What Do Families Look Like? They Look Like Love

What Do Families Look Like? They Look Like Love.

Families and love are universal.

The bond between mother and daughter is very close, and can stretch around the world, when it needs to. It crosses oceans and travels continents, and lives within our hearts always.

I hope that you family looks like love, too.

Your Imaginary Friend,

Patsie

Great Falls, Week Two

Great Falls

What I did this Monday: I painted the little turbulent waves filled with foam, tossing on the rocks. I worked on the rocks, refining their shapes. I added color to the very monochromatic color scheme. But is it done?

I don't know. Are paintings ever finished?

Your Imaginary Artist Friend,

Patsie

Bring Your Own Bottle

Dining at Aroma in Shirlington

A new trend in restaurants these days is Bring Your Own Bottle.

Is this what that means??

Your Confused Writer,

Patsie

Parker Visits Green Springs with a Sense of Urgency

Parker registers utter apathy

Green Springs on Sunday in Alexandria, VA

Dear Imaginary Friends,

If you know me, or read this blog, then you know that I love gardens. Since this is the time of year when  lotuses and water lilies bloom, one must make haste, for fear the bloom cycle will end any moment. Unfortunately, Green Springs Garden's display is petering out. 

The world of flowers is such a tenuous one. Most flowers bloom so briefly, and we wait on tenterhooks for this grand show of color. Take the one or two weeks of bloom time for tulips, for instance. My heart raced in April when my big crop of pink tulips sprouted buds. Next thing I know, the resident squirrel union had eaten off all the flower heads before they could even open, leaving them like Ichabod Crane, twisting with embarrassment in the spring sunshine.

Parker was dragged in the miserable heat to visit the flowers, and he obviously was not appreciative. He is no doubt thinking, my grandparents dragged me out here for this???

He is not quite conversant with the urgency of horticultural pursuits, apparently...nor the evil squirrel union. I swear the squirrels have put out an all points bulletin  whenever there is something tasty in my yard to eat. I can wrap my swelling figs with chicken wire with painstaking care; it won't help. The squirrels telegraph the bird union, who come calling with their teeny beaks. Mission accomplished: My figs are all deflowered.

Your Imaginary Friend,

Patsie

Cool Trick

Isn't it amazing what cameras can do these days? Panoramic photos can capture so many people in one shot!

The number of inventions and new technologies never ceases to amaze me.

In awe,

Patsie

What I Started Last Monday

Great Falls, 12 x 12", Oil, 2011

Dear Imaginary Friends,

This is what I started painting last Monday. Would you like to paint it for me?

I plan to finish it tomorrow. It has very neutral colors, and I wish that I could throw in some brights to liven it up. But roiling water is usually shades of gray. There are no blue sky reflections, because the water is moving and muddy.

Great Falls would be terribly hard to paint without using a photo, because it is in perpetual motion. Plus I would have to wear one of those Gordon's Fisherman type yellow raincoats with flaps over my ears and look like a dork. That is just not my style, people.

Wish me luck tomorrow finishing it. I will let you know! 

PS Can you tell that I am strictly painting water scenes this summer?

Your Imaginary Friend,

Waterlogged Patsie

How I Paint

Dear Imaginary Portrait Subjects,

Here is how I paint: I take photos of my subject which are flattering and characteristic. Then I choose the best one, with nice lighting that reveals cheekbones, but does not cast shadows around the eyes nor mouth.

Then I buy or stretch a canvas with the same proportions as my intended composition. Let's say the composition is 8 x 10". In that case, I would want to have my canvas in a proportionate size, such as 16 x 20" or 24 x 30".

I change the colors as needed, heighten the contrast as needed, and usually eliminate all the unnecessary elements in the background of the original photo. 

If possible, I place the focal point of the composition over one of the golden sections. The golden section is a "sweet spot", an imaginary compositional grid, in which the canvas is divided into nine equal squares. The points of intersection indicate the optimal area for focal points.

Eh, voila! Many months later, I get the desired effect. This portrait bears strong likeness to Deni, and my work is done.

Your Imaginary Portrait Artist Friend,

Patsie