Sabbath Day Thoughts

On the way to synagogue today

I spot interesting church signs

“Come as you are”

I think that’s my favorite one

Then today’s

“God is still talking to us”

That one made me think

How can we hear him or her?

Is she really concerned with us,

with all the hatred and killing?

But there are so many good people too

and so much love when you know

where to look for it

We have joined a small tribe

of Jews here in Idaho

and are better for it.

Yet the hatred touches us

even here in the north

we have to be concerned

with protecting ourselves

instead of just relaxing

with our sabbath songs.

The key the rabbis tell us

is not to lose hope

©2019 Linda H. Feinberg

Still practicing

Some practice pieces. I don't like these enough to make larger paintings. These are 8" X 10" on canvas board. Water Mixable oils.  Top is a view of Payette Lake in McCall, Idaho as seen from the camp we were in. We stayed in a lodge, we are not real campers.

These are the ewes resting on a cliff in Alberta, Canada.  They looked like goats to me, but I researched and these are the females of the mountain sheep. They look quite different than the males.

In cleaning up one day I found a 12" X 24" board. I didn't remember buying it, but gessoed it and decided it was worth a panorama.  This one is Red Rock Canyon  in Nevada. I had painted a smaller version of it years ago. I liked the colors.  I did this one with a combination of palette knife and brushes.

I am very disturbed with all the hatred going on in the world and have not been doing much painting.  I go to Sabbath services each week and wonder if someone is going to come in to hurt us.  I don't understand the hatred.  If a person is unhappy with his or her circumstances, why don't they try to change them, not go out killing other people. So I'll finish with something positive for my readers to think about.

Artist of the Month, April 2019

Linda Feinberg is artist of the month (April 2019) for the DickEardley Senior Center, 690 Robbins Road, Boise ID 83702.  The center is open Monday-Friday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. Free admission.

Unfortunately Robbins Road is under construction, but access to the center parking lot is available through E Garrison Rd. behind the Elks and the Boise Little Theatre.

Paintings include landscapes from Canada, Israel, Idaho, Utah and New Hampshire as well as paintings of flowers and some abstracts.

My husband was kind enough to take a photo of me at the Meridian Library with my painting "Generations" as part of the Treasure Valley Artists Alliance April exhibit, "Melody, Harmony and Resonance."  This painting was very different from my usual. The items in the painting were symbols for family members, the Chopin notes for my dad, the guitar, sax and clarinet for my children, the piano keys for me and the drums for my husband.

Greenhouse inspiration

9" X 12" oil painting on stretched canvas

I was inspired by my first trip to the Edwards Greenhouse in Boise.  At first I was overwhelmed by all the flowers, but I saw other artists there so I decided to set up with my little pochade box. I think I forgot all my art lessons and tried to put too much in the painting (see bottom photo).  When I got home I was disappointed with my "plein air" attempt, but determined to keep learning.  I tried again with just a few of the trumpet flowers (below) but felt they were too flat.  Then I added more color and took an old toothbrush to spatter some cobalt blue over the painting to give it some interest.  I had not tried this in oil paint before, but had used this technique in watercolors.  I'm happier with the result now.  This is the first time I have used "permanent rose" as a background.  I was thinking about the expressionist painters and decided to go a little wild. :)

Attempting to put too much on the small canvas instead of just focusing on one or two blossoms.

Palette knife exercises

I have not felt like doing any serious painting this winter, but I played with paint and followed along with a lesson on palette knife painting for the magnolia painting on the right.  I had to buy a couple of new palette knives to match up with the exercise.  The one on the left came out too dark. That was done from life, a yellow rose in a tall vase. The video was all in French, but I only needed some help from a French speaking friend to translate the pigments used. I could follow along with the rest.

Meanwhile I've enjoyed meeting other local artists and exhibiting some paintings through the Treasure Valley Artists Alliance.  I have two small ones in the mini painting exhibit at the Meridian (Idaho) Library.

