summer creek study

This creek runs along a farm at the end of the road on which my childhood home is located. When I was very young and had to ride the bus to school every morning, we passed over a tiny bridge on the dirt road that passed the farm, and I always loved the way the farm sat back in a hollow. I plan to paint a large rectangular version of this image soon.

golden autumn study

This is a detail study of a piece I worked on today. I found the reference on a drive through Muhlenberg County, Kentucky last fall, and it is reminiscent of older work of mine with warm open fields and a single tree. Lately I have been painting more imagery from deep woods and mountains, and it was somewhat comforting to return to a familiar subject.

figure class

I returned home late from my figure study class and did not finish the painting in time to post it before midnight, so I decided to post both today together. It has been wonderful returning to the figure as a subject. I have always enjoyed the process and this time I have the opportunity to teach the class! This piece is created somewhat from memory, referring to a drawing I did during the figure session. I normally prefer to have the subject before me when I paint, but it has been a good exercise to recall the light and tone I witnessed earlier that night and decipher the shorthand of my drawing.

maldonado

Today I saw a former coworker and friend of mine, Eric Maldonado. I had always threatened to paint his portrait when we were working together, and now that I am painting full-time, I decided today would be a good day to do it. Much in the fashion of the 'ol boys club that was my former workplace, I always referred to him by last name only. "Maldonado" is a great guy, hard worker, awesome dad, and, if I may say so, wonderful portrait subject.

lower broad

Driving home from my studio this afternoon, I decided to take my favorite route. Contrary to common sense, I like to drive straight through downtown Nashville, down Lower Broadway where all the most famous bars and music spots of Nashvegas can be found; and then left on Second Avenue, past the rest of the tourist destinations to the Woodland Street Bridge. I have found that during rush hour, most people are fleeing the downtown area, clogging up the interstates. Often it is actually faster and far more interesting to head to the heart of the city. There is nothing like downtown Nashville on a weekend night, lights and music and colorful characters everywhere. During the day, though, it waits in quiet anticipation of the coming crowds, humming along like any other 9-to-5 downtown. Only with more cowboy boots. And neon.

frozen wetlands

On our walk through the Shelby wetlands yesterday, we noticed that one area had flooded, then frozen, leaving a hard, glassy surface to reflect the brilliant sunlight. In the summer, this particular area is usually overgrown with brush or soft and swampy, but we were lucky enough to catch it at a time when it offered a rare solid base for the dark trees sprouting through; yet another example of winter's harsh drama.

shelby marshes

It was another beautiful day for a walk, and today we chose Shelby Park. A little way up the path, we saw a small trail leading through some puddles to a marshy pond. In the summer, the pond is invisible through the thick brush that grows in the wetland area, so it was a surprise to us to discover it. Shelby has a great little ecosystem in the middle of the city for birds and other wildlife, with plenty of nesting boxes provided. We even found out today about a new wildlife center in the works for the park. Our short afternoon walk was a good opportunity to give thanks for such a unique place so close to our city home.

bledsoe creek

Today we awoke to a light dusting of snow, and after a leisurely breakfast, set out to find a good place to take a walk. We intended to explore a natural area rumored to have old growth forest, located in a remote part of the county north of here. However, the little Honda was unable to make it up a hill on a snowy back road on the way there, so we had to carefully back down the narrow road and head for more tame surroundings. We ended up at Bledsoe Creek State Park in Gallatin, TN, and it was surprisingly nice. It was obvious that the park is very crowded in the summer months, but since Tennesseeans rarely set foot outside their homes on a snowy day, we more or less had the place to ourselves. We only had to share it with the deer who greeted our car in the parking lot, the great blue herons hunting by the lake, a half dozen species of ducks, and a one-legged wild turkey. Good company, I say.

figure study

I have finally returned to teaching this week, much to my joy. I am teaching a figure study class at Watkins College of Art & Design, and our first class was last night. The students are wonderful and enthusiastic, and it is so refreshing to return to working from the figure. This is a quick study I did after a drawing, a great change of subject.

winter day

Coming from a sunny, relatively warm climate back to our cold weather has been a little rough. It is quite a contrast to go from the green fields at the edge of the desert in Egypt to the dormant gray landscape here. I thought this image characterized the the stark, chilly surroundings, although it is not doing much to help my cabin fever.

