There IS HOPE!

Little Landscapes (5 minute paintings)

I promised myself that during this “Social Distancing”, that I would get my blog going again, maybe offering inspiration to those of you out there that might need a little art hug!  The truth is that I, myself have been going through a deep depression.  Not just from this, but because of so many things leading up to this. I had 3 flights back and forth our rental house in Florida, to Spearfish, SD to help my parents move into 2 different care centers.  And then on Feb. 24th, with my sister and I holding his hand by his bedside, Dad passed on to heaven.  He was such a kind, gentle soul, and I miss him so much.  My mom had been moved into a Memory Care Unit a few days before that.  We also lost Dick’s uncle and went to his funeral in early March.  It’s especially hard right now, because the nursing home, where my mom resides now, is under quarantine. I really would love to hug her lots right now.  So…. You can see it’s been a LOT to handle.  We left Florida and drove home to Minneapolis in only 2 days, driving 14 hours each day.  We arrived home on March 18th.  We actually had rented a home in Florida till mid April, but decided we’d rather be home in MN, if they didn’t allow travel. 

In this present Corona Virus time, I did all the normal things that others were doing.  Trying to stay busy, but I really couldn’t bring myself out of the blues until yesterday.  I went for walks once or twice each day and made myself paint, but only could do little 5” x 7” paintings.  So, I only lasted about 30 minutes each day in my studio. And the rest of the time, was vegging on the couch in front of the Hallmark channel.  If you are in my boat, all I can say, is keep in touch with your friends and family.  There are many FaceTime apps that make it so fun to see your family.  We used Zoom the other night and it really brightened my day.  I also have added doing exercises along with Erica on Planet Fitness Facebook page.  That is a good one!  I actually had wet hair and a very red face when I was done.  And it truly helped me feel better.  So, I can honestly say that I am digging myself out of this deep black hole.

All I want to say is, keep making yourself paint.  Find something that you did years ago that you really loved and you were successful with.  I’m posting my little 5” x 7” paintings today, so you can see those.  If you do a search on my blog, for Little Landscapes, you should find instructions for them.  It's on December 18, 2018.  I plan to send my little paintings to the residents at my mom’s nursing home.  I hope it brightens their day.  We will get through this, with all of us helping one another.  It's a great time to send cards to friends going through hard times.  Just an idea.  Love and Art Hug to you all! 

Day 28 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Sunflower Power"          $75
Watercolor        7" x 10"

I did this painting at Karlyn Holman's Paint-in, and showed everyone how to start with the toilet paper roll to get the curved lines.  I'm so enjoying painting sunflowers, and although they are pretty fast paintings, the timing has to be perfect, so it takes a few tries to get it right.

Day 22 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Summer Day"      $75
Waterccolor        7" x 10"

I'm really enjoying painting sunflowers.  This one makes me think that there is a gentle breeze on a summer day.  I can almost feel the wind blowing by the flowers.  The process of this painting is to wet the entire sheet of paper, then work as fast as you can to paint the petals, leaving a little bit at the tip in white.  Remember, you are working on a WET sheet of paper, so the color "Spreads" really fast.  Then, I negative paint, using a dark thicker mixture of paint.  to carve out the edge of the flowers.  This usually takes at least 3 coats to get dark enough, with rewetting, etc.  I enjoyed the looseness of these sunflowers.  Fun to paint, but the timing had to be perfect. 

#20 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Sunny Side Up"      $75
Watercolor      7" x 10"

These wet into wet watercolors are much faster to do than the watercolor collages and figurative paintings, so you might be seeing a few more of these, cuz I'm running out of steam for this challenge.  This painting started like the other ones, using a toilet paper roll for the underpainting.  I love the random line work in the finished piece. I forgot to take a picture of that beginning, but if you go back to my blog from February 14th , you will see how this discovery was made!  The main thing I have to remember as I'm doing this painting is to keep layering with the darks.  Look at the photo below when the painting was in the middle stage.  Quite a difference when the dark values are painted and then the sunflowers start to pop!

Day 26: 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Rock Springs"       $99.    SOLD

Image:  15" x 11"   watercolor

Today, I chose to do an easy painting.  It was such fun to work totally wet into wet.  First I wet the Arches cold press paper on both sides and let it soak in before starting.  I began, changing colors often and creating a dark trail that leads the viewer's eye toward the bottom of the paper.  Then I changed to a 1/2 inch flat brush and I added depth to the rocks and the tree masses. When the paper almost loses it's shine, I lifted out the negative space between the trees.  It was so fun to see the white paper when doing this.  Trying to vary the shapes of the background lights is important.  Adding salt at the bottom of the paper for a feeling of water running off the rocks.  I thought I was done at this point, but after an hour of viewing it from the couch, I decided that it needed more.  The first version is below.  I decided to add illusionary lines for a little more depth.  To do this, you draw a light box shape, then paint on the outside of the shape partly, and then switch to painting on the inside.  This should be a very light wash, so that you can make it disappear. I like the finished version lots better.  Do you agree?