrylic Watermedia)

I worked on this painting this morning and now I think it is finished.  This is 6 x 8 inches on Aquabord. Those are its final dimensions; it doesn't need to be framed because the Aquabord is finished with sides of 2" birchwood.  I am planning to submit this to the December small works show at Galatea Fine Arts.

Colorado Red (Acrylic Watermedia) as of November 21, 2020

I worked on this again today. This is a small painting, only 6" by 8", on Aquabord.  I am hoping to submit this for an upcoming "small works" show.  Today I worked on the sky. I hope to finish this tomorrow.  To be continued. . .

Colorado Red (Acrylic Watermedia) as of November 20, 2020

Today I started this small painting, only 6 by 8 inches on Aquabord.  This is for an upcoming "small works" show in December.

Snow on Red Dogwood Leaves (with Prisma filter)

Yesterday's post was a photo of heavy snow on red dogwood trees, taken after our surprise snowstorm at the end of October. Today's version of the same photo uses a Prisma filter that gives the image the look of stained glass.

Snow on Red Dogwood Leaves

Here north of Boston, at the end of October we had a surprise snowfall. On the morning of October 30, we all awoke to find heavy snow on trees that were still full of colorful autumn leaves.  Some of our trees and bushes were bent over from the weight and there was a mad scramble to find boots, gloves, hats. But the snow created some surprising scenes, like this one, of snow on the red dogwood leaves.  The snow was gone in a few days, the weather got warmer, and I forgot about most of the photos I took.  But today the return of cold weather reminded me, and  I started editing some of them, like this one.  I also created a version with a Prisma filter, and I hope to post that here tomorrow.

Bright Tree at Lynch Park

One more image from a recent walk at Lynch Park, a beautiful tree with the bright red and orange leaves of October.  I cropped the original photo and added a Prisma filter.

Leaves on Walkway at Lynch Park (with Prisma filter)

Here's another image from a recent walk at Lynch Park, here in Beverly, MA. The fenced walkway near the ocean was covered with leaves.  I added a Prisma filter and cropped the original photo to get this composition.

November Late Afternoon (with Prisma filter)

Here north of Boston, the sun gets low in the sky pretty early, thanks to daylight savings time.  This image began with a picture that I took at Lynch Park at 3:44 PM, far too early to call this a sunset. I don't like the fact that the sun starts going down so early, but it made for an interesting effect in my photo. So tonight I added a Prisma filter, and cropped it to get this composition

Late Afternoon at Lynch Park (with Prisma filter)

This image started with a photo that I took last week during a late afternoon walk at Lynch Park. Today I added a Prisma filter and cropped the image to get this composition.

Kerry's House (Photo Collage)

Back in 2005, I did a house portrait for my sweet friend Kerry.  Working from an old black-and-white photo (top right), I tried to make her memories come to life in a painting of childhood home (top left).  I did this project long-distance:  I was in Boston and she was in Colorado. The two snapshots (bottom left and right) are the first time I was with Kerry and the house portrait, in her house in Colorado. Kerry recently sent me copies of these snapshots, a great reminder of a very happy day! As the saying goes, "The road to the house of a friend is never long." To learn more about this project, https://memoryimprints.net/2014/03/04/kerrys-house

Stone Bench at Lynch Park (with Prisma filter)

A few days ago, I posted a photo of this bench at Lynch Park, taken from a walk several days ago.  Today I added a Prisma filter.

"Raillard & Zagon Jan 45" (Posterized Photo)

On Veteran's Day, I often look through old photos for pictures of my dad during World War II. I usually look in my mother's old album. (My father was born in Brooklyn, but was stationed in Pueblo during WWII, and met and married my mother in the short time he was there, before heading overseas. While he was gone, my mother filled a photo album with photos from life at home in Pueblo as well as photos that he sent back from overseas). More recently, I have had an additional place to look: a collection of my father's old photos, sent to me a few years ago by my cousin Rori. That is where I found this photo today. This snapshot shows my dad with another soldier, standing in front of an apparently damaged building.  On the back of the photo, my father wrote: "Raillard & Zagon Jan 45".  From my Aunt Edy I have heard that Ray Raillard was a good friend of my father's when they were in the army. In the past I have not been able to to track down Ray Raillard or his family, but I will tag him here and see what happens. Looking though the other photos this morning, I saw another snapshot marked on the back with the logo of photo finishing company in Texas, which I believe is where Ray Raillard is from. That handwriting is different from my father's, very square and distinctive printing, and that handwriting also appears on a third photo that says "Leaving Cherbourg" date July 24, 1944. Is it possible that this photo was also taken in Cherbourg? I  wish I knew more about my dad's time in the army. But what I do know, what brings me to tears right now, is that I am grateful my father had a good friend when he was in the army. My father was a gentle, peaceful man who went overseas to do his bit against the Nazis, and he left his brand new wife to do it. He didn't say much about his experience when I was a kid, but I know he was afraid during the war because years later, when he was facing cancer surgery, he told me so. And so now when I am feeling afraid in these uncertain times, I remember that my father did his part to stand up to tyranny even though he was afraid.  And I will try to live up to his example.

