What's a better thing to do on a rainy morning than paint a watercolor? As long you don't do it outside it's just about perfect. ;-) The rain on the roof lends itself to a little mindless relaxation and my little bouquet of pink ranunculus remind me that all this rain will bring green grass as beautiful blooms.
I'm thinking of doing a series of monograms. If I don't get bored with it, as I do tend to want to move on to something different relatively quickly. A little wren will be perched inside the "D". We have a wren who nests on our front porch in a window box, so this will be for her.
This is my water cup. I always used an old jelly jar or something I could just throw away when I was done but one day I just thought, why am I looking at this ugly jelly jar with a half peeled label. It was time for something pretty. This is a little teacup that I never used. Mostly because I drink more tea than what this holds. It also was too pretty to leave in a cupboard where it was never seen.
They may be on their last legs, but I've had them for an entire week. Not bad for grocery store flowers. I once bought a bouquet of pink carnations and they lasted 3 weeks! I love ranunculus, they look like a rose made of poppy petals.
Thanks for sharing my morning, now it's off to the shower and time to get ready for my real job. Hope you all have a wonderful day!
Shelly
Good morning, Shelly. I'm so glad to see you painting again....I've wondered if you've been too busy lately. I like the ranunculus. In fact, I took a photo of a bunch at Lowes the other day. I will buy some for my garden once I decide where to put them. A little to early to plant outside just yet. I like your water cup, too. I have my drawing table set up and even rearranged its position the other day, but have yet to use it! I'm having a devil of a time overcoming my inner "you can't paint" talk! I'll have to go through my cupboards and find a special cup to use for my intended watercoloring. Maybe it will entice me to sit down, pick up the brush, and at least TRY to put something on the paper. I really like your monogram painting. It will be perfect with the little wren added!
ReplyDeleteCathy, you've hit the nail on the head. Busy with little time to paint, I also think the winter was starting to get to me. Spring is a renewal in so many ways! :-) You must find a lovely cup, I think wherever you choose to paint it's very important to surround yourself with inspiration and things you love. Sometimes I even put a book I love next to me, just to create a feeling that will inspire creativity. As far as the "you can't paint" talk, you should just tell that lady to zip it! Everyone can paint, if you have the desire that is. You are more than half way there! My grandmother, who is a watercolor artist. always told me "It's only paper, just flip it over if you don't like it". Also, I really do think the more you do it the better you get. There is a quote by Ira Glass that I think sums up how we are to hard on ourselves when it comes to creating.
Delete"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through."
Hopefully that helps Cathy, I really try to remember it. Maybe I should write it down somewhere! OK, off to work on my wren. Thanks for stopping by, it's always so nice to hear from you!
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Dear Shelly,
DeleteI really appreciate the quotes you shared with me this morning from Ira Glass and your grandmother. I printed them out and will leave them on my art table to read often. The quotes figured greatly in my journal entry this morning. It brought back memories of being 9 and taking painting lessons from the "cat lady" down the street whose house was the sort you see in movies where children run past it. Her house smelled of cats and oil paint/turpentine. It was the summer we'd moved from the only town I'd been old enough to remember, leaving my friends and school to some great unknown. I wish I remember whose idea it was to take these lessons--mine or my mother's. I thoroughly hated my painting--a portrait of man--beady eyes, thin mouth, strange nose and ears. My mother was the typical mother praising me for my painting. Of course, I didn't believe a word she said! It was awful. Perhaps that's when that inner voice took over. I very much needed to hear the truth at that point in my life. If I'd had Ira Glass's observation about the gap between ability and our vision and then took your grandmother's advice of "just flip the page over...it's only paper," things might have turned out differently for me. But it's not too late. I'm reading Alan Cohen's "The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore"--just one chapter a week. Today's was about the law of attraction. I know all this, but need to constantly remind myself that negative thoughts attract negative results and positive thoughts attract positive results. Perhaps my first project should be a sign that says I AM AN ARTIST - I CAN DRAW.
Interestingly, I have a Twitter "friend" that has been posting her journal entries on her Facebook page. She doodles cute pictures and borders of hearts and flowers, etc. on the pages. If she has the courage to share these on Facebook, I at least can find the courage to do it privately on my own pages. There is a fear of putting something down on paper it seems for me, but with your grandmother's words ringing in my head, perhaps I can let go of that fear.
I can't remember how I came to your Blog now--it would have probably been through a comment you made on someone else's Blog that in some way encouraged me to click on your name leading me to that darling portrait of your friend's daughter last September. I'm so glad I followed through on my impulse!
I look forward to seeing your little wren!
Cathy....you are blowing my mind right now. Take this as a sign, I've been re-reading an Abraham-Hicks book about laws of attraction. I almost don't know what to say. Talk about laws of attraction working! Haha- our like minds! I thought the Ira Glass quote would ring true with you because I know that fear all too well. I don't know where it comes from but I have a friend I went to high school with who is now a professional artist in Denver and I once told him about the fear in me. He is this amazing person who is the definition of eccentric, he appears to have NO FEAR. He said he battles fear as well, it seems we all have it but we just have to be brave enough to jump over it and think of the end project. We are so conditioned to worry what others will think and worried about being judged when it comes to what we create and nothing could be worse for creating! That negative feeling holds way to much power. If we can find the fun in creating and remember the end goal and not how hard the journey will be I have no doubt that we will create amazing things! Just like with your amazing writing, you had to start somewhere. I am probably starting to ramble now, it's past my bedtime ;-). Anyway, thank you so much for sending me the reply, I looked in my email and couldn't find it. I'll post my little wren this week and the beginnings of my newest painting. Even if you don't share your paintings I hope you are able to jump the fear and go for it!
DeleteAlso, I love how you write...I can smell the cats and turpentine! haha
DeleteYour writing reminds me of Meg Ryan taking about school supplies or a butterfly with a hat in You've got Mail. I love the lines and scenery in that one. Bravo.
ReplyDeletehahaha awww thanks!
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