Nine Months

Loved the chance to paint Denise pregnant. It happened to be an amazingly hot day. Denise sat and fell into deep thought and stillness that happens when it is too hot to move.

Afternoon Drive

You might remember seeing the little oil study I did of this scene.  I did it again, which is good practice for me to work things out.  In this case I chose to do it again in pastel as a demonstration painting at Chemer's Gallery on Thursday to kick off the summer concert season.  It was lots of fun to paint along side Julie Hill, Dana Cooper and Jim Wodark to name a few.  Karen, the gallery owner was celebrating her birthday which even made it more fun,  With a great band playing, it was hard to stay still.  Check out Chemer's Gallery.

16x12 pastel

Dori

Another in a series of "me", palette knife vs. brush.  I worked on this again today.  There are things that are happening that I like and some that I can see now on this screen that could be fixed with a stroke or so.  I will wait and see if I change it.  These are for me to learn from.  

Looking at myself is not easy and I find it emotional.  It is not just the surface that I see when looking in the mirror.   Every plane change, line and mark are there.   It is a kinda history that stares me down.  The face shows many sides of emotion and expression.  It carries the weary and raises up with joy.  It wears love with a spiritual sense of wisdom bringing warmth and color to its surface.  

I think I see my quiet times, my deep emotions that are kept quiet and not often shared.  The person I live with and feel with everyday of my life is there in the mirror.  The face that shows life's stealthy movements and changes that appear so honestly without a word.  From self portrait to self portrait, life paints it own portrait without paint or brush.  It is masterful and unique.