The Thinking Woman's Almanac 
In this issue

From Annie Shaver-Crandell's Studio 
JULY 2016  
  
 
CARPE PEONIES


Most people are familiar with the Latin phrase carpe diem -- "seize the day." In my painter's life, sometimes it's a season, rather than a day, that asks to be seized -- warm enough or cool enough for plein air painting,or the pale greens of Spring, or the multicolors of autumnal foliage -- or, recently, peony season in my area.
 

I grew up in Oberlin, Ohio, in a house with a yard where my parents grew plants that pleased them.  My father was devoted to roses, but it is the pink peonies, wet with June dew, and sometimes accompanied by ants to be removed before cut flowers came into the house, that I remember with special appreciation, and that I associate more with my mother. Peony season, in my memory, coincided with Oberlin College's Commencement.  I am a third-generation member of a tribe of Oberlinians -- grandparents, parents, brother, cousins, and now, at least the generation after mine. Like our mother, Alice Crafts Shaver, my brother Phil and I were also born in Oberlin. Because our father, Chester Shaver, was a professor of English at the college, former students, as well as the classmates of both parents and and the occasional distant cousin appeared for visits.  This was an annual time of such a flow of company through our house that I have sometimes explained to city friends that the holidays observed while I was growing up were Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and Commencement.

Where I live now, I am not set up to grow peonies, but I am close to a major farmers' Greenmarket, at Union Square in lower Manhattan.  I wait eagerly for the first peonies to appear in the market, and I splurge on buying them for several weeks from vendors whose farms lie in different growing zones from south Jersey to cooler upstate New York. A normal person would just appreciate the peonies for their visual beauty and astonishing fragrances, but I also just must paint the flowers while I can.

It really is a bit obsessive, and this year was especially so. During the past three years I had not been in the city much on Saturdays, the big flower day at Union Square, because Daniel and I were usually at his place on Long Island on weekends. As he has given up that spot, I was able to go peony-mad in May and June.

As I did so, and looked back on my peony paintings from previous years, I noticed several things. Most striking to me is the presence in the work of 2000 to 2010 of bachelor's buttons, and, in one case, irises, with the peonies.  This year, vegetables, fruits and other flowers have been coming into the market at times different from what I have been used to, or not showing up at all. These past two years, I have seen bachelor's buttons in the market only rarely, and, most recently, only early this July. I don't know if they are unprofitable to grow for sale, or whether their absence from Union Square has something to do with climate change in our part of the world. In any case, my most recent peony paintings depict peonies alone.

Here, in chronological order of execution, is a selection:

2000 Conversation with Peonies, watercolor. 

2001 Peonies, Bachelor's Buttons, Scissors and Peaches,
watercolor on rice paper

2009 White Peonies: Homage to Goya, oil

2010 Companion Piece: Peonies, oil

2012 White on White on White, acrylic
 
2015 Lawn, Peonies and Benches, watercolor

2016 Pink Peonies, Blue and White Stoneware Pitcher, oil

2016 Pink Peonies in Azuma Vase: Triptych, watercolor

The other major thing that strikes me is that, collectively, the vases set off a meditation on the combination of the relatively permanent and the totally fugitive.  The containers arrived by diverse paths:

-- a square glass vase designed after Charles Rennie Mackintosh, a gift brought from Glasgow by my first husband, Keith Crandell
-- a green stoneware vase made by and given to my father by his friend James Southworth, in the 1950s
-- a commercially made white pitcher I bought for myself
-- a stoneware apple wine pitcher, a gift brought from Germany by my cousin Sue Rambow
-- a commercially made cylindrical Japanese vase I bought for myself

I make use of the containers over and over, trying to master the intricacies of their shapes and glazes, but the flowers are always different and must be caught while they are here.

So - carpe your day, but don't forget to appreciate what remains stable in your life.
 
