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National Postcard Week 2021

Wednesday, May 5, 2021 0 acrylic painting, ephemera, Painting, Vintage Postcards No tags Permalink
national postcard week 2021

It’s National Postcard Week 2021 and I didn’t get my crap together. I had selected a great vintage card and was going to photoshop Maxy’s head on, but I didn’t get it done in time to have the cards professionally printed. So this year I’ll be sending fewer cards, with an uglier, more personal touch.

national postcard week 2021

I’m not counting these as paintings, because I’m doing them in about 15 minutes each. And they aren’t turning out great. Some of it is I’m trying to paint new things. Some of it is that the postcard paper is really crap. The images are inspired by various card sets…flowers and different tarot cards. Mom and Kirsten did such an amazing job on their tarot cards for the Trail of Terror, I thought some fun small cards would be good inspiration.

national postcard week 2021

I’m going to have to practice the cat cards more if the shelter is going to do a pet portrait thing in June and I volunteer to paint. I mean, the middle one above looks like some kind of demon. Of course, I wouldn’t use postcard paper and probably not acrylic either. It’s easier to fudge gouache and blend it better I think.

Bob was so romantic. He found this vintage postcard of the dining hall at Brook Lodge and sent it to me for National Postcard Week 2021. The card is from the 1960s. We ate dinner here on Memorial Weekend many years ago, and Bob proposed to me by the water surrounded by forget-me-nots.

It has turned cold again. We had a fire last night and will hopefully have a few more over the next few days. I did get the radishes, arugula, carrots and beets planted last weekend. Bob and I planted 30 trees at the shelter over the past two weekends as well. We still have a few weeks before greenhouse day, so hopefully the warmer weather will catch up. Really looking forward to having the martini event behind me.

Painting #31 and Weather Blues

Monday, January 18, 2021 0 acrylic painting, Good Reads, Living in Michigan, Painting, Weather Update No tags Permalink
painting #31

Painting #31 is an acrylic study of a photo I took some time back. It could use a little more work, but I will likely leave it as is. I’m doing an online class on painting nocturnes now, which is interesting, but I’m having some trouble finding reference photos I like. Am I improving? Who knows. But the time spent painting is time not spent fretting about stressful or unhappy things. It’s impossible to paint and mentally deal with anything else other than paint, brush, and paper. I’ll take it.

The weather is endless gray days and snow. We’ll have a few minutes of sun here and there, and thankfully it’s not been bitterly cold, but I’m feeling the strain just the same. It’s harder to get out of bed and damn near impossible to get off the couch. I did read Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, which is the first book I’ve been able to finish in some time. Like a year. I don’t know if it’s just my mood or if my new glasses are helping my eyestrain some. I know it’s only 61 days until the official start of spring and we’ll probably have a February thaw and the end of winter will happen. I’m trying to plan on bright things, like a surprise Twin Peaks Day package I’m sending out and Valentine’s gifts for the staff members. Still, it’s a struggle. It’s hard to write letters when I don’t have much to say. It’s hard to take photos when everything is the same color of gray all the time.

Making Waves

Wednesday, January 6, 2021 0 acrylic painting, gouache, Living in Michigan, Painting, Weather Update No tags Permalink

There’s no making waves in these parts these days. Everything is cold and gray. The temperatures have hovered around the freeze/thaw cycle since before New Year’s, and we haven’t seen the sun in longer than that. It’s sort of interesting, as the temperatures warm up just enough to start melting the snow which creates fog and then the fog freezes in the air and on all of the surfaces. We had an ice storm over the New Year weekend (and survived it without a working furnace!). It looks like the weather will be more of the same for the ten day forecast, and continued clouds. It is hard to tell between 6am and 11am, 4pm and 8pm. All the same gray. It’s hard to get motivated to get out of bed or to do much of anything.

making waves acrylic

I’m continuing on with the Class 101 painting class. This section was about making waves. I’ve decided that I don’t really enjoy painting waves. It’s hard to find a good reference photo that worked with the assignment. The painting above (#27, for those who are counting) is in acrylic and had several attempts at it. You were supposed to start with a lighter color and go in for the darker tones. These two paintings were supposed to feature light on top of the waves.

making waves gouache

This one is in gouache, and was started with darker and then lighter added in. The shapes are maybe a bit better but it’s still weird. I look forward to moving on to the next lesson and seeing what the assignment is. And I just look forward to painting. Even when it doesn’t turn out how I’d like, I love the process and learn from it. When I’m not painting, I’m often thinking about painting.

I did clean up my office plants a little. Added more soil, fed them. They are looking better. My office itself is a little cleaner, too. I am ready for the January thaw already. 72 days until spring.

Painting #23 and #24

Friday, November 6, 2020 0 acrylic painting, Painting, Weather Update Permalink

I started an online class recently with Class 101 for painting. Over the past year, I’ve taken a number of online painting classes. There’s always something new to learn and new techniques to try. Through the class assignments, I’ve recently completed acrylic painting #23 and #24.

acrylic painting #23 clouds

The first painting assignment, in acrylic, was to work on clouds. I still don’t think I have them quite right. I haven’t done an acrylic piece in awhile though, so it was fun to get back to that medium. And I think the trees turned out pretty good.

acrylic painting #24 candles

For whatever reason, I really like this acrylic painting, #24. I keep going back and looking at it. The goal of the assignment was to get the glowy bit around the flame. Next assignment is to try a similar glowy bit with a Christmas tree, and I hope to work on that this weekend. I am always looking forward to painting, and find such peace while I do it. I’ve had lots of new year’s resolutions over the years to try new things or learn new skills. This one I can say has absolutely been a success.

