The nocturne as narrative

This was a difficult painting to photograph as it is
a) so dark and
b) varnished with a gloss finish…REFLECT!!!!!


Nikola Mitchell, a clever photographer down the road, helped me and photographed it for me.


I love the idea that this is a lovers meeting spot, a place to park the car and make out with the  romance of twinkling lights and solitude (anybody do that anymore or am I stuck in American Graffiti again?).

My kids told me that that is NOT what this painting is about.(made some eugh sounds and screwed their faces up,noses crinkling in distaste)  It's about a person, lost in the wild, who comes out of the bush to see the city lights in the distance….salvation! ( too many episodes of Bear Grylls, methinks)

Another friend said it was a spot on the rocks at the beach, looking across the bay to the seaside settlement.

I love that the painting tells a story for each and every person. I have been missing the "narrative" element in my painting, recently. I am happy to embrace that again.

Saying that, I am off to the beach with my friend Monique this weekend .No kids, no dogs, no husband ( wow, not the right order) , no meals to cook, no chores. I aim to paint a little, chat a little, drink coffee and tea , walk on the beach, dine out and answer to no-one else. Faaaaaaaaabulous.

oil on canvas
50 x 76cm

The speed of dark

I am painting "dark" today. No reason, just to play with darks. I find painting with darks (blacks, thalo green, aliz crimson, ultramarine blue) enormous fun and quite liberating. I love nocturnes, the surprise of light in the landscape and how everything looks quite different, magical. I can paint a whole canvas black and start far easier than a white canvas. I think of white and "blank" and black as " a start".

The normal, boring seaside town with associated industrial area becomes quite exotic. Elements of cartography and illusion.

But you know what is NOT easy? Photographing dark paintings!!!!

Seaside dark
34 x 45 cm
acrylic on canvas board

The title is a reference to my oldest son who likes to ask such questions.

To the tune Billy Joel's "Piano man"

It's 4 am on a sunday morn
the regular crowd are asleep....

In my 20's, 4 am saw me winding up my evening of  nightclubs/concerts/parties/some mischief . In my 30's, I saw it regularly with  a baby over my shoulder, patiently waiting for a burp or a fart  to appear ( from the baby!) . I swore then I would sleep as much as possible if I ever had the chance.

Well, my 40's have seen me sleeping well until recently, when 4 am has seen me wake , unbidden by anything, and I have marvelled at the clarity of the night sky .I know I should not open my eyes and try go back to sleep, but recently, I have peeked out the windows and spent some time with the night view. It is very,very peaceful.

So this morning, I woke at 4 am, and went painting. I had everything ready at the door, jumped into some warmish clothes and boots, and went out to paint.I wanted to paint the view I spied at nights, across the farmlands towards a distant farmhouse, the crossroads with State Highway 39 and the foothills of the Karamu range.

I loved it. Quiet,still,dark,peaceful.I painted for about 20 minutes when suddenly, the cat appeared silently , rubbed against my leg and I levitated. Quite high, I have to add, with the added benefit of a zombie-like gurgle of fear to add insult to the injury.

After I had reduced my heart rate from a gazillion and coaxed it out of my throat back to it's normal position in my chest, I continued painting. Not 5 minutes later, a possum had some kind of fit in the vines covering the pergola behind me, thrashed around wildly and fell the gravel and sped away into the paddock next door. I was gratified to see the cat companion was as shocked as I was by that particular interuption. We both stared into the dark, trying to gain control of our sphincters and get back to the business of painting. I say we because anthropomorphising makes me feel better about being scared and alone in the dark. So does making up words.

Sunday morning 4 am
20 x 30 cm
oil on archival paper

Plein air at Night

Things that go bump in the night......


I have thought of painting the nights sky for years. I try it every now and then, especially inspired during the summer months when the skies are clear and the weather conducive to being outdoors at night. Because there are few cities and the quality of the air is good, the night sky is incredible.

My closest city is Hamilton, a hamlet on the scale of cities worldwide, and a just a vague blip on the horizon from my eyrie.. I painted on the verge of our country road , last night, camp torch headlight illuminating my palette. Four cars passed me( what must they have thought!!?) .Friday night , 10 pm, and I am painting outdoors. My 18 year old self is hysterical with laughter at the idea...she was off partying at this time!At least I am always having a good time, no matter what age!

As a first attempt en plein air painting a night scene, called a nocturne, I am pleased with the result. I only spent about 30 minutes out there till I scampered back indoors for a cup of tea. I preloaded my palette with Pthalo Blue and Pthalo green, permanent Alizarin,ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, raw sienna, cadmium orange and white.

Here is what I learned:

• have a plan!
• work fast if you are working in dusk!
• know what colours do what...mixing on the palette with artificial light relies on experience
• squint....even in the dark
• do not shine the light in your own eyes...you will be blinded for a while
• photos are fairly useless!!!

I am going to do this again! It was fun!

20 x 30 cm oil on archival paper

Friday nocturne

Giveaway and an announcement

I have been working on creating a website. WOW!!!That's a biggie ,I hear you say ( I know!!), and as always, these things go well till a point and then one has to learn how to iron out any problems.That's the bit that sucks.This is where you come into the picture.......

Always keen to learn new things but quick to ask for help.   So here I am ,asking you to test the site for me and let me know what happens. As this is a new site, some of you might find it instantly and some might not....such are the vagaries of being verified etc.....I just need to know!

www.jenniedegroot.com

click on the link and it that does not work, please type this in your header bar
http://www.jenniedegroot.com


Now here is the bribe in the form of a Giveaway:  please test it and let me know what you found. Leave a comment in the comment spot at the bottom of this blog or email me jenniedegroot@xtra.co.nz.



I will enter all those who leave  a comment or send me an email into the draw for this little gem.

Thank you so much

16 x 24 cm
Oil on hardboard

Painting the night blue

I have wondered how to paint night scenes for quite some time now and had quite a few questions that needed answering: what kind of colours to use, how much detail to leave out and in,etc, etc etc! These are my first two rather timid and quite romantic scenes. They feel like movie stills to me! But it was fun to experiment

The First painting reminds me of a camping holiday way back when we first arrived in New Zealand. The moon rose at night and it was a magnificent sight. You know those evenings when the air is still, no clouds at all and the moon seems to take up half the sky? Well, that was this night AND it was reflected in the sea...truly amazing. I cycled up a steep road to the top of Shakespeare cliff and met a woman, walking her dog. She too had been attracted by the moon. Her enormous, shaggy and clearly deranged dog was responding  to same moon by trying to eat my tyres. I digress. So there we were, 10pm at night,on top of a cliff , admiring the moon. Such a special moment.I felt so brave and privileged!!

Anyway, I have replaced the nutter dog with a Scottie!

The photo is blurry and the yellow of the moon did not translate, sorry.

This next image  is purely form my imagination.