This is the first time that group had an exhibit there and space was limited so they requested submissions of small paintings.  It was the first time I framed a 4" X 4" painting and that was an interesting exercise.  I had to buy a 5" X 5" frame (the 4" sizes did not fit). I mounted (glued) the little canvas on black matboard and made it look like a float frame.  I was pleased with the way it came out.  The painting of fuchsias was just wired in the back. It is on a stretched canvas. It is only 8" X 8".

My painting of Valley of the Ten Peaks (Alberta) was juried into an exhibit at the Boise State Public Radio station.  This is the last time the group is exhibiting there and my first time in a juried exhibit.  I think the other exhibit I had with them were curated exhibits.  My husband also had his photograph of a sunset on the Mediterranean Sea exhibited. It was his first time exhibiting in Boise.

We are learning new terms. A juried exhibit is one in which a professional picks items to be exhibited from the submissions.  A curated exhibit is one in which the curators pick at least one of the items submitted to be displayed.  They picked two of mine for the mini exhibit so I am happy about that. I'm enjoying the art association and even stretched myself to go downtown one evening to meet with the Urban Sketchers group. It was too cold to sketch outside, but we sketched inside the coffee house instead.  I need a lot more practice on that before I post any sketches here.

All of these paintings are available for sale directly from me. Prints, cards and other printed items came be purchased directly online through my website on Fine Art America.
Hungry Bluegill
Nancy's Fuchsias
Valley of the Ten Peaks

Happy New Year

It's winter now, but I was thinking about spring. I remembered all the beautiful olive trees in the Galilee (Israel) on one of our trips there. I designed this from 4 different photos.  There had been a lot of winter rain so water was running between the trees. Oil painting, 11" X 14" on stretched canvas.

I was playing with leftover colors on my palette. This cat study was inspired by a sculpture seen in Joseph, Oregon.  I don't know if I'll finish it or make a larger one. It was just a fun project.

Happy 2019 to all.  I'm enjoying the mild winter in Boise after so many hard winters in New England.  The foothills (small mountains around Boise) are covered with snow, but the city streets are all clear. We've been able to walk around some of the parks and on the greenbelt (along the Boise River) with our dog since there is no snow and ice on those. I'm looking forward to 2019. We hope to take a trip to Alaska in June. I'll have lots of subjects to paint then!

I'm not taking any formal art classes now, but still studying from books and DVDs. There is so much to learn and my poor brain does not remember it all.   I  just decide on a subject, draw out a composition and try painting it, attempting to remember some of the principles learned earlier. Some succeed, others fail. It's o.k.  I look at all the failures as learning experiences.

Happy Chanukah

I don't usually paint this kind of design, but I was asked by our synagogue to come up with something for their full day "Feast of Torah" celebration.  They printed the design on a magnet. There were workshops, prayers, singing, menorah lighting and latkes of course. It was fun.

I joined a local art group called "Art Mingle" and they came up with the idea of making a series. I took a photo of the Sawtooth Mountains in Stanley (Idaho) and divided it into 4 paintings. That will be my series. It was fun planning this. I'm naming the paintings "Call of the Mountains".

I played with acrylic paint one day and just did some abstract colors. Now that I have been working with oil paints, I have come to prefer them for most of my painting time. I think abstracts are not for me, but I liked playing with the blue colors.

Today I decided to pretend I was painting outdoors (it is below freezing in Boise, winter is here) and I imagined I was back in New Hampshire in the fall.  I made a little 2 hour oil sketch.  I liked the image and will probably work on a detailed one in the future.  This is a conservation area, Madame Sherri's Forest in NH. I didn't do a preliminary sketch on the canvas so it is not too accurate, more of just an impression.

Happy Thankgiving

After working seriously on a series of landscapes, I decided to use up some leftover paint that was on my palette. My colors remind me of expressionist paintings.

