House as of May 20

House as of May 20
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

This morning, I had a chance to work on this painting for my friends, so I am posting an update, even though (especially because) there will be changes. As an artist, I love to watch art in process. I used to feel self-conscious when people watched me paint, but I guess I am over that, since I am posting this. Today I blocked in some trees and added some detail to the windows, using photos that my friends have emailed. We have been exchanging pictures and ideas about landscaping too: elm trees, spirea and roses. With vines or without? I suggested that we try some vines, and if they don't like them, I will paint them out. These vines will be easy to get rid of, unlike the vines in real life. Some things are easier in art.

Two Mountains

Two Mountains
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

This is another from my series of watermedia paintings inspired by the Colorado mountains. I have been thinking that it is high time to post another Colorado painting, and then during the late afternoon, we had rain while the sun was shining, and that is such a Colorado thing that the issue was decided. I started painting the Colorado mountains when I moved out of state and no longer had the luxury of seeing them every day. Sometimes art can take you home.

Forget-me-not

Forget-me-not
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

We took the dogs to Long Hill this afternoon for a quick walk through the gardens. We didn't have much time, but time enough to glimpse this path lined with forget-me-nots. It made me stop in my tracks and take a quick photo with my phonecam! Later, I cropped the image just a bit to improve the composition and remove excess blur on the edges. I love the phonecam's spontaneity, despite its characteristic low resolution. Sometimes this problem can even create interesting effects, such as the dream-like quality of this unforgettable path.

House as of May 17

House as of May 17
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

This is a work in progress, a painting for friends. So far, this is a sketch with some color blocked in with acrylics. This is a childhood home and my friends are two time-zones away, so this involves long-distance art as well as time-travel. My friends scanned and e-mailed me a black and white photo, my main source of visual information, supplemented by phone calls and e-mailed color photos of the house as it is now. I have been sending digital photos to my friends as I draw, and making changes based on their feedback, which I expect, because when it comes to the house you grew up in, the more you see, the more you remember. We are really building the house together, with art and memories. I will post more later. . .

Pao de Acucar

Pao de Acucar
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

Here's another view of Rio, taken from a cable car to Pao de Acucar, an amazing surprise arranged for us on our first day in Rio. To get to the top takes two connecting cable cars. Heights make me nervous, but I was so excited to be in Brasil, the company was great, and I wasn't about to miss this. Still, I wasn't sure if I would be able to breathe, let alone take pictures. But the camera provided a focus, and calmed me down. I am so glad I went! Now, whether its a New York skyscraper, a castelo in Lisbon, a cliff in Northern Ireland, or a castle wall in Scotland, I carry a camera. More art, less fear.

Graduation Souvenir

Graduation Souvenir
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

This photo of the graduation procession at the University of Kansas was taken years ago. Today I scanned the photo, cropped this image out of the background, and colorized it just a bit with Painter to make the campanile and other buildings stand out against the sky. I heard from some former KU students just yesterday, and started thinking about graduations. (It's graduation season, anyway). Graduation is a time when people think they are saying goodbye, but remembering KU graduation always reminds me that it is possible to stay connected despite time and distance, which has been a very happy surprise in my life.

Brand New Leaves

Brand New Leaves
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

It was very late in the day when I looked up from the computer, and was surprised to see that the sun had come out (I hadn't noticed) and its the low rays were hitting the new leaves on the trees. (I had been too busy to look up.) After the long winter, the trees are leafing out in New England, and that is worth noticing, so I grabbed my digital camera and headed outside. Robert Frost wrote, "Nature's first green is gold." Like art, poetry reminds us to pay attention.

View of Rio

View of Rio
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

I am posting this today because Mauro is flying down to Rio de Janeiro to visit family. I took this photo in Rio during a long overdue trip to Brazil in 1994. Despite very close connections with people from Brazil, we had never managed to get there. Sometimes when people would ask, "Have you ever been to Brazil?" I would answer, "No, but Brasil has come to me."

Crab Apple Tree

Crab Apple Tree
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

We finally had a nice warm day yesterday, and the crab apple trees decided to bloom. I took a picture with my phonecam, then cropped the image this morning. It is hard to get a crisp picture with a phonecam, and you get even more blur if you crop the image, but in this case, I liked the impressionistic effect.

Skyline Fantasy of Oban, Scotland

Skyline Fantasy of Oban, Scotland
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

This is a view of a colosseum in the middle of Oban, Scotland, a fantastic image in its own right. A few days ago, I saw other images of the Oban colosseum when I stumbled across a Rick Steves TV program about Scotland. I looked in my photos from last summer, and found this image in the background of one of them, so I cropped and colorized it to enhance the sense of surprise that I felt when I first saw the skyline of Oban.

