Cleaning the Paint Trays

I was cleaning paint trays at school and I just could not stand it anymore, I have to paint. This is a mono print from the top of a paint tray. It is tempera.

Sketches

Just drawing whatever is in front of me is very calming. I'm not thinking of deep meaning, just reproducing what I see, making decisions about what to leave in, what to leave out.

Early morning

I used to think that people who chose to get up early in the morning were crazy. Now I get it. This was the view out my living room window at 6:30am. Now it is 8:30 and all is gray.

I am home today because I am sick once again. Episode #5 since Thanksgiving, so I decided it was time to check in with the doctor to see if I should be concerned. She listened to my story, asked some questions, and said it sounds like I caught 5 different bugs, all viral. She asked what I do for a living. When I said that I teach elementary art, she nodded as if to say, "Well, that explains it". I wanted to say, "But I DO wash my hands all day long, and again before I eat. Say, could I have about 800 of these face masks?"

The up side of this time being sick is that it is just my throat, no fever, so I think I can get some stuff done today and draw or paint a bit more.

Jan 12

It's cold out. The idea of playing out in the snow sounds fun but I am happy to just draw about it. How to represent the snow stuck to the tree is what I was working on here.
Earlier today I was at the museum and the tour was about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. I'm thinking about that too.

Green Rocks in progress

I have had no time for painting. Three illnesses since Thanksgiving. Somehow Christmas happened, so that is good. I do feel blessed to be surrounded by family and friends. I do not want to complain that they are taking time away from painting. Perhaps this is not the stage in my life for focusing on painting, people are more important. Yes, I need to make sure I care for myself or I won't be able to care for others, I know. Today I needed to paint, so I did. This is just part of the painting I worked on today. Maybe next time I will be ready to show more of it.

Oak Leaves

I'm interested in the shapes of these leaves and the shadows they create. I'd like to say they have a deep meaning, but at the moment all they are to me are interesting shapes and I had fun drawing and painting them. Another realistic drawing of them is started and hopefully I will work on it more tomorrow.

More Lake Pepin

Brushes for iPad. I like this one better than the watercolor.