Six Paintings - 12 Months Archives

June 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

June 5, 2026

Our bird-data expert is back, and she has travel plans...

Remember, she takes her wardrobe inspiration from this handsome guy:

At the end of May, our heroine had a pretty lovely 24-piece wardrobe:

And her accessories were pretty nifty too! I have to share with you that I've started loving these narrow silk scarves; enough time has passed since we HAD TO WEAR THEM in the office, with our white shirts, dark suits and sensible pumps...

Later in June, our heroine will be leaving for six weeks on a college campus in VERY rural New England. The campus is going to be completely cleared of anybody except essential support staff (cafeteria workers are ESSENTIAL...) and a band of avian ... View the Post

June 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Spirit of Autumn by Albert Pinkham Ryder

June 3, 2026

Let's see how our "professional listener" is doing! For what it's worth, I was picturing this woman as a psychiatrist, psychologist, counselor or such...

Her inspiration art:

She REALLY doesn't care if any of her clients or co-workers remember what she wears; she's much more concerned in helping people... But she does want to look nice, and she likes to think that her choice of colors gives her a warm and calm image.

And she has russet hair and aqua eyes...

At the end of May, her wardrobe looked like this:

And these are her accessories, so far:

Our heroine is trying quite hard to stick to her wardrobe template. Last month, she bought both pants AND a dress, which left her with "template ... View the Post

June 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Ruffled Autumn Clouds by Emile Nolde

June 1, 2026

I believe that Summer has arrived!

watch, it will snow tomorrow...

Although this painting is of clouds later in the year, I could certainly pretend that the beautiful green landscape is mid-summer. Those are greens vivid enough for Ireland!

At the end of May, our heroine had this wardrobe, shown in two images - one for clothes and one for accessories.

It's well worth looking at these images for a minute, because there is a world full of people who have this much clothing OR LESS. Well-chosen, a small wardrobe can be enough. I know nobody who deliberately tries to keep their wardrobe small, but there could be good reasons...

I could manage with a small number of clothes, so long as I had lots of ... View the Post

May 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

May 15, 2026

Our last painting in our "Six Paintings" series - an enigmatic image, with maybe a message inside? It's certainly one of the most interesting color palettes we've ever seen:

Three timeless neutrals, and two accents that are unexpected, and sometimes difficult to find. The best things can require some patience...

At the end of April, our heroine's 20-piece wardrobe took her to work with ease, as well as lots of other places! Since our heroine works at home a lot, jeans and tops can go a long way...

Even though the weather still isn't delightful and warm, our heroine decided that she was going to dress as if spring had truly arrived:

If our heroine is going to be faithful to her wardrobe template, ... View the Post

May 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

May 13, 2026

A favorite of so many of us, and such a rich and striking painting:

And a bright, cheerful palette:

Our heroine came into the month of May with this 20-piece wardrobe; I could live with this for months...

This is a DRESSY heroine! And she started her May shopping with the idea that she would find a pretty floral dress...

Only to realize that she can grab the skirt that matches her printed blouse, and have her dress and separates, too! The rest of her purchases are relatively simple and classic - although green shoes and a green handbag aren't on just everybody's shopping list:

Of course, she didn't add a second layer to her wardrobe this month - that might be something she needs to address next ... View the Post

May 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

May 11, 2026

I wonder how many different birds could inspire how many different wardrobes?

This is such an easy and classic color palette. If you absolutely couldn't live without blue denim (I bet you can, but you do you!) you've always got the water to give you shades of blue...

One of the many things hanging on the GIGANTIC pin board in front of my computer is a photograph of a magpie. Black, white and blue... We don't see magpies in Chicago!

At the end of April, our heroine had this wardrobe. To my mind, the outfits just jump off of the page:

Our heroine was seriously thinking about red when she started browsing, but when she saw this linen jacket and tweedy pants, she changed direction. Slightly - still plenty ... View the Post

May 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Spirit of Autumn by Albert Pinkham Ryder

May 8, 2026

I don't know if the character in the painting is sad, or is just getting away from the news - and other people - for a few minutes...

