Moonblog 2024
This isn't really about the moon, I call it a moonblog because a new homepage image appears twice a month on the new and full moon. The home page shows a featured image —sometimes freshly minted, sometimes seasonal, sometimes from years past— along with improvised ruminations, something like a leisurely blog. Some while ago I started adding short musical compositions to each moon entry, music is a second calling I've been working on - mostly in secret - for years. Previous years’ entries are here for your perusal; see the links, below.
The sharp-eyed visitor will notice that the year 2020 is entirely missing. I'll let you guess possible reasons for that. Also, 2023 seemed to dribble off into the sunset in late March. I can honestly blame Covid and a general sense of losing track. This year is already off to a slow start. Let's see if this one will fill out as the moons go by. Meanwhile, just to flesh things out for 2024 and make it worth your time, I'm re-posting some earlier things. Dated as shown. If you're looking for music entries, see years 2021 - 2023. I'll be adding more to 2024 all in good time.
Invented Shapes Painting
Some months ago I started an experiment in composition: taking a small rectangle, about postcard size, and dividing it into three areas. The exercise continues and has led to some off-ramps. This one is obviously more than three sections but it makes its way toward another phenomenon: areas that are not fixed as either space or solid, sometimes referred to as figure and ground. If each area can exchange itself for either space or solid, it activates the surface in ways that can activate the viewing. It's an oldie but a goodie.
Waning Gibbous Moon ~ May 26th, 2024
Margery's Eggplant
I've painted many an eggplant over the decades. This one is probably from some time in the 1990s. To be honest I'm not a big fan of eating eggplant - I will if it's served - but I do love seeing them in the market. Sometimes I'll buy one just to have around for looking. They're really enjoyable to paint; the way they move the light around keeps you out of trouble.
Full Moon ~ April 23rd, 2024
Near Moffat Tunnel
I did this watercolor on location quite a few years ago, probably sometime in the early 1990s. I ran across an image of it recently and was pleased to see it. The original was destroyed in a fire while on loan to a young friend whose life circumstances had thrust him cruelly into the role of Buddhist “king”. It's a long story. The painting at any rate still conveys the feeling of early summer mountains wrapped in clouds, pristine alpine lake nearby.
New Moon + Eclipse ~ April 8th, 2024
Yangtze
This painting is part of a series I work on from time to time, imaginary landscapes not tied to a specific location other than by a sometimes vague sense of reminder. This one reminds me of certain kinds of old Chinese paintings of mountains shrouded in mist, with a river added for good measure. We could call it Generic Chinese Gorge, but that sounds inadvertently flippant. The mountains and foothills where I live sometimes take on the quality of Chinese painting, mist and all. I love that.
Full Moon ~ March 27th, 202
High Mountain Bubbles
On Greenhorn Mountain above Mountain Water where I live there are countless transient effects, mostly unwitnessed by humans. I love that about Mt. Greenhorn – it stands apart from the newer, more overtly spectacular mountains nearby and so isn't generally a destination for hungry sightseers. Some say that Greenhorn is one of the oldest mountains in North America. It's definitely old. This photo is a closeup of a small stream that only runs during the spring melt off in a rarely visited high altitude meadow .
New Moon ~ March 10th, 2024