This summer I’m going to take a partial break and only post once a week. Instead of Monday and Friday, you’ll receive one painting Friday at 5.
Please remember that at least 50% of my art sales (for paintings or commissions) in the next four months will be donated to the election, to increase voter turnout in swing states. Info here.
Most rhododendrons have already bloomed but we have a late-blooming bush on the north side of our house.
Last Saturday, June 20th, was the summer solstice, the longest day of the year and the first day of summer. Enjoy!
Juneteenth is the celebration of the end of slavery. 155 years ago, on June 19, 1865, Union troops led by General Granger reached Galveston, Texas and announced that the war was over and the enslaved were now free. Although Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation 2 1/2 years before, this was the last place in the country to hear this news.
Last week, a new book, How Seniors are Saving the World: Retirement to the Rescue, was published, with a chapter in it about me. In this time of uncertainty and fear, I hope the stories in this book can help provide inspiration as well as concrete examples of how a person can help work toward peace, justice and equity.
Ever since college when civil rights and the Vietnam War were raging, I have been a social justice activist. I have volunteered on a range of issues, from reducing the risk of nuclear war to economic inequality. For 15 years I devoted myself to criminal justice reform. Our prisons currently hold 2.3 million people, far more than any other nation on earth, and those imprisoned are disproportionately black and brown. In 2005, I created UU Mass Action, a statewide Unitarian Universalist social justice network, and was President for ten years; it’s still going strong. As well as co-chairing Social Action at my UU church, I have also taught art in prison for 19 years, linking my art and social justice work.
This book has 24 chapters, each about a different person. These people have found meaning in life, and in retirement, by working for the greater good in a wide variety of ways. The chapter about my friend Peggy Ellertsen, for instance, spotlights her work to educate the public about the isolating effects of hearing loss. A link to the book is here.
Watching a raccoon amble across the front yard as it did yesterday, followed by a skunk a couple of hours later, is a good reminder that we are far from alone in our neighborhoods. Every morning before meditating in the front yard, I put out two little piles of birdseed, and the chipmunks keep me company. Who’s training who?
After an unusually mild winter and a cool wet spring, the warm weather has unleashed incredible growth in the plants and trees. One of the hidden blessings of the pandemic is that we have been forced to slow down, which gives us the chance to appreciate the nature around us.
Counting our blessings, especially in distressing times, improves our mood, heart rate and more. “Research suggests that gratitude may be associated with many benefits for individuals, including better physical and psychological health, increased happiness and life satisfaction, decreased materialism, and more.” article here.
Yesterday I kayaked on the Charles River for the first time this year. It’s tricky to paint in a boat, a little tippy and the paint is bound to run. But fun. I put a little ink on top of the paint when I got home.
This commissioned painting, based on a photo, was a real challenge. The woman who hired me wanted a birthday present for her sister Kara, whose beloved cat Tonka recently died. Skin tones are always tough, and portraying an animal who was mostly one color, while giving the illusion of three-dimensionality, is another challenge. It was fun though.
Please know that I make commissioned paintings, and 50% of everything I earn this year will support voter registration efforts in swing states. Information here.
My friend Betsy is a landscape designer. Sitting in her gorgeous garden last week, I tried more watercolor painting on Yupo paper, which produces interesting textures. Fun!
The Newton Watercolor Society is learning together via Zoom every week, and last week Chetana taught us about painting on Yupo paper. Yupo is not absorbent, and it produces a lot of different textures you can’t achieve on absorbent cotton watercolor paper. Painting on Yupo (this scene was out of my imagination) was fun, different, and required giving up some control. What do you think of this approach?
Faces are so interesting, aren’t they? We spend our lives looking at them, interpreting them, reacting to them. This drawing was inspired by a photo I found on Flickr. Fun to translate it from a photo to pencil, pen and ink.
Finally! New England is really coming into its own this week. Soon the southern part of the country, of which we have been jealous for a couple of months, will start to envy us; we will be spending all our time outdoors, not stuck in air conditioning. The warblers are flying through, the orioles are singing, and the trees and flowers are bursting after the cool wet spring. Gorgeous weather at last!
We’re all spending a lot of time at home, and sketching is a fun thing to do. Try it! I draw first with pen or pencil, and then apply watercolors; you could use crayons, markers, whatever you have. Take the pressure off and don’t worry if it’s messy or the lines are wrong — so what? It’s just a piece of paper, not an SAT test. Here’s my sketch of our family room, and the real thing.
Can you tell where this cluster of flowers ends and where its shadow begins? Choosing to paint the shadow in green, rather than gray, makes it hard to tell. It was fun painting it though.
