Wednesday already?

Time seems to be passing me by a little too quickly. Especially since I had every intention of posting on this blog more often!!! Sheesh!

The day before yesterday, I attempted to print larger size monotypes at home using the method I described in my previous post. It was completely unsuccessful. I just can't seem to get enough pressure to achieve the results I want - which is the deep, saturated color I love. I will have to experiment some more to see how I can improve my technique.

I have been running in the morning with Mr. Pono, rather than walking. That is probably one reason why I am not posting so much. When I walk, I am going at a slow enough pace to notice the small things I like to photograph - dried flower stalks, shadows of plants, etc. Interesting how something as simple as a run can change things so much! The running is good for my stress levels, and of course my waistline! So I am not ready to give it up entirely. Maybe I can alternate running and walking more often, so I can supply you with the desert photos we have come to love.

Little bits of green are beginning to show themselves. It is a marvel to me, that green things pop up in JANUARY, since Colorado would not be showing any green for months still!!! Even though the past couple of days have been quite cold and windy, it is still warm enough that these little green plants are growing. There is nothing as comforting as seeing green plants, for it is a sure sign that spring approaches. Not to mention a sign that we have gotten enough moisture for plants to grow, which is always a concern here!



Here is a new monotype, printed at home. This one I printed on an off-white paper, it measures 8 x 10 inches, and I titled it "Desert Symphony".

All good things take time

A painting takes as long as it takes. When I used to talk to people in my gallery, one of the questions often asked was "how long did it take you to paint this?" I think there was an assumption that price should have something to do with hours spent. Or perhaps they wondered if I was one of those painters who could crank out a painting in an hour and a half. If the truth must be told, I am not a fast painter. It is one of the reasons I work in oil paint. Oil paint dries slowly. I guess I need every one of those extra drying moments (or days) to think about the painting, change my mind, scrape parts off, rework, and basically agonize. Oh, there are those magical paintings that seem to just appear, without all of the agony. Certainly there are those. But you know they only happen every now and then. Those paintings are the reason I keep painting, despite the other agonized ones.

I have been trying to hurry these new paintings along. Hurry, hurry, hurry, and be finished already! So that you can dry, I can put a wire on you, sign you, and take you off to be sold. Especially since I am feeling that darn money crunch. Darnit. The sooner I get you out there into the world, the sooner someone will fall in love with you, and the sooner I will have the money I just spent on more paint. But you know it just isn't working!!! You can't hurry a painting, any more than you can hurry love or a nice red wine. It takes as long as it takes.

What I noticed today is that a few of the paintings I thought were finished were not finished. What I also noticed was that the ones I forced myself NOT to rush were working out better. This is not a new lesson, just one that I had apparently chosen to forget. Maybe if I write this down I will remember it next time so that I don't have to go through such confusion about why the paintings don't just perfect themselves on the first go-around.

Case in point: the painting I posted on "The Moody Moon". Remember that one? Here it is again, in case you forgot, or if you want to just see it. Well, I was looking at it and looking at it, and suddenly I decided it was just too darn dark. Moody, yes, that too. That painting got put back on the easel, and now it looks like this. Much different in some ways. Not so moody. (The colors don't look as different from the original as they do here, and I am thinking it is because it was dark when I took the photo of the second stage, so I used a light. I think the light changed the color. The blue is still more of a green blue than it appears.)

I also repainted the one from "Wildflowers in January". It is also much different, and I think it may have one reworking left before I can stamp it finished. Why doesn't it hurry?!?? Wait, haven't we been through this already?


In other news, it rained on and off all night last night, and Pono and I had a pretty wet walk this morning. It is wonderful to see and feel rain in the desert. Just wonderful. I could do without the accompanying wind, but I am not going to complain. Too much.