I am so filled with appreciation !  The 3rd Annual Studio Show was a huge success!! Seeing friends from long ago and welcoming first time visitors to my Studio was truly enjoyable..

The weather was unseasonably warm and the mood as people shopped and shared conversation while sipping sangria was like being at a fun party!

Studio Shopping

Pottery by Melynn Allen

 

Melynn Allen’s Pottery looked perfect displayed in the cupboards and through out the Studio. I was sad to see her beautiful pieces leave their temporary home when Melynn packed up  at the end of the show! I’m already looking forward to next years Post Thanksgiving Studio Show. It’s a far cry from “Black Friday” at the Malls…no pepper spray…no long lines…just good company. 

 Thanks to all~

Welcoming visitors to share my Studio

“I sing the song of life…With the smile of the sun and the dance of the twilight.  I float in the sky in rhythm with free spirit and joyous heart.”     ~ Swami Paramananda

   Years ago I found a small leather bound ”Book of Daily Thoughts and Prayers” by Swami Paramanda.  It was in a pile of books at a “White Elephant Sale”.  When I opened it the words of wisdom caught my interest and so I purchased it for fifty cents.  I now consider it one of my priceless possessions.

Inside the front cover is a hand written inscription by the Swami himself  “With my hearty ~wishes & prayers… Paramananda  July 24th 1938 For Mabel Miller”  I can’t help but wonder who this woman was and how her paths crossed with this amazing Guru.

Tucked between two pages of thoughts at the end of the book I found an envelope and inside was the obituary written in the Boston Globe for the Swami…he was just 55 when he died of a heart attack while preparing for a service

Each morning I read a short meditation from this special book with it’s golden cover and consider it a gem.  I’m certain that it found it’s way to me…and I’m so grateful that it did.

As the Swami says… “Keep your mind and heart tranquil and your life peaceful”. 

“How does one become a butterfly,…You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”             ~Trina Paulus

My studio has been a safe and comfortable cocoon for me this summer.  A place where I can spend hours getting lost in my landscapes…dreaming… drawing…putting colors on canvas and paper.

 But now that the seasons are shifting and Autumn is approaching I’m beginning to get that  ” back to school” feeling.

 And so I’m planning a solo trip to Monhegan  in early October.  For me being on the Island  is like being in a classroom with the very best teachers presenting valuable lessons.  Nature, the sky and the sea are my Professors . I take notes with my paint brushes.  It’s a true learning experience.

Colored Rocks... Monhegan Gouache...C. Kidder

 It’s so easy to get stuck in your cocoon…”Without change there could be no butterflies” …I need to venture outside of my Studio to find my wings…it’s time. 

Taking flight

Fleeting Beauty...oil painting...C. Kidder

 “EVERY FLOWER AND EVERY TREE AND EVERY ROOT ARE ANNUAL PROPHETS SENT TO AFFIRM THE FUTURE AND CHEER THE WAY.”  ~Henry Ward Beecher

There have been alot of gray and green days this May… but even when the sun isn’t shining the light of plush pink flowering trees lifts my spirits.

I’ve actually decided  that the blossoms are even more vivid when the skies are violet and the grass is freshly green.

Nature’s lessons are subtle…There is always a choice in how we view the world…I think it wants  us to see it’s beauty.

I’ve just finished reading a book called Clara and Mr.Tiffany by Susan Vreeland and so it was fun to see several panels of  Tiffany Glass exhibited on display when I visited the Metropolitan Museum in N.Y.C. last week.

From the book I learned alot about the delicate process of “painting” with glass shards and also about the women who designed many of the nature inspired pieces in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  They were a small group of young, single,and talented women who worked together and were fiercely devoted to their art .  Women who worked tirelessly and were immensely proud of  their creations.

A Tiffany Window

Mr. Tiffany made it mandatory that all female employees remain unmarried.  If they chose to marry they could no longer work  with him at the Tiffany Studio.  Very interesting….”We’ve come a long way baby” . Imagine how that requirement would be received today!

