My American Dream

I have a dream...it is not complicated. It is really quite simple.  I want my Independence Day on July 4 to be 45 free.  Obviously that is not going to happen so I am revising my dream a bit.

I am still so very angry with all of those folks that voted against their best interest.  I am angry with my friends and neighbors that shattered my belief in their personal integrity.  I am pissed that they advertised their lack of integrity and blind faith for the world to see with signs on their vehicles and fences.   I am still pissed that my friends and neighbors threw away all of their morality, their common sense and potentially planetary future when they proudly voted for that misogynistic, narcissistic, racist, greedy & treasonous bastard that is currently inhabiting the white house that belongs to the people of my country.

These friends and neighbors are good people with beautiful children and  grand daughters and lovely farms steeped in history & nature,  and I want to ask them; "Why would you vote for some one so sleazy that you would not even be comfortable leaving your grand daughters alone with him?  Why would you vote for some one that clearly would act (& has) shamefully  in the eyes of our allies? Why would you think that this narcissistic idiot would ever do anything in your interest? Why would you vote for someone that would destroy the very natural world that I know you love because you have expressed  joy of living in our wild and wonderful world?"

I really thought all of these friends and neighbors were smarter than that. I thought their common sense and the fact that they are grounded in nature - so to speak - would make them immune to the propaganda and rhetoric that the "45" espoused.  I want to ask but now I fear the response will be something as un-intelligible & baffling as their voting choice to begin with.

So, here I am...it has been 8 months since the election and nearly 6 months that I have had to hear that horrible bastard's name every day that I turn on a television.  I am ready to swear off TV for the next 3.5 years except that now I worry that this may not be the worst case scenario.  I cannot even imagine what could be worse...perhaps Kanye West or Alex Jones or shit, who knows!  Nothing is off the table now.

I hope I can find a way to get past my issues with what feels like a true betrayal by my own friends and neighbors.  It sucks on every level.  I write this because I am concerned for the world that my grandchildren will inherit...

I have never had much faith in anything but now I have lost faith in my democracy and that leaves me in such a disillusioned state that I approach apathy.  And yet, only about 50% of folks actually voted.  I am compelled to reject apathy.  Too many women died, were beaten, were raped and more to secure my right to vote.  It is a moral imperative that I vote.  Apathy is not an option for me.

I want to believe that my American Dream is not dead. So my moral imperative extends to all those apathetic folks that are bitching about how things are.  Pay attention and run for office.  Quit bitching & vote. Stop voting for incumbents.  Google the meaning of incumbent! Find out the truth!!! Stop listening to ONE media outlet.  Listen to several on different channels and make an informed logical decision that is going to best benefit YOU - not the wealthy.  The wealthy do NOT care about you.

Stop being distracted by abstract concepts like abortion, immigration, terrorism.  These are NOT immediate threats to YOUR life or democracy.  The loss of your rights to your privacy, your education, your health, your future, and your world are imperative and immediate threats to everyone regardless of their politics.

People have died to give YOU the right to vote.  Don't disrespect them and their life gift to you by not voting.  Your fathers, mothers and even your children fight for this country.  It is time for you to fight too.  It is time to rise up out of your apathy and walk into a polling station and mark your ballots.  It's not that fucking hard to do.  It is not like dying for your country the way our wonderful military folks do, but voting could save your life and theirs too.

Epic Seconds

So, I am toddling about on a beach in the mid-Atlantic where wild horses wander, actively pondering the workings of the universe and somewhat annoyed at gaining a few pounds and a few well deserved gray hairs.  I think it is odd that I still see myself as a 30 year old but note that guys no longer give me a second look as I pass. I wander into the beach bath house and notice a young woman around 18-21 years old that weighs about 40 pounds more than me blow drying her hair and sauntering around in her paisley thong and cropped t-shirt.

Her mother has never 'fat-shamed' her.  It was quite obvious that no one ever said to her; "You would be so beautiful if you lost some weight.".  She was a living, breathing, stunning work of art. I was suddenly and instantly jealous and envious and in awe of her. I've never experienced anything like that! She lives in a completely different world and I actually found myself thinking that while I simultaneously love and hate many portions of her world, I want to live in it too.  Then I found myself wanting to believe that I have contributed in creating this world for her in which she can be so confident and comfortable in her skin.  Perhaps I have...

