Category: painting

Painting on Sunday

The weekend was pretty quiet around here and I had hoped to get many things done.  The Mr. had planned a fishing trip with his buddies so I planned to be home getting the house ready for holiday decorating.  My Sunday was set!  I even hoped to take time out to paint something for twenty minutes.  
The fishing trip was leaving from Freeport, NY, on Long Island.  Freeport is on the way to Jones Beach and very close, which was a plus to The Mr.  He’s gone fishing out of Montauk on the south fork and Greenport on the north fork, and every where in between.  This trip was a short drive to the boat, but then the captain takes the fishermen out in the Atlantic Ocean for three hours to the spot.  Gear, food, and men were ready for a full day.  The boat was leaving the dock at 3A.M. Sunday morning and expected to return by 7P.M. Sunday night.  All day.
I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast.  Usually I’m the pancake lady on Sundays. Now I could sit with my little breakfast, my hot coffee and my newspaper.  A quiet morning is one of my best times.  If I’m pancake lady I’m so busy making them that my coffee gets cold before I can enjoy it. This time, nice hot coffee!   I daydreamed of the day ahead, what I would get done, and what I was interested in painting.  
Since I was invited to join a new blog The Little Art Club, I thought I would try the theme “Candy” in a twenty minute time slot.  It would be just enough time to paint something as a start.  Ideas floated around in my head while I sipped my coffee.   When I was ready I headed off to paint for twenty minutes.  Heaven, and it was still morning! Later in the day I worked on this another twenty minutes. 
(I tried linking to the blog for this post, but it seems it’s unavailable.  I wonder what happened?)
Chocolate Wrapping (c)2010 Dora Sislian Themelis  7×10 Watercolor
Around 11 A.M., The Mr. called to say they were already back from the trip.  It seemed that another fisherman collapsed as they started casting their lines.  Frantically, the captain, his mates, and the other guys performed CPR to try and revive the man.  The Coast Guard was alerted and they tried to help, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful.  When the boat returned to the dock three hours later, they were met by the police, detectives, fire personnel, and ambulances.  The Mr. and his buddies had to give their names and statements.  Needless to say he was home early.

Back to the Future

When I was in college studying for my BFA in painting, my professor threw it out there that women very rarely become full time artists because they end up getting married and having children.  Oh great, thanks alot.  But really, when the time came that’s what happened to me.

In the field of study I chose, I was able to do studio art, commercial art and art education.  I had worked for a studio doing paste-up work on fashion catalogs and electronics magazines, so I had that knowledge.  I liked the idea of art education, but hated the high school kids I did student teaching for.  Real cocky kids, not my cup of tea.  After I graduated I landed a full time position as a paste-up/layout artist where I stayed for a few years up until I had my first son.

Those days most women were still at home with the children and that’s what I did.  Even if I had the idea to keep working there was no one I could trust to leave my son with, every family member I had was working.  Let me say I was thrilled to be at home with him.  No more jealous bosses, crazy co-workers and wild fashion magazine overtime.  No thanks!  I’ll take my chances being at home raising my kid.  I marveled at how he grew and changed every day.  We played, sang, took walks, drew pictures and it was all fun for me.  When he slept I painted or did pastels, knit, sewed little outfits, cooked, cleaned, and did the things to keep the house.  I ran the roost.  I was the boss.  My son was my side-kick, my little helper.

Art had to take a back seat like my professor said.  Over the years I made my art in fits and starts, while my babies slept and later, when they were at school.   And as the time passed the field of commercial art changed so much that I couldn’t go back.  The paste-up artists’ bull pen had been reduced to one artist and the computer.  I missed that boat.  So it was back to painting.

Now I’m home having a ball watching my granddaughter.  Thank goodness I’m an artist at home or I wouldn’t have this precious opportunity.  I am back to the beginning, painting while baby sleeps!  This time around I have more experience under my belt and I know how to get more art in.  That great idea of twenty minutes of painting was unheard of in my college days, but now it’s how I roll.  Twenty minutes is working.  Even though I hit the brick wall of resistance a little bit ago, I’m back in it.

I am back to the future.  Life is amazing.

Maple Leaf (c)2010 Dora Sislian Themelis  7×10 Watercolor

Knock Knock! Who’s There? Oh, it’s You..Again

Where have I been this past week?  Right here, at home, visiting with Resistance.  Yeah, it hit me again, that lousy Resistance, with a capital R.  Sometimes things go a little off track and lands me smack in the blahs of creativity.  Meaning no creativity.  Meaning resistance mode.

What’s an artist to do?  Well, first I decided to lay off bugging and nagging my inner artist.  I gave in to resistance and took a nap.  Maybe it was well deserved.  Feeling off is not going to help anything, but dropping out of it can.  So I did.  That’s all I could do on Day 1 visit with Resistance.

To back up a bit: I ran out of paper in the travel watercolor pad I was using.  Bad move #1- I didn’t shop for another pad.  I still have paper, but it’s larger.  So, I decided to just use the larger paper for the next work.  I set up a small still life of the usual items and added some interesting agate stones I have for my jewelry making.  Maybe they were too interesting?  Make that Bad move #2.

