New Year’s Resolution

My doctor is on my case to eat five fruits and vegetables a day, plus very little meat, both of which she says will help prevent heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. And meat production and transportation as the two leading causes of global warming.

Habits aren’t that hard to change. A breakfast smoothie (banana, almonds, frozen berries, almond milk, and OJ in my little blender) and a tray of vegetables, tossed in olive oil, salt, pepper and roasted, are delicious and filling. So far I’m on track. Check with me in a month!

Puppy Paws

Sammie (Samantha) is now four months old. This is a view when she naps. Thinking of the odd perspective and getting a photo were the main challenges here; after those, the painting was done very fast. Can you find her nose?

Every morning I center myself with a cup of tea and a meditation app. My current favorite meditation app is Balance, which was awarded Google’s best app of 2021. As a gift to the world during Covid, Balance is offering one year free to new users. Click here if you are interested.

Imagined Landscape

This painting started with wet paper, then I dropped in random colors which blended together. After it dried I asked myself what it suggested, then inked in the suggested shapes. Then a second layer of watercolor to reinforce what had appeared. A fun process.

Watercolor on 9″ x 12″ paper, matted 11″ x 14″, $65 plus $10 shipping.

Nature’s Patterns, Groomed Puppy

For an art class I’m taking, the homework is to paint a pattern in nature. I’m sure you can guess whose coat this is. Speaking of coats, Sammie got her first grooming on Sunday, and a ribbon to boot. The ribbon fell off ten minutes after this photo was taken.

Original watercolor 9″ x 12″, $75.

Birdfeeder and Puppy

Birdfeeders are so entertaining! Here are a Carolina wren and a male goldfinch in summer plumage.

Judging by the many enthusiastic replies to last week’s post, people love puppies. So I will send a photo of Sammie as well as my weekly painting in the coming weeks. She’s ten weeks old, and learning to walk on a leash.

Our New Puppy!

No time to paint this week, as we drove twelve hours roundtrip to pick up Sammie, (short for Samantha) from the wonderful Addison family who raise golden doodles in Georgia. Right now she’s two months old, but eventually she’ll be 35-40 pounds. Like a human baby, she’s adorable and lots of work, and very popular, not only with Bruce and me but also with our granddaughter Lila.

Sammie is safe and sound in her new NC home!

Oils, at Last!

There are many painting choices. Watercolors are great — transparent, safe, portable and fast drying, and for over 20 years they have been my “go to” medium. Gouache is similar to watercolors, but opaque, so it’s easier to cover mistakes. Acrylics are also opaque, with the appearance of oils when dry, yet water-soluble. Water-soluble oils are non-toxic with easy cleanup.

After years of hesitation, I finally bought some regular oil paints. My brother-in-law Gordon assures me they can be used safely by cleaning brushes with baby oil. The main difference is the slow drying time, so you can make changes for days. Here is my first oil painting — so fun!

Playing with Reality

One goal of art is to capture the viewer’s eye and invite them to move around within the painting. Inspired by my photo of some flowers this summer, I had fun playing with it this weekend, moving beyond the reality of the dominant red flowers to create interesting and more elusive background spaces.

6 inches by 12 inches, acrylics on stretched canvass.

Oriole Headed South

This oriole, like those in your neighborhood, is preparing to fly to Central America for the winter. I am starting a series of one-of-a-kind paintings in oils or acrylics, small enough (6″ by 6″) to fit in even the most crowded homes. These modestly priced originals come with your choice of a small easel or a hook for hanging. Info in caption.

Baltimore Oriole, one-of-a-kind original, 6″x6″, $95. Hit “reply” if interested.

Three Generations Painting

After 16 months of missing family, it’s been such fun to be together in Vermont. Here are our daughter-in-law Eva, Maggie (3), me, and Lila (15). And my painting of the view of Caspian Lake in Greensboro, VT.

Chickens

Most hens spend their entire lives in wire cages too tiny for them to stand up or turn around. Please consider buying eggs from pasture-raised hens, who have continuous access to the outdoors and eat a more natural diet. These hens, at a farm in N.C., seemed to be living the good life.

Reclaiming Rest

This week our daughter Kate’s third book is being published, Reclaiming Rest: The Promise of Sabbath, Solitude and Stillness in a Restless World. In a recent review, Publishers Weekly called the book “elegant,” and Rev. Michael Curry, the presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, wrote, “If ever a book could be described as timely, this is it!” As summer begins, how are you reclaiming rest? Here’s a link to learn more about the book.