Last week I discovered Flickr as a source of photos to draw from. I started a new sketchbook, planning to fill it up with faces and people, using only black, white and gray from pencils, pens and waterbrushes. Fun and challenging!
I am grateful to those who generously donated to my (virtual this year) 40th Walk for Hunger, enabling me to raise over $8,000! Many of you have supported me for years, and this year, you helped me set a new record, making me the seventh highest Walker! Thank you!
Your donations will fill the shelves of the 400 food pantries and soup kitchens supported by the Walk, providing groceries for the 38% of Massachusetts residents who are now “food insecure” (up from 8% just two months ago). If you haven’t had a chance to donate and would like to, here is the link to my personal Walk page. Here’s my sketch, which the Walk is using as its logo.
When you see a sketch of people, does your mind start making up stories? Are these people friends? Younger or older? Sightseers? At home or overseas?
Meditation is a great way to stay centered, especially in anxious times. Apps really help, and over the last five years I’ve used Headspace, Calm and Insight Timer. My new favorite mediation app is Balance. (The people who make Balance also have a great brain-training app called Elevate, which I have used every day for six months.) Often after mediation, I notice more of what I see.
Every spring, artists dust off their greens. There are dozens, hundreds of shades of green in nature. Painters can start off with a green like sap green or viridian, and modify it with a touch of yellow and red. Or mix various blues and yellows (I have three of each on my palette, there are dozen more). Then decide how much water to add to make it lighter or darker. Myriad choices to evoke the unfolding colors of the world around us.
This year is my 40th annual Walk for Hunger, to raise money for 400 food pantries and soup kitchens across Massachusetts. Food pantries are now besieged by 24 million newly unemployed people looking for emergency groceries for their families, so those who contribute to my Walk are more appreciated than ever. Because of social distancing, the Walk is forced to be virtual, and I can’t approach people personally to ask for pledges. If you are willing to sponsor me, you can donate to my personal Walk page by clicking here. Thank you so much!
Happy Easter and Passover! Here’s a bouquet of lilies and flowers to celebrate the arrival of spring.
The Serenity Prayer has guided me through personal and political distress, and now it is guiding me through an epidemic. “Stay home, wash your hands, maintain healthy habits, and release the rest,” seems like the current version of this prayer.
Last week was gray, rainy and cold in New England, adding to Covid Claustrophobia. So the sunshine now is very welcome. On Saturday I spent a blissful hour in our front yard, sketching the emerging plants and chatting with neighbors (from six feet away) as they walked by. You can see from the photo below that sketches don’t have to be realistic — you can choose, alter and rearrange what appeals to you. Hence the term “artistic license.”
We have devised several strategies to stay sane in this crazy time. First and most important, limited exposure to the news. Second, quiet classical music on the radio all day. Third, staying in touch via phone and video chat (Skype, FaceTime, WhatsApp, Zoom). Fourth, feed the birds! Here are a Carolina wren and a male goldfinch who visited our feeder last week.
I love sharing with you, especially now, and a number of you have written you feel the same. If you know anyone who might enjoy receiving my posts, please forward to them. They can sign up by emailing me at lynnholbein@gmail.com, or on the right-hand side on my website www.lynnholbein.com. Stay safe!
Here in southern New England, the leaves of the tulips are just starting to poke up through the warming earth. So today’s post owes more to the florist than to the current reality of our front yard.
On my daily walk, there are many reminders that, while the human world has changed dramatically in the last month, the natural world goes along unfazed. Pollution over Wuhan has disappeared, emissions from planes and cars are reduced, and more. Meanwhile, the birds are winging their way north and the earliest buds are preparing to unfurl. Here’s my painting from the edge of a lake.
Now that we’re all spending a lot more time at home, it’s a good time to make our space as clean and appealing as possible.
My art table had been cluttered and messy for months, so I have been avoiding sitting to paint. This week I spent two hours cleaning and decluttering it, and even walking by it makes me happy.
Some people are suggesting we treat this pause in our busy lives as a holy moment. Anxiety, yes, but also clarity. We’re getting real clear, real quick what is important.
Every morning with my cup of tea I sit quietly for a few minutes, counting my blessings from the day before, and visualizing a balanced day ahead.
Amazing how the world has changed in a single week, isn’t it?
