I have not been here in a very LONG time. It is not that I have not been working and is not that I have not been composing these in my head. It is just that I have not been here.

I am starting with the car because it sparked a change for me. My gallery was sponsoring a themed exhibition that they entitled, "Art of the Car". This was my answer to it. I used mostly pastel pencils which I had never done and I used Wallis paper which I had never used.  Pastel-ist  sing the praises of this paper and I mostly agree.  However, I found that this paper had slick spots! Places where my pencil would just slide across the paper unable to find traction! OMG!! I did all kind of the things to remedy it and got through. 

The exhibition was competitive with cash out out and I placed! Yay! So there I am with FREE money! What to do? What to do?!?! I bought new pastels, of course! I bought Pan pastels because I had never used those and I was curious and with FREE money there was no reason no to!

It is, after all, ll about the exploration, is it not?

An infrequent Visitor....

I return here....head hanging....with swirling thoughts on approaches and influences. I am reminded and surprised about how all things connect.
I am on a bit of a hiatus as I am recuperating from knee surgery. So I am not painting really....just thinking about it.
Knowing that the hiatus was coming and knowing that my group wanted to do a show themed around local produce I created this painting. I was thinking about former influences when I decided to include the DEL MONTE logo. My background is in graphics, which was called ADVERTISING AND ILLUSTRATION when I was in college. It required actually rendering type and logos, which I gained some facility towards and used to work them into my paintings.
Maybe it was a nostalgic stroll....? It did, however, include the boldness that I assigned for myself after the last painting.

Approaches and Influences

I crawl back to the keyboard after doing battle with demons. They are the creative sentinels of the ART GODS. They are the ones that block your entry if the ART GODS deems your offering too puny or too infrequently offered to consider.
I had not been offering watercolor in some time, as I have mentioned and I noticed a few things upon returning to the medium (besides the fact that I was doing it BADLY)
I noticed that my approach to watercolor was now influenced by how I had been approaching oil and pastel. Both of those require a kind of "blocking in" of subjects matter and building from there. Watercolor requires a purer approach. One needs a clear vision of where one is going as the medium is not tolerant to reworkings. Mostly, one has to get it "RIGHT" (what ever THAT means) the first time or the paper deadens.
This is the violets painting that I mentioned a bit ago. I started to get the hang of how to do it again but I am not really happy with the strength of it. SO. This weeks challenge? Find my balls! I am almost ready for those nasty demons now...

Under Seige!

Perhaps I should call this "Mission Creep". We had a little problem with our kitchen floor about 2 months ago....NO problem, we think. Call the tile guy and fix it. Well, the tile guys comes ( after a week and a half of calling different people) and informs us that ALL of tile has to be replaced. *sigh* That somehow lead to new cabinets and new counter tops and re-painting the walls and new curtains and, and, AND!!!!! So every day for years now ( Could it really have been only 2 months???????! I think maybe in dog years), I have a group of guys in my home. doing stuff!!! While I AM grateful, don't get me wrong! I am just starting to wear a bit around the edges. I think I may be Murphy Brown with my own crew of Eldon's. Dear God, no. please let it end and end well. amen.
Ok. We have a little pastel beach. The scene is from Topsail, NC. I am still working towards an art show but these renovations have really caused trouble with my painting schedule. It will be fine tho. As they say, "This too shall pass". .....they just never say when.

Spilled Milk

They say you should not cry over spilled milk. Giving that I am more than a tad lactose intolerant, I tend to agree. My question is, "that does that advise extend to coffee?" What if the coffee is extra bold, extra delicious Starbucks Sumatra coffee with just THE right amount of 1/2 & 1/2 and a magical amount of sugar? Still no crying? Well, as I wiped this liquid libation of the GODS off of my floor, I must admit to shedding a just a few tears...
I am posting the other sky that I did actually from the same scene. It was near the end of the day and the sun was going down. It created such spectacular streaks of orange across the sky that I felt the scene was all for me!!!! I had to stop and do a few quick sketches and to take a couple of quick photos.
This one is a small and very rectangular pastel while the other was acrylic and while still a rectangle, not as extremely so.
Anyway, I am on my way up to the attic to paint. I am working on a boat scene that I started a bit ago but got to a sticking point that I could not see past. I think I MAY see it now. That, remains to be seen! *groan* sorry. Could not help it!!!

Bliss and Joy!!

I realize that I am very lucky in that I do not sweat the small stuff very long. I do what I can and if it is not enough today , I am sure it will be tomorrow. I take pleasure in simple things like the afore mentioned daisies and the dance of the water and art in the clouds! Good Stuff, clouds! I do sketches of them often though I seldom do a completed painting of them.
This is a variation of a sky that I saw near Wilmington a few weeks ago. This one is painted with acrylics. I have done a variation of the same thought in a small pastel painting. They look completely different even though the "inspiration," if you will, was the same for both. This image making is GOOD stuff and I am glad to be a part of it!!

The Question of Significance.....

So I am in my studio in the attic of our house. Sweating bullets. I am working on the watercolor painting that I mentioned, but since the Watercolor GODS still are not speaking to me, this is slooow going. I am at in between spots with a couple abstract acrylics and my question is, "now what?" I look through sketches for what I had tentative thoughts about and came across a few sketches of sea gulls.
We live near the coast so these beach birds abound! I frequently collect old cereal and chips and go out to feed them. While doing this I often sketch and photograph the the birds. I marvel at how they just seem to HANG in the air and think, "This is surely what sparked the Wright brothers!" So I sketch and photograph them and go on with my life. So now. In the studio and in between things, I think. "I know!!!!" I will do one of the sea gull sketches in a decent size pastel!!!! Good Idea! So I take out that new pastel surface that I mentioned earlier and go to work. I get a few more layers on the abstracts, coax and beckoned the Watercolor GODS (to no avail, if you are wondering) and I work on the sea gulls.
So I finish the gulls (I sure say "so" alot. I'll work on that in a different blog) and wonder what is the point?!
What constitutes significant work? While I have NO IDEA of the answer to that question and even wonder if there is any reason to ask....I think the sea gulls may not make it. Oh well. Kittens?