Tire Swing, Park Series. Kit Miracle, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 30.
I have introduced several series of paintings over the years here on my blog. It seems that I’ve started another one, the Park Series. This will focus on, what else, scenes from the park. A park. Many parks. Parks are usually filled with scenic landscapes and people doing activities, two of my favorite things.
Most of the series paintings are a little larger than some of my other pieces. They also tend to concentrate on the same color palette. In fact, I’ll often make a schematic of the colors I plan to use. Using the same color family adds a cohesive theme to a series of paintings.
Some of the series paintings I’ve created over the years include Westerns, particularly The Grand Canyon, Intimate Spaces – Beach Series, Intimate Spaces – Breaking Bread Series, The Food We Eat, Lucky Red and Alley Views.
I might have an idea for a series of paintings at the beginning but more often I just cruise through my extensive batch of snapshots until something catches my attention. I’ll write about using photos as an art subject in a future post.
Posted onJuly 17, 2022|Comments Off on Meeting famous people
It’s been five years since I retired as Director of Jasper Community Arts Commission. JCAC is the only city-owned arts department in the state and one of the few in the country. It was started by a group of private citizens in the small town, then later turned over to the city. Although initially it was just a performing arts venue, eventually it came to encompass visual arts, arts in education, special events and so much more. Now, of course, they’ve expanded to the new Thyen-Clark Cultural Center which is way beyond anything anyone envisioned at the time the performing arts center was created.
The performing arts are still a major focus of the arts department. With an auditorium which seats 675, we’ve hosted a number of performances over the years. During my tenure as Director, we presented about a dozen performances a year so I had the great pleasure of meeting a variety of entertainers over the years.
I’ve often been asked who was my favorite which is truly an impossible question to answer. We presented singers and musicians, dancers and comedians, actors, jugglers, and acrobats. It was all good. Well, mostly. But we won’t talk about that. Obviously, a small Midwest performing arts center cannot afford top Vegas headliners. But we had a wonderful variety of quality entertainers.
So, I thought you might like to hear about a few of my favorites. Not all, by any means, but there were still some memorable performances.
The first one was Marie Osmond. This was right after I was promoted to Director. Tickets had just gone on sale and the phones were ringing off the hook. Marie was just starting to revive her career. On the day of the performance, the tour bus showed up and everyone disembarked. I don’t remember very much about the actual performance since much of my time was behind the scenes. Marie did two shows for us that day which was our way of doubling our capacity. She was not feeling well at all and had a very bad cold. But like the real trouper that she was, she went on stage and gave the audience a show to remember for years. She sang a mix of her pop standards, but then she gave us a variety of Broadway tunes. It was perfect. The audience was blown away. Such a nice person and so professional.
Another favorite performance was Always…Patsy Cline. We were having trouble right down to the wire of determining if the show was going to go or not as the Broadway management hadn’t returned the final contract. Fortunately, through the perseverance of the wonderful agent I worked with, the show went on. I cannot remember the name of the actor who played Patsy in this performance but she was super talented. She was a little, tiny thing but belted out over 25 songs during the performance. But one of the memorable moments is that Louise, the woman who was Patsy’s pen pal, was played by Sally Struthers. So nice and down to earth. Quick to laugh and just had a kind word for everyone.
As an aside, I quickly learned that the biggest stars were often the best to work with. Undemanding, kind, thoughtful of the staff and crew. The performers that we had the most trouble with were those who were just getting started with their careers and kept trying to impress us with their star status. We were not impressed.
Due to our location in south central Indiana, we are on the way to or from many major cities in the Midwest. We are only about three hours from Nashville so we were able to present quite a number of county music stars. Many enjoyed the smaller venue, plus they could sleep in their own beds at the end of the evening. Some names you might recognize are Clint Black, Ronnie Milsap, Kathy Mattea, Lee Greenwood, Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers, Sandi Patty and so many more.
One of my favorites was the Time Jumpers with Vince Gill. This group is comprised of a bunch of Nashville musicians who get together for weekly jams. Vince often sat in on the jam sessions (he has since left the group). He was very conscious about not making the performance all about him, and all of the other musicians were extremely talented, too. When we were negotiating the contract, I asked what they wanted to eat. They said just some beans and hamburgers would be fine. I replied that we could do better than that. We ended up serving fried catfish and creek fries. They loved it! So happy not to have to worry about leftovers. Vince was kind enough to pose for this photo with one of my staff members and me. We usually avoided putting performers on the spot since they were here doing a job, so this was an exception.
