Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Another Venue:: The Drawing Room, Marion, MA

It's exciting when I get to show my work in a new venue. Anthi's Drawing Room is a wonderful place full of curated fine art and other useful and giftware pieces that really make a positive mark on a home. Of particular note to me are some gorgeous copper pans. (If you're reading this, Tim, any of them would be a great gift this Christmastime.)

Stop in if you're in the area of Marion, MA. If not and you find something here you like, please contact them. I know they will ship! 

Thanks for reading! -kmw

(c)2015 Kim Morin Weineck
AUTUMN MARSH, 6x6" pastel

(c)2015 Kim Morin Weineck
DUSK, 6x6" original pastel

(c)2015 Kim Morin Weineck
CRITIQUE, 6x6" original pastel

(c)Kim Morin Weineck
CHICORY, 6x6" original pastel

(c)2015 Kim Morin Weineck
FEELS LIKE FALL, 6x6" original pastel

(c)2015 Kim Morin Weineck
FIELD SUNSET, 6x6" original pastel

(c)2015 Kim Morin Weineck
MARSH FOG, 6x6" original pastel

(c)2015 Kim Morin Weineck
PEARS IN A BOWL, 6x6"original pastel

(c) 2015 Kim Morin Weineck
MARSH ROCKS, 6x6" original pastel

(c)2015 Kim Morin Weineck
BLUE CLOUDS, 6x6" original pastel

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Day 43 :: DUNE PATHS:: original KMW pastel, 6x6"

DUNE PATHS
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"
$125 + $8 shipping

Today was a busy day: kids are off from school, puppy preparations are in full swing, and the oil painting class I'm teaching began tonight, a pastel painting class starts tomorrow. This ugh cold I've had for nearly two weeks is dragging me down. Studio time has been so important for me. Right when I think I just can't find the energy, I do. The time spent painting is centering and lovely, such a positive in my life I didn't see coming.

This piece is one I love. Greens are always a challenge, and in this piece, they work. I've created space when the contrast was low. It'd a piece with subtle drama. The building was successful because I made decisions and went with them. The marks I made mattered. The colors I chose were right.

For those who know Nantucket, this is Steps Beach, from the top step, on an overcast day. Everywhere you look in Nantucket is a painting -- no matter the weather, time of day, or season.

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Monday, October 12, 2015

Day 42 :: EGGS :: Original pastel, 6x6"

EGGS
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

Another busy day -- a Monday off for the whole family -- with farm visits, pumpkin picking, hiking, and visiting our new puppy (!) we are picking up on Friday. Eeeep! That's in four days! Life will change (a new painting subject?) to say the least. Better get some paintings ready just in case....

Tonight, tired after a truly full day, I came into the studio to paint. This piece had been kicking around in my head. It's an ode to Ria Hills in a way. If you're not familiar with Ria's work, get over to her website! In fact, buy a painting! (They are glorious on your computer screen and a tour de force in person.) She has numerous paintings of cracked eggs. I LOVE them ALL!

So here's my cracked eggs, in sunlight and shade, with two colored yolks, in a glass bowl, on a wooden surface, with shining reflected light, and a metal spoon. Egad! Why not make it more complicated for myself?

Something fun happened, tonight, though. When the scanned image came up on my computer and I saw the preview I got a little excited by seeing my piece. What fun! The discipline of daily painting pays off!

Until tomorrow. Thanks for reading! -kmw

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Day 41 :: FALL AFTERNOON :: original pastel, 6x6"

FALL AFTERNOON
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"
Sold! 

It was a lazy Sunday after a hectic week. Everyone is home tomorrow for a Monday off. We have grand expectations for tomorrow after a lazy Sunday.

Tonight, after the girls went to bed and we cleaned up a bit, I went into the studio. Tim applauded. Adorably, and supportively, my great guy has been all in with my daily painting. It was fun to have him at Open Studio. I'd hear him say things about my dogged persistence for this goal I had. Again, I have to say I did marry well.

This piece is from a hike in our neighborhood.The light cuts across the path in the woods, and I am drawn to the colors unseen in the darks. Tricky to capture the light and dark in balance, I struggled through some of this piece for a while. I feel strong about its result.

