True to Nature: Poets & Artists En Plein Aire

Day 226, 2012 AD

"Nature I love, and next to nature is art"

                                                                Maria Liberto Bessette

Simply stated en plein air is the art of painting directly from nature. The artist responds with quick and spontaneous brush strokes to capture the true effects of color and light
Painting outdoors started in the late 1700's. Landscape painters in France began taking their oil paints to the field in pig bladders. And by the 1840s, collapsible tin tubes were being introduced.

It was about this time that Claude Monet (1840-1926), Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), and Alfred Sisley (1839-1899) started the Impressionists group.
By 1869 Monet and Renoir were using portable easels and traveling paintboxes. They painted rapid studies in free sketchy brushwork, attempting to capture fleeting moments.  The basis for outdoor painting techniques were firmly established although methods and palettes would change. 

Many might think Impressionism is the style of choice by current plein air artists.  Each artist develops his own unique way of seeing,  their own style and choice of mediums. But all have one common theme: truth to nature.

It is therefore only fitting that the love of nature and creativity is also the subject to the gifted writers and poets. 

Below is a sequence of penned works and plein air painters

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time." -   John Lubbock



AN ARTIST IS JUST LIKE A LAKE

An artist is just like a lake:A mirror that's alive;
With trees that shimmer, laugh, and shake,
And high clouds hung like towers.

Why do we watch a mountain quake
As feelings dip and dive?
The worlds inside and out will make
A moment that is ours.

Nicholas Gordon

Maria painting at Wyoming Park,Wyoming DE 2012

 "What makes for great art
is the courage to speak and write and paint
what you know and care about."

Audrey Flack

We are alive our very breath singing.
We live beyond certainty, constantly stretching.

We are the lucky who live beyond,
in a swirl of questioning,
broadening. Reach...
We stretch in our borderless
matrix of gestures,
our instruments urge us,
our melodies carry us...
towards where you sit,
in that daring front row.
You await our flowering intonations,
the hint of the glorious flourishing new.

Maria painting at Willow Rock Gardens, Clayton DE, 2012

Paintbrush, melodies, give us their clues,
In hours of practise, its you were befriending.
Authentic, blended and lifted, we woo
the small beauty of a perfect ending.

Maria Painting at Mirror Lake, Dover DE, 2011



With golden fingers our harmonies fuse,
the secrets of the gardens weve tended
the streggle for the pure, authentic,
were dancing on strings,
towards a God amused,
a cosmos applauding.
What weve tried to accomplish,
at such great odds,
is beauty, melding audience with artist.
Humanity flourishing true.

We are the workers who bring you the true
and the new and the old again, remade for you,
we are alive, our breath has a view,
Weve striven and surfaced, and now were all new.



Maria Painting at Lavender Fields, Milton DE, 2012



"Nature I love, and next to nature is art"

                                                                Maria Liberto Bessette




The Comback of Natural Shampoo Bars

My Sudsy Natural Shampoo Bars

Day 225, 2012 AD in the Artful Life of Maria takes you on the clean journey of creatomg shampoo bars.  And why not, if you are a soapmaker, you already have the ingredients, so you would definitely want to make shampoo bars. 

When all soap was made by hand using a long difficult method of leaching ashes to make lye water, rendering animal fats and mixing all that together. After hours of stiring over an open fire the end result was anywhere from a soft soap to a hard mass.  This soap was used for everything that needed to be cleaned, laundry, dishes, floors, animals and human bodies and scalps.   Even after soapmaking became more sophisticated  - soap bars where used for bathing and shampooing of hair. 

18th Century Soap Making

Shampoo bars have made a comeback with today's focus on natural bath and beauty products, as well as assurance of less problematic air travel.   But them in your travel cosmetic bag and go.



Making your own solid shampoo is a great way to provide a healthy alternative for your hair. Shampoo bars, lacking moisture content, don't require the same preservatives and chemicals that commercial shampoos need to keep out bacteria. Thus shampoo bars are healthier for your hair and will last longer.







Lavender Shampoo Bars & Coconut Lime Verbana Shampoo Bars
by Coastal Cottage Soaps



The Coastal Cottage Soap - Shampoo Bars  provides customers with  a great scented product that will nourish your hair for its best possible look and condition.



One customer purchases these bars for her outdoor shower near her pool.  They are easier for kids to use and there is less product waste.

Now after curing for about 1 week or more they can be packaged for customers. 

