It seems like this painting took me forever to finish, but I did it. Part of the reason it has taken me so long is that I have got several paintings going at the same time, and my painting time has been divided. The others are all in much earlier stages, but I am so excited about all three of them!
If you remember, this painting is inspired by that photograph of the boy in the mirror.
Photo also on my Flickr
Wowee! This week was the first week of Summer school. Now that it is over, I am feeling completely pooped. I have been walking and riding my bike to and from school (3 miles each way), and I am feeling it. I am sure I will be very happy with the results, but right now all I can think about is the burning in my legs!
I have been working like crazy in my painting class. It is so different than my past classes, I get to work on whatever I want to. All the teacher wants us to do is continue working on a series if we have one going, which is great. I brought in a painting I have worked on the past few weeks, and have already accomplished so much on it. I can’t wait to finish it, so you can see the results.
I am really hoping I will find some time to get work done this weekend on the paintings I have going at home. The way things are looking right now though, it doesn’t seem too likely.
The above photo is one I took with my friend Dani last week when we had a picnic in Balboa park. I really want to paint one of the photos, but I have so many, I am having a hard time choosing out one I like most for what I want to do.
Today was such a wonderful today. I ate lots of tacos at my dad’s house, hit up several thrift stores, bought four new (used) books, got a new summer dress, and bought six new wine glasses at the dollar store because our collection has severely diminished over the past few months.
The majority of the day however I spent over at my sisters new place painting with her. I hadn’t planned on painting, but when I got there we both really wanted to. She gave me all the supplies I needed; a 12×16 sheet of canvas, lots of brushes, and acrylic paints. I used to paint only in acrylics, but about eight months ago switched over to oils. I can not even begin to tell you how tough a time I had today working with the acrylics! I think I am going to complete the painting with oils. I seem to work much faster in them now.
This painting is from a photo of a young girl by the name of Maria White, taken in 1864. It was taken by Charles Dodgson, and is one of my very favorite of his photographs.
Hello my dears! What a week this has been for me. I have been struggling to keep myself motivated since school ended. It is so hard to go from a regular schedule to a bunch of time off, and I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am to start school next Tuesday. As I do at the beginning of every semester I have already rearranged my schedule twice. I was originally going to take a math and English class. I decided this morning though that it would be a bit too much for an eight week semester. I dropped the English class, and added painting to my schedule. At least I can have some fun at school this Summer!
I started a new painting this afternoon. My sister stopped by and we painted for a few hours together. Not much done, but you can have a sneak peak at what I am working on.
I am already really anxious to finish this because I am sick of looking at the back of it. It is one of those hideous paintings from the dumpster. It will look a thousand times better once it is on the wall….at least I hope it does!
You may notice that I moved my little painting station. I had been painting in my front room, but so often I get disturbed by my cousin or neighbors when they see me painting in the window. My easel is now in the kitchen/living room area. It is so much easier to focus and get a lot done.
It has certainly been a wild past couple of days. I have been so emotionally and mentally drained, that I have come down with some sort of nasty little cold.
My dear sweet Great Aunt Mimi died yesterday morning. She had been battling leukemia for a little while now, but seemed to be doing pretty well until Sunday night. Growing up I was very close to her, and we corresponded through the mail just like I did with my own grandmother. Her passing is particularly hard for me, for so many reasons. One reason being that my grandma (her sister) died of leukemia also, and it keeps bringing me back to that very, very sad time. It seems so weird to me that on that side of my family she was the last living person in her generation. Her brother and sister both passed within the last four years, and now my dad and his siblings are the ‘old’ people. It kind of baffles me in a way, because I am so into my family history, and it never seems like there is enough time to hear all the stories.
From left to right is my great uncle Reps, my aunt Mimi, and my grandma, Susan.
Yesterday I could do no more than sit on the sofa and fill my head with mindless and unintelligent TV programs. Today I worked up the energy to get a little more done on the current painting I am working on. I didn’t do a lot, but I still feel like I accomplished a lot.
I can’t wait to finish this painting. As you may notice, it was inspired by the boy in the mirror photo I found a while ago. I really want to finish this before summer school starts in two weeks. I have a whole pile of blank canvas that I stretched from the dumpster, and if I don’t start some paintings, once school starts it is going to be very hard to find inspiration!