Honestly, I'm a bit creatively spent. When I push my spent self, it's sort of a 50/50 split as to the results. We'll see what happens as I push on.

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Day 40 :: REFLECTIONS :: original pastel, 6x6"

REFLECTIONS
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

It was a stellar day, after a fantastic Friday night, making my two-day open studio event a humbling success. To have people who have followed my #30in30 progress from September come to my studio to see the paintings in person and offer their support and encouragement was beyond affirming.

To say the least, I'm pooped! My studio is in perfect order now, so it's time to get it messy again. I'll admit that this painting, Reflections, was one that I had completed for a day in the future, when I'd be too spent to paint. Today is that day! Tomorrow I look forward to painting something about the fall landscape. Tonight, I'm off to bed after a lovely evening with my family. Tim and I just watched an hour of mindless television, and I feel ready to conquer a new painting...tomorrow!

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Friday, October 9, 2015

Day 39 :: BLUE CLOUDS :: original pastel, 6x6"

BLUE CLOUDS
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"
at The Drawing Room, Marion, MA

Tonight and tomorrow I'm hosting an Open Studio event at my home studio. When I came up with the idea it was to showcase my #30in30 from September. As the time came to welcome in people to see my work, I got a bit nervous. I'd never had people in to my art-making space like this, and I wasn't sure what to expect.

Well, the last of my guests just left and the night was SUPER! I'm so honored at their efforts to come and support me and my work. Such kindnesses were said. The conversations really were helpful for me in understanding how others see my paintings. It was great to have the feedback. I so enjoyed myself and hope those who came had fun, too.

Tomorrow Open Studio continues from 10am-2pm. It is an understatement to say I'm looking forward to it.

Earlier today I did this painting of that same field in my neighborhood. The marks are quick because I had a lot to do. Still, I loved how it came out. The immediacy of it is sort of neat.

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Day 38 :: STANDOUT :: original pastel, 6x6"

STANDOUT
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"
$125 + $8 shipping

One of the farms near our home plants a field of sunflowers each year. It feels like a spot of Tuscany in Millis, MA. What fun to feel worldly in your own provincial place.

My painting from a few days ago, Flower Farm, had me thinking of my paintings and photos from Tangerini's Farm. A bunch of my paintings are inspired by their farm. This sunflower piece was worked from a photograph I had taken while experimenting with perspective. I knelt on the ground and took this photo of the sunflower from that position so it really takes center stage. It was fun to do that.

Tomorrow is Open Studio for the original #30in30 from September. I'm enjoying tidying up the studio a bit and making final touches on the paintings and their display. It'll be nice to welcome people in to my work space and hear the reactions to the work.

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Day 37 :: ROWBOAT :: original pastel, 6x6"

ROWBOAT
by Kim Morin Weineck
 original pastel, 6x6"
Sold! 

Sometimes when I paint I am stuck with being a slave to reality. The thing with art is that I don't like paintings that are strict interpretations of what is seen. The paintings I respond to are the ones that interpret reality through the artist's filter. Funny how there is a disconnect when I start to paint and amp up the abstraction meter. My inner critic starts to question.

With this piece I tried to make marks that informed the viewer enough about what was happening. The lighting was important in this piece, and the colors I chose reflect that time of day. The marks I made are strong and informative.

In the end, I love this piece. My husband said it's one of his favorites. The blues in the distance aren't as zingy as they are in this post. Eventually my Photoshop skills will be up to that task.

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Day 36 :: WINTER NIGHT :: original pastel by KMW , 6x6"

WINTER NIGHT
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"
Sold!

Late this past winter, I visited a farmer friend in Vermont. She took me on the best ride through her neck of the woods. It was late afternoon when we departed, and as we toured the area the sun went down, dusk settled in, and twilight quickly followed. During those months darkness comes early and so quickly.

There's a magic hour that artists refer to about the light at day's end. In the winter this time is so true to its name. The light dances on things in an enchanted way. The trees I painted appear cold silver against some warmer small trees that were catching the golden light perfectly.

As we came down the small mountain, I stopped the car to take a photo, my friend laughing at the tourist-stereotype-ness of it all. "You know, we all laugh at how people do this here: Stop the car and get out to take photos." And then her friend drove by and was laughing at me standing next to my car in the middle of the road taking photos. What a fun, silly moment. The image I captured. The timing of her friend driving by. The fun we were having. All of it.