I joined the "Art Mingle" group in Boise and we came up with the idea of working in a series. I decided to take my photo from our trip to Stanley a while ago and divide it into sections. Stanley, Idaho (population 69) is the entry to the Sawtooth Mountains, lakes, hiking, fishing etc. recreational opportunities in Idaho (there are many others too).  I divided my photo (below) into sections. The two on the easel show the middle sections. I'm calling these "Call of the Mountains".

This is the right section of the photo. I got bored with the plain sky and decided to make a stormy sky. I am not happy with that either and will probably change it again.

I haven't done the left side of the photo so I have to think about that some more. Not sure if I want it in the same style of painting or something different. Anyway, this has been a fun project.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Mountains and more

Sometimes I come across a verse that resonates with me and I put it on one of my paintings. I liked this one and felt it would go well on an old Chinese style watercolor I did many years ago.

I bought a panorama style canvas at a sidewalk sale this summer from the local art store.  I finally decided what to paint on it.  This is a slightly different view of Lydle Gulch.  I like it better than the first one I did, but I still have difficulty with the color of the sage brush.  The greens here in the west are quite different from the greens in New England.  I was given some suggestions by another painter so I will try those next time. He suggested mixing turquoise, orange and purple.  I will have to experiment more.

My husband and I went to a few artists studios as there was an artists open studios weekend tour last weekend.  I was very impressed with the landscapes of Fred Choate  and might take some classes with him.  I tried copying a video he had online as an example (below), but was not happy with my result.

I find I am not happy working with other people's images and color selections.  I have several of my own photos of the Sawtooth Mountains (in Idaho) and will try to come up with a composition from my own photos.

This is Tangle Falls in Alberta, Canada. I used both brush and palette knife with oil paints. It is drying now. I'm not sure if it's finished or if I need to work on the water a little more. It appears too white in the photo and I may add some more blues and greens to it. 16" X 20".

We enjoyed a bus tour with other senior citizens from Boise to Stanley (population 69) via Lowman and then back to Boise through Hailey, Ketchum and Sun Valley. It was a long day, but enjoyable since we didn't have to drive.  Stanley is the entry to the Sawtooth Mountains and hiking, fishing, star gazing (no light pollution) etc.  Sun Valley is the home of many wealthy people who like skiing.  The aspens were glowing with fall colors.  I didn't get a good photo of those since I was trying to photograph them through the bus window (last photo below).  We stopped for lunch in Stanley and I was able to walk around and take some photos of  the Sawtooth mountains.

New year 5779

It's a new Jewish year now and I hope to be better about writing monthly.  Somehow the time just gets away from me.  Meanwhile I continue taking lessons and learning to paint.  I'm disappointed in these two paintings, but maybe I'll work on them some more.

I struggled with the colors on this painting and tried glazing (a friend recommended) but gave up. I'm trying a new version with a different size canvas and a slightly different view of the gulch.  Here is the first step (the block in).  This canvas is a panorama style, 10" X 20".

After my frustration with the original Lydle Gulch painting, I decided to play with the image with pen and ink. I like this one better.

I had fun playing with a palette knife on this one, a view of Double Arch at Arches State Park in Moab, Utah.  I've done other paintings from my photos there.  I'm unhappy with my sagebrush type tree on the left and will probably tone it down a little before I call this one done.

One of my Idaho paintings has been selected for exhibit and will be up at the Nampa Civic Center for the next few months.  This is the first time I'm exhibiting in this location. It is through the Treasure Valley Artists Alliance group (which collaborates with the Nampa group).
Here is a link to Market Day.

Meanwhile I am preparing for the holiday bazaar season by reprinting cards and prints I hope to sell locally.  My husband and I are signed up for 3 bazaars (he sells his books and photos while I sell my cards). We're still exploring our new home state of Idaho and plan on going on a tour bus in a couple of weeks.  I'm sure I'll have more photos of the mountains at the end of the month. We did take a walking tour of downtown Boise (architecture and history) and found that very interesting. Lots of art downtown.

May it be a good, sweet and healthy year for all. L'Shanah Tovah.