What a month! But still some time for art!

Belated birthday recognition for Gustav Klimt- the 150th anniversary of his birth was Saturday July 14th.  His decorative work, i.e. patterns, lines, zig-zags, circles, color combinations, all just so imaginative, I feel.
So, been absent here for a long time....maybe a month.  In the interim had to replace an automobile, begin a job search and prepare for and execute the wedding festivities for the youngest of our daughters!  It was the last activity which brought the greatest happiness, delight, energy and joy...overwhelmed the other stuff by lots!!
Faith was married by the ocean in Marion, Massachusetts on June 30th. with the reception just steps away at a beautiful facility, part of a club my family has had connections with for decades.  Danced and had fun 'til they insisted we leave to allow the staff to set up for the next day's events.  Music provided by Shirley Lewis,  a Boston blues institution who at seventy-five made the house jump!  Great party!!
Spent two weeks at the beach in Marion, freed from the constraints of employment, swimming, doing the wedding stuff, having friends and family visit.  Just Great!  And, today I got my first unemployment check!  Could life be better??!
Not gonna go into the job stuff  'cept to say that looking for work is a challenge, so if anyone wants to make an offer on a picture.......
With all of that I still had some time to do art.  Walked the beach on Sippican Bay each day and retrieved bags of shells.  I'd sit at a table, arrange them in some fashion and find my pens and sketchbook.

Here are a few samples.

Landscape: watercolor and ink

Detail from sketchbook drawing

Stretched out

Charcoal on heavy Bee Paper
18" x 24"

5 pieces in progress

24" x 36"
Oil on canvas

I'm working on about five pieces, including the above and have found that moving from one to the other is actually a great way to paint.  This one is just about done; I added some light after I took this photo so maybe I'll post the completed version next week or so.  I'll keep poking at it, I know. Again, my apology for the really poor photography....but I do want to have it seen!

Venus in Transit/2004-2012

Venus, the god of beauty, some time ago morphed with Aphrodite to become the god of love.  The planet with her name will, some time this evening where I'm situated, begin to slide across the Sun in a transit which won't occur again for 100+ years.  Venus will align with Earth, between it and the Sun, and appear as a tiny dot as it moves.  Scientists, from what I gather, are exercised beyond ecstasy at the prospects of gathering data to assist in searching the universe for other planets, some of which might support life.
I find the science fascinating but the myths much more appealing, compelling.
This rendering of the goddess in a realm of fantastic surroundings high above Earth still challenges me in the sense that she continues to ask questions about what it means to be human, with or without love, how we see our relationship with objects in the universe but mostly how we constantly try to reach understanding.

It also reminds me of a favorite work:  "Eros, the bittersweet" by Anne Carson, a philosophical examination of erotic love with chapter titles like "What does the lover want from love?" , "Finding the edge"  and  "Ice- pleasure."

Competent(?)/Competition(!)

In a bold move (for me) I chose these six images to submit to
a regional, museum-sponsored, competition for selection to a group exhibition to take place later this year.  The application required that I give them "titles" (!), provide their dimensions (!) , put them on a CD at 100 dpi (?) and label them in a digital code as jpg's from me.  Oh, and if I wanted, provide an artist's statement.  Much more exhausting than the actual painting process...one that depletes energy rather than cranks it!
If someone likes these that would be great.  I know that I do!

Diesel!!

Charcoal on paper