Cheerful struggle

I'm a subscriber to Mike Dooley's Notes from the Universe,
and do believe that, "it's not hard, it is working." But my little
portrait of the mother and baby is making me crazy.
Not severely crazy -- just-- well, I've spent tonight working
on it, and a few minutes last night before I went to bed
after marking all night. I incorporated Theresa Rankin's
suggestions, which improved it greatly. But that
baby has an awkward, medieval feeling -- not what
I want.

Is it time to open my huge Mary Cassatt book, or to paint
over that painting?

I'm not opposed to struggle. The back story to almost
every successful portrait commission (in my terms
-- i.e. I liked the painting, and I thought it was a decent
representation of the sitter) had moments of triumph over
that failure to gel. But every now and then with my
other paintings I quit. I take a good, long, hard look
at what I've done, and back off. I put it away, and then get
the thing out a few weeks, or months later. Sometimes the
solution is an instant no-brainer, and the painting makes it
into the light -- gets on a wall. But sometimes
that sucker gets a good thick coat of a new background
colour and starts over.

I have never regretted that decision -- thought, 'Yow,
I shouldn't have covered that almost Michelangelo,
that just shy of a Vermeer work.' I've felt the way
you feel when the break up is in the way of
your happiness. That wonderful "goodbye
kid!" feeling. A quick breath of relief and a loud
cry in the heart -- 'Next!!!!'

Another cranky woman sketch
from the Tuesday night figure class
acrylic on watercolour paper

The painting tonight is the head from a figure
I painted at my Tuesday night class. She's a bit
stern for my tastes, but she'd have no trouble
looking through my portfolio and tossing the
stinking fish into the garbage.

Have a letting-go-of-garbage-paintings day,
combined with a welcoming-super-work day.

Blocked briefly

Hi everyone,

I have no idea why my September 10 post listing my
"Brilliante Weblog Award" choices was blocked from
comment, but please feel free to comment on later
blogs. I will be writing more later today and
posting an image. But for now I just wanted
to get the message out.

Steven and Timbah relaxing,
that's Sam's dying palm tree in the pot
heading for the compost
(Note to self -- we've got to clean that window.)

I teach this afternoon, so have to drive to King
City, north of Toronto, and the traffic Friday
afternoon is pretty thick. Even so, as an artist
I am always happy on the drive, listening to my
music and looking at everything. They say
we artists actually have different brains, and I think it's
true. If I'm not sick, and my family is well, and
I've eaten, I am almost always happy -- because
there's always something to look at. So here's
to keeping the eyes working. Even when traffic
is completely stuck there are flights of birds
swooping up and down as if to music, there's
the light reflected off the car windows, and the
shiny sides of clean cars, and for a portrait
painter there are the people stuck with me,
moving in the opposite direction. So much to see!!!

So if you want to comment on the great blogs I've
chosen, you can do it on this blog (I hope), I
can't understand what's happening with the
other one, but I don't have time to investigate
either.

Here's to open communication on the internet.
Long may it continue.