Trash or Treasure?

Landfill Art Project... This has made recycling a lot of fun...  I'm one of the artists selected to be involved in the Landfill Art Project: a world-wide art collection that involves 1041 artists worldwide making art from rusted garbage....In this case - hub caps!  I was contacted by Ken Marques over a year ago with a very interesting proposition. He's the director of this global project that is being done in Pennesylvania, and after taking with him a few times, I whole heartedly agreed to be a part of this effort. I was his only artist from Mississippi at the time - still may be -not sure-and he loved the idea that I relate a "Mississippi blues" history in my painting. Delta Blues Highway 61 © Dot Courson. (Go to the site to see this larger.)  I finally got my hub cap painted just a few weeks ago, and turned in to him after I rejected the one he first sent me to paint- I wanted something smoother! The first hubcap had weird ridges! I told him to give it to "someone more creative than me", and apparently- form the looks of the site- he did! The other works are delightful to see! But I just had to stay true to who I am as a painter. The finished piece is a delta painting - called, Mississippi Delta Blues Highway 61 . A landmark. The project is in phases, and now and as the artists finish the work the website will have new additions over time.  It now involves artists from over 40 countries. The third phase of this will involve publishing a book on the project showcasing all one thousand forty one (1,041) completed “metal canvases.”  The final phase will be a traveling show with 200 select pieces in it.  Wish me luck on that tour...but I doubt my work will be there: this is a "world class" collection of outstanding sculputre and paintings!  Hope you check this site out online! It's truly unique -creative... and fun!

Why I Haven't Blogged Lately

Where did October go? It's been a whirlwind for me. I will say that it's been exciting... but I haven't seen my family enough!

At the beginning of the month I hosted artist Peggy Root here. (that in my next blog!) We had a great workshop painting Trace State Park near my home. 

Artists Peggy Root and her sweet son, Charles.

The next week, some friends and I had planned to attend  the American Impressionist Society's (AIS) Exhibition at the Richland Gallery in Nashville, TN. (Judy Nocifora and Denise Rose, both from Germantown, TN,  and Debra Grossier from Nebraska) Deb was in the  AIS show and had an absolutely gorgeous landscape painting there. We all shopped, visited galleries, went to hear CW Mundy;s lecture and talked art together- we all had a blast! 

I had been accepted into the American Women Artists' (AWA) Show that was in Dallas, TX the day after the AIS show in Nashville, so I flew to Dallas, TX to meet Jackie attend the reception at Southwest Gallery. The American Women Artists is an organization that selects works for the annual exhibition which is held in different parts of the US annually... and they do not accept membership- they only have AWA Signature and Master Signature members who have been accepted into the shows many times. It is an amazing show to see the works by these master level women artists- painters and sculptors! 

With John Pototschnik at American Women Artists Show in Dallas

 While there, our friends John and Marcia Potoschnik and joined us (John is represented by the Southwest Gallery and we got a look at some of his wonderful larger works. The Southwest Gallery has a HUGE wall with John's name on it in 12 inch letters if that gives you an idea!) and they were kind enough to take us to dinner after the reception. At the end of the weekend I found out that John had work in the Oil Painters' of America western show and had taken the bronze metal for his painting but he'd not been at his own show - he'd been with Jackie and I at dinner! (more on that gallant and gracious man later!)

After I returned from Dallas I was invited and hung a "one woman show" at East Mississippi Community College in Scouba, MS. It was called "Plein Aire/Plain Studio" and featured my plein air works and my paintings I'm doing for Palmer Home for Children. (more on that later) I was so honored that EMCC bought a piece for their permanent collection! Terry Cherry the artist and head of the art program there is an inspiration to me and all the art majors lucky enough to have him as a mentor and teacher!

Also during this month I've painted, taken work to hang in two other shows,  taught two workshops: a three day workshop in Jackson for the Mississippi Artist's Guild and a one day workshop for the Red Hills Art Association in Louisville. 

My demo for the Red Hills Art Association

I attended part of the day with the Oil Painter's of America paint-out here in Mississippi, visited a while with my grandkids, and besides that all this activity was in the middle of getting some new counter-tops and new master bath vanities and kitchen island. 

