... to try

I am going to try.

Again.

I am going to try again to paint and post photos of the paintings I have done.

No promises.
No apologies.

I cannot not paint. I will always see my little world through the lens of "If-I-were-painting-this-I- would-do-it-this-way...." I love translating everything into dark and light patterns and making color decisions.

I love working.

I am going to try.

...it's been so long, I can't remember how to do anything......

I just spent a few hours painting in my studio....
I used to think I was an pretty good painter. All such confidence is gone.
That is probably a good thing. I have gotten tighter and tighter in rendering. Need to loosen up.

So that is what I concentrated on with a  small composition of a sunflower. If I can stand what I did by tomorrow I will post a photo of it (if I remember how...)

I have also started a landscape painting of an area of the river which I always find interesting. After I came back to the house after painting, I decided to smash into that landscape a bit too.... to loosen it.

I wonder if I can paint again????????

2014 was in many ways truly discouraging.
I will make 2015 be a better one!

...lost.....

This has been a most discouraging time. After the disaster of the failed Open House, I have not been able to pull myself into my studio. So far in 2014, I have finished two very small paintings and not bothered to post either of them. Right along with that, nothing has been sold all year.

I am truly feeling lost and that no one notices or cares and that includes me.....

The one bright spot has been the installation by a dear friend, Dave, of a set of shelves on the west wall of my studio for the display of small paintings. They are lovely and the paintings look well displayed.

I have considered making a Web Site.... perhaps that would bring a bit of interest... or not.... My despondency stems from a rejection of my work to a web site long long ago. The person in charge said that my work was too ordinary. I guess he is right. It is so ordinary that no one notices it. I am considering making paintings which are MUCH more loosely constructed.... I am also considering just quitting. Never to paint again. I think I will go lose myself by watching a movie.

Here goes 2014!

A palette is the most interesting tool I have available. It holds all the pigments I have available to create all, every, and each color imaginable! And the space to mix them ~ each and all! 

 

To start this 2014 year I decided to clean mine. If possible, I will send the photo I just took of my fresh, clean palette with my,as yet, very mysterious tablet. It is quite stunning to this old lady to be able to discover the tablets' abilities! Even a few of them....one by one. (I love that it knows to start sentences with capital letters!)

 

Back to the palette.. I did save a few bits of paint as I cleaned it. They were fresh and still usable!

 

I started a painting a few days ago so that when I came back to the studio, I

I would have something under way ....started...would not need to figure out totally new thoughts....But now I am thinking,WHY NOT!?!

Very few people are at all interested in what I have been painting....Perhaps this is a time for NEWNESS!

(I wish I knew how to make grammatical corrections on this tablet...many are needed. I will discover that as I go step by step too!)

 

I will not immediately toss out all that I have been doing, just approach my paintings with a new outlook.... with less hesitancy...more willingness to accept what I wish to do....more artistic courage.

 

So,off I go.....new year, new steps to take... small and timid for now.....Deep breath....I am off!

(Sent from Samsung tablet)

Christmas 2013

"View of Bethlehem"

8" x 8"  Oil on Canvas Panel  

Isn't Christmas in out hearts wonderful! The story, the symbols, the colors bring quiet joy. Today is the day for putting Nativity Sets on display, for decorating a tree, and for contemplation.

Mt. Harrison Autumn

Mt Harrison Autumn  Oil on Canvas Panel     16" x 20"  

My grandmother lived about 9 miles from our home. The trip included crossing the Snake River which I always loved as a child. I loved seeing the river calm, like in this painting, wild, choppy.... whatever, The colors were always interesting in all seasons. We visited often, so I saw the river often. It still holds charms for me. I enjoy drawing and painting it in many seasons with or without a view of Mt. Harrison included.

 Raven

Oil in Gallery Wrapped Canvas Panel   24"x24"

Sold

 

 

 

Connor's Creek at the Bend

Oil on Canvas  24"x20

sold

 

Two commissions finished and approved!

 

That approval is always a wonderful event! Doing commissioned work always includes at least twice the pressure. I always want to make the best painting I can to please my own aesthetic sense. Add to that the desire to please someone else and their wishes for the work; to make it the best for them too.

 

Now on to other challenges! Happy Monday!