As a painter it is my nature is to create pictures that are meticulous and exact. While studying the works of artists such as Van Gogh and Chagall though, I found myself swept away by the freedom expressiveness of their artwork, and I loved it. I want some of those feelings for myself!
I decided to explore the area around me and see what I could find to inspire me. Then I want to see what I can create – more creating a mood than a replica of the place, however. This was my first attempt at quickly capturing a scene from the neighborhood.
This particular location holds a special memory for me. When Geordie was a tiny pup, only a few months old, we were sitting at this same place. Suddenly Geordie jumped up and began growling and pulling as if he wanted to catch something. I checked all around and couldn’t find any rabbit or deer or anything. When I followed where his nose was pointing, I found a car driving on one of the roads on the facing hillside. From where we were sitting, it looked no larger than a beetle.
I hadn’t realized until then that my puppy didn’t understand perspective. The only way I could think to explain it to him was to pick him up and reach one arm out as far as I could toward the car. When he saw that even I couldn’t touch it, he finally settled down.
I still have a lot of work to do before I am comfortable with a more abstract style of painting. This one is driving me batty because I want to go back and make it right. Except, I don’t want “right” I want “mood”.
It’s a good thing I have a lot of paper because I’m pretty sure I am going to need it!
The Adventures of Bitey Dog 
As a recent reader, I didn’t know you were a painter. I love this one. It seems very realistic to me even though for you it is more abstract. I think a mood comes through here and I see it as an invitation to join you in this place.
Aw, that’s so sweet! It really is a peaceful spot that the boys and I like to visit.
It’s beautiful!
Having just discovered your blog, via rachelmankowitz, I’ve just discovered you’re a painter. I thus presume you did the doggie cartoons in your recent posts? (I love Cairns, and Westies, which is the reason I stopped by. We’ve had two Westies.) I like the painting in this post. (I know nothing about art but I like looking at it.) Impressionism is my favorite period, Monet and Van Gogh most of all. Still, I’m in awe of the precision and exactness of a lot of Renaissance art. Isn’t ‘abstract’ painting cheating a little bit, fudging the details for an ‘impression’? Monet’s paintings and murals, late in his life, got bigger and fuzzier, yet I never hear that related to the known fact that his eyesight was failing and perhaps he just couldn’t see well enough to be any more precise, even compared to his earlier impressionism.
Oh I love Rachael’s writing! Yes, I do the doggie cartoons in the posts. I have some of them collected in a book called “Poopiter” on Amazon. I agree that some abstract and impressionist works look easy…until you try to see your own world that way. For some reason, it is next to impossible for me. I keep trying, though. If you would like to see some of my pet pictures, just click the Blogroll on the left for Needful Things of Salem. I like the idea of painting as my eyes see things…I could include all the spots and imperfections of my own literal vision.