Showing posts with label Lily Pads At Spruce River. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lily Pads At Spruce River. Show all posts

Friday, October 22, 2010

Lily Pads At Spruce River

Lily Pads At Spruce River
24 x 36"
oil on canvas
© Nicki Ault, 2010
sold
 
Here is one of the large paintings I have done this fall at the studio. I don't think the colour here is entirely accurate, I'll have to check when I go back to the studio. I'm pretty sure the orange/rust colours at the top are not that obvious in reality. Anyway, it's a bit of a different composition, which I always like. There were way more lily pads and grasses flowing in the reference photo, but it was too much, so I did some big-time editing. These lily pads were different than most I've seen. They were very pointy as opposed to the round floppy ones you think frogs might sit on.

My camera is fixed, but I am having a difficult time getting decent photos of these larger pieces. The walnut alkyd I have been using as a medium dries to a bit of a gloss finish, so the glare is really bad when taking a photo (even without a flash). Any tips?

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Feeling Sick- In More Ways Than One

 Duck Pond in October, Forestry Farm
20x16"
acrylic on canvas
sold

The paintings I am posting today were purchased by a dear friend and her husband at my last art show. I know they make her happy which absolutely thrills me... and after this last week, I need to remember the joy art brings me and the people I share it with. The top painting is 20x16, the middle one is 8x10 (also the first abstract reflection I ever did) and the bottom one is 7x7. They are all acrylic on canvas.

 Reflection, Spruce River
8x10"
acrylic on canvas
sold

Reflection for a Writer
7x7
acrylic on canvas
sold

Whew! It really was quite was a week!

I was so fatigued this week, all I felt like doing was sleeping and in fact, three out of the five afternoons Tommy was at Kindergarten that is exactly what I did! The sore throat came on Thursday and the fever hit on Friday.... crazy shivers and heat waves. The highest temperature I took was 103. I felt like I was in some sort of altered state. Anyway, the worst seems to have passed. I slept most of today and now I will probably be up all night! In case anyone is wondering what differentiates a cold from the flu here is what I found out... headaches and fevers rarely accompany a cold, so if you have them with your stuffy nose and sore throat you have the flu. Also, extreme exhaustion never happens with a cold, but with the flu it comes early and is prominent.

Aside from feeling physically sick this week, I also felt psychologically sick after the meeting John and I had with our financial planner on Tuesday evening. This economy took a round out of our "portfolio" and although some things are recovering it got me feeling very guilty. Before we had Sammy I had a full time career and John and I had a pretty good lifestyle. After my year maternity (I love Canada) I went back to my job and Sammy went to daycare full time. I lasted 6 weeks and then gave my notice. I could not do it. Since then, for the most part, I have been a stay-at-home-mom. I know deep in my heart this has been the right choice... especially for my children, but this week when I realized the impact of the economy on our finances, I got thinking that if I had been working for the last 6 years it wouldn't be so bad. We would have been able to save more and invest more. I say that for the most part I have been a stay-at-home-mom because when Tommy was 18 months old I needed to get a break, so I got a very part time job working in a retail store when John was at home and I am still doing that now. My ideal world would be that I continue to do this and sell some of my paintings which would bring in just that much extra to keep me home with the kids while they are in school. I would love it if they could continue to come home for lunch and if they could always have a parent available to help with field trips or see their assemblies or volunteer for school activities. I would love it if they would never have to be part of a before and after school program. Unfortunately I am starting to wonder if this dream is very realistic. I'm really starting to think that when Tommy is in school full-time next year, maybe I will have to consider changing my role again.

At this rate I'll never figure out who I am!