Little things that make a huge difference

I have not painted for a while, sometimes life is busy and painting often gets pushed to the side.  We had family visiting and I have to admit, the house seems so quiet and lonely.  It was this week that I have been noticing how changing little things can spark a larger change. 

For example, I have been working on this tree painting for almost 4 weeks now.  I have finally finished but have learned so much about landscape painting.  Small details can make or break a painting.  The color of the grass, the branches under the tree, and the white tufts of grass have transformed this painting into something great.  Even in every day life, the small things can have a big impact on your life.  The other day my husband replaced my wooden art chair with a padded office chair.  What a difference! I know it sounds silly but I never thought of changing the chair, now I want to paint for hours! Outside the kitchen window we have hung a bird feeder and now doing the dishes is an interesting game of "what bird is that"? And in my paintings I am going to be less afraid of putting in smaller details and changes.  It might be horrible, but it also might make the difference between a good painting and a great one.

I also finished the bromilead painting. Both of these paintings have to dry, then they will be in my etsy store. 

End of Class :(

Today was the last day of painting class.  How sad! I am going to miss the inspiration. One of the benefits of attending a class is it boosts your determination.  I confess I am the type of person who comes to a problem and will more than likely give up and place in the trash than try to work out that problem. I have a giant pile of trash in my laundry room!  In class you have to work through your problems and that has been really good for me.  I worked on two paintings during the class and have learned so much.  The second painting is not yet finished but it will be finished soon. The pink flowers on the tree have gotten a dose of steroids and need to be reduced and simplified.
 Many of my Maui friends will recognize this tree and even where it is on Haleakala Hwy. This is a giant Jacranda Tree shading a Haleakala Green pasture.  I think I have passed this exact tree going up the mountain a million times.  Looking at this painting makes me miss home so much.  Hopefully we will be able to visit this year.

Multiple Projects

These are my two newest works of art.  They are about 80% done but still need a lot of work and lots of drying. The first is a painting of a Bromeliad found in tropical climates. I took this photo while walking through Waimea Falls with a friend of my mother's Carole.  My mom was supposed to come with us but once we arrived, we discovered the dogs could not come in the park, so mom went back to the beach house and Carole and I went on.  As my mom sped off leaving us in the dust, Carole looks at me and says "Well it's happend....you are finally forced into spending time with me all alone." We laughed and started the hike in to see the famous water falls.  The 4 mile hike took 3 hours because we kept stopping and taking photo's, 200 to be precise. And spending the day with Carole was one of my favorites.

The second painting was something I had painted back in 2009.  I am redoing it because everyone loves it.  But for me this painting means fear and awe.  I painted it after going through one of the worst lightning storms I have ever seen (or want to ever see).  It was a nice late July morning in North Carolina and I was sitting down to start painting and in the distance these huge clouds started rolling in.  Thinking it might storm, I checked the news.  Yes, light thunderstorms.  As I sat mixing paint the sky darkened and the world erupted.  From my Dinning room I looked out over a huge corn field.  You could see a good 4 miles.  And as I was staring out into the storm a bolt of lighting struck down on the far edge of the corn field.  Wow that was cool.  Then another struck down a little closer, then another, and another.  Then it dawned on me, those lightning strikes and slowly walking down a straight path....straight towards me.  I started freaking out and filming my eventual death.  I kept filming and by the time it was really close, I was hiding in the bathroom, with thunder so loud it was shaking the dishes in the kitchen.  Once the storm passed and I went outside, shaky, I looked for scorch marks in the grass I didn't find any but I am sure it struck near the house. That afternoon I painted this.

Thunder still makes me jump 3 feet in the air.

Replication is a hard thing

Well, I have been working on a replication of one of my original paintings that got a lot of praise.  It is a larger painting and is pretty intricate so it has taken quite a while to paint.  I am about 60% done with it  and am posting my progress so far.  It is very hard to redo paintings.  It may not seem hard to someone looking in, but it is hard to capture that original feeling you were experiencing when you completed the original. For example, the original painting was painted under stress.  I was so afraid of being the worst in the class.  This replication is painted in my comfortable art room where I am more impatient to move on to a new painting and it is forming completely different. I have also learned to paint from the photo and never look at the original painting, it will only mess with your mind.  

Oh well, I have bought a new violet paint that I am so excited to use! I have been dreaming in violet for the last week.  Can't wait......