The Village - Date Night at Grimaldi's

Date Night at Grimaldi's

6.5 x 8.5, pastel

With snow coming to most of the U.S. early this year, it's hard to remember that only a few short weeks ago the leaves were just starting to turn.  That was the case here at Grimaldi's in The Villlage at Meridian.  I must get down there soon to see the kids ice skating and all the holiday decorations.   It's a beautiful time of year.   Happy Thanksgiving! 

A Day of Frustration

Loose and Bold

5x7,soft  pastel

It's a beautiful day today...lots of gorgeous fresh snow.  BUT, I think maybe I have had too much coffee.  I started on the next piece but couldn't settle down (it's a piece that has a lot of detail).  What to do....what to do!!  A change of plans.  

I decided to do a plein air looking out the window at a beautiful evergreen covered in snow.....BUT, no matter how I tried, it just wasn't happening.   I tried...wiped it off, tried again, wiped it off, tried again, wiped it off....and so on and so on for at least a couple hours.  I REFUSED to quit....which was in fact part of the problem.   By gosh, I was going to paint today if it killed me!!!!  (have I confessed yet on this blog that I am a bit stubborn?)  By this time I had pretty much rubbed off the grit from the paper...it was a soft mushy mess!  I was in a battle with this paper and I refused to give in and pull out a fresh piece!  (Hmmm, stubborn to the core)

I wonder if other "artists" have this problem...and I do mean "artist" in quotation marks because I sure didn't feel like a real artist today.  I felt like such a failure...does anyone else go through this much frustration?  Well anyway...I decided my last try would be to attack the canvas...go all out and take my frustrations out on it...then I could get the agnst out of my system once and for all.   Or perhaps be carried away in a straight jacket!

I practiced on a piece using a recent painting by Karen Margulis as an example of how to loosen up and be bold.  Karen is a great artist and has a blog titled Painting My World...check it out and you'll be amazed.   So, today was a practice day. 

I'm really not sure if I have just committed a terrible sin using someone else's art for practice.  I hope not...I certainly won't sell it.  But the Little Catholic girl inside me is secretly feeling guilty.  I promise to say three Hail Marys and two Our Fathers.  All I know is that I needed the practice...and more importantly I needed to excise the demon within!

The Village - Sur la Table

Sur la Table

8x6, soft pastel 

This week I had planned on painting 3 paintings....but "the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray".   Final fall cleanup with a trip to the dump and snow today.  Both of those events changed my mind for me.  Sometimes, you just gotta just go with the flow.     

I did get this little piece finished...Sur la Table in The Village at Meridian.  I love the colorful flowers and how peaceful it is during the early morning hours, for a time, uninterrupted by shoppers.  

The Village - Walking The Dog

Walking The Dog

6x8 soft pastel

This is the second in a series of scenes at The Village in Meridian. This painting is of the window display at Charming Charlie's. It's a colorful place...I especially love the black and white awnings and the sign painted on the window "We ❤️ Handbags". You just can't resist stopping by and taking a look at all the goodies within...even when you're supposed to be walking the dog. 

Couch Potato

Couch Potato

6x8, soft pastel

Tubby is my little couch potato. Ever since we lost his buddy Scooter this past April, Tubby has been at my side, day and night..night and day.  Each morning he has his breakfast and follows me into the studio where we sit together sharing a chair and ottoman by the fireplace. I sip my coffee and read the paper or catch up with social media while he snuggles into the blanket for a short nap.  He does little else these days but seems especially content to sleep on the back cushions of the couch while I work at the easel. Here he can keep an eye on what I'm doing and can occasionally gaze out the window in case a squirrel dares to enter his yard....or, he naps.  Most often he naps. I surely love this little guy!