I'm Back!

6x6 oil on panel click here to bid

I can't believe it's only been 2 weeks since the workshop, it seems like months ago. I haven't painted since I returned although I was aching to go into my studio and lock the door and paint and just ignore all the holiday commotion. But then I read a post by fellow artist Raymond Logan, who takes time off from painting during the holidays, and doesn't feel a bit bad about it. Artists need vacations too, and since the holidays are the only time when all my almost grown up kids are together, I think I will make it a yearly tradition and shut the studio door until the festivities are over. Less stress that way. I spent the better part of today cleaning my studio and trying to make some semblence of organization. When I was about 90 percent done, I couldn't take it anymore, the unfinished rubber ducky painting was shouting at me to be finished. Here it is in all its glory, It was only half done at the workshop, and I knew it would be tough to pick up where I left off, but it's the one thing I wanted complete from my time there. The cup originally had a handle that I just couldn't figure out, so I just eliminated it all together. tee hee. When I set up this composition, I just loved the way it looked like the mama duck was coming in from the side to chastise her baby for his little antics....the photo is a bit washed out since I used my phone, it's a terrible habit I need to quickly break.....

Get found, kid!

One of my favorite authors of all time is Robert Fulghum who wrote All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. His books are a collection of stories and anecdotes written in a very comical and thoughtful way. One of the stories in his book was about watching the neighborhood kids play hide and seek, and he reflected on the one kid that hid too well. After awhile, the rest of the kids "seeking" grew tired, and stopped looking for him. They weren't having any fun.

At the workshop this week I had a small epiphany as I was standing at my easel (which is surprising since I was weak with laughter every other minute from some of the antics of the other artists)....I spent the first 40 something years of my life "hiding" from who I really was, putting on pretend faces not just in my personality but in my art as well. I painted things that were boring and safe, composed in a lackluster way. My personality was not coming through in the choices in my art, I was "hiding" too well....... I didn't understand until now why there wasn't any "seekers". When giving the lesson on creating a composition in class today, Carol emphasized that our art and composition should be something we are really excited about, or why bother? I realized that the particular items I set up were the safe ones, but what I really wanted to paint was the rubber ducky. So I did. While it certainly isn't my best painting I've ever done, I can say for certain it is the one I am most excited about. Get Found Kid!