No baby yet...

It's time to paint

And so the question is: What do I paint? So many ideas float around in my head, series I would like to paint. My father's sister painted a beautiful portrait of a coal miner, in grays and yellow, as her father was (a coal miner, not gray and yellow). I don't know if it actually a portrait of my grandfather or not, but I hve always thought of it as being so. I would like to paint a series of my family in that style. Series: The Coal Miner's Family. My Grandmother had been wanting me to paint her a yellow flower for a while. I always meant to do it, but never got around to it. Then she died, never getting her painting, and never seeing her latest great-grandchild. Series: Yellow Flowers for Emily. I'd love to do a series of dreamlike, colorful paintings for children.

I have a 3 foot x 4 foot canvas that I need to fill, and assignment parameters to follow. There is a huge list of contemporary painters, very few of which I have an affinity for. The assignment is to choose one and compose a painting in their style. Last year for the same assignment, I painted in the style of Wolf Kahn. The top painting is his, the one beneath is mine.

I had a lot of trouble with the assignment. It felt wrong, painting intentionally in another's style. I ended up liking my work, but the semester was hell. This time around I want to find a way to do it with integrity, right from the start. I may choose the same artist, or I may try something new.

It's just always so hard to actually start.

3 things

1) This beautiful orchid, which my mother gave to me 5 years ago as a tiny seedling, has blossomed. See:

2) I have a very large belly that still has a baby in it. See:


and 3) You have to go here and read this. I laughed so hard trying to read this out loud to Brandon that Skippy almost came out. But it is late at night, so you never know...