A snail's pace.....

Sure wish I could show more progress on my painting, but with the holidays upon us......!! I actually am baking some bread for my Thanksgiving table right now- we women certainly multi-task, don't we?
Back to my painting- I've been adding more detail throughout, and the motorcycle is gradually coming together on the paper. I need some long stretches of uninterrupted time to lay in the larger green sections. Bright greens are really difficult to use, and they are very unforgiving if you "mess up" so I'll need to work on those sections when I know I'll have the time. Watercolor is certainly a medium that requires planning, sometimes many steps ahead- like playing chess, for example. Using staining colors definitely requires pre-planning! Hopefully I'll be able to complete this before the end of the year. I sure was right when I talked about it being cold and snowy when I finished! I'll especially be thrilled if I can say I completed it in 2oo8!!

Bluebirds...

I went out for a brisk walk this morning, and even thought it is quite chilly with a cold, cutting wind, I saw four bluebirds flitting around a bare tree, looking like they were having a wonderful time! I think they're my favorite bird. I never saw one until just a few years ago, when I spotted something blue like a sparkling jewel darting around the yard. I was so excited to see one, and later that December, I saw 2 fluttering around my birdfeeder, seemingly oblivious to the bitter chill.
I would love to get some photos and do a painting of my own, backyard bluebirds. I think capturing the elusive beauties will prove difficult, however. Nevertheless, since I saw these today, I'll keep my camera at the ready!

Busy, busy....

Here's the latest on the motorcycle. I haven't had as much time as I would like to work on it. I'm an election inspector, so on election day I worked from 5:30 in the morning until 9:30 that night. Coffee is a wonderful thing!! Loved the outcome, too! Afterwards my hubby has come down with the flu, and I guess this flu is a tenacious one- he's been sick for a while now. So painting time has been scarce, understandibly. I've been gradually adding more detail to the painting. I do need to do the large, green areas, but I'm waiting for a large block of uninterrupted time to tackle those! On an earlier post, I was jokingly wondering if it would be snowy and cold when I finished the painting. No kidding! It's really cold today. I would like to get this done this month, if at all possible. If I get this flu, it may not get done until the new year!

Back to work.....

Halloween has come and gone, so now it's back to motorcycles! I've been slowly (obviously) adding more and more detail to the painting. The actual bike was painted using such a vibrant, bright green, and green in watercolor is a bit tricky. Windsor Green and other pure greens are very bold, staining colors; certainly colors not to be used by the faint of heart! Handling a large section of a painting using a staining color requires a lot of concentration....and certainly taking the phone off the hook is a requirement! A lot of artists shy away from the staining bold colors at first, understandibly so. However, paintings such as this one require strong colors and values, and you just have to jump in and go for it!

Scary......

I just had to put up some photos that I took in the dark at my neighbors' fabulous Halloween house. On the right is the poltergeist that floats in the second story window, with the fantastic lighting adding to the spooky effect. It isn't just stationary either, it floats and moves around up there....and looks so awesome. I love to go down and just stare at it. My photo doesn't really do it justice, but I had to capture it with a picture anyway!
Left is another display in the haunted graveyard. The detail work on these witches is incredible. I wish I could include sound effects, too, as they are such a part of it all......the howls, moans and screeches add so much! Their house has gotten a lot of media attention lately. It's fun to turn on the news, and they're reporting from the house. I also picked up the paper last night, and lo and behold, there's an article and a big photo as well. As neighbors, we're all supportive of their efforts, and we understand the tourism and traffic that comes with it all. It's only for a short time, it's so much fun to help them put it together (some of our tree branches decorate the graveyard) and getting all decked out in our scary costumes to help haunt....such a blast!

Time for a little Halloween fun.....

Couldn't resist some Halloween fun here! My neighbor's house on it's opening evening of Halloween fright! He has a matching set of gargoyle adorned posts at the entryway. The gargoyles, of course, spew forth fog, along with the numerous and well placed smoke and fog machines. There are scary creatures filling the front lawn, standing on the lawn, coming out of the lawn, and hovering in the trees.
The photo on the right is just a fraction of the dungeon in the garage. There's a scary medical lab with bubbling cauldrons and beakers filled with creepy creatures. In the back you walk through darkened corridors filled with ghouls and scary sounds galore. There's even a haunted pirate ship! I want to go back when it's really dark and get some photos then. It looks so neat in the dark- especially the poltergeist that floats on the second story. I hope my photos will do it justice!

Hospice....

I feel very fortunate to have been asked to hang a show at Hospice. Such a beautiful facility. It's a life transitions center, focusing on counseling and support groups for people who have suffered losses. I never knew such a wonderful place existed. They wanted artwork that was not controversial in any way; artwork that was uplifting and without a heavy message. That suits me to a tee! There's enough stress, bad news, financial meltdowns, etc. blaring at us all day from the 24 hour news channels, newspapers, and media outlets galore. I don't want it adorning my walls, too! So I like to focus on positive images in my artwork. When it takes as long to paint as it takes me, I sure don't want to wallow in misery for a month.

I hope my artwork helps to uplift anyone in need. And I'm so grateful to have a show in such a wonderful place.