Overworked

work in progress, watercolor,  4.5x6, 2012

Last week was back to school.  All of my waking hours were devoted to school or family needs.  Today I read a book for fun, and I watched my son and his friend play ladder ball, and I painted.  This one was much better before I reworked the leaves and stems and shadows.  Now it is too muddy.  When I realized it was overworked, I said to myself, "self-portrait".

Springbrook Park

Springbrook Leaves, watercolor, 12"x9", 2012

New Life Old Moss Springbrook, watercolor, 12"x9", 2012

Here is what I did today.  Could not ask for more perfect weather.  This morning I was torn between wanting to get things ready at school and going outside to paint.  Every fall I never feel completely ready when school starts.  But how many perfect days with an open schedule am I going to have in my life?  I painted first.  I painted until I felt I had enough outside time.  The second one is a rework of one I started at Locke Park.

When I went to school, that was fine too because at that time what I needed was to be by myself.  I arranged things on shelves and drew the little colored shapes on the tables that let the students know their jobs, and then I was about to put up the signs for the table numbers that my student teacher made years ago.  The signs were too faded to use again, but the strings and boards were still good, and the students often comment on how they like the fancy numbers, so I used student acrylic to paint over them, keeping the shape of the numbers close to the same.  It was fun.  So I was at work, I was doing stuff for work, but not getting paid, so I figured painting fancy numbers was a good use of my time.  It was work and play at the same time.  I would have taken a picture if I had a camera there.  The art room really should have at least one camera. But I digress...

Blogging is funny.  I feel like I'm writing a journal in public.  That is what it is, isn't it.  Maybe someone will read it, maybe not.  It does not really matter to me and that is what strikes me as funny.  It's more about my need to write and paint and have a record of what I was thinking as I made each picture.

Reworking

Living above the Waterfall, watercolor, 6"x4.5", 2012

Pine Springs Journey, watercolor, 9"x12", 2012

Lake Nancy Clouds #2, watercolor on clay board, 5"x5", 2012

We have been blessed with weather that is optimal for being outside.  I spent the last couple hours on the deck reworking some old paintings that were not finished.  Each one had areas I thought were successful, but each one also had areas that bugged me and I was not sure how to resolve them.  I was a bit reluctant to touch brush to painting at first, but then I realized I really had nothing to loose.  Mostly I was just reacting to what was there, balancing colors and values.  It was a peaceful experience.

JoAnn's Cabin

JoAnn's gift, watercolor, 12x9, 2012

It was a wonderful week of water, sun, bikes, and boats.  Here is our view of Lake Belle Taine.  Thank you JoAnn for the space, and thank you Schulers for great company!

Bemidji Walks

Lake Bemidji #1, watercolor, 9x12, 2012

After dropping off my Dad at his doctor apppointment, I went to the park in Downtown Bemidji.  Two families were taking photos at the Paul Bunyan statue.  I walked to the fishing pier because I thought the river might be nice, but that did not seem like the right spot.  So I backtracked past the statue, through the lovely garden with fountain, past the dragon boats, and finally found this spot on the path through the woods that goes toward Bemidji State U.  Thank you to whoever built the retaining wall that made a nice place to sit.

Lake Bemidji #2, watercolor, 9x12, 2012

Back at Dad's house, I made this one and the next one.  I never get the idea in my head to materialize on the paper.  The tree kept getting too big and too lollypop-ish.

Lake Bemidji #3, watercolor, 9x12, 2012

I used a hake brush on this one.  I like the type of marks it makes in the tree leaves and the water in the background.  I need more practice to control the intensity of the color.

Lake Bemidji State Park, watercolor, 9x12, 2012

Lake Bemidji state park has miles and miles of great trails.  I love the dense greens, reddish verticals of the tree trunks, and the spattering of sunshine that gets through the leaves.  This was a busy spot.  It is near the overlook at the top of the hill.

Bog Lake, watercolor, 12x9, 2012

This was not a busy spot.  About half a mile in from the road there is a boardwalk through a bog that goes on for about a quarter mile.  At the end of the boardwalk is a small very calm lake.  It was so peaceful.  Someone put a lot of work into the informational signs on the walk.  There was also a book that you could read as you went, because each page was in a plastic cover and posted about 20-30 steps apart.  It was called "The Belching Bog".  It has nice illustrations.  More people should go see it.

It is what it is

It Is What It Is (pink and green landscape), acrylic, 24x36, 2012

I showed up at the easel today.  It felt good.  Normally I would go outside to paint in the summer, but it is too hot and my back hurts.  I think this was better to use acrylic today.  I needed to splash some paint around a large space.  I also reworked a few other old ones, and started one new one.

This one was a grid landscape before I attacked it today.  (simple landscape in progress 1).  It was similar to the chessboard painting I posted a few months ago.  At first I thought I would just touch it up, but soon started to just cover big areas and let the colors blend on the canvas.  I mixed large amounts of a few different greens, blues, and pinks before I started.  That was a change in my usual way of doing things.  Usually I mix each color as I need it.  I had lots of leftover color that I liked when I was done, so I covered some other old paintings.

Shoe Sketch

I have not been painting much.  But I do bring my sketchbook pretty much wherever I go.  Running shoes have interesting shapes.  Yes, that ankle is way skinny.

I need to commit to painting/drawing more.  Sometimes I think I should just forget about it until my life is less busy, but I do not believe my life will ever be less busy.

"How are you spending your one and only life?"  Someone said that and it stuck with me.  Does anyone else remember where that is from?