Recreate your life, always, always.  Remove the stones, plant rose bushes, and make sweets. Begin again.

                                   Cora Coralina

                                    Well, I have always tried to look for the silver lining no matter how dark the cloud.  And this pandemic we are all living through has certainly presented itself as a pretty dark cloud.  One silver lining it provides, however, is time to catch up on those things that we all say to ourselves "once I get a little time I'm going to ......"  Well, after cleaning out all my closets, reorganizing the kitchen, researching my family tree, touching base with old friends, and closing in on the finishing chapters of a book I have been writing for years, there seemed to be no excuse not to pick up my art supplies again.  The drawing above I made when quarantining had just begun and didn't yet seem like such a horrible idea.  My husband had just moved into a new office and I thought some birds could brighten his tan walls.  So the plan for now after straightening out the studio is to circle back once again and start fresh.  Taking Cora's advice, I am going to remove dried out paints and stiff brushes, enjoy a shopping spree at Hobby Lobby, and create.  It's great to be back and great to be starting over!  

      

   
       Would that life were like the shadow cast by a wall or a tree, but it is like the shadow of a bird in flight.
                                                    The Talmud


      When I put "The Big Red Pot" that I am not currently speaking to back in the closet I was confronted with a stack of paintings that I had previously not been speaking to.  This little one above called the loudest so out it came.  When I set it down on the easel I inadvertently set it sideways and decided that looking at it the wrong way had been the problem all along.  After about an hour or so of touch-up it was finished.  Life lesson learned ~ go away, take a deep breath, come back and look at the problem from a different angle, things just may look a lot better.

          We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about.

                                                                           Charles Kingsley

          The above quote is so true.  This little painting above just came together so well and I was very happy while doing it.  It seems the more I plan a painting the more frustrated I become which is why I have been so long away from this blog.  The large painting that has been sitting on my easel for months is now sitting in the back of a small closet in my studio.   And there it will remain for awhile. We are not speaking right now.  It's best I have come to believe to let the subject matter pick the painter sometimes rather than the other way around.  I found a small black and white photo of the arrangement above, fell in love with it right away, and let the colors develop during the process.  Over time we became close friends.  This one can come out of the studio and stay in the house.

All That's Left

     Remember that happiness is a way of travel ~ not a destination.
                                                
                                                            Roy M. Goodman
 
     Well, I am finally getting around to some of my new year's resolutions.  This poor painting has been sitting in the corner waiting some final touch-ups.  I broke out my smallest brushes and came in and did some work in the shadows.  It's always a pleasant surprise to go back and work on something that just needs an hour or so to get it finished.  There are way too many of these projects sitting around my studio ~ was so tempted to start something new this morning but now am happy to have spent the time on this one.  One down ~ ??? to go!

The Blue Pot

 Removing the faults in a stage-coach may produce a prefect stage-coach, but it is unlikely to produce the first motor car.
                                                                         Edward de Bono

            Well, as promised here is a painting in the beginning stages.  Its a small painting ~ 8 X 10 ~ so I was able to get a lot done in just two sittings.  First I did the background and the table and today I worked on the pot.  Not quite sure where I will go from here ~ that's a no-no as supposedly it is much better to have a plan for the entire composition before setting out.  While I did have something in mind I didn't realize that the size of the canvas was going to play such a big part in the final overall look.  Because it is so small I don't want to add a lot of clutter.  The background and the pot are busy enough.  Actually, though, I'm not really sorry I am tackling this piece by piece ~ trying to be more personally creative in my work for a change.  Now I've got some homework to do.

Pinks

Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.

                         Oscar Wilde

I love this quote simply because it fits me to a T.   I procrastinate so much about putting my work on this blog.  While I have every intent of posting photos of my progress on each project I never seem to get around to it.  Anyway, this is the second in the series of six cross stitch patterns of bouquets.  The patterns don't include a border so I am having a great time designing my own ~ guess I do have a little imagination! 

Jennifer

Beauty, the adjustment of all parts proportionately so that one cannot add or subtract or change without impairing the harmony of the whole.

                                          Leon Battista Alberti

          Well, Jennifer's neck has grown considerably.  We have spent a fair amount of time together since my return from Seattle.  I think her proportions are perfect ~ God's work, not mine.  A little more attention to some shadows and highlights will bring her forward a little.  I have been spending a bit of time studying the works of Caravaggio and realize how important subtle changes can be.  While I have left the background empty on the recent animal drawings I am seriously considering adding some foliage to this one to better accentuate her size and shape.  Maybe.