Jonah and the Almighty

I don't know when I first became fascinated with the story of Jonah. At least twenty years ago, I planned to paint this picture in oils on a very large panel. Sketched it out and then something or other intervened. So I decided to scale down my ambition.

Anyway, the story goes like this: The Almighty tells Jonah to go to Nineveh and warn the sinners there of His displeasure. Jonah tries to avoid this commission by taking ship to Tarshish, upon which the Almighty sends a storm. The sailors, in fear of sinking, find out that it's Jonah who has disobeyed heavenly orders and toss him overboard. 

Jonah is swallowed by a giant fish and, from its belly, prays for redemption and promises to go to Nineveh and do as the Almighty told him. The fish vomits him up onto dry land.

So Jonah goes to Nineveh, warns the king and the people of the Almighty's wrath, and the entire city repents, fasting in sackcloth and ashes. And seeing this, the Almighty decides not to punish them.

But then, and to me this is really strange, Jonah goes into a kind of pout because the city is not destroyed. And, it's the words of the Almighty to him that I've copied here.

It's those last four words, I think, that really captivate me. As you might have guessed by the picture's border.

 

Snowy Day--Works in Progress

 

In the Forest of Dreams

 Playing with color . . .

Rainy Day Doodling

 

Soul Work

     

                                                  

As, one after another, I crank out my amateurish watercolors, I contemplate the joy of doing a thing for its own sake with no thought of 'monetizing' the work. I'm happy to be an amateur, a nonprofessional, not very skilled practioner, but also (taking the word back to its Latin roots) one working for the love of it.

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 I continue to try to paint from life (except for that rose which was an exercise in a work book. I would never have chosen that brown background.)

I happened on this rather appropriate quote from Kurt Vonnegut:

"To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. So do it."

 

Trying to Improve

As I've said before, drawing people is right out of my comfort zone. So I'm working on it, using old photos from family albums. All the folks pictured are no longer here to be offended by my clumsy attempts.

 I loved the pose of the mother in this picture. Those firm black shoes! I had thought at first that it was a photo of my grandmother and mother. . .

But the inscription on the back "To Virginia from Billie" and the date, which is later than my mother's birth date, suggest otherwise. I can't explain the 1924 stamp--the mother's dress looks earlier than that but what do I know.

This is a photo of my mother and her friends at the beach on a chilly day. I was stuck by the headless pose and how the whole thing suggested a coven of witches. I can't be sure who's who but my mother stayed close to at least four of her high school friends throughout her life.

A Wedding Slipper

More painting from objects, not photos.  One of my maternal grandmother's wedding slippers. (Yes, I also have her wedding dress. . .)

 

Long Gone

During these fraught times, I find that one way of turning off the mental doom-scrolling is to work on a piece with lots of detail. I don't know why I find these old filling stations and country stores so appealing, but I do.

The one below is from a year ago--and of a different place, despite some similarities. 

                                                         

More Learning Opportunities

                                                                          

The artist Fleta Monaghan, when I was working in oils and acrylics in her classes (20-some years agone,) always advised us to keep our work in progress out where we could look at it from a distance and when we weren't actively working on it. Over time, various problems and possible fixes may become clearer.

It's really excellent advice. Which is why I had this trio placed so I could look at them during mealtimes.

The white iris--done from a photo--was a real challenge just to draw and then to paint. Trying to get the shadows dark enough and not too dark, keeping the edges crisp, and reproducing the squiggly bits in the center of the flower proved too much for me. Nothing I could do to fix these problems. I did try outlining the petals with black ink, in hopes of clarifying things. Not an improvement, alas. This baby is probably going to become bookmarks--the fate of many of my watercolor attempts. 

It doesn't matter. I enjoyed making the picture and I learned some stuff.

The orchids I drew from life--they were sitting right in front of me. For some reason, I find this more difficult than working from a photo or picture. Not happy with this one either--I tried to punch up the yellow a bit and darken the blue background.

Nope. Not a keeper. Another learning experience and some more bookmarks--after I use the other side for a bit more painting.

I've painted this frog before. He's a step-by-step lesson in a book and after two unhappy attempts, I thought to get back to basics.  But I was unable to resist adding a bit of story--the princess and her golden ball, hurrying down the steps. The ball will fall in the water and, after a lot of carrying on, the frog will turn out to be a prince under an enchantment.

So, darkening the background behind the frog and the princess, darkening bits of the frog. Not done yet, now I see those irises on the left need to be darker too . . .

Sill learning . . .

                                                                                       

Well, hell. I hit PUBLISH before changing the date. This is meant to be Saturday's post. (Still learning, indeed.)

In Progress

                                                                           

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've always loved this conglomeration of rooflines at the Boyd place down the road. So finally, I decided to have a go at painting them.

This is in progress- a few shadows are missing, and some colors need deepening. Actually, I may scrap it and try again--trying to be more precise. a lot of the edges aren't as clean as I'd like.

I left out the red truck in the picture below because the rooflines were what I wanted to concentrate on. And I left out that white rectangle behind the house--it's another roof of another building but doesn't really read as such. 

This is very much a learning exercise, and an enjoyable one. 

Hidden Figures

                                                                            

I was experimenting with watercolors--especially with adding texture by dropping salt or drops of alcohol onto the wet paint, when these critters emerged.                                                                                    

Kinda like cloud-gazing . . . or perhaps a Rorscach test.

                                                                               

Playing with Salt

If you sprinkle salt on a half-dry watercolor wash as I've done here in the blue, you get these lovely effects. Lots of fun to see what happens as it dries. 

 

A Gothic Heroine

A while back, my older son Ethan sent a picture of their dog Moxie, gazing pensively out the window, and mentioned that she looked like a Gothic heroine. 

I agreed and gave her more Gothic surroundings. Forgot the candelabra though.

She's kept me entertained the past few days.

 

Everyone's an Art Critic--Bailey Update

Bailey removed two of my watercolor efforts from the shelf where I'd left them between some books and proceeded to chew on them.

She doesn't know much about art, but these were to her taste.

                                                                               

Bailey's come a long way from the fearful, mangy-looking critter John brought home. She'd evidently never been in a house and had to be dragged in; now it's her favorite place, especially the kitchen where food falls on the floor and there are often things to pre-wash.

She's a happy girl. We still have to chaperon her on walks as she's not yet spayed (and still reluctant to get in the car, plus we're reluctant to traumatize her when she's doing so well,) but she goes on walks without a leash and knows what Go to the house means. The crusted dirt and skin condition she arrived with were so bad I thought sure she had mange, but baths with special shampoo from the vet and fish oil on her food, along with daily brushing, have done the trick. She looks really good now.

She gets along fine with the rest of the pack.

That includes Otter who, on weekdays when her people are at work, always drops in for lunch.

I hear Jayna and Sandy asking What about the cats? Not a problem; she's pretty sure, given their tuxedo coats, that they're cousins or something. But I don't have any good pictures.

She's a sweet girl who's found her home. 

I didn't like those watercolors anyway.

W.I.P.

Work in progress. Autumn and Winter panels for the Castle People back drop mostly done. Josie loves all the colors in Autumn. (The paper is curling because I wanted to paint to the very edge, thus didn't tape it down. I'll press them all under a heavy book when I'm done.)

The yellow thing in the middle is meant to be a magic path to a portal--but it needs work. 

It's great fun and a bit of a challenge to keep the continuity flowing. And sometimes things change. I hadn't intended a stream, but it insisted on being there in one, so I had to add it to the others. 

Josie has requested an Allicorn (Winged unicorn) in the Summer sky so I've got to fit that in somehow.

As I said, great fun!