Flowering Quince

Flowering Quince
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

This is a photo I took with my phonecam on Mother's Day, when I went for a walk to listen to music (enjoying one of my Mother's Day gifts). Although the weather wasn't the best, the music seemed to make everything look brighter. On the way,I stopped to take pictures. I love the color of flowering quince; there was flowering quince in my backyard in Lawrence, Kansas.

Rua Boa Vista, Portugal

Rua Boa Vista, Portugal
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

Among yesterday's events was a happy call from Portugal that made me think of this image. This is one of my first pieces of digital art, created soon after my first trip to Portugal. I was drawing from memory and imagination, and the bright colors reflect the feeling of the trip, more than the actual colors of the buildings. But the drawing is inspired by a real street in the Foz, in Porto, called Boa Vista (Good View). (If you look closely, you can see the street sign in the drawing.) I always thought that was funny. Are there any bad views in Portugal? Not to me!

Blowing Out the Candles

Blowing Out the Candles
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

Tonight I edited and colorized an old family snapshot to get this image. The little girl in the red dress is me; the little girl in blue is my cousin, and my mom is holding my cousin as she blows out the birthday candles. My cousin and I grew up in the same house, more like twins than cousins. Once at a birthday party, one of our committee of parents picked up the wrong kid when the moment came to blow out the candles. This image is going to be a birthday greeting for my cousin, but I am also posting it here in honor of the mother of the little girl in red, as well as the mother of the little girl in blue.

Flowers for a Rainy Day

Flowers for a Rainy Day
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

The weather is as bad as was promised, with cold rain and wind. But these flowers arrived, an early Mother's Day surprise. It is a challenge to capture the amazing colors on such a dark day. In any case, I like the contrast of the bright flowers against the rainy window. When it seems to rain too much around here, people say that you can't have flowers without the rain. Today I had both.

Massachusetts Shoreline in Fog

Massachusetts Shoreline in Fog
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

Local meteorologists are apologizing for the weather for the coming weekend. It is already cold, overcast and almost misty. But I will seize this opportunity to post another photo from my excursion in the fog last Sunday. I took this picture with my phonecam, looking down on the beach from Route 127, just north of Beverly, MA, near Endicott College. Today I cropped the image just a bit to improve the composition. I like the way things look in the fog; the mist makes you look harder and see things differently. As a result, sometimes you see more clearly, not less.

Church and Street Corner Portsmouth

Church and Street Corner Portsmouth
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

Today I found this picture of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, taken a few years ago. I like it because it captures the liveliness of the town, and the combination of old and new, from the motorcycle to the church spire. Tonight I edited the picture to improve the composition and to capitalize on some of the accidental effects: the arc of the reflection that mirrors the curved line of the wire, and the dark foreground that seems to call attention to the church. In studying art, especially watercolor and raku pottery, I learned to be open to using what happens in the best possible way, from the intentional to the accidental.

Belfast Row House Fantasy

Belfast Row House Fantasy
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

By special request, here's a photo of Belfast. There are lots of rowhouses in Belfast, and I love the elaborate chimneys. I cropped this image out of the background of a photo I took there last summer. I wasn't happy with the composition, so I moved a car and tampered with a lamppost (through the magic of digital editing and Painter IX). Then I added a little color to emphasize the patterns on the houses.(Well, it's my fantasy, so I can do that.) But its fact, not fiction, that Belfast is a great place to visit. Don't miss it.

Self-Portrait in Maps

Self-Portrait in Maps
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

This collage self-portrait is made of maps of places that are important to me, places I have lived or visited (Colorado, Kansas, Portugal, Chicago, Brazil, etc.) This was an assignment for a collage class several years ago (pre-Belfast, which is why it is not included). I drew my face freehand, using an old photo as a reference, over a map of Colorado, and used maps for the hair, the figure, and the border at the top. I used cardboard and tape because this is about moving and change. I have moved often, and each time I was sad to leave, but each time I moved I also met people who became very important to me. The places and people I love became part of who I am, hence this image.

Bouquet with Roses

Bouquet with Roses
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

It's May and time for some flowers. I painted this watercolor last summer, and took a digital photo of it a few days ago. The bouquet was my daughter's, and the arrangement was more complicated than I thought when I first decided to paint it, which is almost always the case.

Lake in Fog, Endicott

Lake in Fog, Endicott
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

The day seemed gloomy and foggy this morning, so I decided to do something to change it. I drove to Endicott College, and walked around the campus, using my phonecam to take pictures of the great scenery in the fog. This is one of several photos that I took there today. My mood lifted before the fog, and I had many terrific surprises on what finally turned into a sunny day.