"Vermeer found a life's work in the corner of a room."

A quote from the deceased Irwin Greenberg, found in The Painter's Primer:  A Survival Kit, circulated to his students at the High School of Art & Design and the Art Students League of New York.  

I too am finding my life's work in the corner of a room - my studio is not a large area and is open to my living/dining room space. . .all one long room that feels open and keeps me from having a shut-in feeling as I do my solitary work!  Of late I've gone back to tiny jewels - the name I give to my small paintings reflecting an effort to have these smaller works make a statement just as clearly, as succinctly, as a large painting. Having not been a student of landscape, but loving it as much as the air I breathe, I soldier on to create something of interest and hopefully some form of beauty.  

I began with another painting in my Alaska series because of the everlasting grandeur and scale of Alaska - trying to capture that in a small painting is a great exercise.  The photo doesn't give rise to all of the texture and color found in this small composition. 

Alaska Waterfall  .  8 x 10"  .  oil on linen


Then on to Spring Thaw only because I'm weary of winter this year and truthfully it has been pretty mild, but I'm so ready for it to be over!  Right now everything is in bud, here in North Carolina, but it's going down into the 20's tonight. . .I think we can all agree that the weather is truly wacky these days.  Only recently did I fully embrace the affect on our wildlife and their behavior patterns when I happened upon a program on NPR.  It's tricky for migrating birds with their food supply, etc., while on their long journeys.  The rhythm of life and its usual patterns are changing.  Spring Thaw reminds me of my childhood. . .endless fields and land to roam.

Spring Thaw  .  8 x 10"  .  oil on linen

Finally an attempt at a bucolic scene, a pastoral look at  Black Angus - now I'm thinking I would like to paint this again with the white faced Hereford cattle instead, but my family had a Black Angus farm near the Tennessee border, hence the imagination seemed stuck!  Hereford roamed on two large farms in Jones Valley where I grew up - we shared a creek running through the valley; they lounged on the banks, we had boat races with whatever bits and pieces of found stuff that would float.  They watched as only cattle can watch.  But today it's Black Angus and a spring rain moving in. . .

Spring Rain Moving In  .  8 x 10"  .  oil on linen

All of these paintings are listed in my Etsy Shop:
www.Etsy.com/shop/SandyDonn 
and after they have dried and varnished will be available.