Sunset last night at Little Corona Beach. "Red Sky at night... That saying is one that my husband's "Gram" used to say. I received a "forwarded" email last week and it asked who you miss most that has passed? I thought about it and I think I would have to say Gram. She was a pretty simple woman with good stories. She made delicious food: gnocchi, macaroni, sauce, soups, bread, whiskey cake and thumbprint cookies. She loved clean windows, called the cat "the dog". She had the most interesting grocery list, half in English and half in Italian. She loved to sit outside in the breezeway and rock in the rocking chairs and talk. She loved to go for strawberry ice cream. She used to say that I was a "happy girl "- which at that time in my life I was anything but. I guess she brought out that happy little girl in me. I wished she could have met my kids. We tell them her stories and teach them her recipes. I know she watches over us and someday we will meet again...
Saturday I attended my 3rd Paint Your Heart Out Workshop at Art & Creativity for Healing. Laurie (the Founder) started us out with Surrender. Above is my answer to Surrender. No matter what good and bad things occur in your life you have to surrender to the Higher Power (white) above. While the painting was still wet and sitting on the ledge it fell off and onto the carpet. The carpet added a little negative texture to the painting. I guess another part of surrender!!
Usually you are guided in all of the workshops. I like this one because after we finish the first painting, we get to work on our own and move into subjects that we want to explore. This painting was "After Surrender" allowing myself to explore different colors than I usually use.
We can work at our own pace, have a ton of colors to chose from and different canvas sizes. This is "Deep Love". Before this painting, I worked on a series that I have been wanting to work on for awhile titled Cancer Lessons - more on those paintings later.
This painting is called "Paint Over". I enjoy this type of studio setting as you can gain so much from the other artists. Watching their styles, their color palettes, etc. There is a complete painting under this one - hence the title. Sometimes when I paint I want to try something and I am too afraid. The under painting did not seem cohesive so I used some of the same colors but added these wide stripes. I always liked stripes.
I decided to use this turquoise color and some of my favorites -magenta and crimson. Once I blended all of the colors vertically, it was too boring so I added the heart. The Colors of Love. I just love to have 6 to 7 hours to paint. No dishes or housework to distract you. I loved the energy from the others in the studio. It was a great day!
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