RURAL AMERICA, Oakville

16 x 20, completed 2016
oil on panel

thought this appropriate at this time of year.  I have done a number of landscapes featuring the disenfranchised and old places crumbling.  This is a street scene of Oakville, Washington, a small town in the middle of nowhere.

COPYRIGHT: All paintings, pictures and essays in this blog are the property of Christine Zachary. Reproduction or retransmission of these materials in whole or in part, in any manner, without prior written consent, is a violation of copyright law.

Comment on Success...

Vincent Van Gogh wrote his brother Theo in April 1890 that it's almost always the case that success is the worst thing that can happen in a painter's life.

That comment struck me as very true.  Would Van Gogh really have cared that his paintings have sold for millions after his death?  I wonder.

Personally, now that I am "old", I am not sure that the idea of success is what drives me to do art, unless it has to do with the Greek concept of arete, achieving one's best in whatever you do.  And to me trying to achieve that excellence is a very personal thing.

I resonate with what Van Gogh wrote, as after I had a little show some years ago I was inspired to paint something new, and I thought "This will sell" -- and I quickly realized it was terrible:  dead, with no inspiration or meaning to me.    I was so discouraged.  It took me some time to get back to being myself and doing what I wanted and needed to do.  I have struggled with this always, thinking to please others (such as contests) and getting back to making something I'd really like on my own wall.

Somehow I think this is what Vincent meant as well.

New Still Life 16 x 20" oil on panel

STILL LIFE WITH EDWARDIAN SHOES

COPYRIGHT: All paintings, pictures and essays in this blog are the property of Christine Zachary. Reproduction or retransmission of these materials in whole or in part, in any manner, without prior written consent, is a violation of copyright law.

ETUDES

I have decided to work on studies (etudes) finished in 1-2 days while waiting for the inspiration for a more committed work.  These four paintings, all oils, are all small format, none larger than 8 x 8 inches.  The single tulip was the most challenging ---

award of Merit, Expressions West Juried show April 2016

Family tree

STILL LIFE WITH GREEK VASE

16 x 20" Oil and tempera on panel, April, 2015

COPYRIGHT: All paintings, piSctures and essays in this blog are the property of Christine Zachary. Reproduction or retransmission of these materials in whole or in part, in any manner, without prior written consent, is a violation of copyright law.

Still Life March 2015

oil on panel, 16 x 20" completed March 2016

still life with yellow bowl, March 2016

oil on wood panel, 24 x 24 inches, completed March 2016

I have finally given in and let my feeling for color and the paint take over.  In my below "selfie" photo the unfinished version shows.  The white area on the top right was such an obstacle, I tried to repaint it numerous times, then when I finally took it out it brought the entire piece together.

This painting has underpainting, direct thick brushwork, glazing and scumbling techniques.  

Mandala Still Life, Feb. 2015

There's a lot to "Painting What you See" and making a composition.  In this one I concentrated on trying to reproduce color and form and give the entire piece a rhythm.
oil on copper plate, 16 x 20 inches completed Feb. 2016

THREE STILL LIFE PAINTINGS

Family Tree, 33 x 19 inches, oil on panel completed 2015

 Still Life, 16 x 20" oil on panel, completed 2015

Portrait of a Chair, 16 x 21, oil on panel, completed 2015

COPYRIGHT: All paintings, pictures and essays in this blog are the property of Christine Zachary. Reproduction or retransmission of these materials in whole or in part, in any manner, without prior written consent, is a violation of copyright law.