Painting Me A Big One

Ah, the things we do for love. Remember Liesl who just got married recently? Well, in the interest of keeping the economy healthy, her sister Justine is also going to be married in a few weeks time. (poor Papa - I can only imagine!) Anyway, Justine's wedding will have a Parisian theme and I've been asked to paint a backdrop for the guests to have their pictures taken against. It's going to be 9 feet tall by 6 feet wide with a 4" unpainted area at the top for a hem so a rod can go through it. Since I don't have 9 foot ceilings in my house the only place I have to paint it is on my deck so here I am measuring the canvas from a large roll.

And this is where I spend the next 12 hours in a bent over position painting the canvas. Good thing I do my yoga regularly.

First I draw in the image in black paint. I often start my paintings this way. I think it comes from learning to draw from the funnies as a kid. Or maybe coloring books.

Anyway, I feel comfortable with a doing a drawing and then 'coloring' in the lines. I'm experimenting with other approaches but for this image I liked this one.

And then aie yi yi just stoop labor from here on out as I use my handy chip brushes to apply color and shading.

John comes out every few hours to record my progress from a high table top. This is the biggest thing I've ever painted and it took twice as long as I'd expected.

Once in awhile I got to sit down and do some detail work. Ahhhhh ....

Toward the bottom of the canvas I was racing a storm that was moving in with wind gusts and distant thunder. No problemo. Except for the leaves and dried gunk that wanted to blow across the wet paint.

Finito! Tomorrow I'll varnish both sides of the canvas to stabilize it against puckering (easy to say - more stoop labor involved) - and then I'll get a better photo for you.

Huge busy. Art in the Pearl coming up over Labor Day (3 days) and then I ship my boxes to New Hampshire and head out to Squam Art Workshops to teach again. This is the life I asked for and this is the life I was fortunate enough to have been given. It makes me feel so happy to be healthy and able to do so much at my age. Humble thank you's every moment. I want to give back as much as I can in the time I'm given. I want people to find happiness in self-expression and in being included and appreciated.

Life is so short when all is said and done. Nothing feels better than giving back.