Optimism

In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.

Albert Camus

I have been trying to finish up some of my old paintings and have gotten completely stuck on one in particular ~ the colors aren't working. Unfortunately, I am working from a black and white drawing and it has been extremely difficult for me to find exactly the color combinations that I think the painting needs. Color mixing not being my strong point I see now where I need to spend some time practicing with my paints. I have also been going a little crazy trying to find some ideas for future paintings. There are countless photos on the web to choose from and yet I couldn't seem to settle on any of them. It was all getting rather depressing. Yesterday, however, my daughter sent me a wonderful article on optimism. I decided to put my challenging painting aside for a few days, look through some of my old work that I was pleased with, and just pick three photos that seemed to provide a different bit of a challenge and dive in with my oils. The flower above is a watercolor I did quite a while ago ~ I love the color combination in this one. The purple sky and yellow wheat field are the beginning of a small landscape in oil that I started this morning. The old rule of being an artist is true ~ just get in the studio and start. I feel better already!