AN ARTIST'S RESPONSE ( part 8)

Like most of us, I have been trying to come to terms with this plague 

that we are suffering through.

I try do do it with paint.

STUDIO VISIT

PAINTING IN PROGRESS

TURBULENCE 

Often when we visit Venice it is raining. Not just a little drizzle

but full buckets of water falling onto this floating city. With 

Vaporetti rocking and canals rolling it's difficult to know which

way is up, but it really doesn't matter because it's all such 

a wonderful swirl.

The Swirl

[detail of cloths]

In its Malthusian way sickness moves through the World's 

population. We are social animals and so interconnected that any

pathogen can and will move effortlessly through us.

That is what it does.

[detail of cloths and city]

But we will survive and continue to expand, it's what we do.

This painting has obsessed me for months, sorry for sharing

my obsession, but it's what I do.

Siena Daylilies ( in progress)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 30" x 28"

AN ARTIST'S RESPONSE ( part 6)

Like most of us, I have been trying to come to terms with this plague 

that we are all suffering through. I try to do it with paint.

Painting In Progress

KINDA NOT BLUE

Siena Daylilies (in progress)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 30" x 28"

When I taught, I used to tell my students, "listen to your paintings,

they will tell you what they need." My students would squirm

uncomfortably and avoid any eye contact with me. They must have

thought that I was crazy. After I reflect on my lectures of the

glories of Bounty paper towels ( full sheet) they may have been right.

Siena Daylilies (in progress)

with sky ( blue)

Siena Daylilies ( in progress)

with sky ( white)

What I had 'wanted' was a sky that transitioned from an almost

white on the horizon to a deep blue. What I got was an 

uncomfortable feeling every time I looked at the 'pink / blue thing'.

So the blue had to go. Right now it is almost a monochromatic color

structure, a first for me. But, hey! What do I have to lose? If it works

let's just say that, 'I am a very good listener.'

( cloth detail)

Onto the cloth.....not so easy.

AN ARTIST'S RESPONSE ( part 6)

 Like most of us, I have been trying to come to terms with this plague
that we are all suffering through....
I do it with paint.



PAINTING IN PROGRESS


STUDIO VISIT

THE GHOST SHIP SETS SAIL

Morning Glories ( in progress)
James Aponovich
Oil on canvas, 12" x 10"

After painting so many roof tiles in the Siena painting I had to give
my eyes a break from Burnt Sienna and Terra Rosa.

 Morning Glories (detail)


Nothing like plunging into Ultramarine and Turquoise.
The composition and basic forms are set, now I paint the
first layer of color trying to coordinate the color composition.
The cloth is going towards red, green or deep blue?

AN ARTIST'S RESPONSE ( part 5)

Like most of us, I have been trying to come to terms with this 

plague that we are all suffering through. 

I do it with paint.

PAINTINGS IN PROGRESS

STUDIO VISIT

Siena Daylilies ( in progress)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 30" x 28"

Some artists never show their work until it is completely

finished. Believe me, I have nothing to hide and I think it

may take some of the mystery out of art if you show the

rough spots, indecision's, and miss cues of a painting.

Siena Daylilies ( detail /in progress)

A whole lot of roof tiles.

Basket of Fruit and Vegetables ( in progress)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 24" x 22"

The cloth is 'kinda' finished, now I must wait for the

right fruits and vegetables.

 Truth be told, I make them up...

AN ARTIST'S RESPONSE ( Part 4)

Like most of us, I have been trying to come to terms with

this plague that we are all suffering through. 

I do it with paint.

PAINTING IN PROGRESS

THE GHOST SHIP

Morning Glories ( in progress)

James Aponovich

oil on panel, 16" x 12"

On the Mediterranean Sea during the Summer of 1348

it was not uncommon to see ships under full sail aimlessly

floating wherever the wind blew them.

Their crews were all dead....from the Plague.

Try to board and claim salvage? You will certainly join them.

So what does this have to do with a painting?

Morning Glories ( in progress/ detail)

Well to me, there is something a bit ghostly about the beginning

of this painting of Morning Glories. Sometimes if I know

I'll not be able to finish a painting 'in season', I'll sketch the

composition in pale earth colors and wait until next (this)

year for flowers to bloom.

We'll see how it goes.

ARE WE THERE YET? ( week10)

STILL LIFE WITH THREE GROUPS OF FLOWERS

James Aponovich

R.I.P.

( week 10 )

ARE WE THERE YET?

"It ain't over 'til it's over."

-Y. Berra

Still Life with Three Groups of Flowers

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 40"x 52"

......It's over.

But wait........something new next week!

PAINTING IN PERSPECTIVE ( week 8)

P. I. P.

PAINTING IN PERSPECTIVE

STILL LIFE WITH THREE GROUPS OF FLOWERS

James Aponovich

LOST IN SPACE, AGAIN

week 8

So far I have been dealing with the arrangement of things ( composition) on

a flat 2 Dimensional basis. 3 horizontals and 4 verticals. There is another, 

perhaps more important element I must confront....Space, or what

is called Aerial Perspective.

Self Portrait ( in -progress)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas

"Isn't he already dead?"

You see, I paint in a very traditional manner, based on the principles

of the Italian 15th Century...So there's not a large support group

for me... Lone Wolf Club.

Montalcino (Tuscany)

Usually a painter ( particularly a landscape painter), must deal

with Depth of Field in three distinct sections:

Foreground 

Middle Ground

Distant Ground

Panicale ( Umbria)

"Listen Buddy, Between you and me, there ain't much Middle

Ground here."

Typically, Middle Ground is the most challenging because 

it's all about transitions. It bridges what is closest to you ( Foreground),

and what's most distant ( Distant Ground). It's the in between

that is such a headache.

