Teacher

For my lovely friend,

John 20 depicts a precious moment that you hold dear. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this passage with me. 

I present to you, my pictorial depiction of this important encounter. 

With love, 

Natalie

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

 Jesus said to her, 

“Mary.” 

She turned and said to him,  “Teacher!” 

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

John 20: 11-18

Little Red Leaf

Today was one of those slightly cold and gloomy days of the fall season. I was feeling blue and grey and all the other boring colors. I was moody until mid afternoon when I got a text from my friend. It was picture of a tree in a park with a hilarious little red leaf hanging out all by himself at the bottom of the tree trunk. He was so jolly compared to his surroundings. I smiled and laughed. So today I thank my friend for sending me this little moment and I thank God for the little red leaf. It is a reminder that if you take a second to look around for God you will find his glory and be filled with joy.

Plated Pies

Knowing when to stop painting is hard. There is a delicate balance between knowing when to stop or when to put more work in. For me, I tend to look at it for a few days. Sometimes I'll hang it up on the wall so if feels more final. If I look at it and I only want to change one or two things, than I leave it alone. If I hate it beyond a reasonable doubt, then I put more work in. I always have been drawn to a more Impressionistic style. When looking at Monet's work I specifically enjoy his river boat painting or his haystack series. However Monet's haystacks are obviously painted very maliciously yet they exude effortlessly beauty.  I don't think I could ever compare my work his masterpieces.   When I study Monet, I'm just fascinated and maybe understand art a little bit better. I digress...  I think I finished my pie painting. I'm semi satisfied with it. Most importantly I hope it is well received by its new owners. 

Sketching It Out

Here is the rough idea for my pie painting. I quickly sketched out six plated pie slices on a muted blue background to start. I feel like I always need to add blue for some contrast to my earth tones. I tend to make everything little two yellow or pink. Now that I have a general composition laid out, I can really focus in on making this painting about a joyful summer afternoon.

Pie Tones

When thinking about what to paint for my wonderful friends I thought back to a moment we shared together eating pies. We traveled all the way to Brooklyn to try the Four and Twenty Blackbirds famous pies. We bought one slice of each kind they had. Then we displayed them out on the table before we dove in. Their arrangement looked so pretty that I didn't even want to disturb them. The dark table against the white plates and the yellow crusts were just lovely to look at. A perfect composition. I had that thought for about a second because the salted caramel slice was calling my name.

Before I start my pie inspired painting I need to mix my pie colors, my pie-tones you might say.
I started with yellow ocher, alizarin crimson, lemon yellow, raw umber, and venetian red. These mixed with titanium white will be my mid tones.

New Project

I'm starting a new project for a beautiful married couple. They are in their mid twenties and have lively personalities. They love traveling the world and helping people in need. They recently acquired a summer cabin and want me to make something to put on the wall.

I'm going to see if I can document the process of making this painting as I go. I constructed a 20 x 30 inch canvas today. The raw canvas look is so nice so I had to take a picture of it before I put the gesso on. I still need to figure out what exactly I am going to paint for them. They have a wide variety of interests. Let the brainstorming begin. 

New York City Sky Line

I made this painting for my friend who wanted a sky line picture in his living room. Many depictions of the New York Sky line tend to be a little too gray and stark. I wanted to make something with warm ochers and earthy reds. I think this will hopefully bring some life and variety to my friends living space. 

New And Improved Haiti Collage

 The chaotic nature of Haiti was not reflected in the original collage. I felt it needed more layers to represent the craziness of this place more accurately. The materials I added include plastic bags, paper, ink, photographs and paint. 

Collage Inspired by Haiti

I went to Haiti this fall for a long weekend. Although it is a very impoverished place, I experienced a rich and vibrant culture. The creative juices started flowing so I decided to make a collage that attempts to document my experience.

For My Drab Living Room

I hated the still life I had hanging in my living room so I painted over it. It was a gross eye sore staring at me every day. So i decided to paint something that was going to calm me and help me study. I used acrylic paint for this piece. 

Collaging

I saw some beautiful patterns and colors in a magazine recently and decided to collage them. I realized that I am attracted to quilted patters and geometric shapes. 

In The Park

This is a tree I painted with with my friend in the park. She asked me to teach her how to do some oil painting and I was happy to help. She is extremely musical so I was happy to spend time painting with someone who has a creative spirit.  It was nice to just sit down in the summer sun and chat while expressing our mutual love for art.