painting progress and other activity

I started on my painting Friday, got the first base color on the two large trunks. Now that it’s dry the color is a little darker than I wanted so I may try lifting some pigment off with a wet paper towel. I used different techniques on each one. The one on the right was color on dry paper and the one on the left was color on wet paper. The one on the left came out more uniform. Still have to do a lot of work on each one.

Last Thursday before yoga class I mentioned my most recent drawing and showed it to Stephanie and Susan and then showed them some of the other drawings, pictures on my phone. Stephanie runs Hesed House and they have a little market in the Welcome Center of handmade items from local artisans and some food stuff like the local honey and she said they are always looking for new items to add and what did I think about making prints of my drawings or even the originals as there was some nice wall space that needed something or note cards. I’d been thinking of having some note cards made with a selection of my drawings but it never occurred to me to have numbered prints made to be framed and hung. So Friday I talked to my kids, Sarah and Aaron, who both work in a print shop that has the equipment and skills to make quality prints and notecards. So, that’s happening. Sarah is going to come get my sketchbook and get the drawings scanned in and work up some samples for me to decide on size and paper.

I signed Robin and I up for a workshop next Tuesday at Hesed House. A woman is doing a series of little craft projects. The first was pressed flower tea towels which I missed. This next one is origami Christmas ornaments. You all know I don’t do Christmas, will not be putting these on a Christmas tree but I love origami and what the hell, why not? One of the first things I taught my grandkids to do when they got old enough to accurately fold paper was origami. 

Today is sunny but Saturday was mostly overcast with some sun peeking out now and then but most importantly, warm! A friend asked if the pink trumpet flower bush made seeds, it doesn’t, because she would like to have one. So I went over and cut three green stick cuttings and two hardwood cutting to see if I could get one to root for her. The hardwood and one of the green stick cuttings are dipped in rooting compound and in a small pot of dirt and in plastic bags to make a miniature greenhouse ( my sister’s trick). The other two green stick cuttings are in water so we’ll see if I have some success. If Pam were still alive I’d give the cuttings to her and she would hand me back 5 new plants. 

Remember that cheap $14 bird feeder I bought that turned out to be…cheap? 

I enlarged two of the slots a little but it still doesn’t allow the seed to flow easily and the cupped dish that holds the seed also holds water when it rains. It had three tiny holes that were supposed to drain the water. Guess what, they don’t so yesterday I used a screwdriver and a hammer to punch 5 bigger holes in the tray.

Here’s my progress yesterday on the painting. I tend to overwork stuff and I definitely did on these tree trunks, kept adding and lifting pigment and degraded the paper in a few places trying to get it to look more like the picture. So last night as I was going to bed I had a sort of epiphany. The picture is the source of inspiration, not what the painting needs to or should be. So I hope I’ll be less anal, as my friend Gene would say, going forward.