Flowers of Kindness

This morning I did one more small drawing with my Sharpie pens. It's fun to draw these and hard to stop. But there's no such thing as too many flowers, and no such thing as too much kindness. 

Counting on Flowers

There are a couple of "small works" shows coming up in December, so this morning I was looking for work to submit.  I came across some of my small drawings of flowers made with Sharpie markers, and they made me smile, so I decided to do one more.  In this crazy time, things may seem uncertain even when they are not,  so I offer you some flowers you can count on.

Stone Bench at Lynch Park

It was nearly 70 degrees yesterday, and we went for a walk at Lynch Park.  We walked through the walled rose garden, which is something we don't usually do, and I saw this ornate stone bench.  Although I must have seen it before, I hadn't really looked at it before: there's a difference. Anyway, I took some pictures. No doubt it has been there for many years, exposed to the ocean storms and the sudden changes of weather. And it endures.

From Sea to Shining Sea

It was sunny today and unusually warm for November, like a warm spring day. Celebratory ice cream at home (three flavors) was followed by a walk at Lynch Park, where I took this picture.  I was born in Colorado and didn't see the ocean until I was in my twenties.  Now that I live in Massachusetts, I see the ocean quite often, and have come to really understand that it's not a metaphor; the ocean does in fact shine. And on a day like today, it shines "from sea to shining sea."  

"Colorado Memories" at Galatea Installation Day

Monday was installation day for my show at Galatea Fine Art.  After my paintings were on the wall, I took some video. Tonight I edited the video to provide this sneak peak of my show.

"Colorado Memories" at Galatea's First Friday

This is the announcement for First Friday at Galatea Fine Arts tomorrow, 6 to 8 pm, featuring four solo shows, including mine.  Two of the artists will attend in person, and two of us will attend remotely, via Zoom. Announcement created by Agusta Agustsson.

"Colorado Memories" Show Announcement

I used the Canva app on my phone to create this announcement of my solo show, opening this week at Galatea Fine Art.

Four on the Floor

Yesterday was "hanging day" at Galatea Fine Art, a happy occasion, despite the name -- especially since the gallery was closed for so long due to Covid and the flood in April. Here are four of my paintings on the floor, waiting to be hung for my solo show, opening this week.

Photo of My Mom (with Prisma filter)

My mother has been gone quite a while now, 36 years actually, which means I have lived half my life without her. Well, not entirely without her, because I hear her voice, and can predict what she would say. I see traces of her in my daughter's laugh and in my son's raised eyebrow, and in all these ways and more, she has been with me all along.  My mother was born on November 2, and I like to mark the occasion every year. Today's schedule was more than full, and I wasn't going to be able to do an elaborate project, but still I wanted to do something. I started with one of my favorite photos of her, with the 1940s hairdo and the dramatic 1940s collar, still in the 1940s cardboard mat that identifies the photographer as "J. Raoul Turner, Pueblo,". This photo hangs in my hall and I see it when I go upstairs. This morning, I took the photograph down from the wall and took a picture of it, the fastest way to get the image into my iPhone.  Then I opened my Prisma app and experimented with filters till I found one that I liked. It added some soft color to the black and white, and heightened the texture as well. 

Above Breckenridge (Acrylic Watermedia) ABSOLUTELY FINAL VERSION

It has been about a week since I last posted an image of this painting and declared it finished. But since then, I made a lot of small revisions, but focussed on getting the top line of the mountain the way I wanted it.  This is the ABSOLUTELY FINAL version of it, and it has to be. This painting is now wired, wrapped, and loaded in the car, along with some 16 other paintings for my show, heading for Galatea Fine Arts tomorrow.