Sunday, June 29, 2014

Rusty and Charlie Share Their Opinions About Their Paintings

Terri's happy with the painting but are Rusty and Charlie?        
Charlie: "Do you think it makes me look fat?"
Rusty: "Of course not! You look like you spend your days chasing cars and barking at squirrels. You're  perfectly fit . I on the other hand, didn't know I spend so much time with my mouth open. What is that? What do you think of dogs who constantly walk around with their tongues sticking out? "
Charlie: "You're a lab, it's in our breeding . We're supposed to be loving, loyal, dropping fur constantly and a little slimy. It gives the humans the impression that they are more intelligent than we are. They need that reassurance everyday as they leave the house for that boring place they go to where they sit all day and never bark."
Rusty: "I guess so. How long do you think we have to sit here and act as if we're interested?"
Charlie: "Long enough to hear that click of the camera. I'm pretty sure there will be a treat in it for us when it's all over."
Rusty: "I sure hope so. Its pretty hard to get excited about something we can't chase after, bark at or eat."


Thanks for the picture Terri. It looks great!

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Work to the Printer and Commission Happy - Life is Good

I'm still here. I've taken a bit of a social media vacation but I'm back.

As you know from my last post that I was extremely frustrated with my peony painting and a commission I was working on. I had a self imposed deadline of when I was bringing my work to the printers that I kept pushing back. Well, I went with the printers a week ago with four new Garden watercolors and three new Safari pastels. It felt pretty good - no titles. (Why are titles so hard?) And the person for whom I am doing the commission is happy and likes the progress so far. Life is good.

So, the end of last week was spent preparing for the weekend wedding of my goddaughter Amanda. We had a wonderful time and she had a beautiful wedding.

I was anxious to start some small watercolors of northern Wisconsin in preparation for the Artarama show in Eagle River July 19th. My work stunk.... I guess some days are just like that. Maybe I was still tired and needed some down time. Anyway, I'm back. I can't wait to do more painting! And swimming... and biking... and gardening. Love the summer, don't you? What are you looking forward to this week?

For some reason I'm having problems sending pictures from my I pad. Pictures to come as soon as I figure it out.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Obsessions Over Solving Problems in Painting



I bought a new sketch book last week in the hopes that I would do several sketches a week. My front porch makes a wonderful, cool place to draw in the afternoon when its totally in shade. I had a lot of fun just sketching and am looking forward to many more drawings.

This week the focus is on getting my work done so I can get to the printers by week's end with five new paintings. Three for sure, the last two I'm struggling with. I've been working on my peony painting for awhile now and I'm not sure if I went a bit too far and muddied up some colors. On the other hand, I'm not sure I didn't go far enough. I need to stand back from it and give it some time so I can "live with it" awhile. But I don't seem to be able to do that... I seem to be obsessed with figuring this painting out. I keep going back to it- even though I have three other projects to do and even though I know some separation would  be for the best. I want to solve this problem... now. Pictures coming soon. Maybe.

What do you do when you're at a point like this? When you need to step back a bit and yet can't do it.