And now I love my painting from that moment. Darks are difficult to capture in painting. Sennelier used to sell a great set of darks, and I used them to great effect here. The original piece shows more of the variation from warm to cool, deepest maroon to most intense navy.

So much is happening in my studio right now! I've been talking to someone about art licensing and have a fun idea that had been percolating now getting fleshed out on some illustration board (exciting!). Open Studio is coming up this Friday and Saturday to show my #30in30 for September. It's been something else to figure out how to display the work (30 paintings is a lot.) On Friday, November 6, I have an opening at Gallery9, Norwood, MA. It's an annual show I do. I am going to have to look back and see how many years it's been now. Fun times, for sure!

Thanks for reading! Until tomorrow -kmw

Monday, October 5, 2015

Day 35 :: SHEEP :: original pastel, 6x6"

SHEEP
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"


$125 + $8 shipping

Today is the day I almost stopped daily painting. I added another pastel to the small stack of failed figurative pieces and struggled through this one. No excuses, that is how painting goes.

The greens in this painting were fun spring tones. The deeper notes are blues from cobalt to Prussian. I painted this on an underpainting of ochres. My color relationships are analogous, and I don't think I paint in that scheme too often.

The kids have been in school for a month and I'm the last to be dealing with this cold. I'm going to bed nice and early, thinking of better experiences in the studio tomorrow.

Open Studio is this Friday and Saturday, October 9th from 5-8pm and 10th from 10am-2pm. I can't wait to welcome people into my small creative space! If you're in the area, I do hope you try to come visit!

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Day 34 :: FLOWER FARM :: original pastel, 6x6"

FLOWER FARM
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"
$125 + $8 shipping


While in New Hampshire yesterday we went apple picking and stopped in at a farm. Who can think about leaf-peeping when there are these beauties in bloom? Goodness! Sunflowers everywhere. And in the land of pick-your-own, these could NOT be picked. The travesty! They were selling little bouquets of them inside, but I decided instead to paint them.

It was a day with overcast clouds, and I think that just made these flowers more vibrant in their yellow, orange, and green glory.

My September monthly painting challenge ended last week, but I do love having this discipline to my days -- even if I'm a bit run down with a blah cold. We celebrated the 10th birthday of my eldest nephew tonight. No more single digits for him! Time zooms by. Be present. Use your talents. Share them. Enjoy.

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Day 33 :: AUTUMN MARSH :: original pastel, 6x6"

AUTUMN MARSH
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

SOLD
Thank you!

This weekend my family scooted up to New Hampshire to visit my bestie. Having known her since we were five, it's easy to say that we are really more like sister-friends. What's a true gift for the two of us is that our families mesh well together: her kids are friends with our kids and my husband is friends with her husband.

It's so nice to feel refreshed and excited simultaneously. Being at her home was great, and we had both busy and down time. During my own quiet time, I took out my pastels and painted this scene from our walk earlier in the day.

The weather wasn't super for our visit, but it wasn't awful either. We had overcast for two days. Fall may be the only time when overcast doesn't bum me out, for it's in gray days that autumn colors can sing. This is the focus of my painting today: fall's colors as a vibrant contrast in the landscape.

Foliage isn't at its peak yet, so I certainly will have time to refine my painting skills as the leaves continue to change. We'll see how it goes!

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Friday, October 2, 2015

Day 32 :: WIND SOCK :: original pastel, 6x6"

WIND SOCK
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"
$125 + $8 shipping

The field in my neighborhood which I find so inspiring used to be an airport. Lucky for us, planes don't take off and land there any longer. We still see vestiges of the property's former use, like this pole for the wind sock, even though the fabric part has been long gone.

Again there is snow in this painting -- only a little, though. My previous post was at the start of a major named snowstorm. This one was a mere dusting early in the season. The time of day was dusk, which seems to be a favorite of mine lately. The light is blue. I think this piece holds a very specific light story.

I took liberties enhancing the colors in this piece. Blue is my favorite color, and it's pervasive here. The color relationships are the classic complementaries: blue and orange.

