Craving

Blue Saliva, work in progress

I'm craving to paint today.
Not for money, or for commission, or to have a new painting to sell, but to paint. To feel the brush in my hand, to mix colors and to apply pigment to paper.
And as I paint, I feel like I'm at home. I want to paint forever - or the rest of the night at least.

As I paint my thoughts are fluttering around as I go from leaf to leaf with no real pattern or method. Just like a butterfly , I go from perch to perch; "this color caught my eye, -it must be darker here." I am here for me - me alone.

I don't want to stop. I am in the moment - I am high. My music sounds better, the lawn mower outside my window sounds delicious - summer is coming. Lawns will need mowing, my flowers will grow. New paintings in the making.

I paint paying attention to the details. Today is about details, about joy, about me. I am doing exactly what I want to do at this very moment.

Still, I feel restless. Paint faster? Get up? I can't get up.
I am fixated by a hue of green in part shadow by a flower.
Don't stop - fixate- become obsessed. Paint in joy and love. 
Love it, love this moment.
                                 Jill Rae Martin-Golden

Trying Dr. Ph. Martin's Today

I'm in the studio playing with my new 

Dr. Ph. Martin's today.

I was drawn to Dr. Ph. Martin's because of their vivid colors. I'd like to brighten my watercolors a bit - Could these be the answer. The plan last night was to paint the night away. But I found these paints to be less willing to blend with the colors already on the page, unlike my traditional watercolors. It's a technique I use often and really love about painting. Anyway, I stopped about 1 AM last night. I was feeling a bit frustrated. But I'm not willing to give up yet. The top of my "To Do" list today is paint. I have many things started and am hoping to play a game of musical paints today as I work on many of these pieces.

I will report back with my final thoughts after a bit more experience.

My 30 in 30 Collage

What fun it was to do the 30 in 30 challenge. Although, I must admit that for me it was a 28 in 30 challenge. I feel good about it. This proves that there is always time for art. In the month of September my daughter turned 30, I had an anniversary, my husband and I went away for five days, I had a two day art show, with another two day show to get ready for on the 3rd and 4th of October. I found myself down and out on the couch on September 12th with a stomach flu and towards the end of the month I had dental surgery that hurt more than I thought it would. But the truth is that there is always time for art. To be honest I'm looking forward to getting to bed at my normal time.

I was glad that I didn't pick a theme for the paintings as it was suggested. To me, the 30 in 30 is all about exploring all those subjects and techniques from all the artists and sights that have inspired me recently. I worked in watercolors, oils, pastels, alcohol inks, pens and colored pencils, what a blast!

And okay, now I'll say it. Yes the self portrait was a bit stiff and scarey. (I had made a promise to myself when I started the blog not to be negative - even of myself.) But when my daughter burst out laughing as she saw it that night and told me it was scarey, yes I have to admit she had a point. In my own defense let me say that I used a photograph of myself and I am usually very uncomfortable in front  of the camera as I am usually the one taking the pictures. (I think I capture that unease very well.) And the pink color - Hot Flash, what else? At 12 AM you can't very well start over.

So these are the changes I would like to make;
- I want to continue to blog on a more regular schedule. Two times weekly at least.
- I want to do artwork daily, but not necessary good artwork. I will do daily sketches in my sketchbook. I'd like to improve my drawing skills. A sketch -10 to 20 minutes, not a masterpiece. I will try to share one or two a week. But I want to give my self permission to make a lot of mistakes.
-I like the idea of producing work in one day, so I will produce two pieces a week which are one day deals.
-I would like to spend more time exploring landscapes and abstracts.

So that's that. Thanks Leslie Satea for hosting the 30 in 30, I'm looking forward to the next one - in January? I have to get to my book keeping. Yikes, I know, I'm procrastinating. How often to you do your books?