Red Sea

I'm nearing the end of my series of landscape paintings, started back in October when the fall colors were blazing. This is all new to me, doing landscapes, so it has been challenging and emotional, striving to create something on canvas that even begins to hint at the breathtaking beauty I see all around me. These photos show day #1 and today on a new painting I might call Red Sea. I woke up one dark and gloomy morning exactly one week ago to look out the window and see an amazing sight. The dark clouds had opened up to show the bright light of the sun and below the clouds, rays of light were breaking through and lighting up a tug boat that was passing along the far shore. I shot some photos and did some sketches and went to work, starting with a partial underpainting of napthol red mixed with all the scraps of paint on my last palette. Probably tomorrow I'll finish it up. (Still working on the water.) Hmm, now that I've seen it on the computer, I think it would be better without all that stuff going on in the top third. Too busy!

Unfinished Painting and Pre-holiday Musings

Two hours of sifting and sorting through notes from previous Thanksgivings, making shopping lists and detailing those items that must be transported from the Seattle house (having breakfast at the same time), then looking for the cranberry relish recipe that used to be on the cranberry bag and researching the perfect method for roasting the turkey -- whew!  I just want to get back to my paintings now.  The painting is going well, especially the last thing I did last night -- loosely brushing in the beginnings of trees against a luminous background.  This sort of effect tends to get lost as the painting gets finished.  This time will be different! (I hope.)  

Now, if I can just tear myself away from this comfy couch with the view of birds on the suet, hummingbirds at their feeder and the soft light on the Sound, I might get some work done before it's time to get ready for my 2 o'clock shift at the gallery.  Oh, today the Dish Network is sending out a repair man.  We have "drift" and no TV since Thursday night.  We miss trouble free cable TV.  Comcast is getting closer but hasn't reached our road yet.  This is a very slight and really inconsequential flaw in "country living" and the only one I can think of so far.  Even heating with a wood stove, lots of work, is satisfying.  Yesterday we went up in the woods and sawed up parts of a big tree, maybe a wild cherry, that had been down maybe since last year. We hauled out four wheelbarrow loads of fire wood.  It really was enjoyable working in the woods in the fresh air.