Wednesday, July 08, 2020

I Want My Life Back


Good morning all.  I guess life is going to continue to be just plain weird with this Covid thing.  I'm really over it but it's not over with us as humans.  Kind of a boring life around here.  I get up, have my coffee, breakfast, check my emails, watch a few videos on YouTube, go to work or the work-studio.  Pay bills, pay Daddy's bills, back home for a power nap, fix dinner, watch TV, play a little online gin, read a bit, then to bed to wake up the next morning and start ALL OVER AGAIN!  

At least I do have the studio to go to and paint.  That has been a lifesaver for sure.  These little flowers appeared on my canvas last week.  I'd started them while staying at home and wasn't really sure they would amount to anything, but they did and I am so happy.  
We've still not seen my mother-in-law yet, although the oldest brother-in-law did visit her with mask on and outside. Now we hear that 12 of the staff there have tested positive.  THAT IS SCARY for her and for us for her!  Really, if the young and the other IDIOTS would wear a mask maybe we could get this thing at bay and could go on with life, sort of as usual.  I'm still trying not to watch too much news or the Facebook news (I think that is a bit skewed.)  I guess I choose to stay a bit naive about it all.  As long as I can still order my stuff from the grocery stores, Amazon, etc., then I'm perfectly happy doing what I am doing.  I just want to get through the year to next summer when we officially RETIRE!!!!!  

Also in the studio I decided to go back to the self portrait stuff.
I keep looking at what I've done and it just makes me crazy that I may have messed it up.  I've go so many drawn on canvas and ready to paint but I'm just blocked and afraid to carry on. 
I started this one and my studio partner, Linda, who is a portrait queen said you should NEVER use burnt umber in portraits!  Well, crap.  That stopped my in my tracks as that is exactly what I did.  I am NOT mad at her for helping me, she critiqued my work as I critique hers.  That is what we do for each other and it is INVALUABLE for help in progressing forward in our art journey.  

So, I put it aside for months just staring at it and contemplating what to do, how to do it.  Then I remembered a technique called the Zorn Palette.  It utilizes only four colors:  titanium white, black, cadmium red light, and yellow ochre.  You can get TONS of different colors using only these four colors.  Yesterday I got them out and played with the palette.  EUREKA!  I am so very pleased that it is coming together, finally.  I really want to go back to the studio today but Linda will be there and I have little Snicklefritz with me.  Linda is afraid of being around other people right now or exposing Snicklefritz to anything.  She is teaching students and is around people and I understand that.  I would keep Snicklefritz in my rooms only but still not sure I want to do it.  So probably will opt to stay home.  I'm just thrilled I'm making headway to tackle my problem here.  Maybe I will get to finally finish all those paintings for a show next year.  Oh, and on that note we WERE going to have a show at the Broken Arrow Museum but with the virus we decided to cancel it.  No sense in having an art show when NO ONE CAN COME TO IT!  

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