To Grandmother's House We Go

My grandmother really does live over the river and through the woods.

While back for my recent trip to Iowa, I took the opportunity to do some more photo documentation of her farm. I've taken a few pics of it over the years. It really has changed. When I was a child there was a huge garden, a chicken coop, goats, and several more barns. But time has changed, and my grandmother is now 95 years young. She still gets around though, and in fact, to celebrate her 95 birthday last year she stayed up until dawn playing penny/nickel machine video poker at the casino (one of her favorite past times). However, as time marches on, it became more difficult to maintain the farm, so it has become more and more sparse. Addtionally, it has been an unusually warm winter in the midwest, so the farm absent of snow, had a really eerie, barren feel. Almost as if it were a cold desert with all the brown hues. Here are some pics from my afternoon walking around the farm and surrounding creek.

 

 

Color Restriction: An Ode to Winter Whites

I know from experience we can get overwhelmed by all the choices presented us in creating new artwork, we sometimes want to throw everything we've got into it; all the colors, all the techniques, all the possibilities. But too much of a good thing can muddy the overall look of a work. We think of the word "restriction" in a negative and limiting fashion, but sometimes it helps bring clarity and focus to the art.  Much can be done with a limited palette, particularly in regard to colors. When you impose limits, you define the perimeters of your work, which guides the process and allows you to get the most out of it.

Winter is one of those glorious seasons that strips away much of the color in the temperate climates, offering up an opportunity to enjoy the starkness and pave the way towards a burst of color and life come spring. Winter forces us into limits, especially when it blankets everything in a glorious blanket of white snow that to some people is an annoyance, but to others quite magical.

Many famous artists have made a name for themselves by painting stark white canvases, which at first glance are straightforward, but at further examination offer a fine amount of variety in the detail. So try limiting yourself in some manner, whether in color, in your building materials, or subject matter.

The following are pictures from recent travels back to a good old Iowa winter, which convey a very limited color scheme of winter whites:

In the meadow we can build a...

Back alley icicles

Geese along the Iowa River

An ice flow

Wing over Iowa landscape

A river winding

Smokestacks

Do you catch my drift?

Don't eat the yellow snow!