All the beautiful blues

A warm welcome to you from Crows Chase Cottage. Mid September has arrived, and the lack of rainfall has taken its toll on the landscape. Small creeks and ponds have dwindled down, with only muddy patches remaining. Leaves are wilted, turning yellow and falling to the brown grass below....but the leaves are not that lovely autumn yellow one might expect this time of year. They are a dry, tired yellow, edged with crinkled brown. But despite the ongoing drought and dull thirsty colors that envelope our neighborhood, I have been inspired by the loveliest colors of blue. 

For whatever reason, blues have been resonating with me this past week. Icy blue, moody dark bluish green, light blue.....the varying degree of shades seem endless to me. Having been in an artistic slump before, I owe this color, this vibe, a great thanks! For whatever reason, it reached down and caught the attention of my dreary spirit, wrapped around my mind, and released that burdening block. 

Before I knew it, my paints, brushes and canvas were gathered.....and an angry sea called my name. Waves began crashing and rain clouds hung heavy overhead. The finished piece emanated all of my hesitant energy, finally being placed upon a canvas. I adore it, the atmosphere, the mood....definitely my vibe 🙌

Even my new mixed media journal project has taken on a dark and icy blue tone. The official theme is set to be a dark botanical/academia piece, I am easily able to work with moody bluish-purple and icy blue-blacks. The combination of these blue tones along with muted grey, browns, dark green and sienna offer a stunning and mysterious collection of pages. I am definitely excited to complete it!!!  

Also, this past weekend, I ran across a forgotten book among all my old academic texts. Actually, it is an art book focusing upon Claude Monet's time and paintings at Giverny. There are pages and pages of his magnificent paintings. From the water-lily ponds to the nearby Seine, these images are beyond inspirational! The wide variety of color schemes used might surprise many. It may be interesting to some that Monet had a series of paintings that were heavily weighted with the color red, while other pieces contained darker primary colors laden with shadow and mystery. However, as blue has been such a focus, the lovely lily ponds and misty morning Seine paintings called to me. It is my hope that soon I can paint a lovely water scene that contains such magnificent, yet muted, pastel blues and violets. The image below reminds me slightly of a painting by Monet that I saw at a museum while traveling in France. Even more interestingly, I traveled by Giverny a few times while there. 

If one is a fan of Monet or Van Gogh, France is definitely a must for your bucket list! The art and literary scene.... j'adore ca! ❤💓 Perhaps I will share a few stories from my travels there quite soon....

I found a new world there, in France....London as well. So many adventures......and the vibes......it would take numerous entries to cover it all.....but a few lovely vignettes of my time there can definitely be arranged.

Until then, if you are fascinated by Monet's work while in Giverny, give this book a browse. While only the first chapter discusses Monet in words, the remaining chapters discuss his soul and inspiration via images of his gorgeous works. "Monet's Years at Giverny: Beyond Impressionism" published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

I will leave you with a bit of news regarding our hilarious, tamed wild turkey. It decided domesticated life was too boring.....and rejoined the large flock residing in our nearby woodland. I knew this could possibly happen, especially with the entire group walking up and down our fence row every day. Our cute little turkey, despite being hand fed cracked corn, just couldn't commit to being a 'Turkin'" (Turkey that thinks it is a chicken) 😆 It is missed but fortunately the entire group can be seen every morning, along with Turkey Lurkey....so I know it is doing well, enjoying a care free life with its true family. Yes, while sad, it is also pleasant to see it back in the wild again. Bittersweet.

With that snippet of news, I will come to a close for this week. With kindest regards, from the cottage at Crows Chase.