Another Seasonal Subject: Vineyards

Gone but not Forgotten (sold)

Vineyards and Field Near Goult,
watercolor, 11 x 8"

Vineyard Near Goult,
watercolor, 10 x 10''

Vineyard Near Goult,
pastel, 13 1/2 x 17"

Vineyard and Orchard,
watercolor, 9 x 12''

Available

Vineyard Near Sebastopol, California,
watercolor, 6 1/2 x 13 1/4"

Road Below the Vineyard,
watercolor, 10 x 28 1/4''

Luberon Vineyard,
watercolor, 9 1/2 x 28"

 
CURRENT EXHIBITION

Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities
   
Lavender Fields,
watercolor, 16" x 20," 2014

Lavender Fields is currently on view in the My Long Island Landmarks show at the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities (SPLIA) in Cold Spring Harbor, NY.

This exhibition will be open to the public Thursdays through Sundays
From 12:00 to 4:00PM, through November 20th.

Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities
161 Main Street
Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724

631-692-4664 or exhibits@splia.org
 


 
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS 
      

Dogs' Best Friend,
acrylic, 12" x 12," 2016 

Juror Tim Newton has accepted Dogs' Best Friend, into the Animals in Art Exhibit at Mills Pond Gallery.

This exhibition will be open to the public from July 30 to August 28, 2016


Animals In Art
Our Partners on the Planet

Opening reception
Saturday, July 30, 2016, from 2:00 - 4:00
Gallery hours are Wednesday-Friday 10am - 4pm and Sat-Sun 12-4pm.

Smithtown Township Arts Council

660 NY-25A
St. James, NY 11780
(631) 862-6575


_______________________________________________________

Solo Exhibition:  
Suites and Series: New Paintings and Prints

November 2016,  
Harborfields Public Library,  
Greenlawn, NY


 





UPCOMING EVENTS

If you are interesting in joining me and other Salmagundi Club monotype artists in an experimental evening of working over our ghost monotypes, we have scheduled:
 
GHOST PARTY: SALMAGUNDI'S ANSWER TO ADULT COLORING BOOKS
 
Wednesday, July 20, 6:30-9:30 pm. Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue @ 12th St, New York, NY 10003. 
Bring in your failed monotypes, your drawing and painting supplies (we won't be printing), and prepare to have fun. 
$10 for members; $15 non-members 212-255-7740 or info@salmagundi.org to reserve. The club's bar is open at 5:00
 
 If you want to try out the monotype medium when we WILL be printing, the next monotype party is July 12, 6-9 pm; the bar opens at 5:00.  Paper, ink and press included; you provide your own visual source material, tools, gloves and aprons, rags, something to carry your work home in, etc.

And for a special treat, on August 9, join us for All Day Monotype Madness, 10 am-9:pm; the bar opens at noon.

For each monotype event, the charge is $20 for Salmagundi members, $30 for non-members.  
  

FEARLESS WATERCOLOR CLASSES

Space is currently available in my group painting classes, offered in my Bond Street studio. Class is in session three times a week, on a drop-in basis. All experience levels welcome. Email me for details about these and private lessons.

Classes will resume in August.

Current schedule:
Monday 2:30pm - 5:30pm
Wednesday 3:00pm - 6:00pm
Thursday 10:00am - 1:00pm


A typical workstation


  ANNIE'S STORE
Annie Shaver-Crandell: A Collection of Views Landscapes, Cityscapes and Interiors
36 page book, 8 3/8" x 10 7/8"
Carousel Mug
Please visit the online store to purchase my recently released book and collectible mug.


PRIVATE VIEWINGS  
Please visit my studio for a private viewing. Call me at 212-464-7519 to schedule. I am also available to discuss commissions.

 


 
Post-creation: what happens to an artwork between completion and public presentation will appear in the next newsletter

FEEDBACK

I love hearing from all of you with all your questions and comments. Please feel free to write me at annieshavercrandell@gmail.com and I promise to reply. Your comments help me build my studio.

Annie's work may be seen at

 www.annieshavercrandell.com  

 www.sichelsea.com  

 

Stay connected with Annie

Please contact Wanda for more information at
annieshavercrandell@gmail.com and 212-464-7519

2015 Annie Shaver-Crandell