Final Class

Yesterday was the final painting class this summer. I will miss it. For the rest of the summer, I will work on our bathroom walls and the front hall, and maybe finish them I also want to finish my other Sargent study.

Next Math Class

Today, I signed up for my net math class with Stanford University Online. Their classes work really well for me. They are introverted and allow for very flexible scheduling. They are also extremely rigorous and I love the work. In my painting class, only four paintings were required and I did six; I just love painting and math and chemistry.

Grass On Beach

Third Stage

I have finished my third stage in my painting of the beach. I have added the grass. Next I have to model the grass so it does not look like flat surfaces.

Disney Woman

Raised in the 50s, Disney animated movies were a big part of my life. The classic Disney woman became a dream of mine; singing in the woods and being surrounded by loving animals.

My dream has become true. This morning, I got out of the shower and two of our cats were sitting there waiting for me. They are so sweet and loving and all they wanted was some petting and affection from me. I have made my childhood goals! How many other people can make that claim?!

Alone Time

A room of your own. Wonderful sentiment by a gifted author (although I hate to admit it but I can't make it through one of Woolf's stream of consciousness books).

I realized one thing I like about math and why I need it in my life. It is introversion in the extreme. Today, I did not go to painting class. Painting is not as introverted as it requires physical activity (my canvases are fairly large) and it is putting self on canvas which is extroverted.

I had to have alone time today. My version of alone time was to sit in the library and watch educational DVDs about painters. It was great. Going to class three times a week, being at home with two people, and periodically being invaded with six teen boys (last night, again) became too much for me; so today, I hibernated. Even the kayak trip around the lake with hubby was introverted because hubby and I went periodically in separate directions and would then meet up for awhile. It was a great day; just what I needed. I feel refreshed and ready to go forward tomorrow.

Tomato Wedges

Lord, I had big chunks of a sweet summer tomato with salt and pepper. Sooooo good. And it has been awhile.

Games People Play

I feel so sorry for my husband. He was raised in a family that knows nothing but how to play games with everyone in their lives. If you have a problem with someone, it is not okay to just say so; instead, you have to do devious things behind their backs. As long as they are nice to your face, they can or say anything behind your back and it is okay to them. So sad. The family is actually built around back-stabbing. Glad that I do not have to have anything to do with any of them.. Very confused bunch. Lying is a way of life.
-------------------------
Actually, I think it all comes from a few of the family members who do not have enough to do with their lives. Please find something to do other than playing games.

Fast Mustard Chicken

You can use any white chicken meat such as breasts or wings. Mix brown mustard with lemon juice and olive oil. Spread half of the mustard mixture in the bottom of a pan then place chicken on top. cover the top of the chicken with the rest of the mustard marinade. refrigerate for at least four hours. Bake chicken at 350 (time will vary with amount of chicken). Serve with wild rice mixture, watercress sprigs, and sliced canned peaches.

12 Hours

So far, I have spent about 12 hours on my beach construction. Today, I finished the layers leading up to the construction of the surfaces (about 6 layers in most of the painting). I still have to put in the grass. Although parts of the painting look disconnected, it is exactly the way I want the surfaces to look. The grass should pull it all together when it is finished. And, I probably have at least 20 more hours on this painting.

Image Construction

The surfaces are almost finished; and when they are I will post a photo.

This afternoon, I realized that I am not painting a painting; but instead, I am constructing an image. An image of dunes, clouds, sky and grass. I can not possibly put into words what it feels like to be doing this 2 dimensional construction. The excitement is wonderful...exhilarating.

GOK Video

Inspiration for anyone. Less than 10 mintes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYwKRVJaNEA&eurl=http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=georgia+okeeffe&sitesearch=

Excited

I am really excited over my new painting. I have decided to take pictures of it in stages. Following is a picture of it so far; most of this I did today. I have to still finish the "surfaces" and then paint the geometric grass on top of the surfaces.

UVA For Me

It looks like I will be taking a class at UVA this coming fall. At our local community college, all of the drawing and painting classes during the day are taught by the same person; too much of one perspective even if it is a good one. So I have received permission from the UVA teacher to take a drawing class there. It is a marathon drawing class as it goes from 6 to 3 on Fridays. Should be great!

