Painting Pein Air ,or on site is the only way for me. I have tried working from photo, I dislike it immensely. Working outside directly from life can be sooo pleasurable, but it can also be painful. Painting "Summer Rain" was a painful experience. It was a huge storm, another rainy Sunday, we have had many this summer. I went out when the rain was at its worst because I really wanted to experience the driving rain on the street and the reflections of the headlights on the street. This was all I wanted to capture, I was under cover but because of the intensity of the wind and rain, everything was soaked. my rag, my canvas and me. I had an umbrella clamped to my easel(an old French) , but it kept falling and ultimately ripped apart the easel. I endured. It was lightening and the umbella point was sticking out just enough for it to be a lightening rod. Brilliant, dori. I did manage to get done what I set out to do, threw the stuff in the car and came home to a dry studio. I went out to finish the painitng about four more times on a gray dry day. The beach painitng was pure joy. It had been raining the day before, another fiasco, painting on the beach in the rain. But I woke up to a chilly brilliant morning, and felt I was in heaven, a quiet beach, a cool breeze nothing to annoy me! So many artists these days only work from photo. I wish I could, I would save so much money on model fees. But, there is something sooooo thrilling about being right there, and experiencing the situation. Call me a dinosaur, but I believe working from photo is cheating. I would rather be inconvenienced outside, puting up with ALL kinds of weather rather than be trapped in a lonely studio. For me the result is better.
My daughter is back at school for her sophomore year. She is half way across the country. Her leaving isn't as painful this year as it was last year, but the separation is tough on me. We had a wonderful summer together, it was so nice having her in and out during the day. Working solitary is difficult for me, and the company was lovely. She even modeled for me. I am working on several large figurative paintings with multiple figures so having her sit was a real advantage. I painted Sara constantly when she was a baby trying to etch the memory of every stage in my head. I would set her on the bed like a little still life and draw her from a the time she was a day old. As she got older she would sit and read in the studio or I would paint her while she watched TV. When she was about 10, she refused to sit anymore. I tried to paint her every year and send it out as a holiday card, but eventually had to give that project up. So, as a therapy project, I am making a "Sara Anthology" in my Works section. This is a visual documentation of 20 years of Sara, and the joy I experienced watching her grow into a delightful young woman.
