From My Commonplace Book, On My Easel 4/17/24

April 18, 2024

From My Commonplace Book, On My Easel 4/17/24

From my commonplace book:

There is something richly fascinating
about empty houses.
There is the thin, echoing air
and the sense of vastness.
There is the curious wonder
of who had lived there,
and what they had lived with,
and the automatic projection
of self into the rooms.
There I would put my favorite lamp,
and here my little table.
—Nora Roberts, Hidden Riches

On my easel:

Talk about curious wonder—I continue to develop pieces in response to the @michelle.nyberg.art class I started a few weeks ago, and I could not have predicted today’s piece in any way, shape, or form.

Yet here it is!

She’d Loved the Bones of the House and Saw Its Potential Immediately
4 x 6″; acrylic, ink, and collage on paper canvas
geometric
2024

alternative orientations:

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1. 

   imajenationgmailcom

   April 18, 2024 at 5:59 pm

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   satisfying in every direction! (like the delight of empty houses) xo

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   1. 

      Dotty Seiter

      April 18, 2024 at 7:45 pm

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      Multidirectional delight—woo hoo!

      Thanks, Lola : )

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2. 

   Joyful Puttering

   April 20, 2024 at 3:10 pm

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   What a beautiful passage and what a beautiful piece of “curious wonder.” I can visualize your favorite lamp through a hidden window.

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      Dotty Seiter

      April 20, 2024 at 3:31 pm

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      With your being someone who has moved house often and no doubt projected yourself into its empty rooms before settling in, I can well imagine that the passage from hidden riches struck a chord with you.

      Love that you can visualize a favorite lamp through a hidden window here : )

      Thanks!

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3. 

   roseanne333

   April 21, 2024 at 7:31 am

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   I’m so drawn to the colors here, Dotty. They’re muted-soft and soothing. It also looks like a piece you would pick up and simply fold into a structure. Like a house, and all the pieces and sides would fit together beautifully. Your prose piece resonates as I have moved house a few times. I was always sad to leave a place we’d grown into and loved, but I could envision what was to come.

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      Dotty Seiter

      April 21, 2024 at 9:15 am

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      Roseanne, thanks for pulling me back to enjoy the colors here. I’ve been working with a limited palette in these recent explorations— sometimes I limit myself more than serves the painting, but here I can see how the palette has harmony.

      Love your comment about this piece’s looking like one that could fold into a three-dimensional piece where all the sections would fit together beautifully to create, say, a house! I can SO see that now that you mention it.

      There IS something exciting about the potential of an empty room/apartment/house, sad as one might be to leave a prior loved dwelling place.

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4. 

   roseanne333

   April 21, 2024 at 7:32 am

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   And you know how much I love the writing!

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      Dotty Seiter

      April 21, 2024 at 9:17 am

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      Thanks! The somewhat asemic writing in this piece uses words from the title over and over again but could just as easily be directions for folding up the little structure!!

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5. 

   Sheila Marie Delgado

   April 23, 2024 at 7:34 pm

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   Oh, I can relate to this snippet! 

   I love that deep, dark corner, the patchwork landscape and how my eyes are so delighted by each detail. I spy two tiny homes, with peek-a-boo windows. So fun, Dotty! 

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   1. 

      Dotty Seiter

      April 23, 2024 at 7:52 pm

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      Your feedback invites me back in to re-explore this piece through your eyes. I do love the patchwork feel to this, and your pulling me back for another look-see has me enjoying the lovely tension between abstract and representational. Thanks, Sheila!