Personal Art Blog

Sharing the lessons I teach at the Artist Guild and the personal discoveries in my art.

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Blue Gate

 Blue Gate
8x6in oil on panel SOLD

Artist Note
This certainly is a tried and true painting.
I wonder how many blue gates 
I have painted?

It is a genuine love affair...
They always sell but that is not 
why I paint them. I see them
 and there is a tug in my art-heart.

I have never been attracted to a 
brand new, 
smooth as can be, perfect blue gate.
I feel the pull of the slightly askew,
weathered ones with texture galore.

The sun out here is brutal on any
wood and  paint 
so lots of my type are around.

32 comments:

  1. You are right, Julie, a door or a gate, weathered and exposed to the elements, including the harsh and unrelenting sun, is far more interesting that a brand new installation, shiny and new, but looking like any other. Perhaps the same logic applies to old faces, withered and wrinkled, lined with a life's experience. That face tells a story.



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    1. I agree - definitely more interesting with old faces. ..I have a very interesting old face!!
      Thanks for the great comment. it is always a pleasure to visit your fabulous blog.

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  2. The brushwork and shadows make that tree pop right off the canvas! Just wonderful.

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    1. Yep - value rules! Good to hear from you Lauren. Are you painting?

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  3. I feel the same about doorways in Paris. I dream of living in a cute bedsit near Place Luxembourg, taking daily photo walks and painting doors for the rest of my life. Ahhhh!

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    1. Nice sharing - thanks, Sea...it sounds like a great dream. Been over there so and liked it but I am living my dream right here.
      I enjoyed reading all the great quotes on your latest post.

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  4. I love the blue door Julie... the weatherd look and shadows are so perfect!!! SO colorful.... just like I remember New Mexico!!!

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    1. I love that you have been to New Mexico, Hilda. Thanks for the comment.
      Love Juliana - she is a cutie and so well painted.

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  5. Weathered is definitely better, and all your blue doors are captivating! Your richly-textured technique is ideally suited to rendering such gates and doors, and the blues are so beautifully enhanced by the surrounding adobe clay colors. (An apt comparison to faces made by David Gascoigne.)

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    1. Thank you Helene...A lovely comment. Yes, I enjoyed David's observation also. Have you ever visited his blog? It is pretty amazing...all about nature, Birds especially.

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    1. Thank you so much, Sandi.
      Your post with Faith is really up lifting.

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  7. I smiled at this because I feel the same way. I'm not drawn by the perfect...the imperfect has more character. Give me some peeling paint or cracks, or another color showing through and I'm a happy girl. I guess a lot of us feel the same way since you sell so many like this lovely gem!

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    1. Maybe it is the artist eye that enjoys color and texture.
      You always manage to get great texture where it is needed in your paintings, Joan.

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  8. I agree with you on the weathered doors, they just hold so much charm and character , and you paint them fabulously !

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    1. Love your new abstract, Jane, and thanks for the nice comment.

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    1. Thanks you Sue. I tried to comment on your page linked to your name here but could not find your blog. What is going to happen when Google + goes? Please stay in touch.

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  10. Very wonderful blue painting door !!!

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  11. One can never have too many old, weather doors in the area they live. Our neighbor to the east has two old doors that enter their patio, and they are from India. I can just see them buying them in a bazaar somewhere. Nothing like a good, deep patina!! Your painting is lovely. I always wonder what is behind those doors.

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    1. I often wonder what is behind them and sometimes find out.
      Your neighbors door sounds wonderful you should take a pic and paint them. Love your pears. They have such a beautiful range of subtle color changes.

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  12. Such a recognizable piece and, as always, incredible color and texture! You have captured the sun as it is and the sun as it has baked the blue door. What a marvel.

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    1. Thanks Susan. It does bake it onto the wood and then splits.
      Great hair job on your portrait. Wish I had hair like that! I take after both my parents; dad was bald and mother was wispy, to put it nicely...I didn't stand a chance!

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  13. Texture and old look is always more interesting than new. Loved this Julie!

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    1. Lots of texture in India. I saw marvelous doors.
      Love your new landscape painting - did you use a palette knife?

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  14. weathered textured things make better paintings as they tell a story :)

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    1. They do indeed. You are a wiz with the digital images Jennifer.

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  15. Julie I enlarged the painting to just see all that lovely fracturing going on...lights against darks. Love the blue next to the peachy color in the building. So lovely and I can see why it sold. Hope all is good friend. Hugs!

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    1. Hello Friend, thanks you for the lovely words. The words on your post are certainly worth reading and remembering. If only the world would read them.
      Enjoy your weekend. Blessings.

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  16. It is obvious you enjoyed painting this, Julie! It's understandable why they always sell.

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  17. I do enjoy paintings the beautiful New Mexico "things" like doors, windows and adobes. I love looking at them and never tire of them. I meant always sell - no matter who paints them.
    YOur Freida portrait is fabulous, Chris.

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I love that you are taking the time to comment and thank you for it. I am sure other readers will enjoy them too. If you cannot comment through this format then email me at juliefordoliver@gmail.com
Cheers,
Julie