I'm going to try this "I'm Back" thing again. I shut my blog down after getting over 600 likes on one post and this happened because I asked a question about you know, that highway kind of word. It scared the crap out of me to think bots or something nefarious was out there watching me. I'm just a regular ole' joe just tip-tapping away on my keyboard with my own life, my own opinions.
So, yes, I've been absent since the first of June sometime. Life has rambled on with not much happening except the usual summer stuff, grandkiddos, food, painting, cabin life and the world happenings. I'll try to update a bit here I hope.
It's hot, but what can you expect, it's summer and it's Oklahoma. I'm okay with the hot but the weather people are ridiculous in their reporting like it's doomsday. IT'S SUMMER you numb-nuts! Global warming and all that but what can we do except keep working on the emissions and what not, our fine government in action or at least trying. If we let the Orange-Slice in and his Orange-peel factions, we might be more doomed sooner than later. (Soapbox opinions!)
Painting, yes I have been back to painting again and a lot of sketching. I'm working on a project so the sketching is where I'm spending most of my artistic time as of late. It's really fun and takes me back to some roots that I have needed to hone again.
I took a three day drawing class at the Garden Center which was where the push has helped me to get back to it. I sort of learned some stuff but really it was there, just needed to be pulled out of my brain again, and that helped. I've also been doing the occasional Thursday live model (nudes) drawing and did an all day Saturday one, a long pose. Those Thursday night things are fantastic and really push me to make marks on the paper that really count.
Then this past week I did a three day landscape oil painting workshop with the fabulous (very young) Kyle Ma. He stuff is fantastic but honestly, he's too young. I really didn't learn a whit from him but it was fun to watch him paint, and it goes on my art resume! I started this hay bale painting in the workshop. Yesterday I went back to the easel and reworked the whole thing. I love it now. He touched it, but only one swipe and I've already painted over the swipe in a direction I wanted to go in.
"Field of Dreams"
9x12 oil
I did finish this one a few weeks ago after the drawing class. We went outside to take photos of flowers and I found this little area I fell in love with and had to paint it.
That painting workshop was difficult and finally Sunday when everyone left for lunch, I went home. Honestly the lady that sat next to me, PTO, was in a pickle. She is so sweet, a bit dingy, and a horrible painter, just HORRIBLE! She cannot see value, nor can she draw. I watched her the first day trying to recreate a Monet painting of lavender fields. The painting was all muted so it was hard to see value, especially for someone who can't. PTO took from the same instructor I took from at Ziegler's for years and that instructor basically only taught retired ladies (some men) who wanted to paint in their free time. He didn't really teach the stuff you need to know so when the students got stuck he would sit down and paint on their paintings. They would then take the finished paintings home and present them to their family and friends art that THEY CREATED! In fact, it was all the instructors paintings. PTO was one of those people. The whole workshop Kyle would sit at her easel and just look at it, confused. He would try to make marks but there was no helping it. By Saturday afternoon he just sat there and then said she needed to learn values, to draw. She proceeded to show him all kinds of "her" paintings (privately telling me one was a BLUE RIBBON painting!) He finally said, "I don't know what you want me to say." He got up and walked away.
You see, our previous instructor did a disservice to PTO and all of his students who couldn't paint. I know he is just trying to make a living but it is lying and then you end up with PTO just devastated and humiliated but what happened Saturday to her. She was embarrassed and mortified by the whole thing and I could hardly sit and watch it. Then my friend, who NOW teaches since our former instructor has moved to Florida, is perpetuating these lies so she can make a buck. I have a hard time with that kind of lying. It's just not fair and has really made my heart hurt for PTO and the others.
Okay, enough already of my venting. I've been away too long.