After snow last weekend (experienced on a hike at Fort Custer with Sue and her dog Disco), this week has turned out a little warmer. Warm enough to bike in fact. Yesterday, I turned 1,000 miles for the summer. I should be able to get in a day or two over the weekend as well. COVID-19 cases are out of control here in Calhoun County. Between that and still not knowing the full results of the election, it’s been an odd week. Anything I can do to get out of my mind a little is helping.

Like reading this? You may enjoy these:

See my first acrylic paintings here

Learn more about my biking here

Latest Paintings and Misc. Updates

Monday, April 13, 2020 0 acrylic painting, gouache, Misc. Blatherings, Painting No tags Permalink

Apparently there’s an entirely new version of WordPress, with blocks, and I will need to get used to it. Fine. At least the website is back up, after having some issues on the transition from Lunarpages to Host Papa or whatever it is now. The techs were great though. I’ve continued painting. The above acrylic is from a photo I took several years ago when Kirsten, Mom and I went up to Mackinaw City. I’m fairly pleased with the way it turned out.

This above squirrel image is a study in gouache, from a photo I took last year in Boston. I’m still doing every other painting in acrylic and gouache. Last night I sketched the next gouache study, from a photo I took many years ago in North Carolina. My only regret in my painting is not having the energy/time to paint. If there’s the time, I seldom have the energy.

March and April 2020 will be remembered for COVID-19. Facemasks, scary grocery shopping trips where there aren’t enough goods like dried beans, yeast, canned goods and toilet paper. Not making eye contact with anyone as they are seen as disease carriers. “Social Distancing” and staying a minimum of 6 feet apart. Non-essential services shut down. The shelter closed to the public on March 17 and we laid off front desk staff members on March 24. All meetings are conducted via Zoom. My schedule is close to normal, and the kennel techs are working normal schedules. I FaceTime with Mom each night and Bob talks to his Dad on the phone. We had to cancel our spring Martini event for work and greenhouses are shut down. As of yesterday, there were 71 cases of coronavirus in Calhoun County, 23,993 cases in Michigan and 1,392 deaths in Michigan. 558,999 total US cases and 22,154 US deaths. Worldwise, there have been 1,872,073 cases and 116,098 deaths. Who knows when things will go back to ‘normal’ or what normal will even look like.

Painting Update

Tuesday, March 3, 2020 0 acrylic painting, gouache, Living in Michigan, Painting No tags Permalink

I am continuing along with my painting, and really enjoying it. Above is a piece I repainted over like three times. Still only happy with some of it; the boats, reflections in the water and pier poles turned out as I had hoped. The buildings, not so much. It is another opportunity to determine what I enjoy painting and what I probably won’t do again (buildings).

I follow a lot of artists on social media, and became interested in gouache. I decided to try a few little fast pieces with gouache. Here is the first.

It is really different to work with than acrylic, but I enjoyed the process and think I may do a gouache in between each acrylic study.

Here is my last work, a still life.

Making some kind of progress, I guess. Again, I really enjoy painting and probably so far prefer acrylic. I think I will do another gouache next, but with a very busy week in store I’m not sure when I will have time. Soon, I hope. I find I am having to train myself to really look at things, especially shadows. If I do what I normally do and just get a quick look and move on, I miss all kinds of subtlety just by thinking I know it already. That’s a good metaphor for all of life’s interactions, I think.

In weather news, the past few days have been a bit warmer and we’ve had some snow melt. Mom has seen robins, but I haven’t yet. My Christmas cactus is blooming for the second time in just a few months. We’ve done some projects at Mom’s house, including painting the bathroom in preparation for new tile and replacing the light in the eating area. Today is Maxy’s 17th birthday.

Acrylic Painting – one through four

Monday, February 17, 2020 0 acrylic painting, Painting No tags Permalink

My only real resolution for 2020 was to take up acrylic painting. I can’t draw. I’ve never tried to paint. But I wondered if it might be a good creative outlet and opportunity for relaxation. And, it turns out, that is indeed the case. Time just floats away while I’m painting. All of my obsessive thoughts are gone from my head. So far it’s all crap, but I hope over the course of the year to show improvement. If not, at least I am enjoying every minute of it.

I’ve “completed” four paintings and am working on my fifth. When I say completed, I mean I can still see lots of areas that need improvement and repainting and I could go over and over and over again and still not have it right. So there becomes a point where I’m ready to start a new painting, and that’s it. You could say these first four are not finished, but they are completed.

Sunrise from the parking lot of the shelter:

It’s my first painting, and I had some learning on how to blend color appropriately. It looks better from a distance, but I think it does a pretty good job of approximating the scene depicted in the reference photo. And I like the leaves on the trees.

Tree in a field…not sure where I took the reference photo on this one:

On this painting I learned that grass is really hard to paint. I can’t tell you how many times I pulled this back out and worked on it after I said it was done. Grass is hard. I really enjoyed painting the sky though and think that looks good. The tree could use a little work.

Barn on my regular drive in the country:

I need to take a class in perspective. My mom sat down and helped me, but I’m still having trouble. The front of the barn is still too wide for what it should be. I think the trees are better than in the last photo, and I like the stone base and the little fence.

Twin Peaks inspired coffee and pie:

I started out wrong on this one with the placement of the cup compared to the napkin and plate. They should be closer together. The shading isn’t bad I think. Some of the lines are kind of wonky, and I wouldn’t hang it up on a wall, but it was an interesting study.