Did I mention that I'm nesting? In fact, with less than fifty days to go, I'm now on the final stretch of the home makeover marathon. No major remodeling--just cleaning, painting, reorganizing, and redecorating. So far, we've completed the schoolroom, the master bedroom, and Caleb's room. We are now giving our family room a facelift, and as a finishing touch, I gave myself one night to complete a painting to complement the soothing colors of putty and espresso dominant in this all-purpose room. Lately, time, space, financial, and energy restrictions make it nearly impossible to engage any artistic endeavor that is not confined to a completion time-frame of one night--or two at tops! So, after five hours, here it is!
I had an old 3x4 ft. canvas frame we'd made some years back and a roll of canvas in the garage. Troy stretched the canvas for me on Saturday night, and since he had Sunday morning to finish preparing for, I primed it on the floor of the garage myself, with black gesso (which you can imagine is quite a feat at 8 months!) I applied molding paste medium to various areas of the primed surface and let it dry overnight. Then, on Sunday night, I set out to paint, committing to be done by the end of the night. (Most paintings that are commissioned usually take me 20-40 hours!) I love dogwoods, and really sought to combine both the sensation of the four seasons in one painting and also the juxtaposition of the pristine with the weathered. My goal was to be as free and painterly as I could manage...and to work fast. These self-imposed constraints were actually quite freeing, as it relieved a perfectionist of scrutinizing details and encouraged a playfulness I may not have other-wise experienced.
If the theme of my home before was bright and bold color, it is now toned down, as a whole, to demure shades of gray and taupe. Perhaps I'm gearing up for the color and chaos of four children under six--enough to enliven any environment in itself!!