magic morning

Finally I am back home in Tennessee and becoming reacclimated. The morning I left for Egypt it snowed here, so this is the first chance I have had to do a piece from that day. It may be the only snowfall we get all year, so I wanted to do at least one image from that morning. This is a beautiful tree in my backyard, from a photo snapped while my dog was playing nearby.

city of the dead

On the way to the airport from my mother's flat, one passes by vast expanses of tombs and mausoleums in a "neighborhood" of Cairo known as the City of the Dead. It is an eerie sight to see acres and acres of single-story, sometimes roofless structures sprawling across the land, arranged like a city. Some families of the deceased have actually moved into the tombs, or have caretakers to oversee the family restig place. I have been intrigued by this arrangement since I discovered it on my last trip, and thought it would make a good painting.

valley of the whales

For the first time, I was able to camp in the desert and sense the barren, absolute silence. The Western Desert of Egypt has almost no vegetation, being almost completely composed of sand that was once at the bottom of the ocean. In spite of the lack of plant life, there was a surprising amount of animal life. We even had a fox visit our campsite overnight, evidenced by its tiny footprints encircling our tents. It was apparently a picky eater, though, leaving the tomatoes and french fries of the previous night's dinner in favor of chicken bones and cucumbers.

desert sunrise

We camped in the desert west of the Fayoum in an area known as the Valley of the Whales. The valley is full of fossils, most notably several largely intact 55 million-year-old fossilized skeletons of Eocene period whale ancestors. It was surreal to see the "bones" exposed in the desert where they had been for millions of years, exposed to the elements.

Our camping spot was in an incredible alcove near the valley, surrounded on three sides by high sandstone walls encircling a dune in the middle. I climbed to the top of a large rock formation to watch the sunrise the next morning. It was a silence and solitude I will never forget.

El-Fayoum

One of my favorite things to do in Egypt is to travel through the rural areas along the Nile. It is almost like stepping back in time to see people live in a way that humans have been living in this part of the world for centuries. The Fayoum is not actually an oasis, since it receives irrigation from the Nile, but it is mostly surrounded by vast stretches of desert and has much of the culture of the oases. It is a very quiet, simple place, especially when compared with Cairo, less than two hours away. It was easy for me to see why the Egyptians choose this as a favorite vacation spot.

wadi el-rayan

We spent the last part of my visit in Egypt in an area called El-Fayoum, an oasis-like area to the south of Cairo which has been inhabited since ancient times. Today, it is a beautiful area with lakes and acres of green fields, dotted with small villages. It is mainly a vacation spot for Egyptians and not often visited by foreign tourists. This lake with marshy borders was at the Wadi El-Rayan protected area, home to diverse wildlife and even a waterfall. It is surrounded by barren desert, offering a stark contrast to the clear water of the lake.

felucca

One of the last things my mother and I did in Cairo was hire a felucca for a short sail on the Nile. We ran out of time during our last trip, so I wanted to be sure that we fit it in this time. It was a cold and windy day, so there were few other boats on the river, but it was a wonderful experience. We picked up some "kushari," a favorite food among Egyptians, and had a picnic on the boat. The best thing about it was that from the water, we could still hear the honking horns and noise of the city, but it was a reprieve from being immersed in the constant roar of Cairo.

inside ibn tulun

We entered the mosque of Ibn Tulun, named for a governor of Egypt sent from Iraq to rule the province in 868. He decided when he arrived in Egypt to declare it independent and began buliding the vast mosque that covers approximately six acres and still stands today. It is a very early mosque, and its design is simple and elegant. Although it is mainly a tourist attraction now, there were several worshippers praying when we visited, and we climbed the unusual minaret just in time to hear the midday call to prayer echoing throughout the city.

khan el-khalili

The Khan el-Khalili has been a Cairo shopping center for ages. With its winding mazes of very narrow alleys lined with stalls, it is an intoxicating and sometimes overstimulating experience. In the tourist areas it can be irritating to fend off the constant "where you from?" and "free to look, come inside," that many shopkeepers resort to in order to compete with other shops selling the exact same wares. Tucked away at one end, though, is the part of the Khan that most tourists never see. My mother and I ventured into the area where only the locals shop, and made some wonderful finds with very little haggling. In the distance is the tower at Bab Zweyla, a medieval gate to the city that we later climbed to get a view of Islamic Cairo.