CCS Men's Shampoo Bars



Look for Coastal Cottage Soaps travel pack of 3 travel size items: shampoo bar, 1/2 size bath bars and jar of aloe vera body cream on the market soon!

MY BEST TO ALL MY READERS

A Quest for Plein Air Painting Inspirtional Locations

Day 224, 2012 AD

Visiting a Working Vineyard for Inspiration

Maria Painting at Wyoming Park, Wyoming DE

Their is an ongoing quest to find inspirational locations for our group of Plein Air Painters.  Somehow this falls to me, but not by accident.  A group of my artist friends have been painting outdoors for well over a year. We love the safety, the camaraderie of being together, being outdoors and being creative. 

Everyone knows about FaceBook, networking and social media marketing.  It is a wonderful way to announce, invite and publicize any event.  I organized a FB group page: 

Plein Air Painters of the Mid-Atlantic, opening up the group to any interested artist.  I am happy to report that our little group of 5 has increased to 25 in one year.  There are always suggestions about locations, but someone needs to check with the site owner, museum, historic site or property owner.  Oh sometime directions, carpooling and other matters need attention. 

Visiting the Vineyard

Back to looking for inspirational locations.  Many sites have houses, barns, sheds, fences, gates, historic architecture.  Other locations offer beaches, dunes, ponds, rivers, lakes, creeks, foliage, hedgerows, trees, forests.  Agritourism sites offer, gardens, flowers, livestock, orchards, farms, pastures and more.   Our very small state of Delaware does offer an array of locations in all 3 counties from the rolling hills of wealth estates in the north through farmland and historical sites to the ocean beaches in the south.

LaManchia Goats at the Vineyard Farm

Another benefit of advance planning promotes the culture of creativity and partnership with the specific painting location.  In many cases artists are anxious to expand their knowledge of beautiful artistic locations and promote awareness of historic and agritourism sites within our region.

The quest continues for inspirational locations where artists can gather informally to share their love of outdoors.



A gathering of Plein Air Painters of the Mid-Atlantic
 (a few painters could not make this session)


Best to all of you and please think about being creative and then be creative.





Recreating Farmer's Markets "Farm to Market & Farm to Table."

(223rd day of year 2012)

Some History of Delaware Farm Markets

I am old enough to remember the produce, cheeses, breads, eggs and meats being sold from vendors who lined the streets of cities and towns selling from crates of goods from their  trucks and cards.  The photo below is of an even earlier era. 

Farm Vendors with Wagons on King Street, Wilmington DE, cir 1910 

Farmers and Hucksters began selling their goods and produce on King Street in Wilmington in the 19th century.  It tells the visual story of what the market looked like 100 years ago.



Farmer Vendors, Downtown Wilmington DE  Approx Date 1920-1930


The tradition of farmers getting together and selling their products directly to customers has been around a long time. In fact, for most of human history, such open-air markets were the only way most people could access a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables. It wasn’t until after World War II, when big growers and big supermarkets came onto the scene, that farmer’s markets took a back seat in the mind of the consumer. While supermarkets filled with a wide variety of produce still sell the majority of fresh foods in the United States, the farmer’s market is making a comeback. More and more, buyers are recognizing the many benefits of buying produce directly from the farmer.

"I love the sense of community at the Riverwalk Farmers Market in Milford Delaware, where I have been a vendor for 5 years."

Today's Farmers Markets

It is still the same scene from a bygone era when consumers regularly purchased fresh foods from local farmers at open-air markets. It is becoming a common trend that is taking place throughout the country right now, almost every day—at farmer’s markets everywhere. Farmer’s markets have long been a part of human culture, and began thousands of years ago when the first farmers had produce to sell and the first consumers had a need to buy it.

 While farmer’s markets are a great way to boost a grower’s income, they also provide a chance for both farmers and buyers to interact. Vendors particularly enjoy the social aspect of farmer’s markets and look forward to the chance to meet customers and discuss their product.  Customers can relate to the farmer, their farm and their products. 

Marketing the "farm to table" concept and knowing you are helping a small business owner in your community, will also benefit your community economically.  Many other great products are created and sold at market, such as cheeses, jellies, jams, pickled items, delicious breads, pastries & baked goods.  Seafood, meats, prepared foods, dried and fresh herbs, live floral arrangements, soaps, lotions, and handmade crafts are among other commonly offered items.  