As I was free from babysitting one day this week, which is another story I will have to tell another day, I sat down to paint this set up.  Remember, bigger paper.  I began to sketch in the objects with paint, no pencil drawing.  I had hoped to do twenty minutes.  Bad move #3-20 minutes on big paper with interesting items that had detail, lots of detail.

How did it come out?  Disaster.  Knock-knock, Resistance at the door!  Hi, how have you been?  Come on in!  It’s been such a long time!

The next day I took that nap.  The day after that I pushed myself outside to take some photos of the Japanese maple tree with it’s bright red leaves.  I wanted to post them, but Resistance wouldn’t let me saying we should have a coffee together.  So I had coffee in my ‘dream corner’ of the living room and looked out the window at the back garden.  Resistance told me to just leave that horrible painting on the dining room table where I started it.  Sure, look at it every time I pass through to the kitchen, why not?

The following day I ran my errands and totally ignored the painting and anything to do with it.

Do you know how hard it is to fight the soothing call of Resistance?  I must say I’ve been lucky these last few months.  Keeping resistance at bay was a breeze.  It was smooth sailing for a while, plugging into creativity, staying in the mode with 20 minutes at a time, happy with the process and feeling good about the outcome of it.  Nice work.  I guess a visit with Resistance was inevitable sooner or later.

What did I do after all that?  I knit.  After I knit, I am going to ditch that painting.

Always Busy Doing Something

When I was a kid I was always busy doing some thing.  I could amuse myself quite well.  Being the first born and alone, until my sister came along by the time I was five, I had drawings to do, daydreams to have, a special imaginary friend, and a grandmother with her own creative and imaginative spirit.

My grandmother lived with us.  She would draw pictures, make her own dolls, sew and knit clothes, and tell me the stories of her life.  We were a lot alike that way.  She taught me how to use a tiny crochet hook to make lace doilies with french crochet threads I can barely see with glasses now.   She told us stories of when she was young in Greece, how they made their own toys.  Her brothers and sisters were older and she had to amuse herself, too.  Later, when she came here to the U.S., in the middle of the Great Depression she had to make do with what she had.  Many times a dress she knit that she no longer favored ended up being reknit into a sweater, and later on, a blanket!  She’d just rip it out, untangle the skeins and knit a new item.  Talk about reuse, repurpose and recycle.

I always have many projects going on at once.  This time I finished a couple of things!  The new baby was welcomed with two handknit blankets.  The teal item I showed you here a little while ago was a pretty, knit lap sized baby blanket with a wavy border all around it.  The second was a crocheted afghan in a fun shell pattern, large enough for when she gets older and has a big bed.  Covering all the bases here!  The fact that I finished two items was an accomplishment.

Above are my projects at the moment.  Three pairs of socks, one of which is just for me.  I think I deserve a pair of handknit socks, too.  The pastel thing is a baby sweater I started when I first picked up knitting after years of not knitting.  I chose a baby sweater because I thought it was a nice small item that I wouldn’t have to really size to a regular body.  I had knit scarves before, and crocheted plenty of blankets and doilies, but not a garment.

What did I learn from knitting a baby sweater?  I learned that the yarn is thinner and so it takes longer to knit!  Great.  And, since I hadn’t finished putting it together, needing to knit another sleeve, I realized my gauge was off anyway and ripped the whole thing out.  I took it apart and reknit the front, the back, the little pocket and the one sleeve.  Now that I have a baby to give it to I would like it to look right.  When gauge is off baby, it’s not going to fit anything, anyone, even a baby!

See those rocks on the side up there?  I took them from the beach when we went on our excursion to Greenport, NY.  My plan is to throw them together with the sea shells from Pt. Lookout beach near my home and paint them.  Next up, quick still life.  Umm, I’m ignoring the hydrangea for now.  Doing alot of that lately.  Yes, I’m busy.

Word for Wednesday is Wow

So, with the idea to tweak these photos from a lovely commenter from yesterday’s post, here they are.  This is the way the hydrangeas were meant to be seen!  And yes the word is WOW! 

I forgot all about the image adjusting program on the computer and was relying on the camera.  I guess I just felt like ranting.  Sometimes I think my monitor is not calibrated correctly and my photos might be too dark.  But hey, who cares?  Right now I am in heaven looking at the color of these petals!  Yes, sir.  This is how they’re supposed to look. 

Ideas are running through my head now.  Which to paint first?  Yippee!

