At long last, I'm finally ready to post this blog on my brand-new computer!
It's been a long, snowy and cold winter, but I personally had a great "off" season, with lots of time to paint, and the motivation to do so. My paintings were mostly oils and watercolors, which is a big change for me, as I often paint in pastel. This change is an indication that I'm finally adjusting to the longer periods of free (painting) time in my life! When I'm painting in oils or watercolors (wet media), I tend to spend much longer periods of time on the painting, while with pastels (a dry medium), I work for shorter periods, although the paintings may take months to complete.
My wonderful season started in late October with our much-anticipated trip to beloved Grenada,(seemingly an unending source of inspiration for me) and a short visit to Carriacou, Grenada's sister island. Carriacou is different enough from Grenada that it was a whole new world of inspiration! Right after I arrived home, I took a class with an excellent instructor, Megan Hinton, at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. The thrust of the class was painting large pieces. As pastel painter, I tended to keep my paintings small for practical reasons, so these paintings would turn out to be the largest pieces I have done. Most of my classmates were using traditional oil paints, but I opted to use water-soluble oils because I had been given a set by a downsizing painter, and wanted to try them out. For supports, I used some large pieces of acid-free mat board that I had, rather than spend a lot of money on canvases. This worked well with the paint, and I was able to get some nice, subtle, almost watercolor-like effects. You can see some of these paintings in my "Recent Work" folder on this website.
I also painted almost a watercolor a day, with exploration and experimentation being my goal, rather than paintings I would hope to sell. I had lots of fun! Mountains, dunes, sea and skies were where I went with these paintings, most of which are not on the website. I also painted the view outside the window many times, as I watched the next snowstorm roll across the bay from the West.
I enjoy watercolor painting, and I was happy to get into a one-day workshop given by Tracy Harmon, also at PAAM.
Now "The Season" is beginning to rev up, and I know there will be less time to paint, as I will be spending more time at my seasonal job, guiding tours and wine tastings at Truro Vineyards of Cape Cod. I'm hoping to take the motivation and sense of exploration I felt this winter with me into the Spring and Summer months, and paint as much as possible, as well as enjoy (and be informed by) the life and beauty all around me.
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