I'd buy this calendar (in fact, I've bought 500 of them), because I've spent the last year with some pretty sorry examples, and sorely missed being reminded of the wonderful world I inhabit. Now I need to sell about 400 of them to restore my financial equilibrium. I produce the calendar myself, in Adobe InDesign, and send it to a class A printer, PS Print, in Oakland, CA. They do a great job.and what you see is pretty much what I did, give or take an inch or two in formatting.
This is a professional/commercial grade calendar on 100# gloss text, and I sell it to you for $10.00 ( plus $3.00 S & H per). I also sell it here in Monroe County at the Autumn Harvest Festival, the local farm markets, the libraries, the restaurants, the food emporium, and wherever opportunity raises its pretty head. It is my sole commercial push, and I have many caveats and blushes around the concept, but, hey.
Now let's look at the paintings.
January:: "Long View" This is an "imagined" landscape, referring back to a painting called "Thicket" and calling on memory of mist along the I-64 corridor in West Virginia between Lewisburg and Lexington. I showed this painting at an Easter show at the Greenbrier Resort, where it sold to someone who consulted their decorator before purchase. SOLD
February: "Lambing Season." We raised Suffolk sheep at Redwing back in the 70's. They are handsome, noble-nosed, and invariably lambed in the coldest, darkest, most hidden parts of our scrubby acres. The lambs are lively and antic beyond cute. These sheep are stolen images from neighbor Bill Canterbury's immaculate fields.
March: "Barns." I painted these barns once before, in 2010, and wasn't completely satisfied with the result. This painting comes closer, though I could have emphasized the foreground more. They achieve a magical balance on the landscape, and exemplify my love of man's hand upon the land. SOLD
April: "Irises." The librarian said I should paint more flowers. These are in my garden every year, screaming a color blue that defies technique.
May: "Waiting Out the Rain." Who paints wet horses? This pair is so beautiful, patient, knowing. If you've owned horses, you can feel that look.
June: "Sun and Shade." A little shed on a back road on a brilliant day. This painting made itself, and I'm grateful. SOLD
July: "Creekside." Now, this is an interesting example of what happens with a commission. Obviously, there are expectations.It took months to discover this moment on Indian Creek (actually in September) when light was golden and the hint of scarlet was in the shadows. There's a refinement here that satisfies and delights me. SOLD
August: "August Storm." Someone said this painting was not up to my standard. Well, it's what I saw one August afternoon trying to beat out a downpour.
September: "Blue Road." Looking from my studio window after looking hard at Marsden Hartley's western landscapes, I could see the shapes and contours of the scene across the way in a new way. He had muscle, and rhythm, and reasons I can't fathom. SOLD
October: "October Gold." Sometimes nature vibrates. The clear air and late afternoon sun made golden aureoles and blue shadows in a simple pasture in Union, WV.
November: "November Lace" So many times I drive through forested roads with light pouring through foliage. This was a tough assignment--so many little points of light and color. I like this painting for reminding me that what I paint is only a compromise between what I see and what there is.
December: "The Maple in Snow." Yes, this is a photograph, a paean to a magnificent tree, at least 100 years old, that succumbed to our once-in-a-lifetime (?)
derecho of June 29th, 2012. It is now only a stump and firewood, and I will feel the pain every time I put a log in the woodstove this winter.
So, if you'd like to live with these images for a year, call me at 304-772-4568, or e-mail me at judithbair@gmail.com. Buy one for you and several for stocking stuffers. I'll mail them with an invoice, and you can send a check. Or you can go to Etsy.com (PaintingsbyJBair) and pay through Pay Pal.