 As I write this I have no kitchen or master bathroom counter top or sink (plumber says he is coming tomorrow and counter-top guy promised granite this afternoon. (Slab Stone Surfaces, New Albany, MS- highly recommend them, btw!) and Bob Harper is on his way here from Colorado due to arrive sometime today and we have 15 people due here Monday for the workshop!. I have to go to Collierville, TN to hang work for a show tomorrow (taking Bob with me) and deliver a sold painting to a collector elsewhere! 

Whew! I am explaining why I haven't blogged  this month... but I bet your month was just as busy.  I know that Jackie was just as busy helping me with all this... We will both be ready to rest sometime next month and paint some beautiful scenes like this:

My Next painting...

Artists Statements and other Symbols

Here is a test: (*answer at the bottom of this post)

What does this Really mean? 

I recently had some requests for my "artists statement".
Oh nooooooo!!!!
"Please not my artists statement", I whine to myself...

But okay. It's okay because I have one...well,  I actually have several because they keep changing. I always cringe when someone requests it and I go back into it and change it up and save yet another version. Why?  Because it doesn't ring right for me every time I read it. So I re-write it. And then it works that day. My latest version is a straight forward explanation of my painting process. Nothing mysterious. And I don't sound clever...

I am not a very good writer. That's why I am a painter!  I want to beg the person requesting my artist statement to just look at my work.. THAT is the statement I wanted to make that day I painted a particular painting. Today it may be different.

 I used really simple names for my paintings, too - like:

Sunflowers©DotCourson

Bass in Sunlight©DotCourson

But in my heart, I know what they want they want: They want an overriding theoretical reference point and framework that globally describes the philosophical principals that I use to communicate in my work and the 12 step program I metaphysically adhere to in brilliantly guiding my spiritual/social meditative mood swings in creating my work. Right?  And why is all that so important?

I say that in today's world- artists statements are obsolete... That's why God invented BLOGs! 


Besides, I think my work shows what I mean. Even this:

A Secret Life©Dot Courson

This was painted a few years ago, and it's the only thing I have painted with much mystery (or "secrecy" ) to it... but surely anyone can see that this painting of common articles found around my home enclosed in a box crate, with a red ribbon signifies my love for Andrew Wyeth... They also probably know that I painted it as I was so happy that I had just serendipitously met "Andy" (and Helga!) in Cushing, Maine after the tour of the Olson house! No? Well, let me just say, then, that I seriously doubt that my artist statement would shed any more light on this it either! 

I was reading Nicholas Simmons blog about artists statements and he made a lot of sense. Here is a segment of his blog:

I rarely read artist statements. They tend to subtract points from the work before I've even seen it, and in some cases allude to things that tell me I'm about to see some bad art. Without getting specific on that score, I've also heard this opinion from galleries and curators, etc. I don't recall ever reading an artist statement that measurably enhanced my enjoyment of the work, so I'm reluctant to compose one. Anyhow, I prefer the idea of art speaking for itself.

The process part is more interesting, especially if you happen to like the artist's work.

When I used to hear artists discuss their process(es), I always felt like a bit of a chump. They had this thing that sort of guided them and it seemed as though there was a discipline to it. I, on the other hand, had no such method or consistency. Eventually I decided that not having a process was my process, flying by the seat of my pants. Rather than fitting subject matter into a certain approach, style, or ethic, I simply would get an idea for a painting, imagine how I think it would look best to me, and then figure out how to do it -- or at least try to do it. This often means going back to square one with each new piece.

 - Nicholas Simmons blog.

I can relate. Maybe artists statements are for artists who paint things like dripping paper cups suspended above gophers who are smoking cigars are needing a creative way to tell folks that this is really all about raising  awareness of the plight of the endangered Tufted Titmouse!

 But this photographer's great photo says a lot. You can hear this little birds philosophy by going  HERE. and click on the "listen" button. 

Tufted Titmouse Source: wikipedia

Pontotoc Amish©Dot Courson

*Test answer: "Caution: Amish Buggies may be ahead!"

American Women Artists National Show

Guess what I heard today?.....

"Congratulations!  Your work has been juried into the American Women Artists 2010 National Juried Competition in Dallas, Texas.

The jurors...had a very difficult task to select the pieces that make up this exceptional exhibition. 

Of over 1547 entries ... the jury selected 65 works to be displayed from October 9 – November 9, 2010 at Southwest Gallery.  Since your work was accepted into the exhibition, we hope that you will plan to attend and participate in the activities October 8 in Dallas which include an Awards Brunch at 9am and Artist Reception from 1-5pm on October 9^th."