Painting in Tuscany...Gouache...C.Kidder

“What was any art but a mold in which to imprison for a moment the shining elusive element which is life itself~life hurrying past us and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose.”

~WILLA CATHER~ from “The Song of the Lark”

"In the Village "oil painting by Alexander Kremer

I’ve always been drawn to Russia.  I’m easily pulled into Russian novels, I love Russian Ballet and Dr. Zhavigo is one of my favorite movies.   Books by Anton Chekov and Leo Tolstoy are on my bedside table so that I can pick  them up to read before drifting  off to sleep at night . I just can’t get enough of anything to do with the country!

But it’s Russian Impressionism that finds a special place in my heart and evokes familarity. I often wonder if I painted on a Dacha in another life because when I see the paintings I feel at home.

One of my favorite Russian painters is Nikolai Timkov.  Back in the late 90’s I saw an exhibit of his work at the Spanierman Gallery in N.Y.C and I fell in love with his energetic style.  His paintings are filled with emotion . Rich colors  move across the canvas with a creative force and painterly brushstrokes.

Gallery Russia in Scottsdale Arizona  has the best selection of Russian Impressionist paintings.    On one of our visits to the Gallery we purchased this unfinished portrait that now hangs in my husbands home office .

The face is of an unknown man but his strength and dignified pose radiate from the canvas with  charisma.  It fills the room with a presence.

I dream of one day visiting Russia and taking a train through the Northern country side to see with my own eyes the vistas that the Russian Impressionist have painted . For now I’m happy looking out my kitchen window at the horses playing in the snow and icicles dripping from the barn door.  I like to imagine that it’s alot like the views at the Dachas in Russia.

]]> http://ckidderstudio.com/russian-impressions-2/feed/ 2 http://ckidderstudio.com/ongoing-art-lessons-2/ http://ckidderstudio.com/ongoing-art-lessons-2/#comments Sat, 15 Jan 2011 15:44:02 +0000 C.Kidder http://ckidderstudio.com/?p=1630

Foxcreek in Winter...oil painting by Caleb Stone

This painting by Caleb Stone hangs over the fireplace in our living room.  It’s one of my favorite pieces of Art.  Caleb was my mentor as I began to explore oil paints back in the 90’s.  Several of his landscapes that we have collected are displayed throughout our home.

Each time that I look at the paintings I feel like I’m taking another art lesson with Caleb.  Everything he taught me comes back to mind and it’s as if we were together again painting plein aire in Tuscany, Monhegan Island, or Ipswich.

In the midst of winter I find myself standing in front of his paintings and just staring.  I guess it’s a way of being transported back to places  where I want to be. Places where I learned to paint and how to see…Art lessons that I’ll never forget.

Ten years ago when I still owned and ran my shop “Eliza Grays Goods”  I have to admit that I was a bit stressed at times!  My boys were twelve and ten years old and my husband was traveling alot for business.  I was trying to do it all…painting, parenting, practicing Yoga, and more.  That’s when I decided that I needed a “White Garden”.  Somewhere that I could sit and decompress… embraced by a calming shroud of all white flowers to soothe my busy mind.

 Years later I still begin each day either sitting on the white Victorian bench in the garden or inside looking out at the birds perching on white petals.

Some morning  soon…when the light is just right I’m going to set up my easel and paint my white garden! 

“There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual.  Such are the moments of our greatest happiness”

Each morning I sit and stare at the sky and the horizon for awhile before I begin my day. Maybe it’s because I am a painter or maybe it’s just because I like to reflect on the beauty out there…it deserves attention!

I’ve been re reading one of my favorite books called  “The Art Spirit” by Robert Henri who was a wonderful artist and teacher in the beginning of the twentieth century.  It is filled with wisdom  that can be applied to life as well as artwork.  Even though I’ve read it many times from cover to cover since the book “found me” over 15 years ago I still absorb something new and valuable everytime I open it.  Today it was this quote …just what I needed.

“Let yourself free to be what you will be.”  ~Robert Henri