Blogging gives new meaning to the question, “what makes people click?” Oh, I guess the question was “what makes them tick?” Whatever. I’d be happy to know the answer to either one.
Do you know? What made you click?
[Top of the post: Drawing of My Mother as a Young Woman, by Aletha Kuschan, pencil]
With all this blogging, you might wonder how I find time to paint. Well, it’s not easy. Happily I love to work. But alas, even at the end of the day, there’s always a few remaining chores left to do. Seems like there’s never enough hours. Here I am, late at night, darning my socks.
[Top of the post: Drawing after a figure by Georges de la Tour, by Aletha Kuschan, pen and ink]
Of course, with summer you’re going to get some close encounters with insects. It simply goes with the territory. Might as well just invite them to the picnic.
[Top of the post: Child’s Drawing of Ants along with Ant Stickers, collage detail, by Aletha Kuschan and kid]
I love summer. Some people complain about the heat. Not me. I complain about people who complain about the heat. I love the heat. I bask in the heat like a turtle. I’m not talking about getting a suntan, mind you. That’s bad for your health. I’m talking about a sitting in deep shade, sweat still pouring off me, sweltering in the 90% humidity and loving it kind of appreciation of summer. I’ll admit: a breeze can be good too.
So, I love to paint summer pictures. I’m not the only one enjoying humidity. Plants love humidity, and they grow like crazy, and I like to see them grow. When summer gets really maniac with stuff growing everywhere, I’m in heaven.
I love the round, billowing forms of folliage on trees. I love fonds of grass, the scribbly texture of weeds growing with abandon. I love the texture, the layers, the depths, the color, and the long hours of daylight. Consequently I enjoy painting images like the one above, summers of fact, and summers of imagination.
[Top of the post: Crepe Myrtles in August, by Aletha Kuschan, acrylic on canvas]
I’m so pooped. Been drawing in a way I’m not accustomed to, making a rather detailed drawing in colored pencil. Included in the picture I worked on today are rows of fonds of Rousseau-esque tropical plants. I have to count the leaves to keep track of what I’m doing, and it’s just about driving me bonkers!
A good antidote would be something like the above. I made this collage in my studio one afternoon for the sake of a photograph and then disassembled it, keeping the better fragments and consigning the remainder to the dumpster. It was something fun to do. Things like this make good designs for kids’ murals. This one has some genuine kids’ drawings in it. It was physical and fast, measuring about 80 x 80 inches.
In contrast, the drawing that’s driving me bonkers measures 11 x 14 inches! I’m still working on it. Not ready to post yet.
[Top of the post: Design for a Child’s Mural, by Aletha Kuschan, collage of drawing fragments stapled to the studio wall]
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