The sky is more dynamic in the original, with confident streaks coming down into the next subtle gradient. At the treeline is a subtle suggestion of a greeny-golden light. It really works with the turquoises in the piece.

The pile of references and notes and drawings in my sketchbook is massive, and I'm loving the discipline of daily painting. We'll see how long I can follow through. I'm bringing my pastels to visit my bestie in New Hampshire. I wonder that I'll take them out for tomorrow's painting....

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Day 31 :: SNOWFALL :: original pastel, 6x6"

SNOWFALL
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

SOLD! Thanks!

It's October 1st and I'm still painting. Before September I painted often, too, but the discipline of making art daily has been a good exercise and is adding a little balance to my life.

This painting is from a stack of photos in my studio which I've been collecting for years. It's been such a joy to tackle these references and see them through to fruition. Excuse the subject of snow, it is only newly fall and the first of October, but this image was on the top of my pile and the colors were so appealing to me. I think it made a good painting.

Snow is tricky to paint. Cold paintings don't look warm and inviting. How can you make snow look warm and inviting? You have to play with the temperature. Cooler in the foreground and warmer as it goes back in space. This atmospheric perspective for white is the opposite of how we usually paint.

And again this is from the field near our home. It's such an inspirational place for me.

Thanks for reading! I'm off to teach my Thursday night class -- kmw

Q & A About my Artistic Development

Recently I was invited by the company Patience Brewster to participate in their Artist Q&A Spotlight. Patience makes fine ornaments and home decor. Their website has a Q&A section about Patience and I thought it was a good idea to share about my artistic development as well. It's a good thing to periodically reflect on where you have been and where you're going! After the #30in30 I thought I'd spend some time getting my online presence in order. Here is a Q & A about my artistic development. When artists have these on their sites, I know I always enjoy reading them, so I thought I'd add one to mine. Enjoy! -kmw

1. As a child, do you recall a significant moment when you felt truly affected or inspired by any particular artwork or artist? 

Here I am!
Painting ghosts on the windows for Halloween
Maybe I was 2 and a half :) 

This question is interesting to me because, while I was always interested in art it wasn't a major part of my life until late in high school and college. Art as a discipline wasn't really in Catholic school. Sr Pauline did have us making posters for Catholic Schools week, but I know that didn't inspire me to want to be an artist.

We do have this one great photo of me painting ghosts on our living room windows with my aunt. I was maybe two or three and the smile on my face speaks to the fun I was having.

The first lightning bolt art-related moment came when I was in 9th grade, and was a newly-elected officer of the Humanities Club in school. As an officer I could attend the Renoir exhibit at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts (somewhere I don't think I had ever been before this field trip.) The MFA was packed with people looking at these fine Impressionist paintings, and I was in awe. Something changed for me after that exhibit. I became a private scholar of art history.

Eventually I ended up getting a degree in Fine Arts with a Painting concentration from Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. It was a winding road that took me through a halted history degree at another college, but eventually I found my path. 


The polaroid is authentic! Painting en plein air in Gloucester, MA
and there I am -- Happy to graduate from MassArt!  


2. As an artist, what do you hope to convey with your work? 

My work is about comfort. It's also about my perspective. While recently working on a daily painting challenge to make 30 paintings for each day of September 2015, I solidified that focus of my work. Over the course of 30 days I could paint anything I wanted, and I learned my subjects make me happy and content -- even when they are difficult to make into good paintings. 
DAY'S END
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6:

What's important to me is that the paintings have an important "light story" to them. If someone sees my painting, they should be able to tell what time of day the painting was meant to capture. This doesn't mean that it's always sunny with hard shadows. Sometimes the light story is that there was no light. What matters is that it's all through my filter and that it's conveyed to the viewer. 


DUSK
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"


3. What memorable responses have you had to your work?

When I paint, it's a way for me to connect with my talents and sort of meditate or pray. In the Artist's Way, Julia Cameron talks about the Creator (whoever that may be for each of us) giving us these talents. It's our responsibility to pay homage to the creator by using them. 


A page from my Pont-Aven School of Contemporary Art scrapbook
On the left is my work on the gallery wall with the red dot on the label just
below the painting.  A print out of the painting is on the right.
My old old old digital camera took these and they are terribly pixelated.  