This may go on for quite awhile, “the new normal.” So let’s think of ways to safeguard not just our physical, but also our mental health. Getting out in nature, especially now that spring is unfolding, is great for our outlook and the exercise is great for our health. It’s easy to maintain “social distance” from strangers, and even friends, while walking. Bruce and I are resolved to take a walk each day. Sometimes, for a change of pace, we’re going to drive to a nearby green space for our walk. Here’s a sketch I did a couple of years ago of one such place.
The human world is going a little crazy right now, reeling with anxiety about the coronavirus and its economic fallout.
Meanwhile, quietly, Mother Earth is starting to open toward spring. Here’s a gem hidden among the dead leaves in our front yard this week.
This series of fruits and vegetables are Mike and Nora’s favorites, to be hung on their kitchen wall.
I am painting a series of peoples’ favorite fruits and vegetables to be hung in their kitchen. Here is a series I did for my son Andrew and his wife Eva, hung in their kitchen in New Orleans.
Paco looks like such a happy dog, I couldn’t stop smiling as I painted his picture. It was a commissioned painting to be given as a wedding present to his human companions.
In 2020, at least 50% of money earned from my art sales (originals, prints, house and pet portraits) will be donated to fund voter registration drives in swing states.
Continuing my remembrances of warm and exotic places I am not visiting this winter, this is San Miguel de Allende. Three years ago, I visited my friend Linda, who was renting a house there. Here are sketches from the roof of the house Linda rented, and a scene from a local market.
At this time of year, I get an itch to go someplace warm and exotic. But that’s not happening this year, so I have to rely on memories. Five years ago this month, our son Andrew and I spent ten days in Thailand, a truly amazing trip. Two highlights were close encounters with other species. The first was a ride on an elephant, sketched here. The second has to be seen to be believed.
There’s nothing more peaceful on a cold winter day that to sit cozy inside with a cup of tea and watch the birds coming to the feeder. These goldfinches will start to molt into their brilliant yellow outfits in a month or so.
P.S. Thanks to the many people who replied to my last post “Two Versions.” Opinion was pretty evenly divided between which version of the red onion was better.
After 20 years painting in watercolor, learning acrylics continues to amaze me because you can change things over and over.
Here is the evolution of one painting of a red onion I worked on this weekend. After I finished the second version (on right), I wondered if I should have stopped at the first. Which do you prefer?
Wishing you a heart-full year!
This painting is a complement of my last post — cool colors with a warm accent of the opposite color. (Blue and orange are opposite on the color wheel.) These paintings were made with a different kind of watercolor — Dr. Ph. Martin’s Hydrus Watercolor Inks. They are applied with a dropper and are especially vibrant.
The basic principle of color is that red, yellow and blue are the three primaries that can’t be mixed from anything else. The secondary colors are made up of two primaries each: red + yellow = orange, yellow+ blue = green, blue + red = purple. Red, orange and yellow are considered the warm colors (think fire), while blue, purple and green are cool. A classic color combination is predominantly warm (or cool) with a touch of the opposite. Like this one.
Having a bowl of bulbs in the winter is good for the spirit. These paperwhites were done with pencil, pen, watercolor, and (on the bulbs) a little water-soluble crayons.
Yesterday I went to the fourth Women’s March with my daughter Kate and granddaughter Lila. I attended the first two in Washington, the third in New York, and the fourth in Raleigh, N.C. Here’s my painting of the first Women’s March in January, 2017. Prints, to benefit 2020 voter registration in swing states, are available here.
This painting skirts the line between realism and abstraction.
One of the best views in Boston is from the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA). The entire side of the building facing the water is glass. You can see part downtown Boston (left) to the Tobin Bridge and Logan Airport (right). Last week it was fun to sit and sketch, and paint later at home.
At lunch at a ramen noodle restaurant yesterday, this young man didn’t want to miss a drop.
Like millions of others, I am resolved to eat more healthily this year. Which means, of course, more fruits and vegetables. Here is one of my favorites.
Four years ago today, Dr. James Phillips replaced both my knees. He literally put the spring back in my step. I owe so much to him, and to Dr. Asmal and Dr. Bala (my PCPs for more than three decades) for keeping me healthy.
To what medical professionals do you owe thanks for your quality of life, or even your life itself? We are so incredibly blessed to have modern medical care available to us.
May you and yours have a healthy, happy 2020! And thanks to all of you who have written to me over the last year. I love painting and sharing with you, and you are a major motivator in my artistic journey.
In honor of the 2020 election year, 50% of the proceeds from the art I sell this year will be donated to register voters in swing states. So if, during 2020, you are interested in an original, a print, or a commissioned painting (like a house or pet portrait), and you’d also like to help make sure everyone votes in November, just let me know. Best, Lynn
