I finished working on Brook Hollow Branch Library. I’m not all that happy with the painting but I did the best I could with it. I have been running out of steam with the libraries lately. I was pretty gung ho for a while but I think I may need a break. I would also like to paint other San Antonio landmarks, so I think I will switch back and forth.
Brook Hollow was a hard building to paint. The parking lot was steep so I was looking down on the building somewhat as I stood in the parking lot to photograph it. I maybe could have gotten a little more creative with the angel but I didn’t want it to be an abstract painting. I wanted to be realistic.
Right now I’m enjoying urban landscapes, areas that are easy to spot and vulnerable to development. I also want to paint some of the historic churches downtown. I have two commissions that I’m starting this week. I’ll meet with neighbors tonight and tomorrow to talk about painting their homes. I think ‘house portraits’, especially during the holidays, would be fun. When people start putting up Christmas lights I’d like to try doing some nocturnes.
I really enjoyed painting cemeteries too. It might sound kind of morose, but they are quiet and peaceful places. Some of them are well taken care of too and make good landscape paintings. I miss painting outside. The weather is usually good between now and December so I may think about getting outside more.
Last week I finished reading Pride and Prejudice. I don’t think I’ve ever read Jane Austen before. Lately I’ve been going through a 19th century obsession. I read a biography of Thomas Eakins whose paintings are often referenced in art history classes. He was a realist painter and his work of boxing matches are pretty famous. Unfortunately it sounds like he may have abused a niece of his who became mentally ill and committed suicide in her 20’s. That’s certainly not what led to my 19th century obsession, but it did make me realize that human behavior doesn’t change much. I mean, they had the same dramas we have today.
He became friends with Walt Whitman late in Whitman’s life and that’s what got me interested in the 19th Century. Whitman wrote Leaves of Grass and was not necessarily a Transcendentalist but had a lot of transcendentalist ideals in his work. He was later than Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, but reading about him in the Eakins biography made me want to know more about Transcendentalism.
I got a book from the library called Transcendentalists and Their World by Robert Gross. I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into when I put it on hold. It’s a 600 page history of Concord, Massachusetts. I’m on page 250. It’s been a tough read, but I’m glad I kept up with it. I’m learning a lot about Concord but also Western culture in the 19th century.
People were getting passionate about education, lending libraries, debate clubs, and lyceums, anything that would give people a reason to better themselves and stay away from the pubs (apparently alcoholism has always been an issue too). With the effort to help people increase their intellect, it led to a society becoming more liberal and secular. More intellectual and educated. Probably something we could use these days.
So after I finished Pride and Prejudice I watched a five hour long mini-series I got from the library with Colin Firth as Darby. It was a marathon movie but it was good. My plan is to read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte next and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott after that. Louise May Alcott was also a resident of Concord, Massachusetts in the 19th century and considered a Transcendentalist.
I don’t know why Transcendentalism is calling me but it is, as is 19th century America and England. I get these obsessions and then want to immerse myself in times and places. I guess it’s an escape. I do want to know more about Transcendentalism and how it shaped our country. Seems like it should be relevant today for some reason. Just my humble opinion though.