My walls got stripped of their old decor a few months ago. I needed to reclaim them as my own spaces and show myself something new. I had in my head that I needed to paint the hills of California, which are a constant subject of photography for me and which remind me strongly of my roots and family. (Anecdote: I lived in Ohio for four years. When our biology professor at Kenyon put up a slide showing some golden lumps with almost-black blobs, no one in my class knew that the blobs were oak trees. Except me, and I felt like I was looking at home, although I'm hardly a jackrabbit.)
On my first painting date with my buddy, I took my hand to acrylics for the first time as my sole medium. The result was this painting, which captures the evening shadows on naked grassy hills, although many people see dunes. (Makes no difference to me what you see.) I'm thrilled with this painting. And its serenity is so totally different from what I usually do.
Blue Velvet. Acrylic. 20" x 30".
Golden Hills. Acrylic. 20" x 30".
Another day, I joined together two canvases from failed thrift-store paintings to make a long canvas for this painting. I collaged some netting from the backing of a latch-hook rug onto the painting. I'm not sure the photo colors are true---the sky appears too darkly violet in this photo.
Sun and Storm. Acrylic. 20" x 48".
After the difficult process of gluing and taping canvases together, I decided I needed to find an alternative surface on which to paint. A big pre-stretched canvas can cost $250, and I don't have the means or time to stretch my own, or at least I haven't been interested in trying. Anyway, I went to Home Depot and bought thin veneered plywood, which I screwed onto some 1x1s and gessoed to make a large, paintable, hangable surface. The gesso makes a nice texture to work on. The cost savings is enormous, but the plywood does tend to twist a little.
I wanted to capture the moisture of evening in the Bay Area, that foggy dewy feel that makes green vegetation seem more lush even when the season has been dry. In the next painting, I loosely represent a view from Mt. Diablo over Walnut Creek. The four hills in the background are like hills I've seen near the Mendocino Mountain Range, so the piece is a fantasy juxtaposition of some real elements. I painted this in Sarah's company, too.
View from the Mountain. 3x4'. Acrylic.
Last but not least, I completed the painting below today. (I think. It might need some more Bonnarding.) It started yesterday at Sarah's house---these painting dates are really productive!
Do you know, the foothills of the Yosemite Valley are actually mostly gray and vanilla-colored, but the ombre shadows under the dead grass sometimes have a hint of pink? I tried to capture the barren beauty, but went overboard on the pink. Then I remembered something my art teacher said once: don't worry about what it actually looks like, worry about making a good painting. (Thanks, Pat.)
This painting is titled "On the Way to Amy's" because I was inspired by scenery that I saw while driving Highway 41 between Fresno and Amy's house. Very little beyond the inspiration is realistically represented. I'm really digging how the horizon fades into the sky, and how the lines draw the eye through the painting.
I don't think I'm done with the hills of California yet. First of all, winter is coming, and those vanilla hills will turn electric green, and the ombre effect will be the near-white tufts of old grass sheltering the vivid new sprigs. That pale gray-yellow-blue sky might be sapphire, if we're lucky and get some rain. Finally, I might actually improve my skills at capturing these landscapes, and be able to make better paintings.
