Tag: The Artist’s Way

Spathiphyllium? I’m Good, Thanks!

When Mr. Resistance comes to visit he decides to stay way past his welcome, as I’ve mentioned to you so many times before. Feeling the need for a breakthrough some how, I decided to go on a quick Artist’s Date. Well, it was a good idea, but it didn’t happen the way I was expecting it to.

Quick, yes. Satisfying? Yes, and not really.

A free day ahead, with The Princess in tow, I thought we could visit Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay. It’s kind of nearby so I thought it might be a nice jaunt for us both. The camellias are in bloom in the hot house, among other flowers and plants there.

The idea was for us to see some color, smell the aroma of the flowers, and feel a little warmth in this miserable winter in New York. Maybe I would get to take a few photos for painting direction. Maybe a little motivation. Something to pick up my mood and kick out Mr. Resistance.

Spathiphyllium

By the time I decided to get ourselves out the door and on our way the morning was passing into lunchtime territory. Hey, I’m a morning person and I like to be out and back by lunch, or at least early afternoon. Besides, The Princess needs her nap. So, I scrapped the arboretum idea and went to Hick’s, a large nursery closer to home.

A quick drive and we were in a tropical paradise of flowers, plants, green of all kind. Lovely.

We looked at everything they had to offer. The Princess enjoyed some interaction with Coco the parrot in his cage. He whistled to us “YooHoo.”

Did I take any photos? No, I forgot! But we made a purchase of this lovely spathiphyllium. I was hoping it’d be good as an air purifier in my studio, but I think it’s needs are more suited to brighter light than is available there.

I know the feeling.

 

The Process Has Rewards

If the magic is in the doing I better make sure I am at the ready and working. I know all along that it’s in the process, not the outcome, where things keep moving.

The 30 in 30 Challenge is over. There was that possibility of success, of hitting 30 paintings in 30 days. Negative view: it didn’t happen. Positive view: something happened. Not a lot, but enough.

In the spirit of the positive view, I carry on in the process.

The weather being really wonderful for an October in New York, I took myself on an Artist’s Date to Clark Botanical Garden in Albertson, NY on Long Island. It’s not the beach, but it’s near my house, easy to get to, beautiful, and quiet.

Clark Botanical Garden, Albertson, NY
Clark Botanical Garden, Albertson, NY

Thinking positive, I planned to do some watercolor sketching so I toted my equipment with me. I couldn’t decide which paper to carry along, the Canson notebook or the Arches block. I brought both. They’re small enough and I wasn’t carrying a beach chair and lunch.  That decision was a good one because I learned something about each type of paper.

Canson Watercolor Spiral Book
Canson Watercolor Spiral Book

As I sketched on the Canson above, I noticed I couldn’t rework already painted areas, which began to run. Looks like Canson paper is only good for really fast work with no going back.

Below is the Arches block. I could continue working and adding paint without having issues like the Canson notebook. The only draw back with a block is if I wanted to do another sketch I needed to free this one from the block with a palette knife. That means it had to be dry to remove causing wait time.

Arches Watercolor Block
Arches Watercolor Block

The two works have a different feeling with each type of watercolor paper.

Working en plein air was a good experience and  exercise, too. Out in nature, it takes time to adjust to seeing shapes, shadows, highlights, colors, and sorting all that information onto a 2 dimensional surface.

Let me tell you, it was hard work. The process doesn’t lie. It knows the work is hard, but doing it has rewards.