There's this painting....I've reworked it four times now. I think that's a record. And after tonight, I swear on my Pappy Van Winkle that I am done. Because if I'm not, I'm going to stab myself in the left eye with a shrimp fork.
I'm really a wreck over my paintings that are to be installed on Monday at Circle Gallery. I nearly finished my "Blessed Vessel" piece, a very large and time consuming composition, only to find that it does not look good next to the companion piece. Because they are so similar in palette, they almost steal each other's thunder and can therefore not be next to each other and I don't want my girls on the wall fighting over the eyeballs of passerbys.
So, Cold Feet #2 will be put up with The Bathers instead. And the piece formerly known as Kiawah Waterway is now a Southwest landscape.
Maybe it was the fact that I spent last weekend in San Antonio and Fredericksburg (and other nearby Hill Country haunts)? Is it coincidence that I relish a balmy evening at a Honky Tonk named Hondo's....or had a killer pulled pork sandwich in Luchenbach while sipping the official national beer of Texas (yes, that's what they call it). Is there anything better than listening to some truly talented up-and-coming talent under a hundred-year-old Live Oak? Maybe not.
I must admit here that I think Merle Haggard is overrated (but not Willie Nelson). However, the song, "Luchenbach, Texas", was pretty fun to listen to after actually being there. I'd go back again for sure. Not at all what I expected. The bathrooms were super tidy, is was serene, low-key, and people were very cool even though it was pretty crowded. I think I like Texas.
So, here's "Perdernales Gets A Drink". It was dry in Texas and there were enough dried up creek beds to make a girl feel parched, even with a cucumber lime Gatorade in her hand (yes, they have that flavor in Texas, and it was refreshing).
The colors aren't as vibrant as they are in person. But after I glaze it, it's going to really pop on that big white wall at the gallery.
And here's a little story about how Perdernales came along...
I sat at my work table for nearly two hours staring at paintings I needed to work on this afternoon. But I had a serious case of anxiety-induced painter's block. All my ideas were crap, and I had no direction for where I wanted to go today.
Enter Def Leppard.
I listen to classic rock and 80's/90's stations when I paint, unless I specifically need Ben Howard or the Beastie Boys. Today was no different except that today's radio tunes were flatter than San Antonio. I was about to make another liter of French Press coffee so I could get a buzz or at least be half awake, when "Photograph" came on.
There's an Eric Church song called, "Springsteen" that is about how memories and melodies are so intimately bound. And as soon as "Photograph" came on, I was in sixth grade again, listening to my boom box in a pink and gray checkered puffy-sleeved top and a pair of painted-on jeans with cartoons printed on them. Good times. And just like that, I was hopping around, sorting colors, and laying down paint! Photograph is a song that I will never tire of.
So, thank you 1983!
I appreciate all the visits to my site recently. I have not posted much lately, but I am always working on at least two or three projects at a time that I don't always post. I'm working on some furniture stuff after having a good idea last week for upholstery materials. This was due in part to the fact that my puppy, a seventy pound weimaraner named "Moe" ate the corner off of my custom made 8' Pottery Barn couch while my mama was watching the kiddos. It only took half an hour for him to eat the thing down to the stuffing. Reminds me of the time Mom thought our other Weim (RIP) was uncomfortable in his crate and so put my husband's wool West Point cadet blanket in there to supplement the dog's bedding.
Of course, the dog ate the blanket. That didn't go over well with the hubby.
Anyhow, thank you to new viewers as far away as Pakistan and as near as Baltimore City....I wish you a restful weekend and thank you for spending some time with me this week....