The Gentle Shove of a Deadline

Nothing like flipping over the calendar only to discover one is less than 4 weeks away from a deadline!  Usually I love having specific points of reference for project finishes, it helps to focus on keeping the main thing the main thing!  But yikes....so here we go with a need for speed and a critical look at several unfinished pieces.  Photographing them really helps to see them better for corrections.

Duneside, 11 x 14, underpainting

This little scene is from an area in Ponte Vedra, FL, a cozy little spot tucked in the sand dunes of the ocean...a lovely place to sit and dream.  Of course this is the first of many layers of paint and colors but I do want to stick to a predominately purple-ish tone and feel.  It was the gentle time of day when the sun was sinking and the gold light made everything so soft.  Lots more work to do.

UnNamed, 24 x 18, oil

work in progress

This piece is crying out for a name...suggestions?  There is more work to be done on the tree and its nest of roots as well as raising the sandbar in front of the water.  Roots like this are always so fascinating to me...and always so difficult to paint.  But I am anxious to get back to this one...I feel I have visited this scene many, many times.....

Heron, 30 x 24, oil

work in progress

I found this scene in the Everglades, FL.  There is still much to do on this very large piece but I like the vagueness of it in its present state.  It will be interesting to see where it goes....all this green calls for a little bit of pink dont you think?  and more blue?  hmmmm.  It could use a fancy name as well.

All of these pieces need to be finished and framed before the ArtWorks of Eau Gallie show on November 22.  The festival has added a patrons night before the opening which means that instead of working until the very last minute, putting up your tent and heading home to crash, we will be on site, gracious and smiling at 6 pm to greet the fine folks who make the show possible.

More on the show and my progress over the next week or two.  Meanwhile, if you are near Brevard County, FL mark the dates and come see us.  And cross your fingers I can get these done and dried before I hit the framers!

Colorfully yours,

Cindy

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