#93, Wilton Road Farm

This is a small, postcard sized gouache.  We pass this barn on the way back to town, I just love old barns.  This time of year there are a couple cows tied outside.   I am feeling a little better about painting today.  Doing it every day really keeps you in shape, and I am quite rusty, but I am going to plug away!

Hopefully this is the last Winter scene for a while.  My lilac bushes are half way leafed out, the grass almost needs to be mowed and my daffodils are blooming away....

Painting 92, I'm Back!

I have had a long vacation from painting, and while I have a long list of excuses, (laptop crashed, camera won't interface with new laptop, helping kids move into new home, severe eye inflammation, lack of inspiration), it has been a very depressing time for me.  Every day I thought about painting, and every day I felt I had let myself down, but I still felt like my brain was full of glue and I could not paint.  I bought the book , "Art and Fear" and it reaffirmed the need to just work.  All the angst I went through did confirm for me that I am meant to do this.  So, the break was a good thing, no matter how painful.

One of my "issues" is still that I am "wasting" materials.  I don't know why I can't get past that.  This pastel of a local barn was done on Wallis paper, a very precious surface.  The next two days I did small gouache paintings on postcard size paper, and I am pleased.  They serve two purposes, I can do one per day, and they make great color studies for larger pieces.  I will post them tomorrow.

I wrote to Dick Blick for samples of the new product from Canson, the Touch paper.  They sent me samples of all the colors, and while the surface is not as gritty as the Wallis, I think I might like it. So, back to work!

Painting 91

Snow shoeing is getting a little rough due to lack of snow! This is a long over due post. Family obligations and lack of inspiration have slowed down my painting, but this morning I woke up to 34 degrees and took the dogs for their early morning walk. My camera did not get used, but soon it will and hopefully the paintings will follow. I am longing to get outside and paint!

Day 90

Marshes seem to be my "thing" this year. We have gone for several rides just looking for photo ops of them. This is another of Thompson Marsh near Acadia. We plan on a week there in about three long months.

My painting muse seems to be on vacation, this one took a week. I have been relearning how to cut a mat by hand, and I did manage to do one without need for bandaids. Now off to find some inspiration for the next one!

Day 89

I took this reference while snowshoeing out back. As I get older I enjoy snowshoeing more than cross country skiing, I think it is because you don't tend to fall as often.

This is my second painting on my own ground. Somewhere hiding in plain sight is a cat's paw print, can you find it? Both cats love to wander around on wet paintings, over a palette and now this.

Between painting sessions today we washed and brushed both collies. The cats could use a bath too, but that is for a later date!

Day 88

This was my first on my hand made ground. My first layer was terribly streaky, due to the texture of the ground. I did an underpainting with it and I used the texture to my advantage, then I went back and put a second layer of ground on the rest of the ones I had prepared. I noticed some little cat prints on them.

Yesterday was perfect for snowshoeing. The snowmobile trails behind the house have not been packed down yet, so we did the best we could. More snow is needed. We now have a nice path through the woods and onto the trails. I took a few photos and will be posting the paintings soon!

Day 87

Last weekend we had the most amazing view of a sunset from our living room window. I played with this for a week, pushing and pulling.

Today we woke up to well below zero temps (-13) and frozen water. There are always a few anxious moments when we wait for those pipes to thaw, but they did and the morning went on.

Yesterday I started to prepare some of my own grounds for pastel. I am using watercolor paintings I am not pleased with and putting a coat of acrylic gesso and pumic on them. Later today I will try it out. I must stop using the Canson paper, as I am not pleased with the results, but I am not accomplished enough in pastel to "waste" my Wallis paper on these learning exercises.