Stepping Out...Mangroves

I'm convinced that just about any kind of healing takes energy.

Recovery, physical or psychological, will use up

every ounce of energy you can give it and recognizing that there

might not be much left to spread around on other things is good.

I haven't felt too creative lately...not in the "bam!

thats a great new idea" way.  So I'm easing back into the studio

being kind to myself, making it easy...

I've painted from this photo of mangrove roots previously.  I'm always amused at how each root looks like a leg that's stepping out of the pack to find new space.  I had sketched this out on a black canvas in chalk pre-surgery.  It was the perfect place to begin my ease back into painting.

Acrylic was good for short painting sessions and it also would encourage me to play with the underpainting colors.  So I sat for a spell and roughed it out.

Later I went back and gave it some more attention, again using acrylic paints.

It's got a long way to go but I like what is down so far so my next pass will be in oil.  I have made some notes here about edges, barnacles, colors and so on....but nothing that can't be corrected or fixed with oil paint.  The challenge will be to leave plenty of the "fun" color showing and not to get too tied up in fine details.  I'll share as it progresses.

And speaking of challenges, two great articles came to my attention this week.  Both were about not taking ourselves too seriously in all pursuits.  It is so hard these days to divorce the work ethic from our play time and not turn everything we do into a contest for perfection.  

The first is from (now deceased) painter Robert Genn who always had wise advice to share.  Read how he admires his friend's efforts to paint here.  And the second, In Praise of Mediocrity, is from the NY Times and is a perfect new years read for a new attitude in 2019.  Check it out here.

Thanks to friends who shared them with me, I think they are well worth your time and attention.

I recently learned about an Appalachian Mountian custom I wish we could still practice.  During the week between Dec. 25 and Jan. 1 folks would move the furniture off to the side and dance every night...a different homestead each evening.  They brought their instruments, their pot luck and their energy to stave off the cold and dark and to celebrate together.  It was called "breaking up Christmas" and there are several fiddle tunes appropriate to such.  Who wants to start?

Wishing you a Color Filled New Year,

Cindy