cairo cab drivers

One of the most colorful experiences in Cairo is riding in a taxi. It seems like such a common thing to do, but there is an art to hailing a cab (and getting away afterwards!). Unlike in New York, where the fares are digital and the same for everyone, in Cairo you must pay according to whether you are a tourist, native, or expatriate. The fares may even differ from driver to driver, so sometimes there is a big argument after you reach your destination about what the rate should be (you never pay until after you step out of the cab). The more Arabic you speak, the less likely you are to have to pay a high rate.

Another strange fact about Cairo's taxis is that very few are newer than the 1970s (80s at the latest!) and seem to be mostly Russian. I don't know much about cars, but they seem to be lacking something like a catalytic converter, because most of them nearly suffocate you with exhaust fumes. It is truly like being two feet from a tailpipe, and the exhaust seems to pump directly through the vents. For this reason, they always have the front windows down. Some, like this one, are decorated with blankets, prayer beads, and passages from the Qu'ran.

St George

We visited a beautiful circular church at the Monastery of St. George, an Orthodox monastery in the heart of Coptic Cairo. It was lovely watching religious pilgrims touch the altars and kiss their fingers, leaving prayers scribbled on notes for their favorite saints. The church itself felt so ancient, very dark and tall inside with domes reaching far above and tiny hints of light peeking through stained glass. Most Egyptians (something like 95%) are Muslim, but the remaining 5% are almost entirely Coptic, an ancient sect of Christianity with its own Pope and distinct saints. Having developed as an island in a sea of Islam for centuries, Coptic Christianity has a slightly different doctrine from Catholicism or Protestantism, and my first impression of it was that it was like Christianity in a parallel universe, which in a way it sort of is. The Coptic Bible is different from the Latin, and its services are conducted in Arabic and an old Coptic language that is derived from the ancient Egyptian. The Copts are considered to be purer descendants of the ancient Egyptians than their Muslim Arab counterparts, but there have been infusions of Nubian, Greek, and Jewish blood over the years as well. As the minority in Egypt, the Copts have been at a disadvantage, and some of the most impoverished areas I have visited were the Christian neighborhoods.

veiled woman

I photographed this woman leaning against a wall using a technique I learned from my friend Nicole, who accompanied me on my last trip to Egypt. By holding the camera at your waist and looking around like a tourist, you can get sly shots of people who are (hopefully) unaware of what you are doing. I have found myself very preoccupied with the condition of women's lives here. Besides being self-conscious about being one of the few women who have their hair exposed, I am acutely aware that in being born American, I have had so many opportunities that women here never get. Very deep beliefs stand in the way for women to advance here at all. I don't think I truly appreciated my lot in life until I had to ride in the Women's Car on the subway or realized that I would not be welcomed in certain cafes because of my gender.

egypt at last

After many more hours in airports than I care to count, I finally arrived in Cairo on Saturday evening. I didn't get to leave the airport right away, though, since the passport control computers were down. With as little logic and order as I have come to expect in Egypt, the officers confiscated the passports of several hundred passengers who all had arrived within an hour and left us all standing in a large room, waiting to hear our names called out one at a time in a strong Egyptian accent. It wasn't at all as orderly as it sounds...three different officers would be shouting at once, moving to different parts of the room, and waiting for the officers in the back office to thumb through stacks of log books to see if our names were on "the list." Not wanting my name to be shouted to hundreds of people, followed by "AMERICA!" (definitely not a good idea to advertise that here), I waited just behind an officer and took my passport back just before he called my name. All in all, a fairly humorous experience. As my mother says, if it's not a good time, it's a good story.

