A collection of stories, thoughts and good vibes from my back porch

I mentioned in my newsletter I was selected to be a participating artist in this project. I even had some nice pictures I was going to include in the newsletter, but I spaced out and forgot. 

This is definitely an exciting project for me! I get to have access to private land on which to paint, and there is an abundance of subject matter out there. I wanted to at least include a few pictures. I'll be keeping a blog of my time out there, along with pictures. 

Nice sky - it was about an hour before sunset.

This nettle is huge! That is my tube of lip balm there for reference.

So what happens to me sometimes? I fall into a funk and wonder - is it worth it, am I worth it??? Can I paint? Why can't I paint? Why am I stuck? Do I suck? I don't like what I do, I'm frustrated, it all looks so monochrome... it's muddy....it's too busy...it's overworked...I. HATE.THIS.....ah, what the hell....I give up...

And then I pick up a brush. I put some paint on the palette, mix a little, apply to the canvas, and all of a sudden, it's all gone - all the doubt, the fear, and it's just me and the canvas, duking it out. Sometimes it comes right together, and sometimes it takes a while. but once I start, it just happens. My friend, Lynn, told me it's the language of my heart that shows up. And I believe it is. 

My heart feels alive when I am painting - when there are no distractions, and I am in "the zone," with just some music in the background, a glass of wine nearby, and a thought emerges onto a canvas. My heart language.... my heart is speaking through my hands. I can change the direction - I can add, I can omit. I can embellish. I am using what is inside me, the gift, and the fruit is what is created on the canvas. 

I got to where there were several paintings - older ones - in my studio that I just got tired of seeing. So I took them down, out of the frames. Some of them I gave away, some are on the floor, leaning against the wall in a corner of the studio. I started new ones. And the new ones I like...now...eh, maybe after a few months some of those will have the same fate. 

But I know this for sure - I will keep painting, and I will keep trying to paint the next one better than the last. And for those couple of paintings I've been struggling with for months - I will eventually complete them, and I'll be happy with them. 

I read something the other day that I had to put on the front page of the website -"The thing about art is that life is in no danger of being meaningless." - Robert Genn

As long as I am painting, my life has meaning. I am happiest when I am painting.  

A friend of mine asked me to do a painting of a location I have never been. She let me know a few specifics, and I agreed on a size. I usually like to either paint on location or from a sketch (or even a photo) I did on location. Painting from a photo of a place I have never seen is a challenge, because I don't know the feel of the place. Nevertheless, I took on the commission and did it over the weekend. Here are my steps.

My first thing is to tone the canvas with a neutral color. I usually do a very light wash of Ultramarine blue mixed with either Burnt Umber or Alizarin Crimson, again, very lightly covering the entire canvas with one color. I then lay out the sketch in a darker mix, and I block out some of the lighter areas with mineral spirits or water, depending on how I want it to go. Lately, since I use water-miscible oils, I have been reserving the mineral spirits to clean the palette only. 

Step 1:

I did this Friday evening - at this point, the paint is thin enough so that tomorrow it will be dry enough to start the next step. 

Step 2

Saturday afternoon - I usually lay in the sky and ground blocking in the darker colors first. It now needs a little drying time before tomorrow's session.

Step 3 - Sunday morning

I then lay in the darker tones of the main objects, and anything in front, I may work with a knife. In this case, since I wanted to highlight the red bud trees in the front, I used a knife to cut in the branches against the darker background. 

Final steps - Monday (ok, it was a long weekend)

I then lay in the branches, highlights, and final touches (like the red bud blooms), using a palette knife for texture and shadows, and finish it out. Here is the final outcome: