Two Blog Night

Posted by Maggie

The blog here and the next were finished at the same time, so I'm posting them together.

PAINTING THE ORDINARY

Staying at home so much, which is a pleasure, has still not been the same as when I stayed at home in the winter in previous years. I have spent more time sitting in one place rather than moving from spot to spot at high speed. So I’ve noticed lots of “ordinary things” which have inspired still-life work,  since I cannot get out yet for plein air painting. It’s back down in the 40s and 50s but in a few weeks we should have 60s.

I painted this wall red in my living room so the paintings on it would look good. When I open the blinds to see the mountain, though, I pay more attention to outside than inside. The moment of this shadow is fleeting, and I did use a photo reminder, butthe many times I’ve noticed it were significant.

Paintings on the wall:  of Prickly Pear and Shadow, 16x20, Traffic Jam, 28x40, The Boulders, 16x20, all ©2012 Maggie Price.

In the winter – January and February – when the sun is in a certain northern position, I have noticed and loved how it threw the plant shadow on the red wall in the very early morning. Finally I realized it was time to paint it.

“Shadow as subject” is something I’ve thought a lot about, and wrote about in my second book, Painting Sunlight & Shadow with Pastel.  People often think of a shadow as a minor element or subordinate to the painting, but it is more important than that.

One of my very favorite lines from the book: “Sunlight and shadow are forever paired, the yin and yang of describing form.” One cannot exist without the other.

Red Wall, 6x8, oil, © Maggie Price 2013

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