Detail with Lake Trasimeno ( Middle Ground)

The still life is up front and in your face, and what there is of Middle Ground

is minimal.....some peek-a-boo glimpses of the lake and Val di Chiana.

So to create a whole new zone...

I have introduced the Imaginary Space of the Viewer...

sound confusing?

The vase is black glass.....Welcome to my world.

There I am with palette looking at the painting. 

Elizabeth is also in the room, arranging flowers....

Kinda wierd

Still Life with Three Groups of Flowers {in- progress}

James Aponovich

oil on canvas

Next week.....Sweatin' the Details

P.I.P. PAINTING IN PERPETUITY ( week 6)

STILL LIFE WITH THREE GROUPS OF FLOWERS
( And even more stuff)

Painting In Progress
week 6

JAMES APONOVICH

" Oh, It' you again"

Remember that old cartoon of a prisoner scratching six lines on the
cell wall and the seventh line through them.... One week down...
Let's just say the bloom is starting to fade with this painting.
'Chained to the easel', all day, everyday.



" Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end, 
but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
-Winston Churchill 



IT'S A MATTER OF VALUE

So far I have been thinking a lot about color and it's effects,
but value ( light /dark) comes with it and it's starting to raise its head.

To counter the brilliance of the yellow ( light), I have introduced
another cloth underneath which is blue (dark). So, as the yellow can
soar to great heights, blue can descend to almost black. There is a
reason ( I think) for all that pattern, but I will get to that later.          

As deep in value as blue is, it can also ascend to be light and
celestial. Blue can move around quite a bit, but yellow
doesn't want to.

So, aside from some final fussing, the bottom third of the painting
is finished, like a massive chord of music...full and rich.
Now, I must try and compose the melody with the ever-present 'stuff'.
....It is a Still Life after all.

Still Life with Three Groups of Flowers ( in -progress)
James Aponovich
oil on canvas, 40"x 52"




Until Next Week.....................

P.I.P. Painting in Purgatory.....week 5 / Painting in Progress

STILL LIFE WITH THREE GROUPS OF FLOWERS

(and Lots of Cloth)

Painting-In-Progress

James Aponovich

DEEP IN THE WEEDS

This week has been the week of never-ending fabric.....

Everyday, all day .

Cloth Before 

Cloth After

YELLOW

THE CELESTIAL COLOR

In Ancient China if you as a Commoner dared wear yellow you could be rewarded by

having your head cut off, immediately. It is Heaven's color and only

The Emperor was allowed to wear it. So it's best not to add it to your wardrobe.

Yellow is very difficult to control. It rises to the most brilliant light

and it sinks to a muddy dark mess. No other color is as hard to handle.

You know a beautiful yellow when you see it, and a bad yellow screams.

So, with all this yellow on my hands I turn to it's opposite, violet

for some counter balance. And since the yellow wants to go green, 

I must choose red-violet.

Still Life with Three Groups of Flowers ( in-progress)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 40" x 52"

Until next week................

copyright 2019 James Aponovich

all rights reserved

FINDING SPRING, A Garden In Glass Vases

There is something missing from this picture.
To be sure, snow is pretty as it gently falls creating a snow globe world outside the window. Soon the snow begins to pile up on the ground and above the trees fanciful with their branches becoming  dusted with white. The landscape is transformed.

Yet, something is missing....

The  white snow  blanket eliminates color making for a vista of white and  grey. The starkness of winter on a cloudy day has a quiet and cold beauty all its own. On days when the sun is shining the long shadows across the snow are dramatic.

Yet, what is missing is color.

 So it goes......
 James and I were doing a few errands in Exeter, NH. He parked the car so that I could run into a store. When I came out he was not in the car, hmmmm! I remembered that just a few doors down is superb flower shop, and that is exactly where I found him.

It was very cold, I am talking 14 degrees F. cold, and very windy. These Arctic-like conditions made walking any distance unpleasant, so I was happy to see him through the shop window.

If blindfolded and lead through the door,  I would have known  immediately that I was in a flower shop.
 The fragrance is unmistakable, that of sweet peas, peonies, roses along with all their companions in glass vases.

And once my eyes adjusted to the light, it was the color that struck me.
Vibrant.

These stout tulips were a blaze in colors that would be difficult to mix on a palette. Behind them,  a bouquet of yellow Mimosa which remind me so much of Italy and the Spring Festa delle Donne, a day to honor women and offer bouquets of Mimosa.

On every flat surface in this shop are flowers arranged by color in glass vases creating spectacular table top gardens.

Winter whites, palest pinks and lime greens create an all white, so to speak, garden. Really, how pretty is this! Wrap them all up please!  I can dream, can't I.

A friend of ours, Judith, said that if she were wealthy, she would have a huge bouquet delivered to her house every week. I am with her on that.

The succulents in the window just soaking up the sun on this February day.

 Amaryllis also enjoying a sunny spot on the floor. Elegant and sporting jewel like  colors are  grand over the top in their showiness.

I have to admit, the days are getting longer, even if it is minute by minute each day, I still long for  Spring. But for now flowers will do. If you need a shot of spring drop into a flower shop, green house, botanical garden, and take home a few flowers for yourself, believe me, it is good medicine.
Fill your eyes and soul with color.
And, close your eyes for a few moments and let the fragrance fill your senses.



A by the way......

James went into the flower shop to buy me a bouquet. I will just have to live with the fact that it is February in New England and embrace it. I cannot think of a better way than sitting by the fire with the ones you love, a glass of wine and a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
P.S. There are brightly colored tulips in the kitchen.




Cymbidium Floral
Water St.
Exeter, NH