Because of the delay, I was not able to get any good reference, as the sun was setting as we left the airport for a terrifying cab ride to mom's flat. We finally ventured out yesterday morning to the Coptic neighborhood of Cairo, which has a definite appeal for me. This image is from a winding subterranean alley that led through the complex to the church of St. Barbara, who (so it is said) was beheaded by her own father.

let's try this again

Those of you who have been readers since the beginnig will remember that I had a thwarted trip to Egypt planned earlier this month. After some rescheduling, I plan to leave tomorrow morning, so I will give the same disclaimer: I may from time to time be without internet access, but I will be painting every day and posting when possible. I found this image from "the archives" of my last trip there. This was an agricultural area along the Nile with beautiful, lush fields and rows of palm trees, a very different landscape from Middle Tennessee, but one I look forward to experiencing again.

waiting for winter

It is finally coming...the first snow of the season. Or so they say. There was a certain excitement in the air around town today in anticipation of awaking tomorrow morning to find everything dusted in white. I worked on the large piece in the downtown studio today, and just as I was about to leave, I caught a glimpse of this very cold-looking bird sitting atop the utility pole. Although I often find anthropomorphism to be a bad habit, I had the brief passing thought that the little bird was looking out over the horizon searching for signs of snow. Probably she was just being a bird, but I liked her shape, the contrast of living being about to take flight with the cold industrial background. And who knows? Maybe she was hoping for snow as much as I was.

exile sculpture

This sculpture was a gift from my mother, depicting the Holy Family in exile in Egypt. It was created by an Egyptian sculptor who apparently works in these themes often. I immediately loved the simplified forms and the serene expression on Mary's face (which I have not really captured here) and the evidence of the sculptor's hand at work. I chose this subject today because I thought it would be a fun painting exercise, and I am mentally preparing for my (rescheduled!) trip to Egypt later this week. Plus, it was far too cold here today for me to drag myself out of the studio long enough to search for landscape subjects!

slickrock

Last fall Derek & I camped with my father near the Joyce Kilmer/ Slickrock WIlderness Area in Nantahala National Forest. It was a pilgrimage of sorts for Derek and me...we had heard of the fabled old-growth forest for years and had always wanted to see the massive trees for ourselves. We were amazed to stand beneath the giants, some of which would take three or four people to wrap arms around. This spot was on a small footbridge at the beginning of the trail. Even though there were no old-growth trees visible from this point, I thought it was a very magical place, and it held the promise of things to come.

let it snow

This weekend we here in Middle Tennessee had many promises of "possible dusting" of snow, or, as our local weatherpeople like to call it, a "wintery mix." As usual, the "mix" turned out to be rain, followed by bitter cold, with hardly a flake of snow. I spoke with my family up north who were lamenting the fact that their beautiful snowfall of several days ago still has not melted. All this has me pining for the soft white blanket of winter. This image is from the one snowfall we had last year (which we had to drive east for an hour to see in the early morning before it melted off by noon). Here's hoping.

mandolin

Today was a nice break from the studio. My friend Nicole accompanied me to the opening of the Altered Vision exhibit at the library, which was a great success. The highlight of the day for me, though, was a couple of hours spent picking with Nicole on our banjos (and my new mandolin!). Sometimes it is great to take a rest from the constant visual work and spend a little time on the ears.

studio view

Another long day of painting today in the temporary studio downtown. After five straight hours of painting (and inhaling a few too many paint thinner fumes) I finally had to stop working because the sun was setting. Yesterday evening I noticed how beautiful the light was across the street at the end of the day, pinks and oranges transforming the otherwise gray urban view. I remembered my camera today so that I could preserve the color long enough to do a study of the view from my new studio window.

thistle

After working on the large piece for the Arts at the Airport project all day today, I was in the mindset of the farm where the image was photographed. I returned to the reference I shot there last summer and found this image of thistle growing in the middle of the field. I loved the way it stood alone in the meadow, a solitary splash of color.

prayer garden

After a quiet, contemplative winter day inside, I ventured out into our prayer garden as the sun was setting. The family who owns our house and lived here for many years created a beautiful garden in the back with statues of Mary and St. Francis. It is a beautiful daily reminder of the sacred.

mountain memory

After spending most of the day today driving to Knoxville and back to deliver some paintings, I got a bit of a late start on the painting today. It was a perfect day for driving through the mountains. Even though I didn't stop to hike or photograph while I was there, the mountains were constantly on my mind and in my sight. I found this image from a camping trip that we took with my dad last fall that I have always wanted to paint. The image came very easily, and I think it will scale up well.

short mountain view

This is the view from Short Mountain coming down from the firetower. When we were there over the weekend, I was surprised at how many spots there were on the mountain with incredible views. Even though it has a lower elevation than the mountains we usually visit in East Tennessee and North Carolina, it was still a great opportunity to see the land stretching out for miles. Quite fun to paint, too.