I toddle out behind her as 4 young bucks await her emergence like a plump flutterby from a cocoon, and she did not disappoint.  I wish I had that confidence at any point in my youth.  She was obese and breathtaking!  She looked healthy and beautiful in every way rockin' that paisley thong and cropped tee.  I am still processing it all. She stunned me with her beauty. Again, truly a work of art. Oh what I could have achieved with all that confidence!  My history is a different world altogether filled with many endearing, amazing, beautiful and sometimes tragic and insecure epic seconds which now include her.  I was experiencing such a vast array of emotions in those brief but epic seconds.

I found my mind wandering to a different time in a far away world that is known only to me as My-Story but is as foreign and alien in this time as any planet in the universe.  I still see glimpses of that old world when I walk in the rain or am hiking in the woods or even wandering through a department store-until I see a mirror or some other reflective surface showing an image of the old woman looking back at me.

I am struggling to figure out just when it happened.  I went from a reasonably "hot chick" to an "old woman" in an epic second!  Shit!  I really thought I was paying attention.  It is such an odd & startling epiphany. I wish someone would have warned me.  Shit! Time is fleeting. I want more epic seconds!

Camping in the Rain

I have just returned from my first camping trip of the season.  Taking my 50 year old vintage camper is always a catalyst for a story.  Fortunately, the story is simply that I was thrilled to show off all of the work my hubby and I have done  at refurbishing, restoring and redecorating our charming little TARDIS to her previous owner.

 I toddled off to Staunton , VA where the nearby KOA had a beautiful creek and lake surrounded by lovely willows in the gentle hills of the southern Shenandoah valley.  It was truly bucolic-even in the rain. It rained  on the way and poured when I arrived but it did stop raining shortly after I got to my campsite.  I immediately put up my new home made canopy and was delighted to have a dry area to hang outside and enjoy the more gentle rain and paint. I did not finish my painting yet.

There were three of us that met up at this campground.  One of us lives in Abbington, VA which is as far south west in Virginia that you can manage without being accused of being in Tennessee.  She has the accent to prove it too.  One of us is from the Deale area (aka South County) of Ann Arundel county, Maryland.  She too  has the accent to prove it, not to mention freakishly shiny hair! Then there's me, from St. Mary's County, MD but living in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia.  My theatrical accent coach in college would still be proud since I refuse to pick up the local WV accents and only occasionally let slip the odd "deed so by gawd cap'n" in passing.

 We all enjoyed watching the raindrops creating enchanting whirlpools in the lake that expanded and over lapped in a delightfully quixotic dance of entropy all over the water surface.  The ducks on the lake seemed quite oblivious to the charms of the water droplets, their own attention focused on the variety of campers snacks and feasts all around the lake.  They totally avoided any fisher folk for fear of squiggly worm infested hooks magically descending upon them from the sky as children & adults tried to learn to cast their lines for catching elusive little fish beneath the mystical ripples in the lake.

One reason I enjoy camping is to escape the chaos of the political issues.  No TV.  After a weekend that was 66%  camping in the rain we discovered that we all agree that 48-50 F (9.44 C) feels significantly different in the cold pouring rain than in the bright sunshine.  If only all of us in this country would find something we can agree upon.  Perhaps we should just go someplace and do something different just for no other reason than the agreeable & shared experience.

In the Dark

Some of my paintings seem quite dark and saturated and perhaps a bit "moody."  Well guess what? That is the point.  The world is not always sunshine and rosy.  Certainly not my world.

When I paint something, I do try to create something that is beautiful.  However, my mantra is "representing the beauty and value of wild."  Sometimes my representation is as stormy as the world in which I live.  We are all struggling to survive in an increasingly tumultuous society.  It occasionally manifests itself in my art. My goal is unwavering.  I hope that someday my art will change the world for the better.

Therefore I will make no apologies for a foreboding abstracted background juxtaposed with a bright and beautiful creature.  I think the composition is representative of my emotions.  In trying to blend the dichotomies of my life on a lonely mountain  in an area where my views could be seen as (and some times are) dangerous, my own struggle feels so isolated.

