Rationing Painting Time

Time spent in front of  my easel is becoming a rationed commodity. I can only work as long as the hand permits and when the pain rises the painting must stop. Yesterday I thought I would paint using my fingers hoping to prolong my painting time …. Guess what; that didn’t work, as a matter of fact it was only a few moments and my hand cramped. So back to brushes and left hand attempts.

I also find if I spend time on my computer I cannot hold a brush …. So time is now rationed according to the tasks at hand. I do try to fit in some painting each day; each canvas now takes a little longer to complete but each day finds extended time spent so there is hope on the horizon.  At least with the assist of all the medication I now must consume.  I am beginning to think the pills may be the killer .... not the disease!

As you know I grew up in Northern Ontario … the flora of the area being primarily a boreal forest …. That is to say mostly evergreen trees such as spruce, pine and balsam fir. Deciduous trees included poplar and birch….our climate did not support  the towering beauty of maple and oak such as is found in southern Canadian climes.

For the past two years I have been attempting to capture the beauty of autumn poplar trees….this is my latest attempt. It is a small canvas, only 8”x10”. It seems no matter the size canvas I use I cannot successfully capture the golden beauty of autumn poplars. Anyway for now I’ll not ‘sweat it’……one compensation of rationed time is I am learning to appreciate what I’ve accomplished…..even if it falls short of what I had hoped .



Enjoy

Work in Progress

My studio is fast accumulating many 'works in progress'.  And here is another one. 

I worked on this one quite a bit yesterday but still am unable to identify where I am going with this painting.  Lately I feel as though I am merely 'painting pictures'.  Until I can begin again to identify some sort of 'feeling' in these works .... they will remain works in progress.  Hope 'feelings' return to my paintings soon as this small studio is getting somewhat overcrowded.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my U.S.A. friends.  Hope your day is as wonderful as mine was; with family, friends, sharing and thanks!

Foggy Morning - 1

The past few days have left me running the gamut of emotions. I have recently said goodbye to a friend and compatriot, my brother-in-law. I shall miss his hearty belly laugh, his bear hugs of welcome and departure. I shall miss ‘him’ and his sincere simplicity. I shall not miss watching Altzheimer’s consume his body and mind; so although it is with regret I accept his leaving I am thankful not to have to visit his further deterioration.


In the midst of this, late yesterday I attempted to paint, perhaps to put some emotions and frustrations to rest. A work in progress….



                        And the mists beckon me come follow
                          Its mysteries to reveal
                        I lingered on the edge and laughed aloud
                         You tempt but are not true
                       You are mere illusion, a temptress
                         Eddying round on air and  over ground

                        If I but follow I will find
                         Where you lead is further bound
                        By mists and mysteries yet never to reveal.
                         The answers I seek are as your mist
                        Shrouded and floating always from grasp
                        Leaving me in foggy drifts.

                        And I wonder
                          ‘Where has love gone?’
                         And the mist replies “It never was”
                           But I sensed  it here
                        ”No, it but lingered near”
                           But I grasped in my heart I am sure
                        “ No... it was but illusion”

                       And in the mist as I turn
                        The illusion that is you is gone…..

Pinting en Plein Aire

I have three unfinished canvases floating around my ‘studio’ – spare bedroom. One I’ve shown here already, the glowing aspen – and it’s still on my easel; I’m waiting for the paint fairy to come in overnight and finish it for me!


A second one I include here today. I painted this one en plein aire while vacationing on an island in Georgian Bay. I hauled all my equipment over rocks and roots and trees. Siddled down the side of a steep incline and perched on the edge of a straight and steep rock outcrop high above the edge of the water to paint this! I have never been successful painting out doors but am so determined to become competent at this approach to painting. For me, photographs never adequately capture the spirit of the scene, they cannot seem to translate the living breath of the landscape one wishes to paint.

I’ve been looking at the work of other plein aire artists. They describe very adequately what they are doing and make it look so simple and they do it ‘simply’ and with confidence. I’ve even attended a week long workshop painting plein aire for six days!. The instructor went away with seven … count them…..seven wonderful canvases. I went away with seven discards!

I read and absorb, make notes to myself on ‘how to paint plein aire’. Ultimately when I arrive on site all is forgotten and I am fighting to capture a moment. Having written this I think I’ve just identified my problem with plein aire…I’m fighting my abilities and painting my fears.

When I am in the sand dunes with the wind blowing, the grasses swaying and the waves rolling I feel a part of the landscape. My very being is consumed with the scene. I do not think of colours, paints, time or place…..just the vision I see and feel. Perhaps that is the first note I need to put on the top of my paint box when painting other than in the dunes …. Relax and enjoy the feeling of the moment and approach with confidence.

My second attempt is another plein aire of a golden autumn.

Maybe someday the two aspen kicking about will become paintings I can say are ‘not too bad’. Looking rather dim right now though; I think they both will wind up discards!


Visit my other blog for the continuing saga of survival in a Northern Ontario town: -turningpointsandidentities