Christmas is coming.....

One of the precious pieces of Wallis paper got used today!  I discovered that chamois does a great job of removing trees, you can see a ghost image if you look closely.  Of course this is a view of Acadia, we took a long hike last year, following a mysterious set of stairs at one end of Sand Beach....we were well rewarded with some beautiful cliffs. 

 

Christmas is a few weeks away, and I have only purchased one present.   I am avoiding watching TV as I get so tired of the commercial's and the hype.  Thanksgiving is now about Black Friday, and Christmas is about gifts...really?  

December 1st

My friend Martha celebrates her "Birthday Month", and I think this is a wonderful idea!  I am going to give myself a gift every day, it won't be "things" but real gifts.  One is permission to use my good paper and don't worry about using it up!  I am going to set aside 31 pieces of Wallis paper to "waste" every day this month and I am going to enjoy it!  I am going to give my self permission to burn a few paintings too, and gesso over even more. 

This is of Sand Beach in Acadia on Wallis paper.  There are a lot of things I love about this painting, mostly that I did not approach it as precious, I just had fun.  Having fun will be my biggest gift to myself this month.  I think that is an awesome way to honor the gifts I have been already given by the one who I share my birthday with! 

Acadia Drive

Today is the last day of rifle season here, so tomorrow no more excuses for long walks.

I moved my french easel upstairs  for the winter...it worked well last year to have a painting in progress that I can work on in bits and pieces throughout the day. I hope to keep a painting going on in my studio also, but it can get chilly this time of year.

 This scene is from Acadia.  I even love the rainy days there.

October 27th.

Today was the first day of deer season here in Maine, but I did not remember that until I got home from my early morning walk, safely.  I heard a shot when I was coming out of the woods, but I just assumed it was someone after birds....

I took this reference as I came out of the woods, it was a foggy morning, punching up the intensity of the colors.  This is a mixed media, starting with a triad of watercolor, then a little acrylic for fun, and then I rescued it with a dash of pastel.  Then I spent a productive but painful hour breaking my pastels in half.  It hurt a bit, but they are much easier to use this way, and I have room for more!

Rainy Morning in the Studio

We stopped for a picnic at the newly landscaped scenic turnout at the "height of land" just south of Rangeley.  I painted the typical view of Mooselookmeguntic, but as I was getting in the car I looked up the road and took the reference for this.  It was a perfect day all around.

Today rain kept me inside and I did this quick pastel sketch.

Summers Final Month

I did this pastel two weeks ago, it almost ended up in the woodstove, but after careful consideration I kept it, for now.  It was one of those very hot humid days, and a winter scene was in order.

Owyn, and getting back on track.

I purchased some velour at the art store in Rockland, and decided to actually try it out instead of saving it, (for what?).  Owyn is my grandpuppy, and he is a cutie.  Some parts of this really bother me, and I will try again, but one thing with velour, you cannot remove the pastel and it gets full, so you can not add any, so at some point you are done.  I am fairly satisfied with this, as it does look like Owyn, and people keep telling me I am to hard on myself.

I have a still life on the easel and I am going to try to get back to painting daily.  Looking back I could see that I was making progress, and now I have to start all over.  Daily painting works.