Seeing things in a different light...

I was reading a pamphlet on American Painting 1830-1940 at the Adamson -Duvannes Galleries and came across an excerpt from the painter Emile Gruppe. He did primarily boat paintings. Not that I was entirely enamored with boats per se, but I like to see the thoughts of artists if at all possible. He wrote/said something that will, most likely, forever change my view of paintings of boats. "Be decisive when you draw boats...place the masts first; the design they make against the sky is usually the most important part of the picture....A sailboat is like a butterfly; you see the wings..."

I just thought this was one of the most interesting and beautiful ways to describe a subject such as boats. Very refreshing to find a new take on something I used to find mundane.

~ In other news, Jon has taken the gals to the library and left me to be all to my self. What a gift! The house is quiet and a bit dark as clouds are forming and looks like snow is starting to fall again. I am making several treks to the studio downstairs. I feel good about it as I got a huge amount of clean-up done the other day.

One good thing about this time of year is tax return. Being of my financial level (low) we look forward to this time (sorry to all single, upper middle class people, etc. lol!). Anyway, I'm thrilled as I got a new camera (hence all the pics) and today I got a China cabinet from a favorite thrift store for $150. Jon brought it home today and I jokingly said, "Lydia, this is your new room." Which she thought meant it was for her room. She really thought it was for her room, started crying and then I said it's for the dining room...will you help me clean it? And she totally brightened up. All four of us scrubbed the cabinet clean (and boy did it need it). I'm still debating whether to paint it as it's very dark, slightly chipped and I had to take down my favorite bright painting to make space for it. So, the dining room is quite dark now. I'm thinking of coffee colored or yellow.

I just looked outside and it's a freaking blizzard! I hope Jon is all right. Good grief!

Yesterday, the sky was blue, blue, blue and the sun was sparkling like this was the first day ever. But I had a miserable headache (probably brought on by the change in temp or herring (I had to give the cats this...ran out of their cat food...and it smells a bit strong). I would have loved to go for a walk but I was not feeling good. I was so ill, the girls and three cats fell asleep with me on the bed. Very cute, actually and I'm working on a little painting of it.

Well, I hope the gang waits out the snow blizzard for a bit. It's a wet snow too...