New Beach Painting Concept

In math, I have always found mapping objects to surfaces fascinating. For instance, on a flat plane, the angles of triangles add to 180 degrees. however, if triangles are mapped to the surface of spheres, the sum of their angles is greater than 360 degrees.

This is the concept I am going to use in my new version of the beach photograph. I am going to create each surface very clearly and well defined and within the confines of distinct geometric objects. then I am going to "map" the grass, also as geometric objects, onto each surface. I am really excited! This approach is a very different one.

True Freedom

I fully realized today that true freedom is a state of mind. I had thought about this before, but today I truly began to understand it. Bounds that we keep on ourselves are in our own minds. Others can influence our lives but we create (or hinder) our own freedom. I am going on with my life independent of my husband and son. Today, I found a new freedom in my painting because I realized that the majority of time I have been doing paintings to please others. Sometimes they please me but not always. I have been allowing others to direct my life far too much. It is my life, not anyone else's. I crave freedom and independence; it is the essence of life itself!

Break Through

During art class, we watched a TV special on Georgia O'Keefe. She was so independent that it was refreshing to watch. At one point, she explained that every summer she left her husband and went to the New Mexico. the interviewer asked if her husband Alfred had any problem with that and she said "He had nothing to say about it. It was something I had to do so I did it." Fabulous! She also said that at some point she realized that she was doing paintings for other people based on others' visions of what she should be doing. She said that the paintings weren't exciting to her so why would they be to anyone else? At was at this point, she decided to start painting what was in her head instead of trying please others.

I realized after that show that I was not enthusiastic over my beach painting at all. I was trying to do a realistic painting of the beach but what I actually saw in my head was the beautiful geometry and texture in the photo. So now I am excited and now I am doing an abstract study based on the beach photo! Bravo.

Offers

For the second time, one of my fellow students asked if I am planning on selling my paintings. Very flattering.

At this point, doing the preliminary sketches is definitely paying off. I did one today of the beach scene with a very turquoise sky and it seems too intense. I think I will use Payne's Gray in the next one, along with Naples Yellow. I'll post a couple when I get them finished.

History Is Laughing

According to the book I am reading on Cezanne, when the Impressionists had their first exhibit, the critics were cruel. One said that the paintings looked like they had been produced by "cross-eyed minds". Another one referred to "Hell and damnation" with reference to the thought that he would look like an Impressionist painting when walking down a Paris street. And one of Monet's water lilies just broke an all time record sale price at $80 million.

New Approach

I mentioned in the last post that I might do preliminary sketches but when I actually began to do it it felt artificial. I need to get used to it. Change.

So I am going to do several sketches on canvas board. Two are going to be two different approaches to the entire painting; one where I work from the furthest away area such as sky to the grasses in the front (I have used this before), and the other will be from overall darkest areas to the middle value areas and then to the lightest (approach my teacher uses). More sketches will involve parts of the painting. I am going to try a different painting technique, too, where I use "sketchy" brush strokes.

I will post photos of my sketches as I go...

Beach Is Next

I have decided to do my next painting from a photo of dunes and beach grasses. I am also going to try a different approach. In the past, I have begun to paint immediately on the canvas. Many professional artists do rough sketches and preliminary small paintings first so I am going to give this a try. In the preliminary paintings, I am going to try different backgrounds

It is so great to constantly learn, change and grow!

When "Private" Isn't Private

When is a private situation not private? When the attacks continue. Stop. I have moved on. You should, too.

Next Painting

My next class assignment was given out today. We are to do an original landscape, self-portrait or painting of a pet. I am going to do a landscape; so I went through old photos tonight. Over the years, I have taken wonderful photos of various things so my selection is terrific. I was going to do a painting from a photo of misty trees and road taken on Skyline Drive but I think I will go with a simpler subject -- either a beach scene or another photo from Skyline Drive showing lots of vegetation. Difficult choices as there are so many great photos in my collection....years of painting ahead, too.

Tonight

After weeks of scorching weather, tonight my son and I went to a shopping center with the top down. The jazz was great and the weather was absolutely yummy. 78 degrees with a light breeze. The clouds were gorgeous. Everyone in the family is in a good mood, too. What a fabulous day this has been.