When Life Takes You Away........

It is no secret that every one's life is governed by outside influences and demands. Each of us has activities we passionately pursue without requiring outside motivation or direction. I would venture to say that each of us struggles to find a balance in our lives of "obligations"... and "preferences".

In short... life often has a habit of "getting in the way" in our individual pursuit of our art making and that situation in my own case is akin to feeling a need to go to the bathroom badly... but with no place readily in sight to do so. Painting for "Me" is a form of release... and not unlike going to the bathroom... leaves me relieved and less anxious about life. Strange....eh???

Being unable to complete the demo begun at the Willowdale Artist Group evening was excruciating. It beckoned to me from the easel at every coming and going from the studio. But a trip eastward to properly celebrate Allison's 31st birthday and to meet with my dentist in Brockville for a wisdom tooth extraction took precedent over any whim or desire to paint.

We joyously, and fittingly celebrated Allison's special day with a fine evening of catch up and fine food at Chez Piggy's in Kingston... very appropriate because Allison's alter ego from childhood is MS Pig. And yes... I did show up at the tusk removal party at Peter Culp's Boardwalk Dentistry... and came away shy one molar. The Tooth Faery didn't even bother showing up to reward my bravery. I did get to pick an "adult" gift from Peter's "Tickle Trunk" for well-behaved adult clients! I chose an oven mitt that says:" Barbecue sauce covers a lot of mistakes". That will go to my son Andrew, Allison's "Bro" for his 29Th Birthday Bundle from Dad and Deb.

The "hole" has given me quite a bit of discomfort since Tuesday... so painting was not on my mind. But finally... I stepped up the easel yesterday and pushed forward... slowly at first.. but finally found "The Flow"... and the rest is history. Mission accomplished! I did indeed find the necessary bushes and cover to relieve my Self... artistically!

My apologies to the Willowdale members for the delay in delivering "the package. But I will confess that the hiatus did allow time that eventually worked to my benefit in completing the piece. I (bravely decided... with Deb's suggestion) to use my palette knife to "texturize" the bridge elements in the foreground... creating weight and strong visual contrast to the more even brushwork in the middle and background. I used the knife also to "edge" the vertical dead spruce with strong light. I think that these additional effects do enhance the overall effect of the painting. Just a reminder. The structure that I mentioned early was the basis for being able to go back to the piece after a long delay. It was easier to get back on board because the structure was there. Enough said!

Today's three jpegs record the process from the final studio 30x24 inch version at the top, followed by the 10x8 inch plein air sketch ... the demo lay in third... to a poorly photographed finished 30x24 inch studio canvas at the bottom. (I had trouble deleting this one)

Hope that the finished painting gives everyone insight into what I had striven to lay in originally. One can readily see the additional new directions that came out of the initial start . Nothing is in stone using oils. Change can occur with a few new brave strokes... or a swipe of the knife. "Painting With Courage and Conviction" was the theme for my presentation. I feel that this canvas fills the bill adequately!

Good Painting...to All!