Reducing Fire Danger in Overgrown Christmas Tree Lot

My husband on tractor is pushing the burn pile together burning excessive branches.This picture was taken exactly a year after posting my environmental painting of birds and fish benefiting from a root ball in a pond. When I did this final painting of the series about loosing the fir trees I had no idea that I could continue the story this year. Pictured above is one of last years paintings, " The Dream, A Submerged Root Ball is a Fish Nursery." acrylic on cradled Masonite, 12" square by 1 1/2" deep, will be for sale when series is complete. This is an important series in my life work. More paintings will follow soon.

I am overwelmed that my dream came true. My husband is lining up trees to be transported soon to ponds which fill old rock quarries where gravel was dug for the I 5 Freeway that traverses Oregon between California and Washington. The stumps and root balls will provide habitats for fisheries thaks to volunteer workers like my husband.

Thinned Overgrown Christmas Trees

"Thinned Overgrown Christmas Trees" is acrylic on a cradled wood box 6" x 8" x 1 1/2", ready to hang, no frame necessary, for sale $86 plus $10 postage in the USA For fire protection my husband is thinning a neighbor's Christmas trees grown to 45 feet tall. These trees are not of much commercial value so they are being donated to the Department of Fish and Wild Life. The tree with root ball will be placed in the old gravel pits left behind when they were dug out for the construction of I5 Freeway. These gravel pits have filled with water and will become better fish habitats with the addition of these spindly trees and roots.
This project came about after I painted a series on the trees cut down on the lot we sold. I imagined that their roots were placed in a lake and fish fry were swimming and taking shelter in the tangled roots. So this means I will continue the series started just over a year ago. http://umbrellapaintingjournal.blogspot.com/2007/05/fish-habitat.html#links

I make dragons to express spirit and essence of the unseeable

To see these and more dragons click on the linkhttp://widlerwenzeldragons.blogspot.com/

Early Spiritual Painting

" Primeval Sea", 1965, is an acrylic painting on canvas, 19.5" x 49.5" "Rain's collection. Rain is correct in labeling the painting a spiritual abstract.

Labels, however, make me uncomfortable and when people ask what kind of painter I am, I squirm in discomfort and I stammer a few confusing words wishing I would just disappear at that moment.

I have always considered this painting spiritual. I remember having coffee with Rain the morning before painting it as we often did. That morning we thought about how the universe began and if there was a God. Spiritual means to me that which we know exists beyond what can be measured scientifically.

I am in the process of identifying which works are spiritual. I think most of my work is spiritual because of the way I go about making them like they are a journey each one of them. For a quick overview of the most likely to be spiritual paintings, I invite you to a tour. The tour begins by clicking here.http://umbrellapaintingjournal.blogspot.com/2008/04/pebble-from-cebolia-camp.html#links

Essence of Breeze and Apple Blossoms

This is my final abstraction of the apple blossoms and blue bird series. "Essence of Breeze in Apple Blossoms" is acrylic on cradled wood board 6" x 8." For sale $86. The peak of the blossoms are almost over and my husband is logging so I want to add to the series on the life cycle of trees.
In answer to the question - "Is a painting just a blurred photograph. I would say not today because a photograph is reproduced with small dots of ink while a painting is produced by the brush stroke. In my case the brush strokes try to be paint like and not reproduce a photographic image.

Simple Abstract Shapes are the Most Difficult

The one to the left is yesterday's and the other is what I painted over it. I think it is close to done. I always like to let it rest and then decide.

Photographer's process compared with my painting process

The above is an experimental outdoor painting in which I copied the first painting only on a larger smoother surface - the first 5"x 7" and the second 6" x 8". The second painting, also painted on the same location, was focused on copying the first painting more than interpreting the life experience in the here and now. The curves of the birds and tree became mechanical when I wasn't looking right at nature. Tomorrow I will work towards painting a fresh abstraction over the copy - never again will I paint an experimental study. I want to always paint what I am experiencing in nature at the time.

Are paintings no more than blurred photographs? This question was presented by Rod Ijbema of the blog, "Painting Wales Diary". His comment was on my photographs of the ocean seen through a rain beaten window pane on a post in April titled "Beyond the Landscape and 'en Plein Air".

My answer is no, paintings for me are about direct response from the eye to the brain and directly out of my hand.

I think of myself as having heart felt emotion unlike a camera. Like a photographer I am a selective window on an outdoor scene. Unlike a camera there is a direct response to color and distort.
The camera is a tool used by people with heart and emotion true enough and I can even visualize an improvement on the camera which would allow me to make adjustments on the digital image in the field directly from my seeing and my hand. Then I would be very close to painting. I would only loose the interaction I have with the humidity drying or keeping my paint wet. I probably would complete a painting faster and loose the delight of watching changes and movement in my subject. And I wouldn't have the kinesthetic feel of the paint on the end of my brush. I feel the landscape in my muscles especially my heart. With my supper maneuverable camera the tactile sense would not be the same. No matter how responsive the camera, the experience of being alive in the moment would not be the same. There is a feeling of power from moving around real paint.

Essence of Honey Bee and Apple Blossoms

The acrylic abstract, " Essence of Honey bee and Apple Blossoms" is painted on a cradled board 6" x 8" x 1 1/2". For sale $ 86. A special only through May 31.

The question before me as I am abstracting is: On a cold cloudy gray day, am I going to get inspired in the next couple of minutes as I am painting? And I did. I kept wanting to continue painting. Then I took a load back to the patio. Coming back for a second load, the blue birds flew by. At first I thought maybe they were curious about the paintings but most likely they were thinking, "Yippy, she is leaving and it will be our turn to feed."