Vince Gill posing with staff member Emily Colucci-Peake and me, Kit Miracle
Speaking of food. I quickly learned that all the dance and acrobat troupes ate like linebackers. Usually after the performances, not before. They expend so much energy during their performances and are such terrific athletes. We presented the Russian National Ballet twice. I wasn’t sure how our town would respond to Swan Lake but it was a sold-out house and you could have heard a pin drop. We could count on every scrap of food disappearing at the end of the evening.
There were so many other wonderful performances that bring a smile to my face when I think about them. The Blues Brothers, Under the Streetlamp, Women of Ireland, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Diamonds and Glenn Miller Orchestra, Richie Havens, Leon Redbone, The Ahn Trio, The Texas Tenors, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Tommy Emmanuel, Jim Brickman and more.
Over 132 performances during my time there. I was so very lucky to have this experience. I have truly missed live performances during the pandemic shutdown but I think we’re all ready to come out of our nests. If you have a performance venue nearby, I hope you can get out and enjoy the experience.
There are many rules and ideas for composition. No one idea is perfect for all situations. You may have your favorites or you may like to try new ideas frequently. Today I’m going to discuss the idea of framing. I’m not talking about the frame of the painting but using framing as a composition device.
I most often use framing in landscapes, cityscapes, and sometimes interiors. This means that I’ll often place a large tree or bush near the front of the picture frame, usually on one side or another, with the main view in the middle distance. This leads the viewer’s eye into the painting and directs its focus.
Sometimes in cityscapes, the view might be between two buildings or down an alley.
In a recent couple of paintings of the same subject – a child flying a toy airplane at the park – I first explored just the child and the plane. In the second painting, I used the framing composition to lead the eye from the near subject matter, to the large tree on the left, to the child and plane in the background.
In another couple of paintings, I painted a straight view of a Grand Canyon vista. The second landscape shows the Grand Canyon framed by tree in the front.
Here is an interior view using compositional framing. The doorway, chair and plant, lead the eye through the doorway to the desk in the distance.
There are no hard rules on when to use compositional framing. It’s mostly a matter of what you feel comfortable with, what helps your painting. I’ll often do several thumbnails or even larger charcoal drawings to test the feel of the subject.
Don’t worry about the future Or worry, but know that worrying Is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing Bubble gum The real troubles in your life Are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind The kind that blindsides you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday Do one thing every day that scares you
I thought about titling this post Life Happens but the lyrics from Baz Luhrmann’s Everybody’s Free (to Wear Sunscreen) kept rolling through my mind. Although normally I’m pretty regular at posting, the past two months I’ve only been able to post a couple of times. Life happened.
One day I spent plein air painting with a friend. The next day saw my husband being transported by ambulance to a big city hospital some distance away. The next four weeks were a blur. Surgery. ICU. Tubes and drips and ventilators. Me making daily round trips of 150 miles. I memorized the mile markers, counting down the miles each way. Testing the speed limits. Crossing time zones and arriving at the same time I left, or two hours behind on the return trip.
I think I lived on trail mix on those drives. Listened to some recorded books. Mostly thought about…whatever.
This spring was beautiful and all the flowering trees and plants were trying to cheer me. But it is also one of the busiest times here on the farm. The garden, which fortunately had been plowed and tilled, only got planted with the aid of my granddaughter. My son came by to mow the grass – it’s a huge yard. But everything else had to wait. Trimming, weeding, recordkeeping, cleaning, etc. There are just so many hours in the day.
I did manage to finish a couple of commissions which helped keep the crazy thoughts at bay. But no real creative work of my own. It’s all about priorities.
My husband has been home for about a month. He’s recovering nicely but still has a way to go. No marathons in his future. And he probably won’t be cutting firewood this year which is just fine with me. It’s messy and dusty.
I don’t think there is really any way you can plan for an unexpected life-altering event. I think about this every time I see some sort of tragedy on the news; people who left their homes in the morning and then…some idle Tuesday arrived. Friends have been so kind and understanding. In the Midwest, people bring food. The neighbor will take your trash to the dump. Small thoughtful gestures.
We’re both doing much better now and some semblance of normalcy is creeping back into our lives. I’ve been painting more. Although I have written off the garden this year (now we’re experiencing a drought) but I did get my first little tomato yesterday. Small blessings.
Hug those you love and be kind to those who are going through difficult times. Someday you may need some strength and comfort, too. Probably.
I'm a professional artist, retired director of a performing arts center, bona fide book addict, and enjoy the quiet life...most of the time. I'd love to hear from you or get your ideas for future posts. Come back soon!
I'm a professional artist, retired director of a performing arts center, bona fide book addict, and enjoy the quiet life...most of the time. I'd love to hear from you or get your ideas for future posts. Come back soon!
my90acres 