Thursday, April 23, 2015

GINNY WILBER, PAINTING BIRCHES

A dear friend and neighbor, Ginny Wilber, will laugh if you say that you LOVE her paintings. She has been painting for more than five decades, and at least one of her paintings won "Best of Show" when she entered competitions years back.

I happen to love the way she paints birch trees.
She has painted dozens of landscapes and portraits and they hang in her home in Spencertown.
Often when I cross the road and visit her and her husband, Ken, she and I gab and gab about art and painting. She tells me that when she 
and a friend took painting lessons together years ago, they would have a great time 
laughing and painting 
together. 

Today, Ginny is in her eighties, and she is still painting birches, no matter that she has trouble standing. The painting below is her most recent birch painting, and it has already been promised to Ginny's granddaughter, who loved the painting as much as I did. (I told Ginny about all my stories about red cardinals battering at my windows!)


Try to get Ginny to call herself a terrifically talented painter, and she will laugh and say it's just 
what she loves to do. 
One thing Ginny does is encourage me to paint. I show her my crazy abstract paintings
and she
always tells me to keep painting no matter what anyone says! I have been in a bit of a painting funk 
lately, unable to get myself to the easel.
Last week when I visited Ginny she had a wonderful suggestion. She said that I should
put my acrylic paint
in a straw and just blow it onto the canvas! I am going to see if that works!

Meanwhile, thanks to you, Ginny, for all our "arty" conversations, and for so many years of wonderful friendship. You are the best neighbor in the WORLD!! 


2 comments:

joniwriter said...

Please tell Ginny that I absolutely love her painting of the red cardinal on the white birch tree and that she should continue painting birch trees from every possible point of view. Thanks for sharing. Joan

Anonymous said...

hi claudia!!! hi ginny!! well claudia mac here form waaaay back ..we'd meet at the austerlitz PO!!!! when marge was around i think !! if you see marge this summer please give my love..
GINNY, I THINK YOUR ART IS BEAUTIFUL... i understand sometimes how hard it is to call oneself what one feels so deeply...you have talent and abiltity for sure!! a gift that needs to be shared... thank you claudia for encouring her to keep at it .. in the sense of allowing others too to veiw this..
love,
claudia and claudia i think the painting you have shown is wonderful and it emits [ to me ] a type of melody...as in synesthesia!!!!ok so.....
walk in beauty,
claudia