This heroine remains quite pleased with her color palette. She's having good luck finding things that she both likes and needs - shopping isn't always easy when you've decided to wear just a limited palette. Unless you live in black, like some of us...

At the end of April, our heroine had this 20-piece wardrobe:

Although the weather still isn't particularly warm where our heroine lives, she decided that she was going to look for clothes for warm weather ANYWAY.

And she debated about the necklaces. She was trying to choose between the two, and she kept going back and ... View the Post

May 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Ruffled Autumn Clouds by Emile Nolde

May 6, 2026

Such a wonderful painting:

Our VERY determined heroine might find that she wants to change her color palette; the blue at the bottom of the sky (yes, the lovely teal/petrol blue) is almost impossible to find in clothing. And frankly, our heroine doesn't want to spend hours and hours looking for clothes - she's far too busy studying for financial certification exams!

She's willing to give it another month, but she may just concentrate more on finding some nice white garments instead...

Right now, this is here wardrobe palette:

At the end of April, this was our heroine's wardrobe. It is very orientated toward looking serious and business-like at work, or online when she works from home.

As much as she ... View the Post

May 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Winter Cottonwoods by Georgia O’Keeffe

May 4, 2026

I'm back from a college graduation in Boston - at Fenway Park! It was freezing cold - pants and coats were the order of the day...

Today, we're going to look at making a small adjustment in this wardrobe. Originally, I had pictured that our heroine would have a color palette like this - long on yellow and brown, with grey accents:

As we look for additions to this wardrobe, it becomes evident that this much yellow was going to be a LOT of yellow. First up, yellow's not all that easy to wear, even if it flatter you. And secondly, it's not that easy to find!

So after a bit of thought, our heroine made a change in the proportions of colors she desired in her wardrobe:

She might change it again. These things ... View the Post

April 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Winter Cottonwoods by Georgia O’Keeffe

April 13, 2026

Our heroine the expert in indigenous plants, and the uses thereof in landscaping, has chosen this painting as the leitmotif of her wardrobe:

She has, as a result, this color palette for her wardrobe. Her hope is that she can show in a small, personal way, the beauty of subtle, natural colors.

It does help that her personal coloring is soft and subtle!

At the end of March, her wardrobe of 16 pieces was thus:

Before her April shopping, our heroine studied her existing wardrobe, and her color palette, at some length. She needed to decide if she was serious about including grey in her wardrobe. Her heart said yes, and her painting certainly agreed!

Also, she wanted to expand her wardrobe in a way ... View the Post

April 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

April 10, 2026

Our heroine is pleased with her wardrobe, and MORE pleased with her bank balance! She's trying to give up impulse clothes buying - there are many more important things in the world that she wants - like plane tickets.

Her wardrobe inspiration is this painting - of course it has letters in it! She is an expert in the combination of multiple type faces.

Her color palette includes three neutrals and two lovely, vivid accents:

At the end of March, her very disciplined wardrobe included 16 garments, and dozens of outfit options:

Our heroine gave a lot of thought to her April purchases. She knew that it would be really sensible to add a summer "column" to her wardrobe, thus she immediately chose the ... View the Post

April 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

April 8, 2026

It's a very good thing that our heroine loves all things medieval... Her favorite painting is this beauty:

Her color palette is thus:

At the end of March, our heroine has this 16-piece wardrobe. Versatile, elegant and a touch on the dressy side of life. Maybe still a touch dark...

Early in April, our heroine sat through some VERY long meetings with a group of people dedicated to the renovation of a very famous historic church near Paris. Included in the amusingly eclectic group of attendees was one woman dressed as a medieval nun, and another woman wearing a wimple...

As soon as she got out of there, she was determined to do some very 21st century shopping!

yes, there are people who dress in ... View the Post