Added Jan 18, 2022
What's on the Easel July 2021
What’s On The Easel
July 2021, Vol. III, No. 7
A monthly newsletter from Jim Fischer
Finished!
And now off the easel. The background for each portrait changed three times before I settled. A lot of over
painting that will delight art historians some century from now (I can dream, can’t I).
And while I now have all this downtime …
On the left is Steph’s brother’s daughter, Heather, and on the right is Steph’s sister, Brenda. I originally planned to do these portraits in watercolor (and was not looking forward to it, very difficult) but I decided to try colored pencils. Worked out pretty well, eh.
An after-thought…
When a work is finished I frame it and put it on the wall, which means I will look at it from time to time. Sometimes, while looking, I see something new (or something to correct). In this case, Asteroids, had a white smudge in the lower right corner and I thought it might be used to enhance the effect of the image. As you can see, now the asteroid has some place to go (“Oh, no, Mr. Bill!”).
In the gardens …
The gardens are all doing great and the front perennial garden is particularly spectacular this year (as shown, I designed this garden to be viewed from the porch above which is, for the most part, how I view it).
A little help with the harvest …
NOT! Our usually ‘cute’ neighborhood groundhog decided to lunch one day in the lettuce patch. We quickly chased him away and harvested the crop for us. He came back a few days later to munch on the green beans and we are now taking appropriate steps to deter him from returning (no, we can’t shoot him although two websites said they make good eating).
And did you know: Groundhogs are also called Woodchucks. But, that name is a misnomer, they don’t chew (or throw) wood. The name is derived from the native Indian name for the animal, wuchuk, pronounced woo-chuck. (And now, you, like me, know far more than you probably thought you need to about these little creatures).
Memories…
If anything is true about our times, we certainly are being left with some interesting memories. I was recently downloading my phone’s pics and found these:
A year ago this July I had a dental emergency and needed to go to my dentist, Kenny, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. I rode my bike to the PATH train and then from 34th Street up to 67th, planning to avoid humans as much as possible. No problem. The PATH train was empty, just me both ways for all four trips I had to make, Fifth Avenue (at 57th Street) was void of cars (a bike rider’s paradise) and, most astounding for a day in late July, peak tourist season, the plaza at Rockefeller Center was empty. Quite a sight.
That’s all for now. Stay well. And what’s on your easel?
Jim
Jim Fischer, 530 Liberty Avenue, Jersey City, NJ, 07307
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