Sisters and Girlfriends

Yesterday I had the pleasure of catching up with a girlfriend I rarely see anymore. A simple hour together, sharing all the going's on of our families - but moreover, learning new things about each other. We never new that we were both into art, being so busy with our husbands and families!

Isn't it always true that from our girlfriends, our sisters, we learn new ways to navigate all the challenges we face as our lives wind their way through time? The act of sharing - opening up about our fears, making each other laugh (laughing at ourselves!), and giving strength in tough times - makes us better people, more open, more confident, more patient.

This painting was done with love for my sister, with whom I share much more than a love of giraffes ;-)

Don't Finish Before You Start!

This morning I was watching my dear friend, Buck Paulson, teach on PBS, and I was struck by how he blocks in the beginnings of his landscape with such looseness and at the same time energy! And finally the light went on - my teacher always says to me "why do you try to finish your painting before you've even started?" Wow - she is so right. I'm always doing paint-by-numbers in the early phases, trying to capture details and highlights before I really get a solid start and lay the foundation.

Truly, I think I do paint best from my own photographs (like Beth's Flowering Plum, in my previous post) undoubtedly because in my memory is every depth of how the scene looked in full dimension, what was the temperature, the sounds around me and the smells! How did it really feel? That's how you get a painting that elicits real emotion from a viewer!

So today while I'm thinking about my next work and how I will try to actually start before I finish, I'm also reminded of a painting that I "finished" but haven't signed because I know there is something wrong. Guess what I did? I tried to start..............after I was finished. Can you see the mistake? I wonder if you can tell? Let me know...........

PS - the name of this piece is "Freedom", for a piece of knowledge I received during the time I painted her, and for my attempt at trying to loosen up a bit.

Gotta Lovett!

When one of my favorite watercolorists was asked "how to you decide what to paint", John Lovett answered in several ways, one of which is to go back to one of your last paintings that you were happy with and think of it as one in a series. So as I still ponder what to paint next since I've been off of painting for a couple months, I think of two paintings I did last year that I was really proud of. Maybe sharing them here will inspire me to indeed, make one of them into some sort of "first" in a series.

The first image I'll share is of "Beth's Flowering Plum", an original oil on canvas painted from an original photo........maybe the first in a series of flowers with water droplets?

Whine not?

To blog or not to blog? It's a rainy day and I was clicking around and enjoying many a fine art related blog and thought to myself - the technology is there, why not use it? One cannot whine about not understanding how to use the latest technology unless one dives in and gives it a try! Like digital photography! What did we do before having our digital cameras? Now we click away ad infinitum like we never would have in the days before digital. And so here I am...........

With a brand new blog, complete with some of my favorite blogs to share, and a slideshow of some of my original photographs.............

And I still don't know what to paint next. That's where it all started, you know - not knowing what on earth to paint next. Painter's block. Yep, so now I am a painter with a painter's blog, but also still.....................

Painter's block. (Do I look like I'm whining?) Maybe I should paint that bird................