When I was a child my nightmares were always the same. I was in bed, & a large light blue blanket was coming at me, trapping me in a corner, trying to suffocate me! I always awoke terrified, with this ongoing nightmare! Was I actually remembering something that was really happening to me? Now looking […]
And, I keep looking for the coins! I keep pretty close watch on my cushions on the chairs, & sofa. Go figure – they are clean – no crumbs, no Kleenex, no coins! The floors of the car, well that's another story. They are harder to keep clean, & never any coins! I always dream […]
I said there were many unfinished canvases in my studio, and I was planning on finishing them. The more they sat there, the more I started to think, “If they haven’t said anything so far, maybe even they don’t know where to go with themselves!” So I grabbed a second unfinished painting, and gessoed over it. Ha! I’ll show it! Gessoed over it very lightly, so the under layer of a mix of Quinacridone Burnt Orange, and Quinacridone Gold still showed through in places. Then the sky came to life with some light blue, and next but not last, I lightly brushed in some violet, orange, and yellow. That ‘s just the sky!
Now the trees!
The larger trees were already roughed in with tissue paper, so my decision to paint trees was already made. I just followed through, and added some more trees, but decided to emphasize the bigger trees since they were standing out in the first place. No big decisions there! At some point, my thoughts have gone to, “Enough time wasted on this, let’s get down to business!” While I love to keep playing with my trees, I also want to decide on what to do next, and start something else!
My ideas are all over the place, and usually I tend to jump in feet first, sink or swim……usually sink! It would be nice to do a little more planning for the next one. The funny thing is, I love the spontaneity of not knowing where I’m going, or how I’ll get there. I love letting the painting take the lead, with Happy Accidents at the finish of the painting! The very thing I love the most, is the very thing that trips me up the most! Is it the planning that is the problem, or is it the subject matter? Or, am I not listening?
How many of you have the same problem, or do you have answers that I hadn’t thought of? Let me know because I’ve been struggling here, and someone must have answers….
The trees are speaking……
After playing with lighting, and watching my trees, I pretty much decided to keep playing with them. My trees are not finished, but still need shadows, more lights, and darks!
While I’m finishing up my trees, I’m also getting ready for another class. This class will be all day at ArtBeat on Main Street. This is a fairly new gallery in the heart of Vista, Ca, that took me by surprise when I walked in. The ladies that own tArtBeat are down to earth, and easy to know. They seem to have put together a gallery rarely seen in this area! It really belongs further south in Del Mar, or La Jolla. It’s that classy! So when my friend, and artsy sister said she was taking this class, at her urging I checked it out, and was pleasantly surprised. The artist teaching will be Scott W. Prior, an artist well known in the art community.
We’ll talk…
Isn't "Happily Ever After" a state of mind? Everyone has problems, rich poor, young, & old. But it's how we choose to view our problems that make a difference! Do we learn, & grow from the things that touch our lives? Or, do we sit & complain about everything being against us, & what a […]
I would not want to live my life over again! While I have no regrets, would anyone want to relive the painful teens, or bad marriages? Not me! I'm in a really good place right now, & I have always believed that all the things we go through in life make us who we become! […]
And more practice!
Recently I was in a workshop at the Artist Tree in San Marcos. The artist giving the class was Cathy Carry, and if you aren’t familiar with her work, please take time and look her up. Cathy has a distinct style that I haven’t seen in too many present day artists. I’ve always been interested in her work for a number of reasons.So when the opportunity presented itself for this half day class, I jumped on it, and I wasn’t disappointed!
In my February 4 post, I talked about the class, and a little about my history with Cathy Carry.
Last week one of my paintings that wasn’t working, just found itself with a fresh coat of gesso on it, and the beginning of not just a new painting, but a new technique! It started out so well, and just like anything else one is trying to master, went downhill……. There isn’t much else to do to it at this point, except maybe gesso over it once again. However, I’m not going to do that.
Here is Why!
When I’m working on a new technique, I like to look at it, analyze it, let it sink in, and give it a chance to talk to me. That is my process, and in doing that I can see things I don’t want repeated, things I might do differently next time, or even things I really love about the painting. This painting has all of that! I have posted pictures from beginning to end, and I don’t think I’m going to go any further on it, but rather keep it so I might be reminded of what direction I want to go, and what direction I never want to go again!
The pictures are also an attempt at stomping back my ego, and get over myself! After all you can’t be perfect right out of the gate, and how can I develop a style if I don’t practice, practice, practice?
Taking pictures of my work as I’m painting is one of the ways I find things that might, or might not be working. I’ve done this for years, and it has helped me a great deal. As I’m gathering the pictures to include in this post, I’m seeing new things that I like, and things I realize now I don’t want to repeat. So thank you one and all for prompting me to keep writing, and to me for listening to you. I’m learning as I sit here and blog!
P.S….As I look at this painting, and trying to figure out what isn’t working, I’m seeing many things that I hadn’t seen before. I said it was finished, but I’m going to play with it just a little more, and then my intentions are to leave it alone, call it finished, and learn from it!
Old as Dirt and Proud of it! 
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