I don't often get to see scenes like this since I moved to South Florida. OK, who am I kidding, even when I lived in New York I only went skiing one time and I skied into a building. To be fair, why was there a building in the middle of the bunny slope? I digress. The painting is a pretty landscape. Do you think the artist was observing and painting on a slope? or an avid skier? My guess is no...because this painting was made by my grandmother Goldie Goldstein, who did not ski. Often paintings she made would have a newspaper clipping or magazine picture nearby or glued on back, that showed what inspired the painting. This one doesn't so I don't know where the inspiration came from but I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with the Catskills Mountains, which she loved. Here is what I do know. This is a great painting! Have you ever tried to paint? It's HARD!!!!! I've tried and wow, it is tough. In this painting, the proportions look right, the strokes of paint make it feel 3-D, the shading gives the illusion of hills and I can almost feel the cold looking at it! I can remember how snow looks being stuck to the trunk of the tree and how when snow is on the ground, the whole world sounds quieter and more peaceful.
So I can't paint. I love art though and I think I am good at appreciating it. I have made random things that I liked afterwards but not to the level of my grandma's paintings. So, this post is supposed to be about art as inspiration. Here's my inspiration: She saw beauty in nature. She used to talk about finding pretty wild flowers by the side of the road and driftwood at the beach. She had a little project where she put a piece of foil behind a piece of blue glass, giving the illusion of water moving and then glued seashells on it. How did she think of that? She saw beauty and made beauty, observed it, recreated it and found peace in it. I think of her every Sunday when I watch the "moment of nature" on Sunday Morning.
Sometimes when I feel stressed I sit on my patio and look at the blue sky. When I want a calming thought, I picture sitting under a giant tree in thick grass with purple wildflowers around me. So I built myself a little zen garden on my balcony so I can see more nature and more colors. I put some live plants inside my living room and my wonderful husband buys me flowers most Friday nights so I can actually breathe nature in. I think I breathe the colors in too. I try to anyway. I'm being inspired by all of these things: grandma, the art in my DNA, nature and the memories that go into pieces of artwork that can live on and be appreciated forever.
