We just got home from being in Chicago for several days. We took care of our grandchildren while Mom and Dad got away for 3 days. First day went well. Second day was hot and stressful. The third day, meltdowns all around except for Robin! I commend all parents of young children, who work, and manage family schedules, cooking, bill paying, disciplining, and nurturing all at the same time! And that is saying nothing about being a single parent! God bless all of them! I mean that sincerely!
In 2016, we traveled to Maine with our daughter and her husband. We took lots of pictures, and when I got home, I wanted to create my response to what I saw at Acadia National Park. I chose the photo and set to work. It went together easily. (at least I thought so!) It was my first attempt doing rocks, cliffs, etc. After I THOUGHT I was done, I kept staring at the painting, and knew something wasn’t right. I just couldn’t put my finger on it, though. Was it perspective? Was it the fabric choices? The colors? Did it look out of proportion? I bet I stared at it for a good year before admitting to myself that it was the rocks at the bottom of the painting. It looked like I just threw pieces of fabric, some ties cut up, and layered them onto the frame! Which is what I did, thinking it would read as rocks. I seriously considered throwing the whole thing away and forgetting about it. But I didn’t.
Original
Revised
I ripped off the lower part of the painting, did some repairing of the first layer construction, and went back to work, examining each section of the painting. I changed the sky, the distant shoreline, the colors in the water, the waves, and then, the cliffs! Rocks, cliffs, and mountains are difficult to portray in fabric, because of the hard edges, and different shapes, to give them depth, use a medium that is soft and pliable.
I also decided, that there were too many cliffs, rocks in the front of the painting, so I changed things up. I made the water divide up that space, which brings the viewer’s eye all the way down to the bottom, which is what an artist wants to do to make the viewer move through the painting. I have been working off and on this painting for several months. I am pleased with almost all of it, but as you can see in the after photo, I have not resolved, completely, the rocks in the forefront. I need to step away from the painting often to see if what I am doing is working. The problem is, as the viewer comes towards the bottom, the objects need to get larger. But in doing that, it is difficult to make the fabric look like real rocks. It has to do with color choices, what recedes, what doesn’t, shadow, and light.
I really dislike struggling with this. None of us like to have difficulties, but as we all know, it’s the struggles that make us grow, and learn.
I am delivering 2 paintings to Holdingford’s Art in Motion this week, for a pop-up show for the month of July.
If you have not been there, grab a friend, look it up, then go there for lunch, art viewing, a bike ride on the Lake Wobegone trail, good food, and even music. It is an awesome place to visit!!
Happy and safe July 4th! In spite of all our problems in this country, Rejoice in our freedom!