Tag Archives: create

May 6, 2016 · 7:43 am

YAY – Painting Project Finished

As promised to my readers but mostly to myself I have finished this project which began on a holiday in Arizona last November 2015.  A more dedicated and experienced painter likely could have whipped it up in a few days however, I am not that person.

This project came together in the midst of ongoing home renovations, Christmas, January blues, ongoing treatment from my car accident in Nov 2014 which includes ice, heat, physio, massage, specific exercises, inflammation and reduction of exercises.  It seems so ongoing and endless.  Currently am in withdrawal mode from my beloved game of Pickleball. Temporarily.

Life with family happens on a daily basis – a son in a career change which brings intense training and gone away for half a year and adult kid travels to world-parts unknown to me which translates into worry, for my mama’s heart.  A daughter in law experiencing solo living while hubby is away in training.  A daughter who loves my back yard and sunny deck loves to pop in and out with tales of her day or week – a revolving door, in the front, then check the fridge, fill the biggest glass with water, out the back door, plop on the lounge chair, chat-chat-chat.  Suddenly it is time to go – with a scramble to gather most of her personal items.  I kid you not there is nearly always something left behind.   Then off she goes, out the fence gate on to who knows what experience or work project.

And, this reminds me – the design, creation then building of a fence around our little yard also happened this spring.  Hubby took care of nearly all the digging, protecting my budding plants (under  the scrutiny of my supervision) and construction and staining – daughter and I put in just enough help to validate our saying “we” built the fence together.

This awesome fence is going to let the wild bunnies know they are no longer welcome to nibble on my baby tomatoes in my veggie garden.  Maybe it will discourage the family of raccoon’s  from coming too close to try and nibble on Thomas the Cat.  There’s a lot of expectation on this fence and I sure hope it can take all the responsibility and pressure as it needs to contain a vast array of shrubs, flowers, climbing roses and other crawly vines I’ve forgotten the names of.  I saw this cool little gadget that fits over fence posts that a potted plant can sit in and  I’d like a couple of those too.

So, all that to say, no wonder it takes me so long to finish a painting….

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April 27, 2016 · 6:25 pm

A little closer to the Finish

What was I thinking?

In my eagerness to get the first coat of clear stain on the custom made frame for my painting project, I goofed.

Hubby is home this afternoon from paid work to finish a project of his own, putting in the last two windows for our home, replacing the thirty year old ones.

While he tries to take a sun break near where I am, I figure he’s easy prey for my project and I get him busy shaking my can of stain.

First goof up.  As he’s shaking I remember and then confirm by taking the can and read, “do not shake.”

I shake my head.  Get my rag and begin applying the stain rubbing into the wood frame thoroughly to eliminate any possibility of air bubbles being left behind.

Hubby says, “How many coats do you have to do?”

With my inside voice I’m thinking…one, cause that’s all I wanna do.

With my nice outside voice, I say, “I’m not sure,” as I casually pick up  the can to read the instructions.  Should have done that before I started – I usually know that sort of thing.

I discover that six hours of drying time is needed before the second coat is applied and with a light sanding in between.  Ugh, then the can wants me to put on a third coat.  This is going to take days!

But, I have a bigger problem to deal with because my hand is sticking to the can.

Second goof up.  I’m not wearing gloves.

I quietly mention this to hubby, who wisely says…well…nothing.

So, for a clear stain, after four, then five soapy scrubbings  with my vegetable cleaning brush I still have tanned diagonal stripes across my palms.

Perhaps I should have purchased a ready made frame.

The one-third done project is sitting on the table outside waiting for its next coat of stain.  It can wait.  Six hours the can said.  I’ll be in bed by then.

Instead, now I’m writing.  Hubby is watching TV hockey and kinda watching over the dinner cooking.  That’s another project I got him doing.  It’s good to keep him busy when he’s taking an afternoon off work.

The painting is nearly done – the one I’ve been creating since my Arizona holiday nearly six months ago and I will be happy to see it and the frame together and off to live with their new owner.

