Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Shady River

 
Shady River
7x7"
acrylic on canvas
sold
I thought I would get to the studio four out of the five weekday afternoons this week and now it is looking more like two! I went Monday and then today. Yesterday I helped with Sammy's skating field trip, tomorrow is a therapeutic massage and Friday Sammy's class has another field trip! At any rate, I thought my pine tree was done when I left the studio on Monday, but looking at it today I felt unsure about the moss on the tree branches. I tweaked them and now I am even less sure! None of the other artists were there so I couldn't get an opinion. I think the problem is that it has all turned out differently than I originally imagined in my head. If I can let go of that I might be able to move on. I decided to step away from the tree, regroup and do a little painting of one of my favorite subjects, Spruce River. Here is what I left with after two hours of pure happiness. I am pleased with it and it was nice not to struggle which is what I have been doing with the pine tree. This one photographed a little dark, but it is close to the real thing. I used a more limited palette compared to my norm and the ground was very dark blue.

As I said, I felt so happy as I worked on this today because I love Spruce River and also since nobody else was there I cranked up my music and took a trip down memory lane with "Talking Heads". I got a "best of" CD awhile ago and I felt so much nostalgia when I listened to "And She Was", "Wild Wild Life", "Burnin' Down The House", "Once In A Lifetime", "Road To Nowhere" and the list goes on. A very enjoyable afternoon.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I am so glad you had an awesome day doing what you love and do best [besides being a great wife and mom that is]. Your joy shows in this painting!

Unknown said...

Nicki, your pine tree looks awesome! I wish I could see it closer. It's great that you made it to the studio two days, better than none. I know it must be hard with little ones.

-Don said...

One of my favorite lines to quote during the 80's was "Same as it ever was". And you had to chop your way down your left arm with your right hand while saying it.

Shady River is beautiful. You can see the joy captured by the hand of its creator. Nice job.

One way to get a sense of what's bothering you with the Pine Tree painting is to look at it in a mirror. I don't know if one is available somewhere in your studio, but you'll see things compositionally which will blow your socks off. I haven't completed a painting without seeing its inverse in a mirror in years. I've saved several of them because of it...

-Don

Nicki said...

Thank you so much Sheila, it really was a great day.


Hi Deborah,
I'll be posting it soon... I'm almost there... maybe one more day of tweaking. I hope you check back. And yes, I hope I don't sound like I am complaining. I am happy to get to the studio and I am happy to be part of my boy's school activities.


Hi Don,
That is too funny... I had forgotten about that hand chopping motion!

I'm glad you like this painting and thanks for that tip about looking in the mirror. I have heard of that before and also that looking at the painting upside down can give you an idea if the composition is working. I'll try those next time I go in (I don't have a mirror, but one of the other artists does).


Thanks for your comments everyone.
Nicki