Thank you...

... for your concern, visits and kind comments. You guys are great!

I'm making slow progress :-( Sure wish I could speed things up. Time's a wastin'! And there are pictures to be painted!

The Mystery of the Disappearing Feeling

Actually, it's no mystery. It's a pinched nerve and it's pretty much kept me off the computer for the last couple of weeks. Most of the pain has gone now, but still losing feeling in my hands when I'm using the keyboard and mouse. The Doc says - Rest! - as in, no cooking, no knitting, no computering. That's hard to do.

Enforced vacations are just no fun at all. But at least I have gotten a lot of reading done in my art books. Yay! New techniques to try out!

Back soon! :-)

Red Barn in Winter

. . . is finished, I think :-)

Going to let it sit a while and see if anything jumps out and hollers at me to be fixed!

What I learned from this painting:

1. Staining colors are really, really hard to remove when dry. Gee, I thought I already knew that.
2. I've been doing some experimenting with glazing, which I love the look of; but I'll have to admit there is that part of me that really likes direct painting, like alla prima in watercolor - strokes of deep, juicy color right off the bat.
3. I used a very limited palette with this, just 5 colors. I enjoyed mixing these colors and seeing how many other colors I could get.
4. I'm gradually getting to be a more thoughtful painter... instead of putting color down then changing my mind, scrubbing it out and redoing it I'm beginning to think ahead about what effect I'm after and plan it before putting the brush to paper. Keeps the painting fresher and is much less frustrating.

On to the next painting!