Summertime...

Payton II Acrylic on hardboard  8"x8"

The weather is reaching 90 degrees this week.  The garden is full of green beans.  We are canning the first batch today of five quarts.  I have been eating fresh garden picked kohlrabi, fresh cucumbers, raspberries, zucchini, and beets. I am anticipating making my first batch of home made ice cream in my little ice cream maker.  Also, we have been going through the seedless watermelons like there is no tomorrow.

Summer festivals are everywhere.  Yesterday I played clarinet in Sigs band in Forest City, Iowa for their annual Puckerbrush parade. Forest City is home to the Winnebago Motorhome annual rally.  Afterwards I played in the Forest City Municipal Band in the city band shelter as the community ate their chicken dinner in the park. It was a perfect day and I couldn't help but get a little emotional as we played our final selection of Stars and Stripes Forever.   I couldn't help but appreciate such an exceptional day, with community hovering around enjoying our music and each other.

My painting I am highlighting today is a second painting of Payton. (see July 14)  I like the abstract negative spaces in red that surround her.  I also like how she fills up the picture frame.

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Unconditional Love

Howdy 8"x8" acrylic on hardboard

What is it when an animal looks at you with such unconditional love that you have to adore them.  This painting is from a photo that was sent to me by a friend of mine that is a member of my bookclub.  I had to paint it.  The meadow and the flowers with the dog in the center were the deciding factor in selecting this for subject matter, let alone the dogs attentive stare at his owner as she took the photograph.

Defiance

Defiant Turtle  12"x12" acrylic on canvas

Creativity and defiance can go hand in hand.  Taking a stand on something requires courage and the ability to hold your ground when others do not agree with your actions.   Occasionally it takes this mindset to move foreword with ideas and certain breakthrough artworks that might not be mainstream.
The painting, Defiant Turtle, was inspired from a photo I took.  I was going canoeing in a nearby lake and this turtle stood directly in my path.  I ended up painting two versions of this little guy.  I will post the second painting at a later time.  I was definitely on his turf and I was the intruder.

Eulogy for a Lucky Dog

Payton  8"x8" acrylic on hardboard

This painting was completed about a week ago.  Payton is no longer alive.  She died rather suddenly of liver failure, but not before having one litter of puppies.  Payton was 8 years old when she got sick.  Within a few days she was gone.  But during those eight years Payton got to live free on an Iowa farm.  She slept outside in an insulated doghouse on the front porch and kept watch over the landscape.  She was never locked up or tied up. Her owner attended to her and took care of her.  And amazingly this spring she became pregnant for the first time and had a litter of cute little puppies.  One, Zoe, stayed on the farm. So, the loss of Payton is not as sad as it would of been if Zoe wasn't there to carry on.  Payton was in fact, a very lucky dog.

Nine Lives

Stinker 6"x6" Acrylic on Hardboard

Stinker is a cat that lives in the country.  It arrived at it current owners starving and without much hope to live.  But it survived and has thrived.  Now it is a lazy, pampered fatcat. I enjoyed painting this kitty that used up most of its nine lives early on and now can live the life of leisure on a recliner basking in the sun.

Discovery...An Ongoing Adventure

Jazz Fest Lily 6"x6" acrylic on hardboard

For two weeks I have been writing and adding paintings to this blog.  During that time I have been thinking about the direction the blog might take and its purpose.  On the first entry I said my main purpose was "reflection, inspiration, and accountability toward my work in progress".   
I like having a record of my work as I complete the daily paintings.  Some, like todays Jazz Fest Lily did take just one day.  Some works have taken two or more depending on the problems I have had to solve to complete the work.  
So, what have I discovered in the last two weeks?
 • The technical aspects of painting, (loading the brush, combining a limited palette of colors, working with black gesso,) 
•Composition (viewing composition problems before I am too far into the painting to correct them easily)
•Setting up a blog, photographing artwork web ready and original, filing artwork, keeping a system for future reference on a spreadsheet.
•Organizing and prioritizing my life and schedule so that I have time to paint on a daily basis.  I am creating a habit of painting.  
•And finally I am continually viewing my world around me for inspiration.  As I sit here and type I look out directly below my window and I can see a small brown bunny nibbling at something near a hosta plant.  The sun is almost down. No shadows exist.  Not a breeze stirs the air.  If only I had a camera and I was closer I would take a photo ........ 

The painting I included today was done in one sitting.  It is a photograph I took of a daylily that was blooming over the 4th of July at the Iowa City Jazz Festival (therefore the name Jazz Fest Lily).  I like the movement of the leaves as if it is dancing.  

Creativity and Curiosity

Rondo With Attitude Acrylic on Canvas,  16"x20" 

Yesterday I caught a podcast from Public Radio Station from the program On Being.  It was an interview with Elizabeth Gilbert.  Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of Eat, Pray, Love which has now been in print for 10 years.

Elizabeth Gilbert also has her own podcast called Magic Lessons http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/magic-lessons/

Here is a quote from Elizabeth that I really can relate to from an article by Melissa Dahl:

I think discipline is a bit overrated in the creative field, and self-forgiveness is underrated. We all start our projects on day one with passion and excitement, and all of us look at what we did on day two and hate ourselves. The difference with people who return to work on day three and the people who don’t is the people who return to work forgave themselves, knowing you did the best you could with what you had at that moment.  Elizabeth Gilbert

So, I try to keep showing up.  Some days are better than others in the creative front.  Some days more productive, some more technically proficient, some more expressive...yet some days nothing really happens. But, forgiveness, curiosity and persistence makes for a slow progression of improvement.

Today I included a painting of Rondo, my three year old Shih Tzu, Bichon Frise mix.  I tried to use a big brush and few brush strokes letting the black gesso show through as much as possible.  Easier said than done.  Knowing when to stop is critical in this type of painting.