A Work in Progress

Through no one's fault but my own,  I lost myself for a while.  For several months I spent all my time cooking,  cleaning, redecorating - all good things to do; but, also all things that can never be completely done... And so, each day I would think I could finish my "to do" list, only to find that I had added even more to the list.
Finally, Sunday morning I woke up refreshed after the Sabbath day's rest, quickly got as many chores done as I could, and got my paints out.  I hadn't painted in so long that it took me a lot of time to find all the supplies I needed.  There were a few moments of frustration when I wanted to forget the idea and go back to the laundry, the dishes, the dusting...  But, no!  I persevered, and, with great encouragement from my Hubby,  got all my watercolor paraphernalia together on the big dining room table. (Covered, of course, with waterproof pads!)
I worked on four projects simultaneously, which is my usual habit. With watercolors, one has to wait for layers of paint to dry, etc., and it makes no sense to sit around waiting.  So, I work on at least two projects, alternating time between them to get the most out of the chunk of time I've allotted myself.

Project #1: My favorite flowers are daisies.  I decided to paint daisies kind of free form, with the background defining the flower shapes more than the subtle painting of the petals.  As usual, my impression/expression of white is that white isn't white! So, the "white" daisy petals are various shades of blue, teal, lavender and yellow. I poured the dark greens and browns to give the impression of stems and leaves, allowing the paint and water to  create the organic shapes through gravity and the chemical reactions of the paints with each other.  I added a bit of "lace" to one side for textural interest. I temporarily have this painting in a black matte, but think it would look better in a brown or green one... will experiment with that today or tomorrow...

Project #2: I made a collage of several paintings, chopped and rearranged until I felt they were pleasing to the eye.  I titled this one "Dreams of Summer Recitals".   It took me back to when I lived in my big ol' house and taught piano and singing lessons to a handful of boys and girls.  The two main paintings are impressions of my old living room with the baby grand piano, where many a recital was held.  I added other dreamlike shapes and forms - a big open Hibiscus to represent Summer in the South,  pieces of architectural columns to commemorate the old house.  I don't know if anybody else does watercolor collage, but I enjoy it.  If a painting sits around long enough, it becomes fodder for "the chop shop".  The first time some of my former art students saw me chopping up paintings, they were mortified,  AND, piecing things together "just right" takes a lot more time and patience than one might think, but the results are pretty cool.

Project #3:  Another chop shop project.  I love chopping up old paintings into squares, then putting the squares together in and interesting and balanced manner.  Again, this takes a lot more time than you would expect.  It's like finding just exactly the right puzzle pieces to fit together, but the puzzle doesn't have "edges" and doesn't form any certain image. It's all about balance.  In this case, a completely different background made this piece very exciting to me.

Project #4:  This is a little painting in progress.  I decided to show something incomplete in this posting, to show the steps of working on a painting.  First, I took the photo; then cropped it and sketched it on the watercolor paper.  I wanted the painting to look cold and Wintery... haven't decided yet whether or not I've accomplished this, but, hey, it's not completed!   So far this painting has a couple coats of paint, with a salting of the water in the stream between coats.  Salt on watercolors created certain textures, depending on which paint the salt is sprinkled on. Watercolor painting is really chemistry and physics as much as it is having an eye for color, balance, and composition... perfect for me with my medical background.


Hope y'all enjoyed this glimpse into my viewpoint on creating art.  Some time soon I will be creating yet another blog - focusing solely on my art. (Or, should I say "soul-ly" on my art?)  A psychologist I  once knew said that the only difference between pain and paint is one letter... He was right.  Looking at that blank white sheet of paper is always painful. At first.  But, then... ohhhhh.. the escape into creativity.

Shalom  Y'all - Twyla