Monday, November 30, 2020

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.  

Sunday, November 29, 2020

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

Saturday, November 28, 2020

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.

Friday, November 27, 2020

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.

Thursday, November 26, 2020

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.

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

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.

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

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.

Monday, November 23, 2020

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.

Sunday, November 22, 2020

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.

Saturday, November 21, 2020

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. . .

Friday, November 20, 2020

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.

Thursday, November 19, 2020

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.

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

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.

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

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.

Monday, November 16, 2020

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.

Sunday, November 15, 2020

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

Saturday, November 14, 2020

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.

Friday, November 13, 2020

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

Thursday, November 12, 2020

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.

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

"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.