in the cold

Yesterday we were driving with our friend Cameron on the north loop of the interstate past the huge scrap metal piles that fill the space between the highway and the river. He commented that it was an eyesore and a blemish on the cityscape, but I have always sort of liked the giant hills of rusting metal. I suppose it is a contradiction for someone who likes to paint living landscapes with no human influence, but I have often wanted to paint the rusted, peeling paint and mysterious strong shapes of discarded industrial metal. The passing conversation must have been in the back of my mind when we came upon this collection of disintegrating cars later in the day. We pulled over into the barren field where the cars sat, cold and lifeless as the trees around them.

sumac

We had a wonderful day today, packing up in the morning to head out on a mini road trip. Since Derek and I first met, one of our favorite things to do has been driving around the South, exploring the back roads and secret small-town finds. Today we deliberately headed to Cannon County, TN, where we were looking at a house (and also the landscape!). We ended up exploring a couple of natural areas. First, we drove to the top of Short Mountain, which is only 2092' but is the highest point in the region and had an incredible view of the Cumberland Plateau and central basin. After a burger at Joe's Place in Woodbury, TN we ended up at Flat Rock Cedar Glades and Barrens just outside Murfreesboro. It is a private piece of land owned by the Nature Conservancy, mostly cedars and limestone. We managed to get in a short hike at dusk, where I spotted this stand of sumac. I have always loved its luscious color even in the dead of winter. I couldn't resist painting it tonight.

winter dusk

I started my day very late today, and by the time I had finished the piece on my easel, it was almost sunset. This tree grows in the backyard of my next door neighbor, and the sun sets just behind it in the winter. I have always loved it, especially at sunset when the color seeps through the spaces in the branches. It was another cold, colorless day here in Nashville, but the dusk brought out all the brilliance that the day lacked.

ohio dream

Talking to my family today made me just a little homesick for Ohio. My brother is planning a visit there over the weekend, and even though this time of year is not quite as hospitable as the summer, I still miss the landscape and the starkness of the winter, too. I found this image among several that I photographed in Ohio during a visit there last summer, along SR643 on the way to Holmes County. It is one of the most beautiful spots with a long view of hillside after hillside receding into the distance.

prayer tree

This solid, wonderful tree grows outside the window of our yoga/meditation room, providing a perfect symbol of life and the natural world as a daily reminder. I have often wanted to paint it, and today seemed like a good day. It was so cold outside, and all the starkness of winter was apparent in the twisting branches of all the leafless trees. It was the kind of day with very little color anywhere, just dry, dormant texture. I could not think of a better image to convey this than my favorite everyday tree, whose bare bones are only visible in this season.

descent

On a very memorable trip to Madison County, NC, we hiked to the top of a mountain with our friends Lee and Naomi. At the top there was a bald where cattle were pastured, offering the an almost 360 degree view of the mountains surrounding. It was a steep and invigorating climb that we did not begin until nearly dusk, but we made the top in plenty of time to take some deep breaths and enjoy the meadow before heading back down along the fencerow. The sun went down during our descent and we made the rest of the hike in the dark, but it was an evening I will never forget, full of magic and promise.

...then again, maybe not

It seems that my trip to Egypt was not meant to be. After a week of battling flu and fever, and after two antibiotics, I dragged myself out of bed to the airport this morning, checked in, and promptly became so sick that I could not even get through security. They pulled my bag from the flight and that was that. So, after spending the day in bed fighting off the side effects of this latest antibiotic and doing plenty of crying, I decided to paint a Nile landscape from an image gathered on my previous trip. Hopefully we will reschedule in the next couple of months, but for now it is Tennessee for me.

