Posts by Alison Dibble
Hill of Self Doubt
I’m about to start a new painting, and I want to do it, but I hesitate because I’m not sure I can make it work. Nothing can reassure me. But I should start in regardless.
Read MorePeculiar ice
Late February is an especially fine time to see ice in Maine. This landscape element might be underappreciated by some people; for the artist, it’s got its charms and challenges. I found peculiar ice while driving north on Rte 15 in Winterport, Maine along the Penobscot River. I was so startled by the sight of…
Read MoreColors of November
Maybe the painting will come out, maybe not! Doesn’t matter too much, just keep exploring.
Read MoreFlexible, not fossilized
August 2020 In making art, it could be simpler and easier to use the same approach over and over. Just follow the known, comfortable path. For instance, I think of a favorite way I could start a painting. I could tone the canvas with a burnt orange color and then sketch a few lines on…
Read MoreThe magnificent dusk
Just this evening I went outside at 7:55 pm to look for a bat. Not the baseball kind, but the flying mammal, the little brown bat that once was common in the Maine forests. Since the white-nose syndrome decimated many bat colonies in eastern North America over the past decade, the sightings of these are…
Read MoreFrame or not?
I’d like each frame around my paintings to be a little gem, or if it’s larger, then sophisticated, well-made, and long lasting. It must protect the painting, and accompany it for years. It should attract the eye toward the painting, and compliment it, yet not draw attention to itself. The frame is like a window…
Read MorePainting my way through a pandemic
Making art every day, no matter what, is a way to express joy. The efforts may be uneven, but the process frees one from too much focus on self.
Read MoreIs painting a selfish activity?
I was talking with a friend today who reflected that painting is a selfish activity. As a form of self expression, painting tends to be a solitary pursuit, takes a lot of concentration, and in the near term, it might not seem to be in direct service to anyone but the artist. Perhaps it will serve a…
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