Category: relaxing

Finished on Friday Doubled

Finished two paintings for today. Don’t get too excited, things could turn around again any minute.


Today I found the time to finish the painting of the little Greek church and when I was done I quickly turned my attention to my old photos from last summer.
There is something very appealing about the Greek countryside and the sea that I cannot resist. But I find I don’t feel too free when painting from photos I’ve taken there. I never seem to be happy about the compositions. Maybe I just really need to be there in person. This work feels stiff to me.
Inlet Church ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
9×12 Watercolor Arches cold press paper

Then there are the photos I took last spring and summer of the vegetables, sunflowers and my garden then make me feel very comfortable when painting from them. I am not so sure why.

This second work was pushed out soon as I finished the Greece landscape. Feeling the need to paint something different right away, I grabbed this photo, cropped the area I wanted to work with, and headed straight to paint. No pencil drawing, just paint sketching. Maybe a little longer than twenty minutes?

Garden ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
9×12 Watercolor, Arches cold press paper

I worked until I felt that I should stop. Much of this work was wet, but I pushed on, only waiting until it dried just enough to continue. Again, I tried to keep the water to a minimum.

Leaving out extra stuff, ignoring other things, just adding detail where I wanted to point out some things and that was it.

This work doesn’t feel as stiff as the previous painting. Maybe it’s me, but it feels so much better.

Thankful for a Sunny Day

What a relief the sun came out today!  I was really worried winter was here already.  Thank goodness for autumn, at least it’s a warning that the cold weather will be here so get it together!  If it wasn’t so wet and soggy in the grass I’d go sit out there and paint.

The white Montauk daisies in the front garden are blooming nice and big among the lavender asters and pink Knock-out roses.  I usually don’t cut down the liatris, echinacea or black eyed Susan’s so the birds have seeds to peck at.  The purple chrysanthemums are starting to show off now too.  I’ve noticed that people buy new chrysanthemums every  fall, plant them, only to pull them out of the ground before winter sets in.   Why is that?  I plant these and every year they come up prettier than the year before.   They’re perennials for goodness sakes!

People are weird, and don’t we know it?