Still Here

I am still here, but my painting is back to being a bit spotty. I’m not going to lose my habit completely, but much of the time it’s been every other day.  

On Sunday, I finished a pair of moccasins/booties to wear in the house when I am working and my feet are cold.  In a more normal year, I might not need them at this point, but it’s still cold.  

Since I need some additional mirth in my life, I added a pair of zany socks to the mix. 

Slowly

Slowly, that’s how I paint these days. 

In my basement, working slowly, for a relatively short period of time, I’ve been able to focus and concentrate in a better way. That means it’s taking me 3-4 days to finish one small painting.

In past posts, I’ve mentioned how I tend to focus on paintings with only one object in them or when I’ve tried to branch out and do something slightly more complicated.  It’s taken me a long time to feel like I can try and tackle more complicated scenes, but I’ve been enjoying that lately.  

One thing I’m finding is that it helps to feel a connection to the photo.  I’ve been interested in this photo that I took at Crex Meadows in Wisconsin, but have not felt ready to try it.  That worked a lot better than another one I tried recently.  It was also a photo from the same trip.  For some reason, I thought that I should try to paint that one, since backgrounds are still a mystery and it had an interesting, but blurry background.  I thought it would be easier to tackle, but I was approaching it from the standpoint of something that I “should” do.  It did not go well. 

One other thing……When I’ve finished several recent paintings, I’ve felt that I’ve done the best work that I can currently do and that feels good.  Afterwards, of course, I can see things that I wish I had done differently and areas I’d like to improve.  I also know there are things I can’t even see yet, which also need to be worked on.  However in the moment with a paint brush in my hand, it just feels good to be reaching and stretching. 

I feel a special connection with those paints and that includes the first one that I ever painted of a cat.  It was during the first set of painting classes with Kat.  It was a painting of Ella and by any standards, it is not a good painting.  I was terrified to try and paint a cat, but I did it and when I was done I felt that I had done the best that I could based on what I could do at that point.  

Winter Robin

Welcome to a new month, even though I am always a little sad to say goodbye to March.  March brings some of my favorite snow.  I love the big, wet snowflakes of March.  In addition, it’s always such an unpredictable month.  Usually, there are several teaser days in the high 50s or low 60s and everyone seems to radiate an inner joy that the cold dark days are over or at least approaching the end, because, of course, it’s still March. Those teaser days happened 2 weekends ago and it was glorious to have them fall on a weekend. After that, it’s been back to cold, snow, and one recent morning, where we got freezing rain, rain, sleet, and snow, all within a short period of time.  

March is a little like being on a roller coaster, emotionally and weather-wise. 

With that, welcome to April.  In addition to keeping up my creative habit, it’s time to start gardening.  It’s too early to do anything outside, but it is time to get seeds started in the basement.  By mid-month, I should be able to transplant the violas into pots, since they can handle some cold, and move some of the hardier herbs from the basement to the enclosed front porch.  Some years, I do plant arugula outside, but more towards the end of the month.  

From a painting perspective, I am still working slowly.  I think I worked on this one for 4 days and it’s only a 5” x 7”.