hanging out in the library

Books cast a spell on me, even though the Kindle-d may inherit the earth.
For a recovering writer, the library is a shrine, a holy and sacred place where you can worship your ancestors and find inspiration for the future. One of the pleasures of working on this painting is spending time paying close attention to books.
Worked on the wall, the bookshelf, the window and the top shelf of books. It might take the rest of the month, but I can smell the oats in the barn.

Library in the Palais Liechtenstein

I've been working on this new painting for about a week. Today I got started late for various reasons, not until 2pm. But then it just went like a rocket. The walls of the library are faux painted, as are the edges the bookshelves, and I am adding pattern to that as I go. I love the window niche in the upper left that has a flare of aqua light. It's my favorite thing in the painting.
I worked on the bookshelves behind and to the left and the wall behind the bronze bust of the Greek poet Anacreon. Not until I came home and Googled him up did I learn that Anacreon is famous for his erotic poetry and stanzas in praise of wine. The funny thing is he reminds me of my husband.

I kept painting after I lost the light, mostly blurring edges of the mottled wall.
This one really calls to me. I wake up happy because I know it's waiting for me on the easel. At some point I'll hit a wall and get frustrated over something, but not today.

paintings in progress

This is a cherry red velvet sofa in the hallway by the grand staircase of Kunsthistoriche museum. I spent today working on the whipped cream- colored view out of the window. There will be a drawing of one of Rembrandt's self portraits on the open page of the sketchbook. Working on the patterns in the marble, and have blocked in most of it, but there another layer or three of paint to come. The big challenge will be convincingly rendering the wall mounted sconce light behind and to the left of the sofa.

Vienna

10 things about Vienna

1. If it moves, paint it cream. When it stops, slap some gilding on it.
2. This town runs on caffeine and nicotine, making the quaint cobblestone streets one big ashtray.
3. The Kunsthistorishe museum is paradise. It is like hanging out in a palace covered in wall-to-wall masterpieces all day long for ten measly Euros. There are plush blue velvet sofas in every gallery room, eight in the big rooms.
4. The Germans have a different philosophy about photography in churches. They are methodical and businesslike; as long as you pay, you can play.
5. Breugel! Durer! Vermeer! Rubens!
6. Einschlammer is an espresso under a pile of whipped cream...a double espresso
float.
7. An amazing number of women have hair exactly the orange red color of Bozo the clown.
8. You can ask directions from Mozart –or a guy dressed just like him in a white powdered wig, buckled shoes and a blue silk frock coat.
9. Leaving the Albertina museum one evening, I heard a black southern woman singing the title song to Cabaret in German.
10. Sunday at the Liechtenstein palace offered the royal art collection, a special exhibit on their family estate gardens, and a Bach concert on antique instruments. I sat on a gilt chair in a ballroom and sketched away. They threw in lunch and a melange (espresso with whipped cream) Pretty much heaven.