LORI'S PAINTING

Remember that big painting I was working on for my friend, Lori and her husband? 

I think it's done.

I've signed it.

I'm happy with it.

That doesn't mean I'm satisfied with it.  I can find hundreds of things wrong with it.  Things I wish I knew how to do better.  Things I wonder if everybody else, especially Lori and Ron, will look at and say, "What was she thinking?"

Here's how it went.

First, following my own advice, I just got some paint all over that gigantic canvas so it wouldn't be so intimidating.   I used cadmium yellow because I knew I wanted some nice bright, glowing, sun-shiney spots to be there when the whole thing was finally done.

This is going in a bedroom, so I know I want it to be a peaceful, forest scene.  Lori is from Canada and Ron is from Georgia.  Both of them are used to much different scenery than is found on our desert.  I thought they might like something with more of a woodsy feel to it.  I hope I'm right.   And, of course, a gently flowing river is always a peaceful touch.

At this point, I only have the barest idea of where I'm going with this painting.  I trust that it will speak to me as I go.  And it does.

The sky begins.

               And some distant hills and trees.

I'm leaving those biggest tree trunks for now because I want to mainly use glazes to  paint them in.

                         

The trees are scary for me.  All those leaves!  It's hard to make them look like leaves instead of just paint smudges.

  

But, I smudge away, anyway.  Ya gotta start somewhere!

                         

Talk about scary...check out that second tree on the left...the one across the river.  Yikes!

                          

Yep...that one...the one I made purple while trying to fix it.  Why did I make it purple?  Ummmm...I dunno.

There!  That's much better.

                         

But now, there's an alligator laying on the bank at the bottom of that tree.   Yikes...restful NOT!

 See the alligator?  See the path.  I wish I had that same look to the path in the final painting.  But, I don't.  Unfortunately, sometimes fixing one thing messes up something else a bit.  And eventually, you just have to say,

"Self!  Stop messing with it!!!!"

So, I did.

PEACE

36" x 48"

oil on canvas

********************************

It finally dried.

It is now hanging on their bedroom wall.

               

And I gotta say this. 

That canvas doesn't look so doggone big anymore.

Maybe we should've got a bigger one.

By the way, while I was there to hang the painting, we counted paintings I've done which are hanging in their house.  There were 29 of them.  Lori is dissatisfied with that number.  She wants one more.

I will be most happy to do one more for her.  She has been, as I've said, my most staunch supporter and cheerleader for many years now. 

I am grateful, beyond measure, for her friendship.

P.S.

Actually, one of those paintings isn't even hers.  It's Ron's.  And it hangs in his 'man cave'. 

"IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE"

8 x 10 acrylic on masonite

I thought that was most appropriate because he actually is one.

A rocket scientist, I mean.

Plus, he makes the very best mashed potatoes in the whole, entire universe!