Come back to visit soon.  I promise to show and not tell.

 

 

 

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March 9, 2016 · 2:57 pm

One Step at a Time

Laying down the basics and keeping things simple. That is an easy model for me to begin my painting and then allow what transpires to take me where it wants to go.  I follow.

This process is helpful because when things go awry and get complicated my creativity is blocked and I believe I am stuck and unable to move forward.

I find it’s rather like life, mine anyway.   I like to lead a  simple life but at times it can get complicated or I  can run ahead of myself. It’s then I need to get back to the process of step by step even if I have to create it.

One of the items I brought along in my paint pack on my Arizona holiday were several strips of colored rice paper.

An idea I’ve used before and decided to try again thanks to an artist who taught me is to apply various products to the painting like string, sand, leaves, buttons, lace, etc – anything to give a lift, depth, dimension and excitement.

In a couple of my past favorite paintings I did use sand and bits of bark for logs for a particular beach scene – I loved those finished pieces and so did others because they bought them.

It’s rather an honor knowing someone liked the process I went through, learning, being challenged, growing, changing then ending up with a satisfactory and pleasing finish.

It’s like this in friendships, love, work and play, giving and serving others.  If I remain open to be taught, to grow, change and flex  perhaps in the end of days I’d like to think it will be a satisfactory and pleasing finish.

In this part of the picture below I began sticking wet rice paper onto the canvas and scrunching it to shape the hills and mountains in the background and rocks in the foreground.  In letting the shapes direct me I followed the shoreline with my fingers.

In some spots I had to pick off paper and in others add more to make the dips, shapes and jagged rocks appear or disappear.

Reflection keeps popping up as I compare the shaping of my life to the shaping of a painting.

How it will be in the end is yet to be discovered.

2015-11-05 15.20.14

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March 7, 2016 · 9:08 pm

A Blank Canvas

Late fall 2015.  Casa Grande, (Palm Creek) Arizona.

A holiday home for a month – a blank canvas and high hopes.

I took paints, containers, a canvas and an easel and set them on display on the table out on the patio.

For days I walked by the canvas as I went to and from the hot-tub, riding bike, playing a few games of pickleball or going for a walk.

Then I needed pain pills, an ice pack, a heat pack, stretches and rest.

I looked at the canvas with longing while I procrastinated telling myself I was just getting ready.  It was true – I simply needed to get into the space where I could let my hand, pencil and creativity connect with one another and then touch the canvas.

Rather like an exercise plan or a change to healthier eating or digging through a very cluttered closet.  There comes a moment, that space in time when one just knows to go ahead and take a step forward.

One day I did pick up my pencil.  I needed some stress relief and it felt good.  So much had been going on in the background of my mind filling up all the creative spaces and I first had to let the worry and concern leak out and give my head some room.

Just before leaving for our holiday an unwanted and unexpected stressful situation arose with a group I was involved in and potential loss of a friendship and it weighed heavily on my heart.

Driving had become so stressful since my car accident a year ago, with me always sighing in relief to get out of the car, either to stop driving or to ease the constant pinch in my back. It’s a long drive from BC, Canada to Arizona and  I drove because that is fair in a shared relationship but I didn’t exactly do my ‘fair share’.

This was my first large painting I was to try in that space of a year as I’d been focused on other areas of life like physio, massage, doctor appointments, fitness classes and trying to get myself back to what I believed my normal should be.

Once I began drawing my mind focused and shapes emerged on the canvas.  A fresh sense of excitement began to build and if not daily, then every other day I found myself slipping out the patio door and adding a touch of paint at various points on the canvas.

This stepping into my ‘painterly world’ continued for the next several weeks.

To me, this meant I was returning to myself and some deep part of me was healing.

Join me in future posts as I continue to share journal entries, slather on sunscreen for the outdoor daytime fun and while I slather paint on canvas to release the inner drive to feel full color again.

2015-11-05 14.59.19

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