Where Is It?

Watercolor

19x16

$500.00

Won the Theme Award

This painting will be for sale at the Waverly House, Girl's Shelter Benefit. The theme was 'Everyday Life."

My mother went into the hospital the week this painting was due for judging. It was quite an ambitious painting for the time I had to finish it. It seemed like everything was working against me getting this one done on time. I was determined and stayed up most of the night painting. I am pleased with it, but the finished product has not been in the studio for long. If it sells in the show it is done. If it comes back for awhile, I cannot be sure it will not come out of the frame for tweaking.

I'm often asked if I am afraid of ruining a successful painting. I really have not had that problem. At this stage all changes are deliberate and I am certain what I want to do. I have been painting long enough that I can usually accomplish what I set out to do.

The planning stage for each new painting is very important, but often I let the painting lead me in the beginning. It can take a different direction that I did not expect. If I get stuck I put a piece aside for awhile until I know where I am taking it next. Often I get to a point where I dislike the painting. I guess I've been staring at it for too long. I little step back helps my attitude.

'Where Is It,' I\is one of the few that painted itself. My only struggle was time and stamina for the tedious work. I worked on a second piece ,to enter the show, just to give me a break from this one. I would switch paintings every hour or so. My head kept telling me that this was insane, because I wasn't sure that I had time to finish the first one. My gut told me this would be the only way I could mentally achieve my goals with 'Where Is It."

The second painting did not make the show and I will probably finish it this week.

Oh the games I play with myself....

This is a painting that was started for the 'Beauty of Everyday Life' competition at Waverly house. Because of my mom's recient illness and hospitalization I only had time to finish the 'Silverware Drawer' or 'Where is It'.

I will be calling later today to see how that painting faired.

This painting is to be called 'Morning coffee.' I can see that there are issues with some of the cups. I will be dealing with that today. This is done on hot press paper and is more delicate to paint removal. As mean as I have been with my paintings lately, we will see how things go.

So far I am putting in the background by patiently painting around the foreground. I will have to mask the bottem of the cups to do the grantic counter top.

I finished the kitchen drawer painting today. Unfortunatly, I had to put it in a frame and deliver it to a competition before photographing it. Maybe I can retrieve it this weekend for photographing.

This was an ambitious endeavor for the amount of time. My mother went in the hospital this last week, which made finishing this painting more insane.

It felt like working on a puzzle. I resorted to fitting each little shape together. I ran out of time and turned what was left to do more abstract. Maybe that will give a balance for the tedious detail.

I wish I had time to work out bugs on this one, that may happen after the show.

In the end I did a wash of golden ochre. This helps to pull a congested painting more together.

Making good progress. Seven more days to paint. I think the black is actually going be what directs the eye around the painting.

My mom is better and we are done with the doctor's appointments for this week. Now maybe I can concentrate better on this one.

I am pleased with how this progressing. I worked several hours on this on Saturday. I am not stressing on what is happening with this painting. This will be one thatI will really miss when it is done. I must get the entry form to Waverly House, Monday, and order the frame.

I am working on the background, and am happy with the lime green of the shelf paper. Now I am ready to take a few more photos of the drawer rearranging things a little. I will remove items, to the left, to show more of the shelf paper. Some things of interest will be added to the silverware section.

My Corel Draw is down. This picture is pretty crude. Making progress, but I really need to step it up. Today I am working on the drawer lining.

Not the greatest photo but it important to get moving. This is a painting of my silverware drawer. It must be completed by September 22. There is a lot of work here. My idea is to put my reflection into a few of the shiny pieces and maybe put the handle and part of my body at the bottom. I am not sure of the latter idea. I think that I will change the drawer lining from beige to a lime green to match an ice cream scoop.

I should get that scoop painted today so I can start dealing with the back ground.

Titles: Where Is It? Where Is My Potato Peeler?

Happy birthday to me.:)