In Brittany, France, where I spent an AMAZING summer painting in 2000, I recall one day specifically when I was painting on location. It was a lovely little composition of a stone wall, some day lilies, and a gate. The stones and flowers were giving me such problems! After much struggle, I remember putting down my brush for a moment and deliberately thinking I wasn't going to think any more. Instead I would just do. The piece seemed to flow out of me. It was like a meditation. Yes, I loved the painting that was created then. And the local bakery bought it for their collection. That was certainly a memorable response to my work! 


4. What is your dream project?

When I finished art school, I was 30 and vividly remember wanting to travel and teach, much like the professors did for the summer in Brittany. While I would still like to do that, I think it will be a little later in my life, since I have young children and we're settling into our lovely community in Massachusetts where we moved a year and a half ago. My days now are spent painting and designing, some nights are spent teaching, and our family and friends take up much of the balance of time. 

Something fun and exciting is percolating inside me right now, though. Having just finished the intense painting regimen I was on for September, I can now develop a series of works inspired by our new home in the woods. It'll be nice, too, to focus on some other art skills I have and not be narrowed to fine art alone. 

Does that answer the dream project question? Not quite. We live a creative life in my family. I would love to be able to share that aesthetic with others on a grander scale. How? I'm figuring that out. 


5. What artists, of any medium, do you admire? (Famous or not!)
Apples in the Sun
by Duane Keiser

Julianna's Easel
by Duane Keiser


















Two contemporary artists pop to mind for this question. Both were early to the Daily Painting routine. Duane Keiser and Julian Merrow-Smith. Both are realists but both take that realism to a painterly-style that I adore. Both also have a consistent voice. I follow both on Facebook and read their blogs, etc. Each time I see their works I get inspired! 


Demonstrations from Julian Merrow-Smith's workshops
What beautiful, lively paintings!! 

Some day I will jump in with both feet and either take Julian's Provence workshops or bring my own class to his French rental property for a workshop of my own! 




#30in30 in one place





Poster available shortly
$15 paper size 11x17"


Suitable for framing 
signed by the artist
(with an inscription, if requested)

More info to come



September is over. The #30in30 was a wonderful experience and I'm delighted for all of you who followed along. Looking at this poster of the paintings, I'm glad to have taken on this challenge.

In the end, the important thing is the doing, and this challenge really helped me to continue on my creative path and do! 

Thanks for reading!-kmw

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Day 30 :: SELFIE :: #30in30 Painting a Day Challenge

SELFIE
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"
NFS

Last night there was a comment on my Facebook post mentioning a grand finale to this Septmeber daily painting challenge. I had a hard time sleeping after reading that. While I had always thought the last day of #30in30 would be simply another painting, I realized it was a chance to really try something different.

When I'd wonder aloud what I should paint for subjects, I would often hear self portrait as an option. It's not my first, but I hadn't done one in quite a long time.

At times I look at this painting and see me. Other times I look at it and see someone with a big chin. Whether or not it looks the way I wanted, I'm quite happy with it. The marks, the texture, the lighting, and the temperature all feel good to me. It's only with practice that I'll feel more confident about my figure painting.

"Selfie" speaks to the purpose of this whole challenge, and that was to be vulnerable. It's in that strong place of vulnerability that growth happens. Now that September is through, and I've painted every single day of it, I know that I've grown as an artist.

What comes next? Do I keep going? I keep going but with a new focus? Ack!

Thanks for reading and for staying with me during these past 30 days. It's been great! -kmw

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Day 29 :: ACORNS :: #30in30 Painting a Day Challenge

ACORNS
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"
Sold! 

Since the girls went back to school I spend a fair amount of time outside walking in my neighborhood. It's a great spot to walk: hills, fields, rivers, ponds, forests, and so much to look at. Lately when I've been walking I've been stopping to notice small things at my feet: feathers, seed pods, interesting rocks, and of course -- acorns.

Acorns are everywhere right now. While waiting for the bus they seemed to be raining down on us. During my walks I am always picking up interesting acorns and bringing them home, my pockets stuffed. How many kinds of oak trees do we have in my neck of the woods? I had always lumped them together simply as oaks. Now I have been observing more closely--northern oaks, pin oaks, black oaks, red oaks, among others. Such interesting fun.