Our products made at home under the name of COASTAL COTTAGE SOAPS is a 5 year old cottage industry. We are long standing vendors at a rather local Farmers Market, co-sponsored by Downtown Milford and the DE Dept of Agriculture.  This market is the main venue for selling our products.  Using home grown herbs and botanicals and locally grown ingredients when possible I produce a variety of natural soaps for all genders including laundry and doggie soaps.  Many customers come back time after time, year after year which establishes a better relationship than  a "brick & mortar." 

coastalcottagesoaps.com

Delaware's Farmers Markets continue to become popular, prosper, grow and increase in number.  The small state of Delaware with 11 regulated farmers markets grossed over 1.8 million dollars in 2011.  Do you know where your food comes from?

Meet you at the market!

Emily Dickinson Poem Paintings, Soap Cakes & More

Hello to all my blog viewers.  A few items and events to share from this creative lady.

I have the desire to create artful paintings,

"Hope is the thing with feathers" by Maria Liberto Bessette

from my Series: Emily Dickinson Poem Paintings

 fill customer orders of my natural soap bars.....................................

Peppermint Orange Olive Oil Soap

by Coastal Cottage Soaps

and Soap Cakes.............................................................................

8" Soap Cake

and Soap Cupcakes..........................................................................

finish a Plein Air Painting I messed up in transport from Dover Days Festival Plein Air Paint Out...................................................

Maria painting "The Loockerman House", Plein Air in Oil

Completing an order for a floorcloth customer .................................