So That’s That With That

While typing away here, thinking about the Greece vacation, trying to decide how to finish that garden painting, and overall impatience and indecision that is my usual trademark, I found out I had a few orders in my Etsy shop.  When did that happen?
A buyer purchased this set of spa cloths I knit.  They’ve been up on the site for quite a while.  Months ago someone bought a set, but the site’s been sort of dry for some time.  I’m not sure how much I like Etsy for art.  The artists there have been complaining that there’s a lot of mix ups in the search feature.  If a shopper is looking for original art, the search will include a lemon reamer among the paintings.  What’s up with that?  How confusing is that to someone looking for an oil painting or a pencil drawing? 
I have a few small watercolors on Etsy, a couple of small handknit items, and the bead jewelry I’ve become fascinated with lately.  The paintings I’ve been doing this past year haven’t made it to the online shop yet.  I’m ambivalent about putting them up and having them sit there.  But maybe that’s the idea?  I don’t know. 
So I prepared the spa cloth order and sent them out.  Yesterday I noticed I had another order for the same set of cloths.  What a thrill!  I put aside the garden watercolor for now and got busy knitting this order.  And then today I saw that a friend of my mom purchased a couple of small watercolors.  Another thrill!  Things are looking up!
Oh, and by the way, we’ve decided to nix the Greece vacation this year.  There’s too much going on here and there to warrant knocking ourselves out to go.  Better off staying put, taking a short trip to the east end of Long Island, knitting, painting, beading, and waiting for my first grandchild to be born. (Thrill!)
So that’s that with that.

Thinking of Painting and Don’t Ask About Dinner

Back to Monday, my favorite day of the week.  I apologize to those of you who hate Mondays, but I need Mondays like you need that first taste of coffee in the morning.  It’s like that.  Okay, I won’t bore you with the “gory” details of Monday morning, I know I’ve been there before and dragged you along.  Yeah, I know, you know, we all know!  Like Jerry Seinfeld used to say, “Yadda yadda.”  But I like to say BlahBlahBlah.

So, anyway, a nice quiet weekend at home was spent.  My family came for dinner, we ate, we laughed, we talked.  Was just lovely.  Calm and quiet morning, the Mr. took a ride on his bicycle, Son #2 in LaLaLand sleeping the morning away, and I had coffee and the Morning Pages on my lounge chair in the garden.

The Mr. raises birds.  Canaries, finches, other kinds I can’t remember, and hangs them outside our patio room and in the tree where they chirp and sing.  For a while it’s nice to hear the birds in the morning.  It feels like a far away forest escape until a few hours go by and the chirping/tweeting doesn’t stop from the five or six birds hanging out there and my head feels like it’s going to explode if those darn birds don’t shut up already! Ugh.

Ahem.  Sorry I almost lost it there.  Anyway.. After a long while they do calm down and so do I.  You know, chirping birds can get just as annoying as kids who don’t just play and talk but scream and run around in circles.  Cute and nice at first, bloody murder afterward.

No, I didn’t paint this weekend.  That’s why I like Monday.  Monday I get back to work too, except I’m already at the job site and everyone else leaves.  On the weekend too many people are around.  I don’t mind people looking over my shoulder as I work.  On the contrary, it’s nice and social.  But the family has demands.  They need things only I can do.  Yes, only me.  And if I’m painting, it seems to them I’m not really doing anything.  So they talk to me, ask me questions about other things, like what’s for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and where’s their socks.  Yes, a lovely conversation.  Uh, nope.

Back in the garden.  When my son and now daughter-in-law were planning their wedding, she wanted white hydrangea for her bridal bouquet.  I started looking at this flower differently after that.  I never really liked the bloom heads, all droopy and huge.  After the wedding I found these white hydrangea on sale, barely alive, and practically dried up at the local Home Depot.  I was compelled to rescue it.  Now two years later they are growing and blooming beautifully.  It’s called Blushing Bride and bloom all summer long.  Lucky me!

When I look at these flowers I think of my gorgeous daughter-in-law and it makes me so happy.  All weekend I spied this hydrangea thinking of how to paint it.  That’s how I spent my time in the garden with no one around.  Observing, thinking, planning, daydreaming, making mental notes.  It’s a lot of work, but looks like I’m idle and inactive.  With iced coffee in hand, lounging in the chair in the midst of the blooms I’m painting, but no one is the wiser.

Back in the Garden

After returning home yesterday from the farmer’s market, and other related errands, the rest of my day was free.  I had a leisurely lunch in the patio room, read the mail, made a couple of phone calls while looking at the colorful blooms in the garden.  Since I was free of chores I took the watercolors into the garden to paint and it felt really good.  Different flowers and bushes are in bloom, the afternoon sun was touching petals and leaves just right, it was very inviting.

A few years ago, while talking with my next door neighbor, I noticed this amazing blooming bush and asked her what it was.  She was an avid gardener and had many different flowers and such in her garden.  The bush we were looking at was close to three feet tall and covered in periwinkle blue dainty blooms and dazzled in the early morning June sunlight.  My neighbor said it was a lace-cap hydrangea and I’d never seen anything so breathtaking.  I had to have one!

I visited a large garden store near me and there they were!  Happy day!  I bought one and planted it in a dappled sun spot where I could see it every day.  It blooms in June for a few weeks so I have to enjoy it while I can right now.  At night the blue flowers sparkle and when we eat dinner in the patio room I always say “Isn’t that bush amazing?”

So how can I replicate that color in paint?  If I’m going to paint this I have to brush up on my color mixing.  Or fake it.