Pieces & Parts

My two favorite parts of any painting are the beginning and the end.  The exhilaration of the start, replete with all the wonderful ideas I see so clearly in my mind, and the satisfaction of the end, when I can finally say that the work is done, are two great feelings.  Unfortunately, it is really the middle portion: the labor, the endless decisions, the edits and the re-dos that mean the most.  Time consuming and less thrilling, this is the work that determines the nature of the piece.

I explain this because I am currently in this middle section on several paintings that have sat around during my recovery and are now whimpering for attention.  I have pulled them out because they are small enough to work on with my hand and don't need extreme use of my right arm.

Here is a pencil drawing I did on a 10 x 8 canvas from a photo taken in Florence.  It's a rather common shot so I need to think of an uncommon way to finish it up.  I could go to strictly black and white, letting it resemble an old photo or maybe do it in tones of blue, like night?  Or what if everything but the lamp post is merely suggested and not detailed?  I'm just not sure....and I've forgotten why I started it, seems ages ago and I really hate to put it back into the TBF (to be finished) pile.

Here is a pastel that I am not satisfied with.  I remember why I started this one however.  I was standing on the bridge on a very cold day after a snow and was just mesmerized by all the color this "white" scene offered.  I was most amused by my own shadow in the water from the bridge where I was standing taking photos.  None of the photos captured the range of colors I could see with my eye.  The earth beneath the not fully frozen stream, the clouds reflected behind me and the sun beaming off the snow.  So its back to the drawing board for more work.

From the Bridge

pastel, 8" x 8" on paper

matted in white to 14" x 14"

(available here soon)

I think this works a little better and feels a little colder than it did before.  

I am sharing this because when I tell people I am an artist, they usually get a moon-y look on their face, sigh or swoon and then say, "oh, that must be sooo relaxing."  And I just smile.  

So this is my answer: not always!

Relaxing is when you wash up and step back and like what you see.  Work is everything before that.

Now, excuse me, I have to get back to work.

Have a "relaxing" weekend,

Cindy

Day #16 All Up From Here

A friend of mine took took a heron photo several years ago and as soon as I saw it I wanted to paint it.  He gave me his permission but somehow I never found time until I accepted the challenge of 30 paintings in 30 days. If I felt intimidated before by this design, I know I was crazy to attempt it with my left hand...but fools rush in. Besides I have a heron holding a lotus (statute) in my yard. and there is something about the duo that appeals.

I actually could not complete this in one day because the necessity of layering the dark areas meant a lot of time spent waiting for paint to dry before the next layer could go on.  Too wet and you end up lifting it off.

A helpful painting tip is to turn everything upside down so that your brain sees 'shapes' instead of 'things' it might remember how to paint.  In my case, I often have to turn the painting around and upside down just because some directions of brush movement are easier that way with my left hand.

I'm calling it done here.  It is so easy to get lost in the tiniest of details and working on a small piece, 7" x 5," seems to call for more little details than if I were painting it larger.  And just so you know, I discovered that in the Chinese culture (where the lotus symbol is very important) if a heron is painted with a lotus it means "May Your Path Be Ever Upward."  What a lovely thought.  Not certain if this is a baby heron or an egret but regardless I think Hershel the photographer should take it as a divine sign that he came upon this scene in the woods and was able to capture it.

If you wish to share this blessing with someone, you can purchase the painting here.  It comes matted to a size of 10 x 8 and can be shipped wherever you choose.  Just this month the 30 in 30s are only $30 + shipping.

and P. S. to Hershel - don't go comparing the painting to your photo!  I do not project my drawings and I take plenty of liberties with color and composition....because I can: I am an artist and I am a woman.

Day #15 - Abstractly Original

Day 15 marks the half way point of the 30 day challenge!  Do you see me dancing with glee?  To celebrate I got a little crazy and did an abstract in acrylic.  But ah....the back story:
"Little Dream"
There once was a little house in the woods that stood empty for many years.  It was sad because once upon a time it knew the laughter of happy people and the love of a family.  It was just a little house but it dreamed of being painted yellow and sporting peacock blue shutters and maybe even an orange door!  Just a little dream.

Every year the house worked hard to keep her chin held high; she pretended that she was yellow and turquoise and mango orange.  And sometimes this helped her not to feel so neglected and abandoned. But she was all alone and very lonely.

 One day a couple got off their bikes and poked around the overgrown yard of the little house.  They could feel her smile and saw her wiggle with delight.  Hmmm, they said to one another, wouldn't she look charming painted yellow?  What about an orange door? added the man.  The house almost giggled out loud.

So the couple decided they would be happy if they could watch the sun set and the moon rise every day of the year from the porch of the little could-be-yellow house.  They saw potential and fell unconditionally in love.  They signed papers, and more papers, and more papers and waited and waited and waited.  Time passed.

Paths got blocked, papers got lost, distractions, complications, incompetence and stupidity.  No one seemed to care that the little house was losing faith, falling sadder and sadder with each passing month.  Weeds grew. Hope shrunk.  Was it really too much to dream about being loved? Didn't anyone care about her or the couple on the bikes?

The couple is still in the picture, as is the rising  moon and the setting sun. Dreams of an orange door still exist.  Yet he path  to that door is still obstructed and frustration is mounting.  The little house clings to her little dream...and until it comes true she will watch the sun set and the moon rise all by herself, hoping someday she gets to share it with love.

"Little Dream" 6" x 6" acrylic on paper

matted in white to size 12" x 9"

Cindy Michaud Art

30 days of painting with the non-dominate hand

buy this original piece here

Seeking Support

I like experiments and this one grew naturally out of my study of rocks and the graphite and acrylic techniques I used to paint them.  The photo on my easel is one I took while visiting a garden center that has lots of natural areas of native growth.

I wanted to simplify the composition and concentrate on the detail of the bamboo.

The title?  Well, when you work for a long time on something you begin making up

stories in your head about the personalities of your subject matter...

regardless of whether they are inanimate or not.

I eventually realized that the two bamboo on the right were a "couple," or

at least wanted to be, and they were asking, pleading. "seeking the support"

of the family on the left...no political puns intended!

See the spokesperson on the left...leaning in to make his (!)

point very clear?  What happens next?

(Sorry about the wonky photo....I must have been leaning

too far in one direction...)

not on etsy yet...contact me if interested