The end of summer already.

Summer is over already!

Unfortunately I noticed 2 days ago that the "peak summer" flowers are losing their blossoms. It seemed to go really fast this year. It was only July 28th and it only lasted a few weeks. Now that should be a warning?...or at least a reminder of how short life is and how fast time moves. The picture was taken yesterday and if you look closely, you can see that the flowers aren't as full and will continue to loose their color. In real life to talk about how time flies is such a cliche that it has lost it's meaning.....but paint a garden and the meaning is crystal clear. The good thing is that the park people have planted fall and late summer flowers so the garden will continue looking great. But it is still almost all over. Just yesterday.......

I made a discovery today and the discovery is that real breakthroughs are small and subtle. As much as we want to be dramatic and heroic, it is usually a small thing like an understanding, or seeing something old with fresh eyes or letting go of a personal quirk that may be holding you back.

Pilgrimage

For years, one of my former students comes to Mankato to paint for a few days. He is a painter but has another day job. We usually work from life and paint all day for 2 days. Whatever doesn't get done on the spot is finished from digital memory.

It is a good chance to catch up and to push to complete a painting. The flowers are nearing the peak so there is a good variety and the bugs weren't as bad as they've been. Nearly a perfect day for painting.

Painting at Sibley Park in Mankato, Minnesota.

Small works.

William Bukowski

Petite Garden II

12" X 9" oil on linen

I don't know if it is the recession. But is seems appropriate to do smaller works. Same brushwork, same intensity but small scale. I just happened to have a few small pre-stretched canvases in the studio. Now, can I do a series?

Warm fall gives me a little more time.

The fall has been so sunny and warm you would think it was still summer. The dying plants and turning leaves kind of give it away. But I have been able to paint a few more days because of it. The palette has changed and some of the fall flowers are a bit jarring compared to the summer harmonies. The angle of the sun has changed quite a bit and prime time for my morning is closer to 11:00 am instead of 9:30 am. But, every day of painting outside is a good day.

On Location

When you look at these photos it looks like I am literally in a painting doing a painting.

Actually these photos were taken by Mankato photographer Michael Schwertfeger. He was working at the site and happened to snap a couple of extra pictures and sent them my way.

How refreshing to be on location at the garden.

Painting from Life.

The more you look, the more you see......

You can look like the stereotype hobbyist and everyone can see your mistakes.

The light and weather can be so uncooperative that while you wait for the right light, the flowers die. 

It is easy to see why the practice of painting from life is seen as so archaic or outmoded or quaint to modern artists. 

It might take forever to feel comfortable working from nature.  And you have to actually "go outside and play" and that doesn't always fit into the concept of the angst of modernism.

The peak has passed.

Sibley Park

2009 

William Bukowski

oil on linen

(in progress)

Once again, painting

gardens can be a metaphor for life.  At first you are waiting eagerly for the growth  of the new beds and buds.  Then everything comes together, and blossoms in its glory and you enjoy the peak of summer.   

And eventually you realize that no matter what, the peak will pass and slowly the flowers will die.  For a few days you wouldn't notice.  Some of the flowers are quite healthy, but you know what is coming.

  I hope to finish at least two more from life before the end.

Painting in a flurry of brushstrokes.

My paint brush is on speed dial.  I have been trying to paint as fast as I can when the combination of light and flowers is peaking.  Every day things grow and die but the emphasis is on growth.  Each painting gets at least an hour as the light is perfect and then I switch paintings.

The garden is a metaphor for life and like the flowers, it doesn't last long.  I found out my Aunt Lorraine died today.  It seemed like only yesterday she was sending us coconut treats from Florida (we were kids and loved that candy).

The Garden is peaking.

The garden is peaking  and the weather has been fantastic.  Every day things change slightly or in some cases -things change radically(in terms of growth).  Rocks are hidden, new flowers emerge and the challenge is on...     it all ends too soon.

My main worry now is running out of canvas, out of paint and most of all, out of time.

A Perfect Day.

The last two days were finally perfect conditions to paint.  There is an intensity of light and you can almost see the plants growing.  It is 

with a little bit of panic that I try to paint the experience.  I almost hate to quit painting because I know it won't last.  

Back to Sibley Park in the morning.

For the past 5 years, Sibley Park has been part of my summer mornings.  This summer, the park decided to "improve" it with a large donation from a local company.  The improvements included paving stones on the path and a vintage street light.

Hmmmm....  The flowers beds have really improved but so far the other additions are a little distracting.

My first painting of the summer is more of a warm up.  The path, the fountain, the background trees and the new street light........I am going for lyrical....

Christy's Cafe Wine Tasting and VINE Benefit Show

There is a reception this Friday, from 6 -9 pm,  June 12 at Christy's Cafe in North Mankato.  For me it is only the second show in a restaurant and still an unorthodox location for an art exhibition.  I think there have been many shows in cafes in Paris and the capitals of Europe, why not North Mankato? 

Like my recent shows, the focus is the garden at Sibley Park in Mankato.  Morgan Creek Vineyards of New Ulm will be doing some wine tasting and hopefully people will be enjoying the views of summer.

Panoramic detail

William Bukowski

Panoramic Garden (detail)

2009    oil on linen

The surface is getting closer to what I am striving for.....the brushstrokes are becoming more independent of what it describes.  I am still looking for the rhythm of growth and the light.  It allows me to work the paint surface more than usual.  It adds a new level of appreciation and pulls you into the painting in a new way.  

Bukowski Painting- Larger Sibley

William Bukowski
oil on linen 2006
Large -Sibley Path

The is one of the larger garden paintings besides the Pathstone Living Commission. I expect that to change in the near future. I had been busy this fall with the altarpiece for Reformation Lutheran in Portland. The large scale gives you more possibilities with the brushstrokes and paint. At times I am tempted to add figures or a narrative. I will start with big.....

Bukowski Painting- Ylvisaker Invitational

William Bukowski
Birdbath (detail)
watercolor on paper-30" X 22"

I have been doing some watercolor lately preparing for a show at Bethany Lutheran College. We are
bringing about 25 artists together for a drawing show called the Ylvisaker Invitational.
I decided to add watercolor to a pencil drawing.
The motif is the same I have been painting for the past four years, the fountain at Sibley Park. I added the bird from a study
for the large Pathstone commission. I eventually didn't put the bird in the big work, but here it is....

Bukowski Painting- Happy New Year!

A new year begins and it is time to get busy.
This is actually two paintings pinched together. I am using a little bit broader brush keeping it simple. It measures 40" X 60" with both canvases together. It gives me a little more scale with easier portability.

The new year reminds me of how much we have to be thankful for, and what is ahead. I expect to paint up a storm, work larger, looser and keep developing the image of the garden. Years pass and it is important to keep growing as an artist.

Bukowski Painting- The Word was with God

Detail:
Painting in progress- still wet

I was listening to a choir concert recently, and the words of the song kept repeating, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God..... I found the lyric very compelling and was wondering if I could use it to title a painting. I was tiring of the same kind of titles: Garden Path, Morning Light, Summer Garden. I think when you look at gardens so long and hear the lyric, you could think about the nature of God. I know it is John 1:1 and I am thinking about it.