M A G I C

Usually during some part of a painting, I completely get lost in it.  It is a visual story.  It's as if there is no memory of the process.  When it happens, it's magical. Everything is more direct, as if you are painting from the heart directly to the canvas and you skip the brain completely--no interference!  I often listen to music while I'm painting and I've thought about musicians experiencing this same freedom and directness.  If they are in that space, the wall between them and us dissolves... they bare their soul and  we can feel it.  It's magic.  

A few years ago I woke up knowing I had to paint a portrait of my daughter.  It had to be big.  It had to be now.  It had to reveal her strength and determination and all that is Ilka--her story.  I drove to the lumber yard, bought a 4'x4' piece of masonite and painted straight ahead until I stepped back and said, "That's Ilka".  I honestly don't remember how long it took or do I remember actually thinking about any single brush stroke.

This summer and last I've driven, walked, run, and biked past the Wealden Farm stand which is literally yards from our road.  It has personality.  There it stands on its own with its beautiful and healthy offerings and tiny lights and you just feel happy going by.  Then, if you stop and pick up a cucumber that has been planted in carefully tilled soil, watered, nurtured, picked, placed in the crate for you to enjoy, you do feel happy.  You admire it all.  

This was one of those times.  I had to paint it.  I hope you enjoy!  

It was easy to get lost in it as it's a whole great story.

 

These are a few shots of me painting "Wealden Farm".  

My husband came home early one day, grabbed my camera, and started shooting as he's rarely here when I'm working.

NEW MOVIE

http://gallery.me.com/lhadlock#100112

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhsxzD3_qaU

NAUTILUS POINT

NAUTILUS POINT ART RETREAT

There was a big cupboard that smelled of moth balls and each time you opened it you were reminded of your grandmother's back linen closet or the sweater that she would retrieve to wear on Christmas.  There were two loons calling in the late hours of the day and into the eves.  I wondered why they hadn't moved on to the lake?  The stillness, the quiet of the fog outside my screen window was sometimes interrupted by the rushing of water in the pipes or the flip flops flopping across the painted wood floor of one of my artist friends retrieving a sketch pad, grabbing a cup of tea, or a ginger cookie.  The screen door would slam, not unpleasantly, as it reminded me of my childhood days and summers at our camp in Sangerville.  Crows would look down and announce something.  I'm always wondering what.  Then there was laughter echoing throughout every corner of Nautilus Pt., especially the kitchen (where all magic happens).  Daily morning runs with Katrina up and down the hilly roads with views of the harbor and Acadia, the mermaid shutter house included, were topped off with a brief, but exhilarating swim, clearing our minds and slate for a day of creating.  And in addition to all this and the gift of time to paint, the moment that most brings a smile to my face is when I met a dear neighbor who obviously gets the most out of every day of her life of 80+ years and has a great appreciation for her surroundings and the people in this life.  I had stopped to chat with her each morning when we first arrived, but hadn't yet met her husband.  When I said "I haven't seen or met your husband yet" she replied, "You haven't met Francis?!... Well, you'll really like him, he's quite satisfactory!"  May we all exude the same warmth and love and honesty when speaking of our spouse or family!  

My paintings above tell the story... the table is not yet complete; it's like a good book, I love working on it and don't want it to end.

GET OUT

PADDLE WITH NO FEAR

DOWNSTREAM

above: 12x12 paintings I did this week on Littlejohn Island 

with Carol's joyous energy radiating through the studio.

"MADNESS!  WITH A LITTLE MADNESS YOU CAN CUT THE ROPES AND BE FREE."

ZORBA THE GREEK

This is one of my dear friend Carol Bass's favorite quotes!  It is important to jump ship sometimes, paint like you wouldn't normally paint--I was tentative; Carol was encouraging..."play, paint from inside, let it be direct...from in here (as she put fist to heart)" !  I was renewed, excited and she was so kind to share her passion and joy!  These very important bits and pieces of sharing nurture what's already inside us.  YES, we must keep the channel open..."cut the ropes and be free".  I met Carol almost 18 years ago and we've been dancing ever since. 

when cultivating new ideas, one must be confident:

"To believe your own thought, 

to believe that what is true for you in your private heart,

is true for all men--

that is genius."

Emerson

EMBRACE

A moment in time with my paintbrush.  36"x36" oil on canvas

Barack & Michelle Obama after the Oath of Office

POWERFUL DAY

Last week I was hiking up a snowy mountain to watch my daughter's ski race.  Ahead of me, there was a woman also walking along in the early morning light.  She had a knitted hat on that said "OBAMA" and it had a picture of his very recognizable face on the front.  I could hear someone commenting on the hat as she walked by and she responded, 

"It's not that I think he's superhuman... or that I think he's a miracle worker.  It's that I think he is an intelligent man who has a great spirit and energy and he might be capable of getting us to work together."  

I don't often talk about politics.  It's personal to me.  I'm not a straight party voter.  

But, this lady with the hat said what so many people are feeling.  His energy and intelligence, ability to communicate, love of this country... has given us hope and it's a common thread through many of us.  

All those thousands of tiny American flags waving and people smiling back at him smiling--it was a powerful, beautiful scene.

WINTER WINDOW

One must have a mind of winter

To regard the frost and the boughs

Of the pine-trees crusted with snow.

And have been cold a long time

To behold the junipers shagged with ice,

The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the january sun; and not to think

Of any misery in the sound of the wind,

in the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land

Full of the same wind

That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,

And, nothing himself, beholds

Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

THE SNOW MAN   Wallace Stevens

WINTER WINDOW photo  LH

S T O R I E S

For part of November and early December, I ventured off into a whimsical story land.  

Maybe it's from those many hours of plunking down on the sofa or the edge of my children's beds and reading beautifully... thoughtfully... whimsically illustrated Christmas books aloud to them that gives me great joy in telling a story with my own pencil and paint.

I was kindly asked to create a holiday greeting for my daughter's school, Burke Mountain Academy of East Burke, Vermont.  The result was the painting above (named late one evening before bed) "'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE A SKI RACE...".  The other was a request from a friend living in an old farmhouse which they've brought to life with 4 children, a dog, a lot of work, play and love.  It was a surprise gift for her husband and painting it for her was incredibly rewarding and exciting--"PINE VALLEY FARM".  

They are both departures from my normal painting days and yet feed that love of creating in an equal, but different way.  

I hope you enjoy.