Last night I sat to write my blog post about Blue Coat and took an inventory of paintings for the month. Landscapes dominate, obviously, I am a landscape painter. I decided I needed another still life before month's end. Today in my studio I decided to paint acorns.

In art school, I was always working on a still life. My view from MassArt's Kennedy building was not my scene, so I'd set up my leather bag, or some other art supplies, and paint. It was then I learned that when painting a still life, the thing you're painting is important, but so, too, is the background -- even if it's a mass of a solid color. This is HARD to do! Professors often said (and now I repeat this to my students) that you should spend as much time on your background as you do the subject.

Today in the studio I really understood about the importance of the background in making a still life painting interesting. In person, it's almost as great to see the pinks, grays, blues, and yellows in the light neutral background as it is the collection of acorns.

Thanks for reading! -kmw


Monday, September 28, 2015

Day 28 :: BLUE COAT :: #30in30 Painting a Day Challenge

BLUE COAT
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

This month has been something else. Knowing I have a 6x6" to paint every day has been quite important to me. Can I find the words to say how? Let me try.

For years now, since I became a happy mom (eldest cutie is now eight) my painting time is different than at any time before children. Since having children, my attention has been multi-focused and scattered. My short time in the studio had a specific motive. Instead of painting to paint, I was painting to "get something in" during a nap. Rather than take on a challenge or consider trying something that I felt could be a good painting with work and development, I'd focus on the subjects I could do with ease. I loved painting salt marshes and hay bales because I was good at painting them.

If I could find the time to paint, I felt I had to spend that time taking on something I could do well (and hopefully sell.) During this time I felt there was no room for error. If I had two hours to paint (and neglect the jobs I had/house/laundry/dishes/groceries/etc etc) I had better make art that was good and would sell. I put a lot of pressure on myself, but I also put a lot of constrictions.

Now both children are in school. After a long while (that also flew by) I have TIME. The truth in that statement is that I have no excuses.

On my desk, in a box, is a hefty pile of mediocre photographs I took (and had printed out!) with the intent to make beautiful paintings of them. This pile grew for years. In the midst of the #30in30 this month I have started working from that pile. Can you imagine how good that feels?

This studied portrait I'm posting today was one in the pile. The photo was taken a couple of years ago, when I saw my friend's beautiful daughter in her gorgeous blue coat standing in the doorway of our happy old house. The light was bisecting the composition just perfectly. I was smitten with the idea of painting her. We shared a silly moment when I asked if I could take her photo and staged her to return to her previous pose.

I don't know if anyone else will like this piece as much as I do. It's a figure, and that's not my strong suit (yet) and the less confident marks show. Even though I know this is my friend's daughter, there's something about her in this painting that could be anyone. I love how she came out, looking just like her but a little wiser and older than in the reference.

Part of this #30in30 process has been showing artistic vulnerability. I'm posting pieces that aren't all salt marshes (only three have been, so far) and have pushed me in new ways. It's been scary, exhilarating at times, and freeing.

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Day 27 :: REFLECTION :: #30in30 Painting a Day Challenge

REFLECTION
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"
$125 + $8 shipping

This September has been a busy one, and adding a daily painting to the mix has been a tall order some days. Today was one of these days. Nevertheless, the painting got done. And despite the fact that I have eight paintings that were 'back ups' painted before "just in case" I have been diligently going into the studio nightly to make a painting. The discipline has been great. Like I have mentioned before, though, I sincerely miss seeing my husband.

Reflections was a fun piece, and one I was able to play with and stretch the colors. Again there is a specific light story. I wonder that you can tell the time of day this was from? For me, it's obvious. A lot about this piece is obvious -- the time of day, the season, that it's New England. Try as I might, tonight I could not see this piece with new eyes.

I was in my studio working away, listening to the "While She Naps" podcast and getting into the zen of painting when Tim called to me with the latest supermoon lunar eclipse status update . Outside we'd go to see the supercool supermoon. After taking in the celestial phenomenon and not thinking about how old we'll be when this happens again, I'd go back into the studio to continue the piece.

