A morning walk

Yesterday morning, I was feeling anxious and stressed. My friend with whom I usually hike, was unable to go as she got sick so, I decided to walk my neighborhood instead, with camera in hand. I have always said Autumn was my favorite time of year because the leaves turn my favorite colors however, there really isn't much of an Autumn in Phoenix. But we do have Spring! It is my favorite Phoenician season. Here are a few glimpses into my neighborhood.

First of all, I have to get past this:

My cats perch at the door every morning enjoying the fresh air. While Kenzy races to the kitchen for canned food as soon as my feet hit the floor, Bob racing to the door and meows at me. Because it's been so nice out, if I'm home, the doors are open so this is the usual scene at my front door. Got this shot of Marvin from overhead. I love how he lays with his front paws stretched way out and crossed! He looks so proper! This poor guy is going to be my bank drainer as he has autoimmune issues. We went back to the vet again yesterday. UGH! But we love him so!
This was my first shot out the door!

The following two photos are cut rocks in a yard. Aren't they amazing?

And on to the sure signs of spring in the Sonoran Desert!

This photo below is my favorite. I MUST get one of these cacti... have to find out what kind it is. The flowers are just exquisite!

And yes, in the midst of my neighborhood are several HUGE, old pecan trees! Quite a mix going on around here! Unfortunately, the photos of the chickens didn't turn out well. Maybe next time!

Amazing giveaway!

Trudie Davies is having a giveaway on her blog. She makes beautiful jewelry so go check her out! This is the amazing ring set up for grabs in her April giveaway! Gorgeous, isn't it?

Movin' right along, folks!

Ok, so I finally finished the base color for the stones. And, did you know:

1.) When you work on a big painting, it is literally a pain in the neck?
2.) If you are short like me, a couple of phone books duct taped together make a great little step stool if you don't have one. Unless, of course, you live in a little town in the sticks where your phone book is the thickness of a brochure. In that case, you made need a case of them. However, if you are in a big city, a couple work perfectly!
3.) Your hand goes numb after painting a while if somewhat overhead.
4.) Your elbow sorta' locks up from holding a palette too long at a time.
5.) If you have any type of vision problems or wear glasses, you will need an assortment so you can change out depending on what part of the painting you are working on and the distance between the brush hitting canvas and your eyes! LOL!

Have to take a break for now to work on a few other things... and hopefully get full feeling back in my fingers of my right hand.

Mid-day progress report

Ok, it's slowly taking shape. But painting this size is really hard on my body. My neck and lower back hurt. I'm heading to the shower for a break and hope to get back to this later this evening.

progress for today

Well, Sam went back to school today after missing two days due to Strep and now Max is out with it today. Thankfully, we were able to get a doctor's appt. early and start antibiotics this morning so he'll be able to return tomorrow. Sam was much sicker than Max... barely got out of bed for two days. Max is all mad at me because I won't let him to skateboard! Can't tell he's sick at all except for a sore throat.

Anyway, I had to get a sub for my classes this morning and am looking at today as a blessing because I got to be home almost all day. I've been working on my painting. Got all the stone foundations done by about 1:15. After getting Sam at school and running him to the orthodontist to pick up his retainer, I came home and immediately started painting. I'm jumping around a bit painting because it's hard on your back so I need to change positions often. I'm getting the base colors down for the stones and started some shading just to give me an idea of where it's going. This stage is so hard for me... that "staying in the process" because... well, it's not pretty... it's work, it is slow, and it takes a while for all the pieces to come together. I see it in my head though. It will get there. It will not be perfect but I believe it will tell the story that needs to be told. Here's where I'm at:

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Golden's texture mediums? The extra coarse pumice is to die for! Great rock texture. But, it's difficult to spread. I found it to work really well combined with molding paste. Lay the MP down first and go back on top of it with pumice. As much as I love the look created with the pumice, it would have been difficult to do the word carvings if I had made every stone with the pumice, hence, the variety of textures to create a variety of stones.

Slow progress

My painting is coming along very slowly. Foundations are important and that's really what I'm working on now. Foundation of stones. I've been creating various textures for the stone wall. I'm using gesso, 2 types of molding paste, extra coarse pumice gel, and used dryer sheets. The color variations of the different mediums really throws my eye off... the balance, visually with this color. I think once I start actually putting in paint, it will balance out more, for me. Right now, it's just disturbing to my eye... makes me want to twitch! LOL! I hope to be to the painting stage by Thursday.

Starting new artwork

Well, I have begun a new piece of artwork... a really big piece! This is one of my favorite kinds of paintings, those collaborated with God. His idea, His vision, my hands. The vision for this piece came quite a while back... maybe a couple years? But, I have found that when God gives me a vision for a piece of artwork to be done, He most often says, "Wait" because the vision is more like an invitation to me to enter into a process more fully. I'm never able to start working on one of these types of pieces until I have walked through much of the process of what the piece is about. So, this one has been on the back burner. Then, a few weeks ago, during a message, the title for the piece was given to me. I was not in the service thinking about this artwork but immediately, when the words were spoken, the picture flashed in my head and I knew it was for a reason. So, the title of this piece is "How did you find me here?".

Now, because I knew from the get-go that the piece needed to be fairly big, I needed an inexpensive way to execute it. I could not afford a canvas this size. Then, I realized I could paint it on unstretched canvas. And, in doing so, hope to be able to do some sewing on it as well, creating more depth and texture to the piece. So, I went to my local favorite fabric haunt, SAS, and purchased a big piece of unstretched, unprimed canvas for $2.99 per yard! Now that's my kind of deal! The piece I found already cut was a bit longer than a yard so, my painting is looking to be about 4x4 feet.

My next dilemma was figuring out what kind of solid surface I could put it on to paint! I ended up taping plastic to my studio wall and then using thumb tacks to mount the canvas directly to the wall. I have decided I am going to be really brave and post photos of progress as I go so, here's the first few:

To give an idea of the size of this piece, the work in progress on my easel is 2x3 feet. You can see that this new project is much larger.

Next, I added gesso on. I intentionally did not paint the entire surface solid. I like the variety of texture in having some of the gesso thicker in areas.

I was up much of the night processing this piece in my head while I just stayed there in bed. I could not get a sense of whether or not the figure in the painting should be a man or woman. I wasn't feeling like it should be a woman, necessarily. And, after looking the web to death in google images trying to find just the right image for inspiration to match the vision in my head, I gave up. I got out my tripod and camera and did some self portrait pictures in the pose I needed. However, I wanted my figure to have on jeans and shoes so I nabbed Max when he got home from school and took a photo of him in the same pose. I got a very rough sketch done of my figure and have now painted the background. The walls will be stone so my first layer of color is the dark shadow that will be between the stones. I decided not to do mortar as I really like the look of old stone walls in Europe that have just been stacked for generations. So, first layer of background color down. Stones will slowly emerge from the walls.
So, here's where I'm stopping for tonight. My studio lighting is HORRIBLE.. I have to use a pole lamp with three lights on it to see what I'm doing in there... and it casts shadows while I paint. I prefer painting in the daytime.

So, that's where I'm at. This piece has a deadline of about 3 weeks because it will be part of our annual week of 24/7 prayer at my church. So I don't have a lot of time!