Looking Back

The other day, while driving back from Canada, we passed through the flat marshlands of the Skagit Valley at twilight. The sky was large because the land was flat. And it glowed with that strange green that happens when the yellow of the vanished sun mixes with the blue of the night. And trees were just losing their colors and becoming silhouettes. It is such an emotional time of day. I always seem to be going home from somewhere at twilight. But this time, as I drove away from the country of my childhood I wasn't sure if I was going to my home or going away from my home.

I always felt badly for Lot's wife in the bible who looked back at her home being destroyed and was subsequently punished by God. This seems to be inexplicably unjust. Surely we are allowed to look for home wherever we choose, whether it is back to where our sentimental hearts yearn or forward where our adventures propel us.

This painting is oil on clayboard and measures 9"x12".

Plenty

The recent rains have clobbered the garden but a visit to the farmer's market yesterday showed what a bountiful time of year this is. I also see apples, plums and pears scattered all over the roads in the neighborhood from untended trees. It is always so startling.

I like to think of all the creatures outside eating their fill of all the wild treasures out there. They still have their pick of the best berries and tastiest grass seeds.

This painting measures 6 inches square and is oil on panel.

Two Spiders

Yesterday when I came home from my walk, my arms and ankles tangled with spider webs, I shook my hair and a spider fell out and onto the kitchen floor. I chased her around and gently caught her and carried her back outside to make another web for me to blunder into tomorrow.

Her cousin, a larger brown spider, has built a web outside my kitchen window and I have been watching her every morning with interest. Today, though, I see my window spider lying dead on the ground. Is it that time of the fall when spiders die? Already? Or was the end of her life violent? I am an incompetent god.

Show

I forgot to mention that I have paintings for sale at Cafe Fiore in Queen Anne (Galer Street)through September and October. 'Absence' and 'Treasure' have aleady sold but I hung 'Surprise Lily' yesterday, still wet, and 'Snuggle' is there too as well as a lot of pieces with bunnies from earlier in the summer. The small ones like 'Snuggle' are only $190 and the larger ones sell for $500 and $700. I am working on another mouse today.

Surprise Lily

Surprise lilies are one of my favorite garden treats. In the summer they crowd the already crowded garden with their tall gangly leaves and no flowers. I can't wait for them to die back so I can cut them away and tidy up. But then, when summer's exuberance has passed and I am feeling melancholy in my September garden the buds of these strange flowers erupt naked from the ground. I feel like they have been waiting in reserve to cheer me up. They are so weird in their September incarnation without any leaves. I love odd things and odd people too. They look out of place and out of time but that makes them so welcome.

This painting measures 6"x8" and is oil on panel.

Ducks

I love to paint white animals. With winter coming I am looking forward to thinking about snow and white fur. But for now these ducks reflect the autumn sunshine.

Treasure

Blackberries grow outside my studio door. In the evening the air is warm and summery still with their scent. I paint them every year. Who could resist such abundance and treasure?

Last summer's posts about blackberries are here and here.

I hung a show tonight, including this little painting, at Cafe Fiore in Queen Anne. (It's on Galer St near Trader Joe's) and it will be there until November.

This painting is oil on panel and measures 6"x8".