Like a Rusty Faucet

Gypsy Liberty

3.5 x 9.5 inches

watercolor on paper

click here to purchase

I've always been the type of person to dive headfirst into whatever it is I'm passionate about at that moment. it consumes me and it's all I think about. I live it, breathe it, dream it. If I'm awake I'm either practicing my passion, or I'm thinking about when I next get to practice. 

But inevitably, that ends in a burn out. Well. . . most of the time. 

And then it's weeks or months on end before I pick up that passion again. And at first it's a little like an old faucet that hasn't been used for a while. It sticks, doesn't open right, and then after smacking the stupid faucet with some type of tool (a wrench maybe) it starts to trickle a little water.  Then the next time you try to use that faucet it's just a little easier to open. Doesn't take as much. . . abuse to get it to start flowing, even if it is still just a trickle. 

Slowly, if you're patient, and you don't give up, and you use that faucet every day, it flows effortlessly. Like it used to when it was brand new. Like it was made to. 

That's how I feel about painting right now. 

For a long time I let my skills get rusty. But with practice I'm back at home again. And back in the flow. 

It's a great place to be. 

Tough Choices - A is for Apple, a new painting challenge

'Tough Choices' 

6 x 6 oil on masonite

Not For Sale

For a while now I've wanted to do a series of paintings based on the alphabet and I thought that now would be a great time to do that since I've kind of felt like I needed a new creative challenge. And can I just say how EXCITED I am about this? I love thinking up new subjects or themes based on a letter. 

Last night I laid out all my photos (yes all of them, because I'm awesome and old school like that) and sorted them into piles of paintings I'd like to do based on letters. This is going to be a fun project. I'm excited. Wait. . . I already said that. 

Anyway, here is the first painting in my alphabet series, A is for Apple. This is a painting of my youngest son when he was about two. He simply could not decide on which apple to eat, so he compromised by taking a bite out of all three of them and then leaving them there with little mice sized bites taken out of each one, thus interrupting my still life set up. The cute little stinker. 

Tasty

'Tasty' 

5 x 7 inch watercolor on paper

$65 plus $8 US shipping, or $20 International 

I can't ever get my own dogs to model for me. The minute I get down to take a photo of them is the minute they think I've just invited them to climb into my lap. This is my niece's dog, a cute Chihuahua named Chica. She is a great little model because she's always watching my niece, not me. :) I caught her mid slurp a few summer's ago and have been wanting to paint it ever since. 

In other news, my blog post I wrote at the end of last month about what I've learned from 30 paintings in 30 days is now included in this free Art Byte at Daily Paintworks that is all about artist's blocks and how to get past them. Carol Marine, Liz Wiltzen, Brenda Ferguson, and Cathleen Rehfield also wrote about it. You can check it out right here: Collective Insight on Blocks. It is full of awesomeness. 

And last of all my computer is giving me fits again so I've not been able to comment or respond to comments hardly at all. :( I still love you guys and will be around when I can. Hope you all are having a fantastic day! 

And now I shall leave you with this most geeky photo of me posing for my article about artist blocks: 

Until tomorrow! Huzzah for computer's getting fixed speedily and for friendly artist's helping each other!!