Scotch Whisky with Dupre © Dot Courson

Am so thrilled! - Dot
If you are new to my work...I hope you will check out  my WEBSITE.

Backyard Apple Orchard

Backyard  Apple Orchard 24x30 ©2010 Dot Courson

Sometimes painting is just from the love of the subject...

 I remember our apple orchards from my childhood very fondly, and so I practically begged Jackie to plant some trees at the end of our little garden. Deer ate a few, but some survived. For the pat two days I've been painting in plein air in my backyard.(Note: In front of the image of the painting above ...are two apples sitting on the kitchen counter where I photographed my painting.)

My granddaughter Faith and I pulled apples from the trees after I painted the first day - right after John Morgan, my grandson was "driving" the golf cart with his dad and he hit the already leaning apple tree.  It's leaning more now! Oh well! ...Memories of the apple trees continue down the generations... I just may keep this painting for myself so that I can remember a beautiful happy day-  the end of the summer of 2010.

Tips for Buying Art

Dot Courson

Wednesday I had the distinct pleasure and awesome responsibility to be asked to jury the annual Middleton Art League's Fur, Fin and Feather Art Exhibition in Tennessee. The works in this show was in several categories: Professional, Senior, Amateur, and League Members. 

Doing this type thing is a great responsibility and after accepting the invitation I  immediately began to think about shows and exhibits that I had entered and researching and developing criteria that I would use in making my decisions for the show. I was prepared - so it should have been a piece of cake...  

But it was a very difficult job.......... 

I had decided that the winning entries would need to offer that "something extra": a higher quality in overall appeal, composition, design / use of space, visual rhythm and general mastery of the medium. But in the end I learned that though the technical proficiency was important -  it wasn't everything, and the subjective elements: the atmosphere, and overall mood of the paintings proved very powerful in some works.

On my drive home after hours of viewing the show, it occurred to me that being the juror of art and buying and collecting art is quite different...and that the final "judge" of these paintings, after all, would be the ultimate buyer of the works in this show. Hopefully buyers should use more personal taste in selecting quality and meaningful works that speak personally to them,- not the juror's picks necessarily- but works that they can live with -connect to- and love. After all:  they will be living with these works in most cases for the rest of their lives!

When buying art I would recommend  looking at the art to make sure you actually like it - make sure that YOU like it- not that you have been told that you "should" like it...  And be less concerned that it exactly matches the bedspread or the sofa. Decor changes - your overall taste won't change so much.

You'd be surprised at the collectors that won't complete a purchase until their interior decorator approves the work... or- in many cases the interior decorator is actually the purchaser of the artwork for the client in the first place!

.....So be sure you like -or -love the art!  And be aware that the art sold in furniture stores as "oil paintings" are probably assembly line painted in a foreign sweat shop - many copied from images of real art on the internet. And if you buy art online make sure you research the artist. For instance, I just "Googled" Dot Courson and found over 14,000 hits! There are multiple references to me and my galleries, my blogs, professional organizations and sales records through my gallery. Most reputable and serious artists now have track records like this online ...and buyers should "get to know" the artists when buying online - even emailing the artist if possible. It is much more satisfying to both the artist and the buyer who then have a special connection. Artists love their art and consider them their "children". So connect with the art you purchase, and research the artist. This will give you much more enjoyment form your next art acquisition which will hopefully be a family heirloom passed down from generation to generation. 

Giving Back- St Jude

Amish Driver©2005 by Dot Courson 12x24, Oil

Giclees and Prints are available. Contact me HERE for information! 

This is the retouched giclee oil painting that was given away during the Saint Jude Dream Home fund raiser  in Tupelo last month.  I don't know anyone who hasn't been touched by families and children that have been helped by this wonderful institution. It was such an honor to donate this and have my painting in the entryway of the "Tupelo Dream Home". 

The image depicts an Amish father and son who are taking logs to the sawmill here in Pontotoc County Mississippi. They were on a wagon pulled by horses. The Amish who live here in our county do not use electricity or have vehicles- just generators, so the homes are very hot in the summer and with the hot summer we had this year I have been very concerned about them! But the children are healthy and loved and the parents teach them a life-skill while they are young as part of their education.

I have also referred to this painting as "Allied Education"... "Driver's Ed" and "Student Driver" at various times, to describe it better...because without looking closely, it isn't easy to tell that there is a child at the front of the wagon! 

