View from My Window

Evening Sunlight in the Orchard, by Kerry Marquis

Last summer was bittersweet to me. I visited my Mom in SC at the home that I grew up in. Mom has dementia and because of that, I felt particularly sentimental because these views, this house, this yard, these gardens may belong to someone else before long. Because of that, I did lots of sketches, took many photos and even did a few small plein aire paint skteches of the views from the house and yard. This particular view is one that I could see from my window as I grew up.

Arts Festivals and Art Fairs

I love arts fairs and festivals. Looking at all of the wonderful paintings, sculptures, ceramics and more that artists have displayed is a real treat, a feast for the eyes! Although I love going to them, I have not displayed my work at one since I was in my early 20's. And that was at a very small local art fair near my hometown in South Carolina. How many of you go to art fairs or art walks, etc. Have any of you bought work from artists that you saw there? Post in the comments or message me about what arts festivals, fairs or walks that you have gone to and where they were! I'm considering it. What do you think?

Inspired by Places

Sunny Summer Day in South Carolina, 4.5" x 6.5" Oil on Oil Paper

Places that I know most intimately or places that I visit inspire me. I particularly enjoy going for a run or walk – in new or in familiar places. The emotional impact that the place creates in me inspires me to want to express that in a painting or drawing. It may be the overwhelming color of the area – like the greenest green haze that surrounds you in the foothills of South Carolina in the summer or the cool blue-greens and blues and browns that swirl around you when walking through the Florida marshes.

I usually start an artwork with a purposeful visit to a place, a run or a walk through an area, just emptying my mind and looking.  A second visit finds me with camera in one hand and sketchbook in the other, working to capture some of the sense of place that impressed itself upon me. Sometimes, I sit down and do a few watercolor sketches on location. Later, in my studio, I paint a series of paintings inspired by the place. Do you have a place you would like me to visit and capture in paint?

Not Always Successful

6.5" x 4.5" Green In South Carolina 5

I was trying out my oil paint paper -- Arches -- again today, trying to capture that green, sunny South Carolina summertime feeling again. I got the trees and the distant sunshine in ther and even ALMOST got the color scheme right, but it just did not come together for me today. Perhaps when I come back to it later I'll feel differently. It doesn't really bother me too much when this happens, but it seems senseless when it does.

Green in South Carolina 5

What I mean by that is that I'll have an idea of what I want, I'll be working it out as I go and it will be progressing well, then suddenly the paint is not going on like I want it to. I wipe some off and try again. Nope. It's not behaving. I persist. Eventually I get to a stopping point, but the mood that I was trying to capture has eluded me. I think I may come back to it another time, but I may not. Sometimes it's better to just drop it and move on. Perhaps I'll do a few studies that will help me to better understand how to get the effect that I'm going for . . . those trees on the right and the close-up tree . . . the folage is just not right. And the sun doesn't look like it is shining through. Okay, enough. Move on.

Christmas Day, 2014
Later, I did go back to this little piece. Here is the result. I'm much happier iwth the depth and the sunlight shining across the trees.

Seeing Through Artist's Eyes

16"x 20" Green Orchard, Oil on Canvas

I'm over half a century old, and I've been making art of some kind or other for most of that time. Yes, there have been times when I did not make art; that comparison of how a practicing artists looks around her to, well, how a non-practicing artist looks around her. In those times when I have been regularly drawing, painting, collaging, everything I look at is seen as colors, textures, patterns; I'm thinking of how to get that effect, how to express that moment.

The feeling comes first: wordless, eyes widen, breathless. Then comes the smile, a feeling of great satisfaction, wonder. Next, the translation begins, as I described above. It's not even done in words. It's more of a wordless thought process. For me, it is connected to, flows from, my beingness. I'm being myself, an artist; I'm doing what I do, seeing and changing it, one foot in this shared world and one foot in my own, personal world; How can I bring this world into that world? How do I share this?

This painting is a window into that early morning, patterned colorful world of my childhood.

"If I were called upon to define briefly the word Art, I should call it the reproduction of what the senses preceive in nature, seen through the veil of the soul." Paul Cezanne  

Subject Matter

In today's art world, it is popular to paint about a concept. This is not something that I want to do right now. As a teacher (my day job) I am constantly needing to verbalize, analyze, describe and demonstrate. When I paint, I simply want to think in that unique, non-verbal, joyful way that simply comes to me as I paint or as I look. It's a unique communication which is personal and timeless, and there's something stress-free and unconcerned about it; during the moment of creation, it doesn't matter if it is received or not. It is only later, sometimes much later, that gratification comes from observing that someone "gets" it. And even, hopefully, purchases it.

Primary Motivation

What is my primary motivation as an artist? Currently, I can see that if I could create financial security and stability as an artist, many of my distractions could be eliminated and more focus could be put on creating art. For example, I love creating a beautiful home and a beautiful yard and even enjoy teaching children art, but I could be the designer of my yard and home and hire others to do a lot of the labor, saving me lots of time.

If financial stability is a primary goal in present time, it is because it will let me focus more completely on artistic excellence. Creating art is simply an urge that has never gone away. I felt it as a child and it has continued to be important to me into adulthood. At one point, I put it aside and took a totally different kind of position. For 5 years, I did no art and focused on creating my position in the organization where I worked and although I did well and earned a good income, not doing art was actually painful to me. So it is a necessity that I earn a good income with my art, and not just a want.

Finally, recognition as an artist would be a real bonus, though I don't really crave it. A cadre of collectors who focused on and supported my my work is a new concept for me, but I really like it.

I think that Henry Moore puts it best for me when he says, “There's no retirement for an artist, it's your way of living so there's no end to it.” For me, experiencing life through art is all. Viewing, creating, thinking about, researching, appreciating beauty, aesthetics, art, that is simply how I live and how I want to live.