Light and Color in the North Country

(left) "Afternoon Outlook" Oil
5"x7" Original plein air painting 
©2012 Diana Moses Botkin

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Up here at the edge of the earth, days are short this time of year, and many of them are grey and dark. When the sun shines it is a welcome tonic for body and soul. Color! I'm so thankful for it, and eyes to see it. These are blessings I try not to take for granted by thanking the Creator for such miracles of life

(left)
"Sky and Water Colors" 4"x4"
Original miniature oil painting
©2012 Diana Moses Botkin

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Scotchman Peaks Paint Out

(left) "Blues and Greens"
Original oil
7"x14"
©2012 Diana Moses Botkin

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These were painted en plein air last month near Hope, Idaho, for the Scotchman Peaks Wilderness Paint Out.

I've participated in this event for several years and always enjoy the camaraderie of painting with other artists, even if the weather is a bit cold for me.

If you'd like to see these paintings in person, you can enjoy them at OutSkirts Gallery in Hope. It's a lovely drive around the lake from Sandpoint.

(left) "Companions" Original oil, 10"x8"
©2012 Diana Moses Botkin

(below left) "Limelight" Original oil, 5"x5"
©2012 Diana Moses Botkin

"Adulthood", our November Painting Challenge

"New Family"
Original oil on hardboard, 6"x8"
in handsome custom frame
©2012 Diana Moses Botkin

I named our focus to paint this time, following the lead of our last two month's subjects. You'd think I would have more of a plan about what to paint when I chose the idea, but I did not.

I simply thought it would be an interesting challenge to continue the progression from childhood to adolescence on to adulthood.

What does it mean to be an adult? Is it being of legal age to buy alcohol or tobacco? Is it that one is old enough to vote, or enlist in the military, or get married? Does it mean getting a job, or buying a house? I thought about all these, and more, as I was considering what to paint for this month's Challenge.

I don't think I actually felt like an adult until I became a parent, even though I'd been on my own, working, and married, for a number of years before I had children. It was only when I had my own babies that I truly felt like an adult.

And you know, some people never grow up. Adulthood signifies responsibility, and there are those who have lived many decades who have not yet grasped that concept.

On the flip side there are young persons who've had to take on responsibilities beyond their years and have had to grow up with hardly a glance at childhood. I suppose I could paint for a year and not exhaust all the possibilities for ideas about our subject this month.

Fellow Challenge participant, Mark Adams waxed eloquent about our subject at his blog post today. Here is his lovely painting.

(left) 
"Father Frederick Hanna"
Oil on Canvas
24" x 36"
©2012 Mark Adams
  


Challenge group member, Suzanne Berry painted a lusciously rendered small oil for this month's puzzler. It speaks volumes, don't you think?

(left)
"Adulthood"
Oil on linen 
6"x6"
©2012 Suzanne Berry

Those Summer Painting Days

This miniature at left was painted on the first day of the Columbia Gorge paint out and served as a warm-up for me.

Plein air season for me is when the weather is warm enough to be outdoors most of the day. In the Pacific or Inland Northwest, that's pretty much summer, at least for me.

Mornings and evenings can be quite cool even in the summer. They are my favorite time to capture the colors and mood of a scene, however, whether in a little oil sketch like this one, or something a little larger.

(upper left)"View of Adams"  Oil, 3"x4" ©2012 Diana Moses Botkin 

Sunny Day at the Columbia Gorge

(first painting) "Waterfront"
Oil on deep canvas, 6"x6"
©2012 Diana Moses Botkin
 

(second painting) "At the River"
Oil on deep canvas, 6"x6"
©2012 Diana Moses Botkin
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These pieces were painted during the plein air event at Hood River at the end of summer. I wanted to do some touching up on a couple of them, so I didn't show them here when I posted the others in September.

Today I'm enjoying the memory of that hot, sunny day, painting on location. It's cold and snowy here in Idaho right now, so it's especially nice looking at the warm colors in these little jewels.

Sandpoint Solo Show Starts Sunday

(left)
"Pensive"
Original oil, 10"x8"
©2012 Diana Moses Botkin

This Sunday from 11 to 1, I'll be on hand at Monarch Mountain Coffee Company in Sandpoint, Idaho for a reception to open "Figurative Statements", an exhibit of my paintings and drawings.

(second painting at left)
"Reflective"
Original oil, 10"x8" 
©2012 Diana Moses Botkin

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In the show are images fitting the theme, derived from realistic human figures or abstract form.

A Sunday opening is a first in my experience, but the coffee company owner suggested the time frame for a relaxed gathering. She had told me she wanted more paintings after my ArtWalk show of portraits and still life paintings. She suggested "something more edgy, like nudes".

 In addition to the bath drawings, I'll be showing other nudes including large framed studies on paper and small original oil paintings, like these two at left.

(third painting at left)
"Fiery Flight" 
Original oil, 18"x24"
©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

Along with the figurative pieces, I'm exhibiting some abstract work, which makes an interesting contrast to the familiar forms of the figure paintings and drawings.

Although I paint a variety of subjects, I regularly return to the figure. It's a lot like comfort food to me on a cold rainy day. The figure itself can be simple or complex, depending on the pose and lighting.

And abstract work can be similar, although for me it is more about experimentation and exploration than comforting familiarity with beautiful form.

What's your take on nudes and abstracts?