"Oh Glorious"

It all started with the purchase of a bouquet of sunflowers.

I knew if anything was going to entice me to paint again after a long absence, it would be the GLORIOUS Sunflower!

I prepped a 24 x 24 canvas with watered down magenta and yellow-medium acrylic. A paper towel took off the excess paint.

The first marks were with willow charcoal which I find pretty messy, so I switched to diluted turquoise paint for redefinition.

It isn't unusual for me to start a painting with acrylic, setting in composition and some basic color.  Artist grade acrylics are fabulous and have wonderful color properties...and I can quickly change my mind as there is little drying time.

Pretty messy at this point, and time to re-correct drawing and

begin laying in thinned oil in corresponding colors.

I paint with large flats and occasional filberts/synthetic. Working the thick, viscous paint is sheer pleasure.

You will note the paint is "sliced" through, that is thanks to a credit card, palette knife, or small piece of hard rubber dicing up the paint, creating a softened effect.  

Now I should have left this painting about here, just finishing up the vase....but I left the painting for a week or two...then couldn't make up my mind what I wanted to do...meanwhile my Bell glass jar with water and flowers had ceased to be and I had no photo as reference.

Oops didn't realize how blurry this photo was, sorry, it isn't your eyes.  Anyway, I did an about face in all directions: gone-- water/vase, no soft side flowers, and clouds of swirling background. 

Eventually I became weary of this painting, sent a photo to Tam, my best critic ever, and expected to call it quits.

Uhhhhh, not quite the response expected.  Tam gave me some suggestions and I took it to heart.  She is pretty persuasive.

(By now I am not photographing my steps, as I was pretty much not enjoying the process like I had at the beginning.)

I think you would agree with me...this is far from my original design when I worked from life and ended up painting in the imaginary part of my brain.

From soft to stylized....

One thing I have learned: there are ever so many ways to paint a subject. None of which is correct or incorrect, but rather that you are pleased with the final result.  This painting, in particular the color has grown on me.

"Oh, Glorious" is happily framed and hanging in the RiverView Gallery.  410-939-6401

Five Minutes at a Time

Hello, are you still there? Bless you for checking in on me. 

It has been a very long absence.

Truth be told, there have been moments these past two months when I felt more like a penguin out of water....wandering steep shale slopes

a turtle chasing his own tail, meandering in meaningless circles..

 eyes closed in stupor and slothfulness ...

or a can of peas rolling helter skelter every which way....irretrievably lost  

even rusty old nails without purpose have popped up in my thinking.....

But

 it is TIME to stick my neck out and venture forth.. 

to get back on the proverbial bike and pedal down the unknown path....

Through the weeks of personal, family stress and illness, there came a time when it was too much....photography, paint, friends, communication all loss significance in my days of fretting and fog.

At the right moment my daughter gave me some very welcome advice:  (I always learn from my adult kids)

 FIVE MINUTES AT A TIME !

I thought back to the hundreds upon hundreds of monks I have seen through out my extraordinary travels....they live in the moment, they have faith that they will be cared for, they give careful consideration to all things, they learn to handle stress, harsh environments, upheavals around them.

Five Minutes.

 Think no further than Five Minutes at a time. Do not wander ahead into un-borrowed time.

Worry List

Again the monks with their "begging bowls" became a metaphor for my pointless self-talk.

I now softly place my doubts and worries for family members, my husband and their trials into a "begging bowl." And there they will rest until I am ready to pull them out, one by one, for examination.

We are still in the middle of the "messitude"...but I am striving to live  "Five Minutes" at a time and pesky worries are tucked in my "Begging Bowl."

I have missed your friendship and sharing.

Simply put

I LOVE YOU!

 Thank you for being here for me!

I will share some postings, thoughts, photography and art with more regularity. But these too are Five Minutes away or nestled in a bowl.
smiles: sharon