Feet Sketches: second

 The words of the Dr. Suess book keep going through my head, "You have a brain in your head and feet in your shoes and you can go wherever you choose." Currently, however, my shoes are empty of feet.

 I have had time to put my feet up and relax these last couple weeks, and it has been wonderful. 

Feet Sketches: the first ones

 I have not painted lately. There is not a burning need to communicate any particular idea, but I do feel lost when I go a long time without creating. Knitting is relaxing and results in the creation of a thing so that is what I do when I have small amounts of down time. Drawing and painting require all of my brain to be focused. I make a plan and then use skills to follow the plan while at the same time being open to adjustments that will make it better. At some points in the process I get lost in the repetiton of dots or hash marks and I like that. People who have never experienced that probably have no idea what I mean, but that's ok.

 I'm starting each day with a short sketch time. For many days it was hard to get started because I could not decide what to sketch. Many of my students often have the same problem. I told myself the same thing I tell them, "There are many correct answers, but a blank paper is not one of them". I looked around and decided to draw my feet.

 The next day, I drew my feet again.

 And again. So it would appear I am interested in feet as a theme. Not sure where this is going, and I think I will continue to draw feet.

Tree Pen Drawings

Lately I can't seem to make time to paint.

These are some pen drawings I made when I was in New Mexico.

When I was there, we each did our own projects in the morning and then after lunch we went out to do something together. It was a nice routine. Too bad I have to go back to work later this week. Since I got back I've been doing things like going to the dentist and cleaning and running errands. A little work in the garden. More time in the garden would be good for me. I need a routine that I can maintain and feels good. I waste a lot of time thinking I need a break. When it gets to be the end of the day I feel terrible that I wasted the gift of time. Next day, same thing. Many people have told me they experience similar frustrations with themselves.

I listened to a talk on the radio yesterday from the Aspen Idea Festival. It was about happiness. Most people think that many choices and less work will make us happy. These days we have many choices for little effort but we are not happy because we have many choices for little effort. We often feel loss over the choice we decided not to take. I forget the guy's name, but what he said made an impression on me.

I just spent half an hour on a post I was intending to just do quick. Guess I'm not going to paint or exercize this morning, either. Time to get ready for today's appointments.

Visiting Mom

My mother lives in New Mexico, Although she grew up in Minnesota. She dislikes the cold of winter and the humidity of summer. I think it is a lovely place to visit. 

Front Yard Tree with Lizard

Front Yard Tree in Sunlight

Watermelon A

Watermelon B

Front Yard Tree Side Branch A

Front Yard Tree Side Branch B

These are all post card size (4.5x6 in.).

They are listed in the order in which I painted them.

About the watermelons, she has about 5 garden boxes, each one about three feet square. The water for those boxes is her splurge. Water is expensive there, of course. I chose to paint the watermelon because it is a simple form and I am trying to develop an ability to represent form more convincingly. 

About water, her area made national news while I was there because of the contamination of the Animas river by the EPA at the mine in Silverton. The river was orange for a couple days. The water utility people said that they shut the intake from the river and will use stored water as long as they can. Luckily it rained twice while I was there so she did not have to water as often.

Back to painting. I made two at a time, working on one while the other one dries, going back and forth. I liked that process. One of each pair has a pencil drawing as a starting point and the other does not. In each pair, I like the one without the pencil drawing better, but the pencil drawing was necessary to get to the ability to do it without the preliminary drawing.

I'm still not happy with my watercolor skill level. Little glimpses of what I want to see in my work show up from time to time, egging me on. I also made some pen drawings while I was there. It felt like a relief to allow myself a break from the watercolor struggle. I'll put those in the next post.

Another!

I looked back through old posts to see if this one is already posted, it is not. Many are of the same spot in Jay Cooke State Park. Today I was going through piles of stuff that has accumulated in my house and I came across this. It was painted earlier this year. I really like that it is only two colors, and it is not overworked. At least I do not think it is overworked, others may disagree.

As I decided how to use my gift of time today, these questions showed up in my head:

"Are you a runner, or are you not?"

"Are you a painter, or are you not?"

Repeat and insert "mother", "friend", and "person who wants a clean house".

This was telling me about how to spend my time. But choosing one to put my attention on means I am neglecting all the rest. It is the same old, same old story. So that was my day. I ran, cleaned house, and now I will do an errand for someone I care about. Time's up.

7 Bridges Road

This is a spot in Duluth that I have painted before. I'm still figuring some things out about how to get it the way I want it.

Yesterday my friend, her son, and I saw the exhibit at the Duluth Art Institute of the paintings made during this past week. We had seen some of them as they were painting around town and so it was fun to recognize them in frames on the gallery walls. Many of those artists painted spots I had painted at different times in my life so that was interesting to me to see their techniques and interpretations.

I saw a t-shirt yesterday that said "Duluth is a cool city". I agree.

4 months of my life

I am out of shape regarding painting. Just like exercise, it has to be a regular thing or your skills decline. For the past year, painting has taken a back burner to other things in my life. I'm still not sure how much of my energy I want to devote to painting. It shows. I'm not being down on myself, I'm trying to look at my work objectively. I'm going to paint more today and see how it goes. I plan to focus on being present in the moment and enjoy the process.

I was part of an outdoor painting event in Duluth yesterday. This is the result of struggling to paint in the rain for 90 minutes. I started next to a bleeding heart plant using a Pitt artist's pen. I tilted the back of the watercolor block to the sky to keep the drops from falling on it. After that the rain was still going strong, so I bailed from my spot in the garden and started again under the pedestrian ramp where the dandelions grow. This picture is a result of that whole experience.

Spring Break

Willow River State Park in Wisconsin is one of my favorite places. It is still early spring, so there was a bit of ice yet. Melting waterfalls are fascinating.  The trail to get to the falls was so steep and icy I decided to cross-country it.  I may have caused some erosion, but I got there in one piece.  I do not think this painting is a keeper. It is the first plein-aire of the season.

This sketch is at Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis. Some co-workers and I might also go there at some point soon, but when my daughter suggested that she and I go there for something to do on one of our days off, of course I agreed. 

I am not sure yet of my opinion on this one.  It is the upper falls at Minneopa State Park in Minnesota.  I struggle with watercolor technical skills.  I need more practice, or perhaps it is time to take a class.  It was fun to sit there and paint. When it started to feel like work, I stopped and went for a hike.  At a smaller bridge in the valley, I spent quite a long time watching the chunks of ice break free and float downstream.  I feel at home in the woods. My energy is renewed when I am there. Now I am at home again (at my legal residence) and I feel refreshed. Time to tackle my to-do list.

6 months of my life

For the last 6 months I have turned to knitting instead of painting when I needed to create. It does allow me to get into a zone that is meditative sometimes. It is different from the type of meditation I experience when painting. Painting is mental exercise, like a puzzle. Knitting is a rhythm.  In painting I am figuring out not only the solution, but also the question.

The background on this one is from a day outside in a canyon near Wisconsin Dells. I went there in September, so I guess I have painted at least once in the last 6 months.  I was unable to finish it at that time. On Sunday, I decided I wanted to paint a picture of knitting and it's relation to my painting habit, this unfinished picture of rocks and water seemed a fitting choice.