Month: January 2017

Contrasts

There is a lot of change going on in America, much of it deeply distressing to many of us. Please know that my art is not intended as a denial of our need to know or to act. Instead I hope it will be a moment of respite from the news of the day.

This little painting was made with cray pas, a sort of grown-up crayon. The contrast between purple and yellow, which are opposites on the color wheel, make it more dramatic. If the colors were green and blue, which are contiguous on the color wheel, it would be more restful. 

Sketching People at Starbucks

These little sketches were made with a Pilot G-2 pen, which bleeds when water is applied with a waterbrush. 

Several people have asked for prints of the Women’s March sketch from Wednesday. If you would like one, let me know by clicking “reply”. The cost is $40 for a matted 11″ x 14″, or $30 for a matted 8″ x 10″, plus $5 for S & H. Both are ready to slip into a standard sized frame.

The Women’s March

The Women’s March on Saturday was astonishing. More than half a million in D.C., and a total of 2-3 million in 50 cities across the US and the world. My sketch does little to convey the walls of peaceable people who spread out, like an octopus, far beyond the official march route, onto the downtown streets in Washington. I was there with our two sons, two daughters-in-law, and niece.  Andrew’s sign, “As a White Male, I Apologize for Trump” got a lot of photo ops. On the way home, the lines for the subway were three blocks long. 

My favorite moment of the weekend was on Friday, when we protested at the Inauguration. I was standing in line for the restroom at Au Bon Pain, and started talking with the man behind me. He was an ex-Marine had come from Missouri to celebrate Trump, and he was astonished that I was protesting. After a moment of silence, he said, “I spent a year overseas fighting so you would have the right to disagree with me.” I thanked him, and we hugged.

Coffee Shop

I’m working on a sketch of the Women’s March, which I will post on Wednesday. What an amazing event it was –half a million people in Washington, and over a million around the country and the world! Such amazing spirit, peaceful and generous people, and inventive signs!

Meanwhile, here’s a sketch of a coffee shop I did on location last week when my friend Candy and I went into the South End in Boston. I like to put people in my sketches,  that I don’t put facial features on them. I’m not a portrait painter, and in my experience putting in faces, hands and feet into my paintings is the surest way to mess them up.

Vigilance

I’m in Washington, DC. with our sons, daughters-in-law and niece, protesting at the Inauguration on Friday and the Million Women’s March on Saturday, to express concern about Donald Trump’s temperament and his policies.  We know that family and friends who supported Trump share the same hopes for peace and prosperity. May we get through the next four years together! 

Flashback

This is the first sketch I emailed to a small group of friends a year ago, three days after I had both my knees replaced. I was following the admonition, “Sketch what’s in front of you.” Anticipating a couple of months of being laid up, my question to myself was, “What little thing can I accomplish in 15 or 20 minutes a day which will help me connect with friends?” And so these sketches began. I continue to love painting and sharing with you.

I’ll be traveling of the next 12 days, first to Washington DC to protest at the Inauguration on Friday and the Million Women’s March on Saturday, then to Kentucky to help my sister-in-law Jerry who is getting her knee replaced. I look forward to doing some sketching, if not in DC, at least in Kentucky!

Whole Foods

When painting a complex scene, it’s best to simplify and eliminate a lot of detail. The question to ask yourself is, “What is my favorite part of this scene?” In this case, I love the contrast of the colorful fruits and vegetables with the dull winter clothing. I also love the woman’s striped hat.

My blog is launched! To see it, go to www.LynnHolbein.com.

Amy’s House

I’ve been hired to do lots of house portraits on commission, but this was a gift to a wonderful therapist who helped me through the emotional angst (aging, vulnerability) surrounding my double knee replacement last year. I gave Amy this portrait of her house just before Christmas, when the red and green seemed seasonal, and the summer flowers a colorful memory and a hope for next summer. 

A Wonderful Anniversary

Today is the one year anniversary of my double knee replacement. For nine years before my surgery, I had increasing trouble with my knees, including five arthroscopic surgeries, and I was headed toward a cane and a much more sedentary lifestyle. Now I’m 100% pain free, in my 30th year of taking yoga classes, and Bruce says he has to hurry to keep up to me when we walk together.

I am incredibly indebted to my supportive family and friends who got me through the months before and after my surgery. But most of all I am so grateful for my wonderful husband Bruce who dealt with not only my pre-operative limitations and post-operative healing, but also with my “wackiness” as I suffered emotional ups and downs especially pre-surgery.

I am deeply indebted to orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Phillips, New England Baptist Hospital, Lasell Rehab, and Pro Sports Physical Therapy. We are so blessed to have access to modern medicine!

Museum Sketch

Our son Andrew and I have always enjoyed visiting art museums together, and starting in fifth grade I would call him in “sick” once a year, and we would go out to lunch and visit the Museum of Fine Arts. Though he is grown and married now, we still try to go to a museum once during the holidays. Yesterday we visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The courtyard was full of poinsettias. I did the drawing, and then the guard said I couldn’t use watercolor in the museum, so I retreated to the library to add the paint.

It’s really interesting how making a sketch of something makes you pay more attention and improves your memory of a place and an event — a sort of meditation. 

Painting and Sharing

I have been painting in watercolor for over 20 years. I first discovered painting as an antidote to “being in my head” too much, a way to connect with and appreciate the beauty of Creation. Sketching what’s in front of you is also spiritual and meditative, bringing you in touch with the present moment, accessing what is called “flow”. But, like any skill, painting is also often frustrating, it takes a lot of practice, and there  are lots of failed sketches and paintings in my recycle bin.

Many of my friends who paint want to win shows and become commercial successes. Those goals don’t resonate with me. I’d like to sell paintings in a modest way. But most of all, what gives me joy and motivation is to share my sketches and paintings with you.