Tuesday, December 30, 2008

A Vaulted Sky and Movies.....

Vaulted Sky 20x20 oil
As I promised here is the latest landscape started barely before Christmas....now finished. I put the last of it on yesterday afternoon. Took the photo this morning....downloaded it into the computer...started writing this post and uploading the photo.....only to realize I haven't signed it. I will then repost the image later. Most of what was done yesterday was the foreground but I also glazed the lower part of the clouds with a very thin wash of Permanent Rose. I noticed they were not really a color.....I believe any gray should have a name....blue gray, yellow gray....rosy gray. So rosy gray it was. I also began the portrait for Karin Jurick's Different Strokes. I believe I will have that one done today.....but one never knows!
We went to the movies Christmas Day....in the evening. We had been talking about seeing a few different movies...something we wanted to see on the big screen....here is my "A" list of what is currenntly out there:
1. Doubt
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. Revolutionary Road
4. The Reader
5. Frost/Nixon
6. Milk
7. The Wrestler
Strangely enough they all made the Golden Globes.....which frankly has very little to do with my choices....but it was an odd coincidence. As we thought about it we decided that Benjamin Button would be the choice to spend $40 on for the four of us to see on the big screen. Mind you I am not a Brad Pitt fan....I like good film....really good film...great story lines and believable acting. The only thing I can say is INCREDIBLE!!!!!! This is a real saga....beautifully written and adapted for the screen (thank F. Scott Fitzgerald for the seed of the story), luxuriant settings, fascinating characters, gorgeous photography and incredible acting! I could watch it again...and yet again! It is the kind of movie that had us all crying including 17 year-old Wyatt who sobbed uncontrolllably with great passion. It is the kind of movie that makes you come away wanting to write....write anything..as long as it is perfection. It is the kind of movie that makes you come away feeling highly creative and feeling diminished in talent all at once. It makes you appreciate all the richness and diversion of life. You will be reminded to appreciate death also and the people you meet before passing. You must go see it if you have not yet.....and savor the magnitude of emotion that it encompasses.
The others on my list will be seen eventually.....I love movies! We may wait to rent them or possibly go see one or two....but it will most likely be just the two of us.
That's it for today....except...here below...is a photo of Max and I at a birthday party for his nephew. It was taken this fall and we just got it at Christmas.
By for now, Theresa




14 comments:

eLIZabeth Floyd said...

Theresa, I really love the warmth in this painting. The yello hay bales and the "rosy" gray really play off the touches of greenery.

I am pretty out of touch with movies right now as I only know about the Benjamin Button movie, I need to look up the others. Thanks for listing them :)

VickiRossArt said...

Wonderful photos...the painting AND cute Max! Wish you guys lived closer.

Just in case you don't have other plans NYD, we are having some fun friends over tomorrow...a master potter and his fiber artist wife, possibly tim tyler, and others...all kindred spirits.

Barbara Muir said...

The painting is awesome, and I love
the photo.

Happy New Year,

Barbara

Art By Erika said...

Happy New Year Theresa!!! Oh I love this painting! I am working my way backwards on your blog because I haven't been able to read toward the end of my Mom's visit. I see you've posted WIP (work in progress) shots bless you. I'm totally week in elements of landscape so I'm grateful for the tips and visual aids. How do you get the soft edges on the clouds. These are the clouds that make me want to fly and feel the cool mist envelope me - I think lol!

Oh I LOVED Benjamin Button too! It's the only one we caught this season. Excellent and successfully done! Hubby caught on NPR that they are a collection of Brad Pitt's silver screen images and I imagine computer manipulated to be incorporated in a new movie. Darn, I wish I was still in Hollywood since I enjoyed working as an animator in a digital studio there. Magic abounds there, the kind of artistic magic I crave. I know, the people are plastic but the money isn't LOL! I'm not a Pitt fan either but when I see him, I love his bone structure, he'd make a lovely subject for a portait.

Speaking of which, my DSDF portrait is done. A playful approach. I didn't get a good resolution photo so I didn't delve into a more serious technique. I so look forward to your result!!!

Happy New Year to you and Max and and loved ones, including the critters! xox

VickiRossArt said...

Erika, when did you get your DSDF challenge Done? I've been letting mine dry after the second session. Perhaps I'll get to finish it tomorrow.

vicki

Art By Erika said...

I finished it today. It's just an 8x10. I'm sure yours and Theresa's will be more painterly. As you know my reference photo doesn't give me much to work from since it's small.

Theresa Rankin said...

Thank you so much Elizabeth!! The sky was what got me going on this one!!! Have a Happy New Year!!

Theresa Rankin said...

He is cure isn't he!! Thank you Vicki for the invite...I would have loved to come over...but we had some goings on here as well!

Theresa Rankin said...

Thank you Barbara....Hope your party was wonderful....well...I am sure it was!

Theresa Rankin said...

Thank you Erika you are very supportive of what I do and I deeply appreciate it! I am glad you got to see the movie. Sometimes I wish I was still out in the Hollywood area and had taken advantage of the opportunities presented to me...but on the other hand....I am quite happy where I am now too!!

Theresa Rankin said...

DSFDF....I had to postpone finishing...gotta take Wyatt to the airport and numerous other must do activities that get in the way sometimes...but it is almost done.

Theresa Rankin said...

Vicki...that was meant to be cute...but he is a cure also!

Trevor Lingard said...

Hello Theresa
This is beatiful work.
Happy New Year
Regards
Trevor

Theresa Rankin said...

Thank you Trevor...I am extremely pleased that you like it! Happy New Year to you also!