Dudley's Barn

Dudley's Barn ©2009 Dot Courson   5 x 7, Oil-

I love old barns and sheds and the pastures around the rolling hills of north Mississippi. I painted this scene last fall in the pasture of a neighbor. Right now I'm looking forward to the feel of fall and the color it brings. Plein air painting is a wonderful excuse to get outside and enjoy embracing nature and the brief beautiful fall weather that we have in the south.

Morning Returns

Morning Returns,©Dot Courson Oil, 24x36 Available! at Southern Breeze Gallery 

This painting is of  an area near where I was born. It's name is Morning Returns - but I almost named it "Returning Home" because that's how it felt to paint it... 

I love the cool morning air, and the feel of the light in this painting. It is comforting... and peaceful and holds promises...

See more of my works at my website: Dot Courson Fine Art.

Elvis Presley Remembered

Elvis Presley Birthplace© 2010 Dot Courson Fine Art, 8x10, Oil Original on canvas.
Contact:  artist@dotcourson.com
www.dotcourson.blogspot.com

Elvis... born in Tupelo, Mississippi... and died on August 16, 1977. I remember the moment I heard, and I bet you do too...

I've lived near his birthplace almost all my life... so I painted the actual house where he was born,  one fall standing under a shade tree on the street below his house.
There will NEVER be another Elvis!

"Best in Show"...at the Gumtree Museum of Art!

Gumtree Museum of Art photos by Angela Foster

Best in Show-Windshear- Tupelo Airport©2010 Dot Courson, 8x10  Oil (photo by Angela Foster)

Humbled that my painting, Windshear- Tupelo Airport  won the "Best in Show" at the Mississippi Painter's Society Exhibit at the Gumtree Museum of Art this past Friday night with:  (see better image here) 


It was Friday the 13th but I'm not superstitious!  I'm truly humbled to win. Also another painting that I did placed 2nd place ... "B&B Concrete Co."  

Photo by Angela Foster

Photo by Angela Foster

Photo by Angela Foster

Congrats to friends Judy Tuci's pastel 1st; Rhonda Grammer's watercolor, 2rd; and Bruce Bigelow -Honorable Mention... MANY many beautiful works in this show without ribbons... If you can - please go by to see this show...It ends Sept 14th!

Figures in the Landscape- Man on a mission

This is a painting from a photo that one of my art students and good friends let me use. The photo was made on her mission trip, so I call this Man on a Mission.

Man on a Mission 10x12, Oil (C) Dot Courson

 I think it was made in Central America. This guy has these burrows loaded down with sticks, and he's riding one who looks so tired he can barely stand up!

Art for the Love of It

Here is a painting that I'm just about finished with that I'm giving to the Palmer Home Orphanage in Columbus, MS. My friend Vicki Overstreet emailed some of the members of the Mississippi Oil Painter's Association to let us know that some art could be used in the Orphanage and what was needed in the various "Cottages". The children live in groups on the campus and I selected the boys cottage. Here's why: When I was a child I had very kind foster parents who had previously worked at Palmer Home as house parents before they decided to keep foster children in their real home up in Calhoun County. What cottage did they parent? The boys cottage! They were there up until the year before several girls including my sister and  I came to live with them! So I have a sentimental attachment to Palmer Home Boys Cottage from the funny and sometimes endearing stories they told about the boys!

 At the Lake (c) Oil, 30x24 by Dot Courson

I wanted to paint a scene that boys would enjoy and something that made the viewers feel both safe and happy! My hope is that it's just a fun scene for boys to view day in and day out. It's a scene that I love, and have painted before,and you'll recognize it if you go to my website,  I've just added the boys in this one-  and kept the brush stokes a little looser.

Paint the Town!

You are invited to the 'Paint the Town'- Plein Air Annual Exhibition by the Mississippi Painters Society is from Aug 13-September 14. 

The meet the artist reception is at the Gumtree Museum of Art on Friday, Aug 13 2010 from 5PM- 7PM. The museum is located at 211 W.Main St. Tupelo, MS. 

It's been too hot to paint outdoors this July, with the heat index well over 100 degrees, but I was fortunate to get to quickly paint a rainstorm as it headed across and over the Tupelo Airport at dusk one afternoon! 

Wind-Shear- Tupelo Airport, 8x10 (c) Dot Courson

This next painting is of a Tupelo icon: B & B Concrete! Did it from 7-10 AM one morning and it only got up to 83 degrees! I was fortunate!