In my classes I am a big advocate of the "walkabout" where you walk away from your piece to come back to it with a new presence. Strange that tonight these walkabouts didn't yield the same result. Is it that I'm spent? Is it that I'm content? Perhaps I'll know the answer to this in time.

Right now, I'm liking a lot about this painting. There are nuances (I may use that word in each post I've made this month, ah well) to the colors of the darks that make me smirk knowingly. The blues in the piece move in an interesting way from purple-blues to turquoise. I love blues. Some parts I'm not sure read for what they are, but then again, the abstractness of them isn't wrong. This need for things to be buttoned up and neat is something I've continually been working on in my paintings. I'm sure I'll continue to work on that for a while ahead.

Off to see the latest status of the moon.

Until tomorrow...with only a few short days remaining in September...
What will I do when this month is through?

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Day 26 :: DUSK :: #30in30 Painting a Day Challenge

DUSK
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"
at The Drawing Room, Marion, MA 

When I ask what painting subjects people would like to see, the response is often twilight skies and night scenes, and that is a tall order. Painting night and unusual light may be the last subject painters can call their own. Before cameras, artists were the recorders of light and history. With no imperative to record what is seen in a time when we are overwhelmed with visual imagery, dusk, dawn, twilight, and night are still open to wide artistic interpretation. For me, the camera can't quite capture the essence of unusual light. 

In class I often mention that the best reference for me to work from is a terrible photo and my own sketches and notes. When the photo is a crisp and accurate representation of what I'd like to paint, I feel compelled to recreate exactly what I see and become a human photocopy machine. 

References at the times of day that light is tricky for a camera -- dusk, dawn, twilight, night, etc. -- are often the best of photos to work from to make good paintings. The photos are grainy and dark. The color is exaggerated or underwhelming. It's all about interpretation, and that is when artists get to show off their creativity. 

As I've mentioned before, our neighborhood includes a fantastic field which has been featured in six of my prior #30in30 paintings. As September comes to a close, the light continues to change and darkness comes earlier. Our late summer sunset walks are now at dusk and twilight, even when we start them earlier. The color has changed and the greens are browning. I was struck by the colors during a walk in the field. Purple seemed everywhere.

As homes in the neighborhood turn on their lights, there is a new flicker in the landscape. You'll see that first beacon in the distant tree line. When I saw it, I knew I had my next painting subject!

Thanks for reading!  -kmw

Friday, September 25, 2015

Day 25 :: CRITIQUE :: #30in30 Painting a Day Challenge


at The Drawing Room, Marion, MA 

Recently I wrote how friends and I had been to see the Wyeth exhibit at a local museum. I so so so love the Wyeth family and their legacy in American art, so it was a huge boon for me to go to look at paintings during my month of intensive painting.

Artists know that during the course of making a painting we have conversations with ourselves about infinite painting subjects. Since I've been having such thriving creative life as of late, those conversations have intensified.

In art school the professors used to tell me to "go to the museum" when I'd ask a specific question about how I might do something in a painting. While I may argue that their line was a cop out, I would love the opportunity to skip my studio class (although I was still in an artist mindset) and try to discover the answer to my specific questions in time for my next studio class.

For those reading this who aren't painters, my questions were about the techniques of painting specific things. Often I had issues with transitions in paintings. During this month of daily painting, three questions keep coming up: How does one transition from light to shadow? How can an artist make a large color field interesting? What sort of color harmonies make the most captivating paintings?

My first go-'round during the Wyeth show was to get an overall sense of the work on exhibit. After this I went on a hunt for answers to my three questions. I learned a ton and have been trying to implement some of my new artistic awareness. I did say trying.

It was during my second viewing that I came upon my friends viewing an NC Wyeth landscape. They struck me as being fantastic painting subjects themselves. I'm pretty sure they didn't expect that they'd be a subject of one of my #30in30. I do hope they'll recognize themselves. Tim did!

We're getting to the end of the month. Geez! It's been fun.
Thanks for reading! -kmw

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Day 24 :: AUTUMN DUSK :: #30in30 Painting a Day Challenge

AUTUMN DUSK
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"


at The Drawing Room, Marion, MA

It's getting darker earlier and earlier. It's a time of year that starts to make me sad. If I had to find a silver lining to this dark cloud, it's the the color of September light is warm and glowing. At dusk and twilight this warm, glowing light bathes everything, and I immediately have an imperative to paint it.

