still struggling

Leslie talking to Deb as Deb paints the Cameron Church.

The Third Attempt - Fri. 12-19-08: Last Saturday I met PAAC at the corner of Iowa and Pearl to paint Pearl Street. You may recall that I had started a painting there a month or so ago now. That painting is still unfinished, although I did take it to work on. The whole point of the painting was to capture the bare naked trumpet vine that curls around the fence and tops out like a big parasol over the gate to the backyard of an old apartment building. I did lay it in on Saturday and my fellow artist friend, Leslie, said I had done a great job blocking it in. BUT I wiped the vine out when I got home. She said she has tried similar subject matter with equally frustrating results, and I have talked to other artists whom have tried tackling this very same trumpet vine with no end result worth keeping. So what is it about this particular scene? Leslie also suggested that the painting was fine without the trumpet vine so just leave it out and move on. I did push the light/dark values this last trip out. My daughter thinks it looks like a great cover to a novel as it stands. Oy vey. I will ponder it as I work on something else today.

I finally got something productive done yesterday towards Christmas preparations so I feel less stressed about being so far behind. It was a gorgeous day and I so wanted to be outside painting, as a front is supposed to be moving in again today. BUT reason prevailed and I do feel a weight off my shoulders. For now. And Christmas shopping of any kind the weekend before the holiday was not really an option I wanted to face.