More Roses

It is hard to stop painting roses once you begin. It reminds me of golf, you are always looking to the perfect hole. I am always looking for the perfect painting. I have learned more about painting roses and that is never give up. I learned the most from a painting I thought was so horrible that I should just throw it away. I didn't discard the work but instead picked up a green pen and began adding the green and blue hydrangeas to the composition. Then I painted over the flowers to give somewhat of a luminescence to the work. 

It is not about these 23 little studies . . . it is about what I learn as I complete each. I know that if I work through the emotional down turns I will ultimately be successful.  The bottom line is keep at it. Don't give up. Painters get better by painting, artists get better by doing art. Step back look at what you are doing and keep at it . . . then put the work away for a while allowing for emotional maturity.  As I develop as an artist I know I can view my work in a rational way. 

I personally cannot wait to get more roses and paint more in the months ahead.

Art is a Process

Roses 

I am working on my rose paintings so I can finish my large painting. I am trying many new ways of painting the roses including starting without a pencil drawing. By just starting to paint the work looks more spontaneous and less planned.

One of the other experiments I am working through is the geese. I have worked on large almost life size Canadian Geese but now I am trying to do miniature drawings that are ultimately to be paintings of geese. 

These little studies have a wonderful humor and sensitivity

to the subject. These drawings are created from pictures takes in early September when we were visiting Lake Union in downtown Seattle. I find I am somewhat inconsistent in my product but I am improving.

    Geese

New Art Created

It is difficult to work all day and also find time to do art. My experience is I do my painting when I am rested and my mind is clear. The best time for me is the morning. I create my art early in the morning. I was visiting with my friend the pie maker and talking about my art work and I explained that I may work on 3 or 4 pieces at the same time. While I was explaining this to her I also realized that I had been quite productive in creating art work this month. The more inspired I am by the subject matter the more I want to paint. 

Even thought I create 3 or 4 pieces at a time the art does not look at all the same because I approach each piece from a different vantage point. For example, I started working a year ago focusing on just one rose or two rose buds now I am working on a vase full of roses. This is growth but how did the growth occur. First of all I never mastered the one rose, but I did improve at it. I wanted to try larger paper so I kept the roses the same size and just made more on the page. I also realized that I need to work in stages to give the paint time to dry that is another reason why I work on multiple pieces at a time. These simple discoveries about art are important to discovering who I am as an artist.