Be Kind

Perhaps, like me, you have loved ones who are suffering from anxiety and depression exacerbated by the pandemic. Let’s be gentle with each other, for there are many wounds that are not visible.

Man’s Best Friend

I love it when people commission me to paint their animal companions. My most recent pet portrait is of Koby, beloved and recently departed. It was given to Sara for her college graduation a few weeks ago. The photo her mom gave me shows such a loving connection.

If you ever would like a pet portrait, you can find the details here.

An Hour with the Birds

Sitting on our porch now is a real delight, because so many birds come to our feeders at this time of year! The harried parents rush back and forth to feed their babies. I rarely make a journal page with commentary and several separate images, so this was fun.

Sheep in a Pasture

A wide variety of greens are showing off at this time of year. For a painter it’s a challenge to differentiate the many greens — unfurling leaves, mature leaves, grass, a variety of plants, all in either sun or shade. How many greens are in this painting? The sheep are just simple shapes.

Mother & Baby, Finals

These are the final two variations I made for the “Painting in Series” class. (Scroll back at www.lynnholbein.com to see the photo and six other paintings.) The top painting was done with just red, blue and yellow, mixed in different ways. The B&W was made tracing the original photo on a lightbox, using pen, pencil and three markers.

Honoring All Our Mothers

“Those of us who are truly lucky have more than one mother. They are the cool aunts, the elderly ladies, the family friends, even the mentors who whip us into shape,” wrote Heather Cox Richardson.

Giving thanks to the mother who gave us life, and to the other women in our lives who have mothered us.

Enigmatic Landscape

Taking a break from my Mother & Baby series, I painted this last week, inspired by Danish artist Lena Gemzoe. She works fast, squeezing watercolors from bottles, tilting and scraping with a credit card, welcoming “happy accidents.” Here is a mesmerizing 7-minute video where she creates an entire painting. I love the mystery of these landscapes.

Mother & Baby #3

This painting for my “Paintings in Series” class might well be subtitled “From Mess to Success.” The assignment was to create texture in your painting. I put salt in the mother’s hair to give it texture, and then glued tissue paper on her shirt, which looked awful. In frustration, I ran the whole painting under the kitchen faucet and scrubbed at it. When it emerged, it started to look better, so I applied ink to the edges (it was damp, so it ran on the baby’s face) and reinforced the paint on the mother’s and baby’s hair. A happy accident.

Mother & Baby, #2

In April I’m sharing some pieces made for a class “Painting in Series,” when we each chose a photo and painted it using a variety of techniques. See my website www.lynnholbein.com for the reference photo of Eva and our granddaughter Maggie.

This assignment was to cut loose from realistic colors. The top uses contiguous colors (a variety of blues), and the bottom uses opposite colors (red/orange and blue/green). Crazy, but it helped us think outside the box.

Mother and Baby, #1

I recently completed an excellent 10-week class called “Painting in Series,” taught by Chetana Keltcher, about painting the same image over and over using different techniques. For my weekly posts in April, each Monday at 5 I will send you one or two paintings I made for this class.

This photo is of our daughter-in-law Eva, holding our granddaughter Maggie when she was six months old; Maggie will be three this week. The painting below is on rice paper, using ink applied with both a pen and a brush.

My New Hip

After several years of low-level pain which has reduced my exercise (walking, yoga), I had my right hip replaced last Tuesday. I’m closer to pain-free every day! Kate and Lila, our daughter and granddaughter, came last weekend and painted my toes. Then it seemed time for a rehab sketch.

We are so incredibly blessed by modern medicine. Do you know the average life expectancy of people in 1900? 49.

Painting Faces

Painting faces is tough. “A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth,” wrote John Singer Sargent. I don’t know this woman — whose photo I found on the internet — so she won’t be offended if it doesn’t look quite like her.

Elephants and Tigers in Thailand

It’s been eleven months since most of us have travelled, so it’s fun to think about past vacations. My most exotic trip ever was to Thailand in 2014 with our son Andrew. We rode elephants in the jungle, and I sketched this at lunch to thank the mahout (elephant trainer). Later we made this astonishing stop at a family-run tiger zoo. The trainers hovered close by as Andrew and I each fed the six-month-old tiger a baby bottle of milk.

Colorful Crow

Crows, chickens and other birds are much smarter than we used to think. Crows can even use tools. Our son Chris loves crows, so I painted this for his birthday.

Yupo does not absorb paint so the effects are unexpected and fun. I am sending you this on Monday at 5, since that was the preferred day of the majority who voted.