There’s some remodeling going on at the house, so I’m sort of grounded for a while. It’s really not a terrible thing as it takes away any excuse not to work on some paintings.
A wise art mentor once advised me to move from small to large and back again when painting. I’m not sure why that works, but I think it does. I’ve found that large paintings are exhilarating but incredibly exhausting! Small paintings leave me longing for more space to capitalize on special details, but they do give me a certain sense of accomplishment in a short amount of time. I believe every human being needs that!
I started a couple of small paintings a while back when I had a few hours between traveling places. I really wasn’t happy with them, but, instead of throwing them away, I laid them aside to consider again at a later date. Yesterday, with craftsmen banging the blue door open and shut literally every few minutes for about 8 hours straight, I surprisingly found inspiration to work on the paintings again.
Both paintings lacked dimension, and the urban scene from Portland, Maine, was just wrong. I’ve never had much talent for drawing, and my perspective was way off! I’d even left out a short building on the right that was wedged between two larger buildings. What a mess!
Because the paint was good and dry after sitting around the laundry room for months, I was able to easily paint over the mistakes and brighten up the buildings that were in sunlight. I’m much happier now and might even use the scene for a larger painting.
The church in the Cotswolds was spectacular in person with that super cute gate to the cemetery, but my small painting was an absolute dud. Looking at it again yesterday, I could see that my tree in the forefront was too heavy and needed a little light to shine through it, and the red maple was blah because the original paint had soaked into the background. With the original paint as dry as could be, a few new blings of color brought the maple to life! I now see potential for painting the scene again on a larger scale.
Our trip to Navarre Beach this time last year offered tons of paintable pictures. Even this post’s featured image is from that trip. It’s entitled, “Seaside Wintertime Blues,” and it will included in a silent auction that benefits the Mississippi Children’s Museum this month. Just fyi. 🙂
I chose three Navarre Beach scenes to tackle earlier this week. Here are two that are finished. The third one may be left behind for a while til it’s dry enough to improve!
None of these paintings are perfect, but they are a gauge for me to find something that could be really special on a larger scale with enough time and attention. They serve as inspiration for me to do more.
In this season of change in my life, I am prayerfully seeking to find the path I should be taking now. My hope is that you, too, will see value in the small things you do and allow the One who holds our future to open your eyes to the possibilities in the larger picture of our lives.
May you be blessed today for reading my ramblings!
