This weekend I had a long conversation with a friend about covid / lockdown / 2020 mess. Her point was that we should stay inside and be as safe as possible, treating any are out of your house as hot lava, to be avoided and if forced to go over it, as quickly as possible. I don’t necessarily disagree, but…
Things have been a little dark in my life lately, both figurately and literally. I’m struggling a little with depression and my breathing problems have resurfaced, none of which makes me feel better. I’ve put myself on a strict schedule which means I’ve been getting up and heading out for the first walk of the day in the dark. I’m…
This has not suddenly become a financial website. I’m just pondering buying a real set of acrylics. I’ve been painting (mostly) in watercolor since 2006. I’ve done a few acrylic paintings and certainly done more with mixed media. I’ve even tried oil painting. But, by and large, I’ve resisted investing in another medium because I have so much invested in…
I am going to make a bold claim. Artists don’t know what they are doing. Every artist starts out with a basic idea that can be summed up as, “Let’s try this.” And at some point, it doesn’t work. Some artists mitigate this failure by doing sketches, value plans, and studies. Some artists just start applying paint and fix problems…
This may be a bold post. It may be a controversial post. It may even be heretical. Brace yourself. Palettes are stupid. *** Forgive me a history lesson. When, as an adult, I began taking watercolor classes, I was given a list of supplies. The list included brushes, paintings, paper, and a palette. I happily went down to my local…
As I mentioned in my last post, this weekend the kittens arrived home. Frankly, I’m surprised I got anything else done. As you can hear in the background, Key was less than impressed. He barked. He whined. He hid under the bed. Later in the weekend he calmly sniffed one through the x-pen and got a cookie. I expect it…
I have this weird theory that probably won’t make sense. My theory is that to get me to do something (at least painting-wise), I must be allowed to do the exact opposite. After posting various news yesterday, I woke up today ready to paint. My list of “should” paintings is long, but the one I most want to get rid…
It’s my story that the last two weeks of not posting or doing art have not been my fault. And I’m gonna stick to it. The last few posts at the end of August were about the finishing of two paintings for an upcoming show. I worked hard on them, and the remaining steps were to varnish the panels and…
Let’s face it. This month has not gone according to plan. I started out thinking I would work on the Cheltenham Gold Cup painting I mentioned here. Then I got word that the For the Seventh Generation show was on and worked mostly on that. Along the way, I apparently missed a couple of assignments. Week 1 – I can’t…
One of the things I find fascinating about painting intuitively, as opposed to with a plan, is that the initial plan evolves (devolves?) drastically. Take “Barometer Drop.” I first posted about this painting March 17. It next appeared August 17, after I got word that the show was indeed still on. I hadn’t done anything to it in the five…