B & B Concrete 12x16 (c) Dot Courson

Plein Air -"Mississippi Style"

I am a diverse person who likes all kinds of experiences.  Take my usual run-of-the-mill plein air day, for example: we usually don't fancy it up. It's usually two or more friends who meet in jeans, paint smeared t-shirts, and floppy hats on a rural gravel roadside-  where we've stomped down an area in the Johnson grass and set up our easels (yeah,we love to bring iced tea in a wide-mouth mason jar in a brown paper sack). I never paint the same way- it depends on the time I have and my mood. [See my two painting below that are examples of my variations on my painting style as well as the scenery.]  

We usually end up on gravel roads, enjoying the smell the honeysuckles as we listen to the mockingbirds singing in the tree tops above, bumble bees buzzing by, and the occasional rustle of leaves as squirrels scamper across tree limbs. Sometimes I come home tasting the dust from the dirt road. But I love it because it reminds me of my childhood - the setting and the sounds...back when I had to be outside to play all day to stay "cool" in the spring and summer breezes... when time stood still ...and an afternoon seemed a week long - when compared to my internal clock these days...  love the old scenes of the days gone by that I have seen all my life. They are now in the process of slowly leaving the state forever: forgotten remains-  the kudzu covered old homeplaces, small and great old barns, and farm buildings that are scattered across our state. They are quickly disappearing. Sometimes with larger groups and we go out to paint them and tease each other about snakes and alligators or joke about a bad bull chasing us across the pasture. We all go to lunch at a nearby small town diner and order up the "blue plate special"... and we laugh and enjoy the fun and fellowship. Good friends doing what we all love.

But sometimes I enjoy the more genteel way of experiencing the beauty of our state and it's culture. Yesterday was one of those days when one of my art groups, the Mississippi Oil Painters' Association (MOPA) -  based out of Jackson - had the opportunity for a really special treat to visit the beautiful Riverdale Ranch and to have one of our members and more famous portrait artists, Jason Bouldin (who'd make good landscape painter if this portrait thing doesn't work out!) do the demonstration.

Lisa Paris, president of MOPA, and a wonderful artist and friend had invited me to stay with her the night before (Thursday night) in her beautiful Fondren home, (- see photo: it slept as beautiful as it looked like it would!) and we enjoyed a reception and talk in another Jackson home where the owners were Jason Bouldin collectors. Of Jason's many portraits and paintings they owned, one was a beautiful portrait of the family that was probably an 8ft x 8ft painting that looked like something Sargent would do if he was painting like Velázquez!  Jason - always such an entertaining speaker- gave a wonderful talk complete with slides. I wish I'd recorded it...

One point he made was that a landscape needs to be "known" by the artist. How true! It shows in the painting if a landscape has been interpreted by an artist who is familiar with the area - that sees it and gets to really know the area. Similar to our personal human relationships: some are very superficial- acquaintances- or people we've just met....while others are deeper and we have an understanding of the true character of the person- their quirks and the flavor of their personality - their history, and how they react and the inner values and depth of their personalities once your truly know them as a friend. Our landscapes connect with the viewer if we have that same understanding. I liked that statement because when I paint that's exactly what I want to get across! He also quoted Winston Churchill, who, once he started painting,  became aware of the changes in the way one "begins to see" once they become artists.

Yesterday morning Jason gave a wonderful demo. I've posted some photos of the demonstration and "picnic" we had at the amazingly beautiful Riverdale Ranch here in the middle of out state. The owner, Jim Barksdale, was a gracious host, and was so generous to us -  along with and the ranch manager and his wife and all the ranch workers. Prior to lunch, one ranch hand blessed the meal and played Amazing Grace on a handmade flute that he had carved himself in front of the fire that our host built.  It was lovely, and very comfortable and convenient right down to the fact that they arranged to have us transported from place to place in some type of fancy people movers to get us to the pavilion and  circle of buildings- a lodge, guest cottages and the summer home that they have in the middle of the ranch. It was a beautiful setting and a day to remember. I have posted some photos from yesterday but they just don't quited capture the beauty of the place. It was a special day.

Now-  back to painting from my sketches and color notes...

Artists John Pototschnik and Pablo Picasso

I love John Pototschnik. If you don't know him you can find a link to his work here. And while you are there sign up for his monthly newsletters. They're wonderful!

