This was a tough week for me. As I have mentioned, I have been struggling with back pain. Last Friday (9 days ago), I finally made it into the chiropractor, which lessened the acute discomfort, but didn’t solve the problem. Tuesday Ii went back for another appointment and he adjusted my hips. When he did the right side, I thought I would pass out. Wednesday I had to call my regular doctor for more drugs and toyed with the idea of going to the emergency room. When I went back to the chiropractor on Friday, I told him about it, and whether through coincidence or care, he got the adjustment right. I’m still sore, but I’ve been able to resume schedules and habits that resemble normal. Friday night was the first night in two weeks that I slept through the night.
Giddy from this success, I decided to head out to Baskett Slough to see if I could see the Gyrfalcon that everyone is talking about. No dice (as usual), but toward the end of my drive I found something almost as exciting.
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- Male horned lark, full breeding plumage, looking for a mate (heard its song.)
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- Note position as king of the hill.
I was so happy, I came back home and plunged into two new paintings using a technique I had thought about, but never done.
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- Using a rubber brush, I outlined the bird in pure watercolor paint.
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- I let the paint dry, then worked the body area. The watercolor paint stays textural, but also bleeds, creating a nice color harmony.
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- For this Northern Shoveler, I used a darker hue (Windor Green, blue hue.) used
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- The result has a pleasing (to me) graphic quality.
I plan to enter these into the ODFW Stamp Art Competition. Though I like them, and they are correct in color, markings, and conformation, I don’t have high hopes for the prize. The winner tend to favor VERY detailed renderings, and background is a factor in the judging. As you can see, I have (deliberately) left the background white. I may change my mind on the streaked horned lark (“King of the Hill”) because I think a dark background might set him off more.
These are three ideas (computer generated.) I need to ponder for a while, but I’m tempted to leave it alone and go with my original idea.
Over the weekend, I received word that my painting, “Transition” was accepted into the WSO Spring Exhibition.
“Transition”
It’s always exciting, and acceptance weekend is always fun because Facebook is filled with images of my friends’ paintings that got in. Congrats to everyone!
In spite of my time driving and then painting, I remained well enough on Sunday to tackle nosework practice, a small furniture rearrangement, and a massive house clean. Six loads of laundry, two loads of dishes, and weekly food prep. With struggling to just remain… alive?… over the last few weeks, the house has been lowered below even my housekeeping standards. But it’s a new week, and with this post finished, I’m ready to take it on.
Let’s not make it too challenging though, huh? I think we could all use a break!