Does the Night Forget?

I'm always happy, happy as can be, when a big sunflower painting sells.

I'm happy for the sale, and I am happy for the buyer, and most of all, I'm happy because I get to make another, and know it will have a home with me, at least until the next show.

This sunflower painting delighted me. I love that it is vertical, a change for me. I love that the background continues white with its hints of yellow and green and tan, nearly to the bottom, where it picks up earth tones. I've never had the courage to do this before, continue the white the entire way. I've never had the courage to add stems, either, and I think I like them, the stems and leaves.

So it was a welcome opportunity, painting this piece. I like the pink flowers in it, and the shading, and the many surprising colors hidden here and there. All these things bring the flowers to life for me - and, I hope, for you.

You can see this painting this weekend at the Wickford Art Show, in Wickford, RI. The show is on, 10-6 today and 10-5 on Sunday.  I'll be in Booth 79, on Elam Street (there's a map on the website). Hope to see you there!

***

FOR THE PAST few years, my friend Candy and I have been trading photos of the sky, nearly every day. She can be in Connecticut when I'm in Texas, or Morocco when I'm in New Jersey, and we are - of course - under the same sky. Sharing the photos has become a touchstone for me.

Sometimes, though, the sky is just blah. Think solid blue, or solid gray. So we take photos of other things. Here's one I call "Odd Man Out."

***

Dog of the Day

Cute! They were at the show in Richmond, back in May. 

***

A Final Thought 

THE TITLE OF this painting comes from a Carl Sandburg poem, "Nights Nothings Again." The poem is long, so I won't copy it all over, but you can click here to read it.
Here are a few short verses:

Is there a tired head
the night has not fed and rested
and kept on its neck and shoulders?

Is there a wish
of man to woman
and woman to man
the night has not written
and signed its name under?

Does the night forget
as a woman forgets?
and remember
as a woman remembers?