Tonight as I drove to teach my art class I was compelled to turn around and double back to take a photo of this river as it wend its way through reeds and grasses. The river reflected a gorgeous warm pink in the sky. I ran out and quickly snapped a bunch of photos.

In class we again discussed the idea of successful paintings having a specific light story. If you want to have a successful painting, it's important that the composition include some dramatic effect of the light - like in this piece which speaks to me of distinct warm autumn light.

I'm off to bed. It's the 24th of the month. Only six paintings to go!

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Day 23 :: PLANT SALE :: #30in30 Painting a Day Challenge

 harPLANT SALE
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"
$125 + $8 shipping

This weekend past I volunteered to work at a local plant sale fundraiser. Volunteering is always time well spent, but this volunteering was doing double-duty as a super-duper workout! The woman I worked with and I moved and watered and arranged and sold and restocked a TON of plants. And it was fun.

The sunlight of the morning at the antique building we were at was GORGEOUS, such a beautiful contrast in warm and cool. I have been working on temperature in my paintings, so I thought I'd take this on as a painting subject today.

The lesson from this piece is that it's difficult to paint the warm gorgeous light on clapboards. It's difficult to keep the color clean and cool where needed and differentiate shadows. What I find most problematic is keeping the painting loose and painterly while still maintaining enough detail to ensure that the piece reads appropriately to the viewer who probably wasn't there and isn't familiar with the scene as I am. (Whew! Long sentence, that last one.)

In the end, this piece was a true challenge, and this is the reason for painting every day this month. I'm stretching myself and enjoying the process. (Italics to remind me of that fact.) Working to include people in my work and cutting myself enough slack that to become familiar with specific subjects means taking them on with intent. I only have mastered marshes because I have been working on them for --- GASP! now that I think of the actual time --- 14 years! ACK!

I'm proud of this one, despite the changes I'd make should I decide to take this one on as a larger painting. Already some of the small works here have been re-imagined as bigger paintings. It'll be fun to show you which ones they are at my show at Gallery9 in Norwood, MA this November.

Thanks for reading! -kmw


Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Day 22 :: SUNFLOWER COTTAGE :: #30in30 Painting a Day Challenge

SUNFLOWER COTTAGE
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"
$125 + $8 shipping

Today I went to see The Wyeths: America Reflected at the Heritage Museum in Sandwich, MA. The exhibit closes this weekend and it was an imperative for me to get there. So happy it worked out. Three generations of Wyeths inspired me a bunch. I went looking at paintings with key questions in mind. It's fun to find answers by looking at paintings you admire.


The show was in this super-cool military building at the museum.
Its starkness went with the show impeccably well. 


The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
original oil by NC Wyeth
just one of the gorgeous nocturnes on display

Today's painting is inspired by sights from my drive home. Before getting on the highway, I was getting quick views of so many gorgeous Cape Cod homes and cottages. This one is part of some efficiency cottages all available for rent. I saw the overflowing sunflowers and decided to turn around and take a photo and make some notes. It's fun and a little funny to be in a parking lot with a sketchbook making frantic marks that only make sense to you.

The palette for today's piece is so far from the colors of the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere above. I was in awe of NC Wyeth's nocturnes. His oils had jewel-like tones. I have eight more days of painting with pastel. I'll be interested in playing with oils on a larger scale in October, I'd bet.

Does the car read properly? It was a beat up jalopy of a vehicle which sort of went with the vibe of the efficiency cottages. It is to scale as painted since this road ventured far back to distant tiny houses. I'm not sure if I pulled it off, though. After working on something closely for a decent spell, it's difficult to have new eyes. If it doesn't read properly, I'm going to have to revisit it.

I suspect I'll be making it larger in the near future.

It's day 22 and this is a draining but wonderful exercise. Life isn't well set-up to make this painting schedule too possible on a consistent basis, which is too bad.  The real bummer is that I'm really missing seeing my husband at night. The good from this, though, is artistically and emotionally really good. I can talk about that more in the future. I've got to go to bed!

Thanks for reading! -kmw