The Line Up

With our vacation to visit several of the national parks in southern Utah under our belt, it was back to the easel this week. The vacation was wonderful.....such a beautiful area of the country.....it is easy to see why there are such a large number of national parks all clustered in the lower half of Utah. It was a real transition to come back to the easel as I went from the towering splendor of colorful mountains and canyons to a line up of 5 pears! However, the transition became easier with the vivid colors of the pears and my choice of color for the background.....mostly warm oranges, yellows, and reds. I wanted a warm wood color for the shelf so I ended up setting the still life up in my bedroom on a dresser. This added a little challenge as I did not want to paint in the bedroom and I was blocking my husband's sock drawer! However, between a photo and time "absorbing" the setup in the bedroom the painting was completed. From the time I set it up I kept thinking it was like a police line up....so that became the title....."The Line Up". The final piece is 9 inches high by 24 inches long. I hope you like it.

A Little Time Away Works Wonders

In my last post I shared the struggle I was having with my painting "Asparagus Bundles". I ended up brushing out a large portion of the bottom third. After the brushing out I found myself needing a break from asparagus. Life worked to my advantage as I had a busy week of meetings, appointments, etc. However.....after a nice break I found myself reluctant to go back to the piece.....not wanting to resume a struggle. Finally, I made myself face the music.....and guess what.....it just started to flow....no longer a struggle. I redeveloped the bottom third in a completely different format which I like much better. I also worked across the whole painting with some final touches to build more contrast and interest as opposed to just trying to redo the bottom third in isolation. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder in a relationship....well....it seems that distance from a struggling painting makes a painting go easier!! Here is the finished piece.