"Delaware Floorcloth II" by Maria Liberto Bessette

~~~~~

And it is only Thursday.

Tomorrow I must label lots of olive oil soaps and get ready for an

Artisan Show on Saturday: 



Love Quote of the Day
Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love.
Francis of Assisi

Art Quote of the Day
Personality is everything in art and poetry.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Au revoir !

The Artful Life of Maria Blog Continues with "en plein air painters"

The Long Absence
What can I say accept there is just not enough time to do all tasks I would like to start and finish each day.  And then there is the next day, and then another day, and the day after that and so on.  Working by priorities and deadlines even as a "stay at home" artist seems odd or unbelievable.  It is all true, true, true.

 Just 2 photos of the Plein Air Artists



The Plein Air Painters of the Mid-Atlantic and Producing New Art. 
Art activities as a painter have increased.  Basically 5 of us, my sisterhood painters and I, have traveled throughout Kent and Sussex Counties Delaware enduring heat as well as mosquitoes to paint historic sites and structures.  Getting to our distinction by 9 am, setting up and painting in the morning light is always majestic.  Packing up around noon and deciding on a new lunch location is always part of the story.  We are truly blessed to be able to share this creativity together en plein air of Delmarva.  (see a few posted photos).



Maria Painting a view of Legislative Hall, Dover DE in March of 2011



Finished Painting - "Delaware's Legislative Hall from Mirror Lake"



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Maria Painting in Dianne's Garden 
In forground:  2 artists searching for the perfect spot



"Dianne's Garden"
Textured Oil w/Palette Knife

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Maria Painting the Milk House at Edward Cole House, cir 1780
Now home of Delaware Bay Trading Co. , Camden DE



"Milk House, Edward Cole House, Camden DE"

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Maria Painting at Belmont Hall Historic Home, Smyrna, DE

Oil on Canvas Painting
"Belmont Hall, Smyrna, DE"

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Photo - Japanese Maple Tree - Belmont Hall





Acrylic on Canvas Painting
 "Japanese Maple Tree, Belmont Hall"



Photo:  Milk House, Belmont Hall



Oil on Canvas
Painting:  "Milk House, Belmont Hall"


Visit:  libertosart.com for details and prices on the above paintings

The above is just a glimpse of one segment of this artists' life this past spring and summer.  There are many more plein air outings, exhibits and art related activities I will be sharing in the days ahead. 

This blog posting completed on Valentines Day, Feb 12, 2012.  Happy Valentine's Day and hoping your heart and soul possess sweet creativity to share with others.

"Valentine Swirl Artsy Glycerine Soap"
by yours truly at
coastalcottagesoaps.com

Lots of love,

Maria L B









Starry Night - The Painting & Starry Night Artsy Soap, Feb 27, 2011

Starry Night - The Painting by Van Gogh

"Starry Night" is one of the most well known images in modern culture as well as being one of the most replicated sought after prints. Images of this painting have helped market a mass of products.  So how has that imaged influenced us.  It is interesting to ask almost any adult or child to identify the image.  Usually they know the title, but not always the artist who made it famous.  Many of Van Gogh's paintings can be instantly identified through the strong color and brush strokes. 

Take for instance an exhibit some time ago that I coordinated called "Replica."  Artist choose a painting created in past history to replicate in some way, but not totally duplicate.  It needed to be their painting but still recognizable.  I myself choose to replicate was "Starry Night."  I painted half the painting as day time and half as night time.  I am looking for that image in my stash of floppy discs to upload.  (Hope I find it before I finish this entry.)  Another aspect of the exhibit was that the public voted on their favorites in all categories of medium.  The exhibition was truly amazing and successful.  

Maria's "Starry Night" Artsy Soap
Coastal Cottage Artsy Soaps



One of my creative endeavors is my handcrafted soap company, Coastal Cottage Soaps.  This is a cottage industry whereby I sell soaps and toiletries from my website, at farmers markets and various locations in and around Delaware.  I started this venture over 5 years ago and have literally made a ton of olive oil based natural soaps.  By following my tried and true recipes I can be creative by mixing various essential oils, botanicals and color oxides.

I felt I needed to be more creative to keep it fun and to add challenge to the effort. So I started a line of soaps that would have a designer look and have great fragrance.  I embedded my own soap pieces of various shapes and colors into soap logs and bars of glycerin based soap.  This method lends itself to creating themed soap for children, holidays and events.


I decided to take another step in the process that would benefit the arts.  If I could build ships, flowers, and seaglass inside a bar of soap I could create a famous painting.   So I sat forth to create a few different soaps that would focus on famous artists and their paintings.  I always love telling the story and or history behind my products.  That is the story behind my  Starry Night Artsy Soap.  I have swirls of yellow and gold, moon and stars floating in an iridescent soap base that varies from dark to light blue sky.  I embellish the soap bar package with an image of the famous painting by the same name.  The underside of the tag gives the history of the famous painting.  My first famous art soap is the image above, Starry Night Artsy Soap.

"Starry Night" by
Vincent Van Gogh

Below are the 2 stanza's from the lyrics to Don McLean's hit song Vincent (Starry, Starry Night).

Starry, starry night.
Paint your palette blue and grey,
Look out on a summer's day,
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul.
Shadows on the hills,
Sketch the trees and the daffodils,
Catch the breeze and the winter chills,
In colors on the snowy linen land.

For they could not love you,
But still your love was true.
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry, starry night,
You took your life, as lovers often do.
But I could have told you, Vincent,
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you.

Van Gogh's artistic legacy is contained within his paintings, drawings and writings. They are everlasting and will never "forget" the style that created them. They are Van Gogh's eyes that watch the world.

I hope you enjoyed the story behind my "Starry Night Artsy Soap."

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Love to all,

Maria L B

2 Pears Daily Painting & "Study of Two Pears" Poetry Musing, Feb 23, 2011

My "Two Pairs" Daily Painting:

I had painted the background of this painting some time ago, knowing 1 or 2 pears would be painted in the foreground.  So off I go to find real pears for my still life reference.  Well there are yellow pears, red pears, Asian pears (apple shaped)  and brownish pears and more.  So I bought 3 varieties thinking that I could whip up a french desert from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking with some of the pears.

