"Chatham Harbor," which is my most recent painting...

... will be on exhibition at Maple & Main Gallery, 1 Maple Street, Chester, Connecticut.  Today is the last day of the current show there; it comes down at the close of business today.  On Wednesday, when the doors of the gallery open, a whole new show will be waiting to be enjoyed. 

"Chatham Harbor," original 10x30" acrylic on three linen panels, copyright Joan Cole

“Chatham Harbor” is a triptych, an art form used in early Christian art.  Triptychs were a standard format for altar paintings from the Middle Ages onwards.  Although this is not a religious piece, I chose this format, in part, because of my  reverence for the natural world.   Everywhere I look in nature, I am inspired to paint.  Albert Schweitzer is one of my heroes.  His book Reverence for Life says it all.  If everyone lived by Schweitzer's standards, the world would be a better place.

Be that as it may, this triptych offers the viewer a 180-degree view of Chatham Harbor.  At the same time, 

Panel 1

each panel,

 when viewed individually, 

Panel 2

provides its own unique perspective.   

Panel 3

I believe that beauty is a matter of perspective.  It surrounds us.  Beauty is everywhere we look—if we look.   

What do you find in “Chatham Harbor”?

Painting on vacation....

As you may deduce from my attire, the weather on Grand Cayman was sunny and WINDY!  But the view was spectacular!  [no snow!]

is like being a child in a candy shop in your dreams.  Everything tastes good.  No one is there to stop or influence your choices.  All colors look appealing.  Everywhere you turn, something beautiful or unusual is tempting.  Time stands still.  I am painting out of time, beyond time.

Writing is a recursive activity.  Thank, write, read over what you've written, think, make changes, write more, reread, think, make more changes.  Writing is an on-going revising process.

Painting is recursive in a similar manner, but with less stop and go.  The thinking process goes on simultaneously with the painting process.  Each color chosen, the placement of each stroke of the brush involves continuous decision-making, evaluating, assessment, adjustment.  However, painting in watercolors allows for much less revision than painting in oils or pastels.

"Carribean Morning," 9 x 12, unfinished watercolor by Joan Cole, copyright 2011

I have not painted with watercolors for at least a year.  It is so different from oils or pastels.   It is working from light to dark, which means knowing before I start where I want my lightest lights or whitest whites left.  So, the tops of clouds and crests of waves must stay untouched until I've worked my painting around them.

"Carribean Afternoon," 9 x 12, unfinished watercolor by Joan Cole, copyright 2011

That is the opposite thought process required for painting in oils and pastels.  There, I can start with midtones and build up and down in value.  Or, I can begin with my darks and work up.

How I long for my oils to push around like vanilla butter frosting to shape the waves I'm watching roll in and crest and break.  The colors are so spectacular, and I am so rusty with watercolor.  It's a delicious challenge.

(Note:  This post was written a week ago when we were vacationing on Grand Cayman Island in the Carribean.  I spent the week painting in watercolors, writing, and relaxing.  We'll have to wait to see what I do with the paintings I created.  As you can tell, I don't consider them finished yet.)

Super Bowl Sunday Success

Hooray! I just discovered why my very first blog on 2/1/07 wasn't showing: I hadn't posted it! I learn something new every day.

Well, I have been working on a painting of the ocean viewed through the dunes. Yesterday, I took a break from it to begin a new painting of a small flower basket hanging in one of our church windows at a friend's wedding. I'll try to post a picture of myself with these two paintings.

Meanwhile, I'm off for a quick walk around the block to soak up some of this glorious sunshine, which belies the crisp 18 degrees outside.