SPECIAL NOTE

For the next 10 days, I will be travelling in Egypt with my mother. We will be in the Western Desert in the Dahkla and Kharga Oases for part of the trip, and the rest of the trip will be in Cairo. I will still be completing a new painting each day, but since I will not always have web access, I will be posting new pieces whenever technology allows! I am really looking forward to the change of scenery and subject matter (and media--since I will not be able to take flammable oil paints with me, I will be working in acrylic and mixed media.)

spoon creek

My kindergarten teacher Mrs. Doughty owned this dairy farm on Spoon Creek, and we visited there on a field trip to watch the cows being milked. The school bus passed the farm every morning, and whenever I visit home, I find myself driving past it to see the huge white farmhouse in the distance. I have always loved the way the land rests in the valley and thought of it as my ideal farm. With the cows grazing in the old pastures and the creek cutting deep through the land, it has always made a strong impression on me. On the particular day that I photographed this image, it was incredibly quiet there. The farm almost seemed abandoned and the old house where the farm workers lived had burned down. I stopped to listen to the absolute silence and snapped some pictures.

radnor dusk

Looking through some old photographs today, I came across this image of Radnor Lake, a beautiful natural area just outside Nashville. At the time the photo was taken, I was living much closer to Radnor and it was a favorite hiking spot for Derek (now my fiancee) and me. Many happy memories here, and a beautiful evening as well.

hillside mist

This image came from the USDA agricultral research station where my father works. We were out for a drive on a rainy afternoon last summer and he took us to see the spot where his station is planning a research project dealing with land use and urban development. At the top of the hill, we looked down over one side where the houses would simulate a typical suburban development to measure the amount of runoff of motor oil, lawn pesticides, fertilizers, etc., into the water supply. We are hopeful that the UDSA funding will continue to do this very important research.

The view in this painting is looking away from the proposed "development," at some of the most beautiful land in the county. I will be painting a larger version of this image tomorrow.

mountain dream

I have been spending a great deal of time indoors this week, due to catching an awful case of flu and having tight deadlines for finishing some paintings. All this has led to a wandering mind, dreaming of "greener pastures." I found some beautiful images from the mountains of Western North Carolina, where we plan to move this summer. Even though it seems very far away right now, painting it was a lovely escape on this cold, gray day.

river sunset

When I first began painting landscapes, I did several pieces with very intense color, some with bold reds and purples against a black treeline. This spot along the Cumberland River reminded me of those early pieces...an opporunity to return to a bold style and take some chances. There was just something about the red light against the black trees and silent water.

sweet kentucky

On a beautiful autumn drive through Kentucky this fall, I noticed a strange sight. I was driving through the fabled Muhlenberg County when I saw a barn that appeared to be on fire, spewing white smoke through all its cracks. When I looked over the hill to the next farm, its barn was smoking, too. I rolled down my window, took a deep breath, and realized that I was witnessng for the first time the scent of tobacco curing. The sights of white smoke reaching for the sky and workers piling the sticky leaves into little stacks reached on for miles. I am fully aware of the dangers of tobacco smoke and the harm it has caused millions, but for that one afternoon I was transfixed by the sweet smoky scent, travelling on the breeze. I remember thinking that if I had grown up in Kentucky, I would be homesick for that smell the way landlocked former seashore dwellers miss the ocean.

This meadow was across the road from one of the smoking barns. I paused to photograph there, drawn by the edge of the grasses meeting the soybean fields beyond. The workers barely took notice of me stopping there as they tended the barn and gathered tobacco leaves.

cumberland twilight

One of my favorite painters when I first began to paint was James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Most famous for his painting of his mother in profile, Whistler was well-known in his time for his lawsuit with art critic John Ruskin. Ruskin criticized Whistler's painting technique as "flinging a pot of paint" at the canvas, prompting Whistler to sue for libel. Whistler won the case, but was awarded only a farthing, bankrupting himself for his principles. As issue was one of his night landscapes, a favorite series of mine that is almost completely abstract; although the landscape subjects are recognizable, they are visible through a dark fog, only the faraway lights on the shore giving contrast.

This view of the Cumberland River during a walk a few nights ago reminded me so much of this series that I could not resist trying my hand at it. I would have to paint many more to come close to the brilliant simplicity of Whistler, but that simplicity is always at the heart of my efforts.

wetland study

When I was young, my father took me birdwatching at this marshy lake. I have fond memories of getting up very early, heading out with a thermos of tea and the binoculars in his pickup truck, and parking by the side of the lake, hoping to catch a glimpse of some ducks through the morning fog.

I painted a large version of this last year in a rectangular format, but I wanted to revisit it and try it in a square composition. This is a study for a larger piece I plan to complete this week.