Peter

Last night, my husband and I took our two daughters out to dinner.  On the way home, we were discussing jobs for the future.  Gwynn, my 16 yr old, who works very hard to maintain an A-B average, said that she wanted to be a radiologist.  Grace, 14, who has straight A's and never opens a book, chimes in.  "I'm going to be a professional Gold digger, and see how that goes."  Somehow, I've let my third child slip through the cracks!


What that has to do with today's painting?  Absolutely nothing.  I just thought it was funny and shared it.  This is my version of  the famous French artist, Pierre Brisson's work.  My daughter Gwynn looked at it and said, "is it suppose to be abstract?"  I replied "yes".  Then she commented, "good, because it's proportions are all wrong!"  Therefore, where Brisson's work hangs in museums, mine is destined to the closet under the stairs, where all my unfortunate paintings live!

David

12 x 12

Mix Media

What a great day! My car is in the shop, so I get to stay home all day and paint. My son took my youngest daughter to school, therefore, I haven't had to get out any. I should be cleaning up the house, but I don't want to. So, Tommy will have to just be satisfied with having a happy wife tonight when he gets home instead of a clean house!

This was something I did this morning just for the fun of it. It isn't the best piece I've ever done, but it was a painting I had in my mind for several weeks, and finally got around to doing it. Actually, the photo doesn't do it justice. I put several layers of crackle paste on the wood panel first, then lightly washed paint on it, and finished it off with oil pastels. Now, I'm off to start my next painting!

Celebration Of A Life

                                                              Road To Montalcino
                                                                       36 x 36
                                                                        (Sold)

When I was 2 yrs old, outside of my church, a man saw me and said "I claim you one day for my daughter in law". 26 years later, I did indeed become what Tom Prewitt laid claim to. Needless to say, I had a long history with this man. Not all of it was in any stretch of the way, the ideal American family story, but I loved this man and he touched many lives throughout his life. We lost Tom aka"Duke" this week after a year of fighting cancer. Everyday, he was determined to find something to laugh about, and most importantly to "live" each day he had left, making an impact on someone's life. He did indeed do this. He wrote, "It (cancer) cannot silence our sense of humor nor rob us of our new found integrity; nor anything else we experience as we trudge along the Road of Happy Destiny. Cancer cannot take anything we don't give it. Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Neither chemo, the poison pill, radiation, cyberknife, scans, good news nor bad news, neither predictions, nor anything else in all the world of cancer and disease, will be able to separate us from the Love of God that is ours in Christ Jesus."

I painted this the other night when I couldn't sleep. It was from a memory I had from my trip to Italy.

Morning Exercise

My new favorite artist, Robert Burridge, suggests doing several quick warm up paintings every morning to get you going.  This pear is one I did on watercolor paper toned a bright orange color.  These exercises help get over the first initial fear I sometimes feel as I start new paintings.   Some of them are yuck, but others are worth keeping.  It gives me something go back to when I want to do a larger painting.  It's like keeping a journal of different color combinations and schemes.

The Not So Dreaded Commission Piece

24 x 48
(Sold)

This is the Dreaded Commission piece that I had such a difficult time producing.    Actually, once it was finished, I liked it.  I guess it helps that the person purchasing it loved it.  It was just intimidating to paint an abstract piece, not really knowing what she wanted.  I really like doing abstracts.  I know they aren't for everyone, but every once in awhile, they can be fun to do.

I went to two art shows this week.  I walked around looking at all the different styles, some I liked, some I didn't.  It was so reassuring because my "weekly artistic life lessons" became that much more real to me.  First and foremost, paint for myself, not for someone else.    Also, you cannot wait until you get better.  Do the best you can now, today.  And you will get better at what you want to create.

Ode To Prada!

What a day yesterday was!  First thing was that my big commission piece was a hit!  My precious friend and supporter of my work, Blair, was the one that got me the commission from her friend.  When I showed Blair it yesterday, I could tell she was a little worried.  So, I took it home and worked on it again.  I had the "what the heck" attitude, and just started changing the design and colors all up.  I put more "ME" in it.  When I showed it to her today, she loved it, and said she was sure her friend would too.

Then 5 minutes later, I stopped by the gas station to get just a couple of dollars of gas.  While I was filling up my car, someone opened my driver side door, reached over to the passenger side and stole my Prada purse, which had my cell phone in it, appointment calendar, etc.  Now,  those that know me, know I'm not an extravagant dresser. On most given days, you will find me in jeans and a shirt from Target.  But I loved my Prada purse.  What girl wouldn't?   Needless to say, I was furious.  I never left the gas pump, and they did it right in front of me.  How stupid did I feel?

Then it took reading the Blog of a 15 yr old boy, whose mother is one of my artist "Black Eye Pea" friends, to get me really calmed down and Ok with it.  His post quoted a verse.  "Rejoice, again I say rejoice".  In hard times, trust Him and rejoice.  Instantly I was better.  I was still upset, yes, but it could have been my car stolen, or hijacked with one of my children in it.  So thank you Fox for your reminder.

So, what did I do last night?  Started painting something fun, fast, and different.  Pears and flowers.  Abstract ones.  How fun was that! It was all in my attitude.  Sorry about the Prada,  but proud of my Pears! 

It's A New Day!

                                                     Thank Goodness For Drip Trees!

Nothing like a drip tree to get you out of a funk! They are fun, happy, and colorful. I haven't posted in almost two weeks, because I've been working on the "dreaded commission" pieces. Three of the four I was asked to paint were a delight to do. Why? Because they were me, mine, Cissy's. The largest, a different story. Why? Because it was "So and So's style". The moral of this story, BE TRUE TO YOURSELF!

So, knowing that everything has a purpose in my life, what have I learned. This is my artistic journey. I have to stop trying to please and appeal to everyone. Paint what I enjoy painting. Paint for myself, and not others. Paint simply because I love to paint.

Here are a couple of points that I learned this week from Robert Burridge. I just hope I can live by them from now on.

- A strong commitment to your work - surround yourself with only friends who support your commitment.

- Stay positive. Believe you can achieve your painting goal. You're halfway there in achieving it. A goal is a dream with deadlines.

- Enjoy what you do. Painting should not be torture.

- You cannot wait until you get better. Do the best you can now, today. And, you will get better at what you want to create.