I could babble about those dichotomies for ages but suffice to say I am feeling blue in a red world and that is about as political as I want to get at the moment.  I personally like the richness of color and the feeling of  optimism in motion  in this painting.  This little bird just stays focused and keeps moving forward regardless of the turmoil around him, which is what we all need to do.

...and on a rainy day...

Like most painters, I like love to paint outside but I am not always so excited to be out in the cold rain that falls in the mountains in early May.  It is a chilly 47F (8.3 C) up on my mountain and the howling wind is no
t very inviting.

On this day I decided to stay inside and while sipping my coffee, I got inspired!  I was staring out the window at my hummingbird feeder.  I do enjoy watching them and found myself really studying the little male as he flitted about and hovered effortlessly outside my window.  He seemed to periodically check to see if I was still watching -almost as if he enjoyed having an audience for his antics.  Yes, he seemed as "thirsty" as any Hollywood performer so I was suddenly motivated to immortalize him.

I like painting in this manner as much as painting en plein air.  It is still a quick paint but I love having a subject to focus upon and a very abstracted background.  In fact, I even prefer to abstract my subject more and blend him into the background a bit to create a more ethereal image.

The truth is that my studio is my comfort zone but I cannot ever be satisfied by staying in my comfort zone.  That is also a life lesson that I learned early on as well.

Ricoh and my logo

Some have wondered why I chose to use a baby raccoon illustration as my logo.  It is an odd choice when I am known to be obsessive and there are so many other images that may represent that quirk of my personality.  Frankly, I don't need an image to represent my obsessive nature since I just am what I am (as Popeye would say).  However, Ricoh Raccoon is a good story about development, impact, conservation, and art.  Above all, my art is about representing the beauty and value of wild, which he does perfectly.





Over 10 years ago, Ricoh Raccoon was left homeless and abandoned by the bulldozer and the building of my house on a mountain in WV.
 It was heartbreaking to see this little guy running about lost and searching for his mum.  I had to intervene.  While this may not be my most flattering photo,  poor little Ricoh was just so sweet and cuddly and frankly - quite kittenish!


I took him in, early on I snuggled him and bottle fed him.  However, I raised him to stay wild, taught him to forage, and released him when he was old enough to fend for himself.  He hung around for several years.

It was hard because once released, I could not be 'friendly' with him else he would get himself into trouble with less forgiving humans in the area.  I never introduced him to anyone because I knew he would be going back into the wild again and Ricoh needed a healthy fear of my species to survive.

He made it a point to visit occasionally.  I like to think he missed me.  I would spot him hanging out on a tree limb in my north garden early in the mornings, just watching me, while weeding my blueberries.
I never got a single blueberry from that patch, thanks to Ricoh.  Ah, but I was just fine with that.  He learned to forage quite well.

I am pretty sure that Ricoh's progeny are still around here on my mountain.  Ricoh will always represent the beauty and value of wild for me.

Visit my website at vlynnstudio.com 

Preparing for Plein Air

It is spring and thoughts quickly turn to escaping the studio, playing outside, allergies, and plein air painting.  Well, that is an example of my thoughts, anyway.  First stop is the drug store for my spring allergy meds and sunscreen and then, I start planning my plein air adventures and prepping my equipment for trekking out to that perfect place that will make a beautiful painting.  

I would note that the perfect place could be ANY place that inspires you.  I often paint from the back of my SUV because the tailgate raises and creates a nice sunblock and table space for supplies.  But there are times when the perfect place may be on a sidewalk, on a boulder, a grassy knoll, a beach, or in a forest.  You need to be prepared.  Fortunately, it is not complicated or expensive to get started.

My first plein air pochade box was a cigar box mounted to a tripod.  Pochade is a French term for pocket and refers to a small box for capturing the colors and atmosphere of a scene.  My old cigar box was actually quite perfect for small paintings.  It would hold a 5x7 or 6x8 size perfectly inside the lid. It could hold an 8x10 canvas too if it was not too windy.

 I spent about $17 for a tripod mount from Amazon and found an old lightweight tripod in a second hand store.  I went to the art store and got some palette paper (you could probably use wax paper instead of palette paper) and 1/4 inch thick foam core.    Anyway,  cut the foam core to fit inside the cigar box then, wrap it with the palette paper.  Place small tubes of paint or pastels in the bottom of the box and place the foam core palette on top and "Voila!"  You have a perfect little lightweight plein air pochade for under $30.  You could use this for pastels, acrylic or (in my case) oils.  FYI, a typical pochade  setup is $200-$400.

I quickly outgrew my cigar box pochade because I like to paint on bigger canvas.  But I still use it occasionally for small quick projects and demos.

There is more to consider when gearing up for a plein air adventure.  I like to be out for most of a day when I go and need to be prepared.  I bring water!  Staying hydrated is VERY important!  Because I am obsessive, I forget to eat or drink at times when in the throes of inspiration.  I often bring protein bars or other lightweight food.  Also,  If  using acrylic bring a brush wash container and separate bottle of water for that purpose.  Mark it clearly because I have absently picked up paint water and drank it.  That will quickly & rudely un-inspire your painting!  Yuk!

I use oil so I initially made a brush washer to hang my mineral spirits from my pochade box. It was just a plastic jar with a lid and some wire mesh inside up-cycled from a bouillon cube container.  Attach wire or string around the neck to hang it from your box or tripod.  This would work for acrylic brush water too.

I have an array of attachments to my tripod which is probably overkill but I was a girl scout and am always prepared. I attach paper towels, palette knives, brushes, compass/whistle, & water. Remember that lightweight aluminum caribeaner  and 'S' clips are your friend!  I like to clip everything to my tripod.  It is handy, stabilizes my tripod and is off the ground so I don't have to deal with picking up sand, dirt, slitherers, or  multipeds creeping into my equipment bags.  Ugh!

Speaking of bag, most plein air artists use a backpack or camelpack to transport everything to their site.  I think that is quite perfect for those trekking some distances from their vehicle.  I don't really do that very often. I have a small compartment bag that holds my brush washer, brushes, lunch, water, radio, colorwheel, extra paints, paper towels, and whatnots.  The bag is relatively small because, like most women that I know, if you have room in a bag, you will fill it.  This bag has a clip that I use to attach and hang from the center of my tripod for added weight & stability.  I have a large overnight bag with an over shoulder strap that holds the small bag, the pochade box, my canvases,  and tripod.  I try to make the entire bag as lightweight as possible.  Believe me, when trekking more than half a mile from your vehicle, every ounce counts!

To reduce weight, I leave extra paint in the car.  I make a point to set up my palette before I go out to paint.  I generally squirt my paint onto my palette in order of my color wheel - dark to light.  Regardless of how you set it up, just do it the same all the time.  It makes it easier to find and mix your colors quickly especially when trying to work in changing or failing light.

If you are a beginner, use a limited palette.  I like a lightweight palette of 5-7 colors and from that I can mix nearly everything I may need.  Those are Burnt Umber, Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Yellow and Zinc White.  I do add a few other colors (like a warm red or ochres) depending on where I am painting and the time of day but mostly everything can be done with a dark brown, a  blue, a red, a yellow and a white - each of your choice.

My final tips for plein air are as follows:  First & foremost is to be prepared to waste a lot of paint.  Just quit worrying about it and USE that paint.  You cannot learn without using paint and making mistakes.  If you are learning then you are NOT wasting paint.  The same rule applies to canvas as well.  You are going to paint a lot of canvas that is wonky, ugly, weird or whatever.  So what!  Who cares?  You should not care.  Some canvases will be able to reused and others, not so much.  But some will be spectacular!
Also, you should try and notice how the light changes every 15 minutes or so when you are outside. Note the shift in shadows.  Note the color and intensity of the shadows.  Do shadows have the hard edge of a cloudless day or the softer diffused look of an overcast sky?
Try to get the sketch of your painting on the canvas within 15 minutes.  Use light paint.  I use the yellow to sketch because it is easily covered and changed as you adjust your perspective.
Finally, take a picture with your phone after you finish your sketch.  You may want to add in some details when you get home.

Just paint.  Then paint more.  The more you do, the better you get.