My Artful Life: July 2018

Monday, July 30, 2018

Autumnal Chill

" Colorful Promenade" Pastel 5x7 © Donna Gross
Available contact artist

The weather is beginning to "turn" ....I mentioned to my husband this morning....As our Earth turns , so does our weather and the daily experience of living . We are sleeping with the windows closed now for the first time in maybe 5 months.....I awake with 3 of our 4 felines molded to my sleeping body seeking warmth...For me, autumn has always been an exciting time....Time for a new school year...Time for another birthday....Halloween and the perfusion of the color orange in everything ...pumpkins, leaves, leaves and more leaves that seem to accumulate only in my front yard!!
I feel giddy at night when it is time to hop into my p.j.'s and curl up with a book feeling an overwhelming almost breathtaking realization that I have a home...a roof over my head....warm blankets and food...
It is with this immense gratitude that I sit at my easel everyday to paint. How lucky am I to have discovered this passion at this time in my life....for it is simply never to late to find your creative self...don't wait until whatever you think you have to wait for....just do it....create in any way that pleases you....and be grateful....

Revisiting an Older Piece of Art

"Dust in My Sandals"
Available@ donnatheresafineart.com

Preparing for an upcoming Open Studio , I am building my original art inventory . Referring to previous original works I have completed, I am reinventing the image . Using a larger piece of high quality archival sanded paper by Pastelmat
( 15.5" x 12"), I am finding this a most rewarding practice. Improving upon already existing work builds skills and most of all confidence. It helps me to see the pastel marks that I made on the previous piece versus working from a photo. It's a more direct instructional experience for me. To reproduce a piece of art relieves me of the interpretation needed to paint from a photo. To practice what one has already accomplished with a measurable bit of success is confidence building. As an artist , half of the challenge is having such confidence. Confidence to even claim my place in the world as a creative person...an artist ... to me that takes some moxie, some gumption, some confidence!

Monday, July 16, 2018

Off Season

"Soquel Creek" Pastel 15.5 x 12 © Donna Gross
Available donnatheresafineart.com

"Robin Blues" Pastel 11 x 14 © Donna Gross
Available donnatheresafineart.com

Summer greens can get a bit monotonous....Why not paint the colors of autumn in summer? Or the springtime lovelies.... exercising my artistic license....off season.

I prefer off season for most things but mostly for travel. The magic of winter in Yosemite coupled with the absence of the throngs of people make for a desirable winter getaway. Venice in the winter, I hear, is also very magical...so why not paint off season? How about a paint/ travel adventure in the off season?? I'm packing my bags and my pastels!!

Sunday, July 8, 2018

Hello Again! Memories from Europe....

Four countries, four people, eight locations, walked 130 miles....trains, planes, stinky buses, gliding gondolas....Europe. Travel is intense living. Three and a half weeks is an ambitious time frame to fit it all in. My family and I landed in Munich...first impression...the neo-gothic town hall in Marienplatz...an enormous building dripping with gargoyles and spires...bells ringing...this, our first sight up from the subway into the light of Germany. We were speechless...there are no buildings even remotely close to that first impression here on the west coast of California...Munich, Bavaria, Venezia, Slovenia, Croatia, Istria.....
We hiked the alps in southern Germany...a grueling 4 mile descent...my knees are still cranky after nearly 6 weeks...the breathtaking

panorama view from the top of Nebelhorn...
Lovely honey colored cows each with it's own bell filling the airwaves with old world song. We brought a miniature bell home for one of our cats...she's a bit of a cow...we love her.
Venice...everyone needs to go to Venice and if art is your passion...it's mandatory. The light is turquoise. I tried to stare at the light so as to imbed it into my memory, so as not to forget, so as maybe to capture it in a painting...we'll soon see...
The jewel that is Slovenia...a best kept secret with it's quaint capitol Ljublijana...(lyooblyana)...the birthplace of marionette puppetry, who knew?
Onto Croatia and engrossed with the history of the once war torn Yugoslavia seeing remnants of buildings that were victim to the violence. Imagine the people then. It's a long story that continues.
This story will continue as well..... stay tuned...so glad to be back at my easel.
~Ciao for now.

My Artful Life