John is an artist whose values I really admire, and I am proud to call him my friend. He’s made his living as an artist almost- if not all -of his adult life. He's also one of the most respected artists in the United States today, and we had the pleasure of having him and Marsha, his wife, here last year for a workshop that my husband Jackie and I hosted. He will be coming back next year to teach with me-  in April of 2011. While he was here last year I purchased one of his beautiful light filled landscapes. Every day when I look at it, I am aware that there is a reason his painting prices are triple mine! He is an amazing! He's also smart. I get his newsletters and he recently had lots of interesting things to say about “painting movements.” I’m including a small quote from that newsletter and contrasting that with a confession that Picasso made about how the art world is sometimes a little pretentious.

Here is John's quote:

"In the art world ........there is a definite move toward rep-resentational art. Young artists recognize the devastation of the last generation and are demanding something different. They want sound training. They want their vocabulary restored so that they can speak with a clear voice once again, as artists of old, to an audience more than ready to listen."~John Pototschnik


Contrast that statement with this quote from Pablo Picasso in 1952"


"From the moment that art ceases to be food that feeds the best minds, the artist can use his talents to perform all the tricks of the intellectual charlatan. Most people can today no longer expect to receive consolation and exaltation from art. The 'refined,' the rich, the professional 'do-nothing,' the distiller of quintessence, desire only the peculiar, the sensational, the eccentric, the scandalous in today's art. I myself, since the advent of Cubism, have fed these fellows what they wanted and satisfied these critics with all the ridiculous ideas that have passed through my mind. The less they understood them, the more they admired me. Through amusing myself with all these absurd farces, I became celebrated, and very rapidly. For a painter, celebrity means sales and consequent affluence. Today, as you know, I am celebrated, I am rich. But when I am alone, I do not have the effrontery to consider myself an artist at all, not in the grand old meaning of the work: Giotto, Titian, Goya were great painters. I am only a public clown – a mountebank. I have understood my time and have exploited the imbecility, the vanity, the greed of my contemporaries. It is a bitter confession, this confession of mine more painful than it may seem. But at least and at last it does have the merit of being honest."~Pablo Picasso, 1952

It is so interesting that they both are celebrated artists- but there is a big difference...John paints honestly and he is a fulfilled person. He is a blessing to know and I feel privileged to know him.
Here is a Link to the Art Renewal Center's -2004 ARC Salon's Winning Landscape Painting by John Pototschnik that won in 2004.

Shake a Tail Feather!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bt9xBuGWgw

The above video is great- it is Frostie The Cockatoo Dancing To Shake Your Tail Feather! This bird Loves Ray Charles!

Sometimes you just got to shake things up!

If you're familiar with my work you know that I usually do landscapes, but I occasionally branch out into portraits, figure sketches and some still life. I recently started a little quick sketch ( an hour and a half) of Caleb. who is 22 months old.
And I had just finished a still life which seems to have gotten the attention of several folks who came by my studio:

I don't plan to stop painting landscapes anytime soon... but sometimes you just need to shake things up. Tomorrow I'll be taking a writing workshop in Tupelo. I need to improve my writing skills...and who knows - I may shake a tail feather and write a book! I can dream! 

Nostalgic Paintings

I have sold a couple of gems recently that were personal favorites to me. One was Baptism at Moon Lake. It is now on it’s way to its new home in Norway! I know that it will be loved from talking to the collector. She shared with me that it is a gift to her husband on their 26th wedding Anniversary.

Above is a southern staple that is quickly becoming obsolete. Delta Cotton, 24 x36, was purchased by a collector from Nashville at one of my solo shows in the fall of 2009... She touched my heart as she told me that her father was a cotton farmer and had always told her stories of his love for farming. That made the “adoption” of the painting even more special. She and I have remained friends and I look forward to visiting with her at her cabin on the TN river this spring.

Homeplace  on the Hill, 11x 14 is a painting that meant the world to me and sadly I wasn’t able to communicate with the owner. It sold in one of my galleries and this particular gallery does not share collector information with me. I wonder sometimes if the person who selected the painting had memories of a home place similar to this one. I had painted it because it reminded me of my childhood home -the house in which I was born. I loved the clothes on the line. I remember in the 60’s as a child, waking up on weekday mornings to go out on barefooted on the sunny east facing back porch to find my mother gracefully putting clothes through the ringer washer- and piling them like spaghetti folds into a white enamel wash basin and carrying them to the clothes line to hang. Clothes smelled wonderful back then!