It was a great sunny afternoon and I move my canvas, oil paints and palette to the enclosed porch which was warm with the wonderful sun shining in.  The sun gave the pears great light reflection and shadows.  Just what I wanted to create while being warmed (body and soul) by the sunshine.  I could see many colors in my pears from browns, taupe, a tinge of red and also blue, not to mention yellow, green and orange.  I never see only one color in most objects and natural vegetation and animals and hardly ever use only the one color of paint from the tube.  I love mixing colors to give depth and dimension.  I love the feel of the oil brush strokes when applied to canvas or board.



"Two Pears"
Daily Painting
Liberto's Art



I basically finished the little daily painting of "Two Pairs" and started another, "One Red Pear."  

Later I ran across an interesting poem "Study of Two Pears."  It is hard to know if the poet was really studying a painting of two pairs, or studying two real pears.  He describes the dimension of colors he saw in the pears, contemplates the shape that belongs to no other fruit or natural object me know. 

In the case of "Study of Two Pears" the poet is actually drawing and painting the two pears for us.  There are many comments and reflections concerning this poem and it's meaning.  A study of the "Study of Two Pears" will go on and on.

Study of Two Pears

by Wallace Stevens

I

pusculum paedagogum.
The pears are not viols,
Nudes or bottles.
They resemble nothing else.

II

They are yellow forms
Composed of curves
Bulging toward the base.
They are touched red.

III

They are not flat surfaces
Having curved outlines.
They are round
Tapering toward the top.

IV

In the way they are modelled
There are bits of blue.
A hard dry leaf hangs
From the stem.

V

The yellow glistens.
It glistens with various yellows,
Citrons, oranges and greens
Flowering over the skin.

VI
The shadows of the pears
Are blobs on the green cloth.
The pears are not seen
As the observer wills.

Stevens fuses the creative imagination with objective reality. Since he was a "philosopher of aesthetics," he challenges the reader to think about how we view the world and encourage us to sharpen our senses to explore every crack in this world--no matter how small (Poetry Foundation, 2008).

I am glad I painted the "Two Pairs" before I found the corresponding poem by Stevens.

Other Art Projects:

Mailed off the 2nd Delaware Floorcloth a customer purchased from website:  http://libertosart.com/Delaware.aspx.  I am working on a 2nd Delaware floorcloth design for customers to choose from.  I also started another floorcloth.  I have sized the fabric and gessoed one side.  This canvas rug will have a floral handpainted design.  I have finished 2 sets of folk art painted wood canisters which I need to photography.  

Colonial Clothing Sewing Project:

I have been researching colonial clothing and costumes for 2 events this spring.  My French Husband and I will be colonial merchants and therefore will wear very middle class clothing of the period.  Since I am alsos a seamstress it is more affordable for me to create the clothing myself.  I will be creating a long Chemise and ladies bodice (either English or French) 
and pockets for myself.  For my gentleman I will creating the men's 18th century white cotton workshirt with the big sleeves and 1770 linen waistcoat.  I also may try my hand a three corner hat for I have the felt in my fabric stash.  The local fabric store did have the patterns I needed which I purchased  today.  I checked on the fabric I needed so my next trip may be shortened. 

A very wonderful blog:  http://livingwithjane.blogspot.com/ has great websites and blogs relating to reinactments, period clothing, events and other great topics.

Oh ------------ so much to do!

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Love to all,

Maria L B

Creative Inspiration - Design Elements, Feb 21, 2011

Design Patterns & Nature Influences Creativity:

What does stimulate artists?  Wow, the list is endless.  Nature is an endless source of stimulation as well as patterns for design elements.  The earth tone hues, dark browns soil colors to dark red clays.  Monochromatic greens ranging from chartreuse to forest green. Add in the colors of flowering trees, bulbs, perennials, annual flowers, sunsets, sunrises, body's of water, mountains and clouds.  Great colors of wildlife including birds, insects, mammals and all the others.  The design elements of this vast base of nature gives us patterns, colors and other elements to play with.  Look around you and contemplate how many everyday objects in your home were created through the eyes of an artist. And endless variety of design pattern  in linens, clothing, dinnerware, rugs, furniture, etc.

Let us not forget the engineer and architect that designed the monuments, museums, buildings, homes, bridges, machines and machine parts that have produced these elements since the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World.

Many artists are also driven by unique landscapes, historical structures, the sky, the country side, people, personalities,  humor, and everyday objects.  Artists sometimes find that one idea leads them to another idea and on and on.

Artists are sometimes stimulated by what may be considered the most popular in producing monetary sales at the time.  Other artists seem to focus only on what they love to create and only create in their favorite

medium.

 

Some artists seem to feed off other artists.  By that I mean the creativity and enthusiasm of one artist may have a great impact on another creative individual. Like being soul mates, most artists relate to other artists.
Ideas and creative endeavors do lend inspiration to other artists. 


Artist usually create in solitude, many in real isolation.  The support of other artists helps fuel the individual artist and the community itself.



Art Groups/Associations Help Support Our Creativity:

We know there are many art groups we can join for various reasons.  That is one way to connect with other artists.  It really depends on the mission of the art organization and your own community.  Art and art education should be available and a focus to create a better environment and creative venue for its members.

Following your creative inspiration:

The most important point I am trying to make is to follow your inspiration.  If only working on the idea a few minutes each day.  You know you are working on a project.  Although progress is slow eventually the idea will come to fruition and success is the end result. 


One of the most productive times in my artful life was while working on my paintings 1 hour a night, every night, after which I spent 8 + hours a day as an Art Director.  I  could have spent that time doing many other tasks.  That escape into creativity was a stress free daily adventure.  

Once we have discovered our creative inner self and have accepted that profound quality so much is possible.  You do not have to consider yourself a "professional artist" to create. 

Most artists are always in training, practicing and learning. 

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Love to all,

Maria L B