Saturday
5:00 am – Wake up due to back pain. Roll around a little trying to get comfortable, ignoring the hopeful panting of the dog. Finally, I give up and feed the crew, then get dressed, etc.
6:00 am – Arrive at the park. Check on the red-tailed hawk (RTH) nest. I see a baby today!
7:00 am – On way back from park get groceries.
8:00 am – Food stowed, begin downloading photos of RTH nest to see if I really did see a baby. Spend far too long creating the above video.
10:00 am – Must get serious. Clean off art table area.
11:00 am – Now I can work. Eye the various projects. Not appealing. I’ll start something new.
12:00 pm – Lunch.
1:00 pm – Return to work. Accidently pick up an in-progress piece and finish. This is a first draft of my piece for the Hoffman Gallery‘s October show “Word & Image”. Lauren Mallett has provided a poem worthy of a thousand ideas, and this is just the first one.
2:00 pm -I can’t possibly paint. The dog needs a walk.
3:00 pm – Okay. Focus. I volunteered to teach an exploratory seminar at the fall WSO convention titled “Dynamic value studies with liquid charcoal”. Maybe I should learn something about it? Spend the rest of my day applying washes, watching videos, creating my presentation, and sorting through reference photos.
6:00 pm – Dinner, then movie.
Sunday
5:00 am – Wake up due to back pain. I’m tired of this. My alarm is at 6:00.
6:00 am – Arrive at the park. I see two babies today!
7:00 am – Begin weekly food prep. Trying to work on eating just a little better. (Secret goal – to loose 10 pounds by Labor Day.)
8:00 am – Play a computer game. Eye my art pile guiltily.
9:00 am – Leave for dog nosework practice.
1:00 pm – Return home. Finish food prep.
2:00 pm – Work more on my presentation. Already a bunch of ideas haven’t worked out. If I ever do this again, I’m going to make sure I know what I’m doing BEFORE I volunteer.
My plan is to do an intro, do a warm up, then provide three exercises on pre-loaded paper. Pears seem like a good way to start. Simple, but lots of room for lights and darks.
Second exercise is something with a figure. Heron? This isn’t bad, but I think the drawing element might freak out some people. Back to drawing board (ha!)
Finally, I want to end with something that plays with adding color for excitement. A landscape?
Well, I have until September to get it right.
4:00 pm – A little sound goes off in my head. I have deadlines coming up. I look through the pile. The Emerald Downs Equine Art Show! I spend too much money at American Frame picking out simple frames for my three selected pieces. The paintings will need to be shipped in mid July, but my experience is that it’s better to order sooner rather than later. I write out a check and fill out the entries forms for the show. In the mail tomorrow.
Which pieces you wonder?
5:00 pm – That reminds me, I need to send in an entry for the American Academy of Equine Art. When is that deadline again? (July 17.)
And now I’m writing my weekly blog before I settle down for a Sunday evening. Oh, wait. Laundry… that’s right.
I’m tired. Can I go back to my day job?
Addendum
I hit post and then remembered I wanted to tell a pair of friends my thoughts are with them.
The amazing “L”, hero of weeks past, lost her father this week. It was not unexpected, but it’s always hard.
And I heard a couple of days ago that an instructor I know lost her husband this week to a COVID-related illness. My heart goes out to the family.
Be safe, my friends.