Back in the Studio

The studio is still being put to rights but I knew I needed to get back to the easel so I started up again. It has been a couple of weeks. I needed to take that time to re-arrange and be ready for a new productive year but, UGH! I forgot how hard it is to start back up after a longish absence. Everything feels clumsy and I feel rather dull and awkward trying to paint. I am gritting my teeth and keep working in spite of the voices of doubt and disparagement in my head and through what I know as Resistance, with a capital "R". I am starting to get back in the groove but not without a struggle. I think next time I will do my best to not take so much time off.
I am very new to daily painting. For that matter, I am fairly new to painting period! I am realizing that it isn't just my lack of skill that is contributing to the length of time it takes to make one small painting, but I have also been trying to paint too complicated of a composition. I am going to finish the current painting in progress and then simplify, simplify, simplify. Deep breath and keep going. Here is my progress so far with about 5 hours (most daily paintings are 1-3 hours) and more to go:

Oh yeah, I am aware of all the things that need to be corrected and I am just in the blocking in phase. I will fill in the history of the objects when the painting is finished.
To finish up this post, I have been inspired by two wonderful women this week. One is actually a young girl and her story is both uplifting and so very sad. Jessica Joy Reece was 12 years old and had two brain tumors with no cure. She chose to spend her time not only fighting the disease but spreading joy to other kids through making "joy jars" to give to kids fighting cancer. I had "liked" her page on Facebook, something that I don't always do. Over the months I came to admire her courage and positive loving outlook on life. She started a foundation called NEGU (never, ever, give up). She did so much, and touched so many people in such a short time. She seemed to be hanging in there but the other day took a turn for the worse and suddenly passed away. I realized when I read the news (with a bit of swearing and many tears)  how much this brave young girl really touched me. How can I give up on trying to be anything but my best now? I can't, so NEGU is now my motto too.
The other inspiration is someone I had posted links to before. She is an artist I greatly admire and is painting in a manner that I am striving for myself. Here is a link to Terry Strickland's latest blog post. Take a look at her current painting in progress. It is a contemporary painting of the Three Fates. I, myself, have had sketches for a painting of the Three Fates in my notebooks to paint for a few years now. Being a weaver and spinner as well as an avid reader of books, I have come across descriptions of the three fates many times and love the picture they paint in my head. Mine will be different of course but along the same lines idea-wise. I don't have the painting skills to paint the picture yet but will sometime, in the next year or two. I am looking forward to following her progress with the painting.
That is all for this week. I will be heading over to post on my Renee Weaves! blog now.
-Renee

Snow Days and Decision Making

I have been working slow and steady on the grisaille. I finally got finished with a very tricky part. I am trying to decide whether or not to just finish the grisaille and move on or to continue into color as I had originally planned. I really want to get to some small color studies done as I feel I really need the exercises. I guess I can make that decision when I finish the grisaille but the decision will also determine the amount of information I put into it.
I have been following the progress of my former school, Ashland Academy of Art (now Atelier Maui) through my former classmates who continued on to Maui on Facebook. Now Atelier Maui has a blog and you can find it here, I will also put it in my art links. It is just getting started but it is a wonderful look at what goes on inside this kind of a art school.
Reading it not only makes me miss my school friends but also the first class instruction. I have been a bit frustrated lately working on my own. I decided that I needed something of a carrot to work through the challenges so I signed up for a wonderful workshop to go to this summer. I am going to leave you all with a teaser on this as I am still awaiting confirmation and everything but if all goes well, it will be a grand reward for working hard. Hopefully I will have more information and will fill you in by next week.
Finally, it has been a rather wild weather week for our area. Here are a couple of pictures that pretty much tell the story:

And of course this one may look familiar to some with a tiny difference:

We woke up earlier this week to 2" of snow on the ground which is not typical by the ocean even here. After a couple of record breaking, very cold days we finally got our usual winter weather back today. Rain and lots of wind. Needless to say I, like so many people, am ready for spring.
Next week should bring news, and a few changes.
-Renee