We got to work this morning around 10 and sat close to the apple storage in a spot where we were sure to have sun for the few hours we were there. It was heavenly just to be there. As ususal, I feel tension easing away the minute I turn on the road to the farm and feel fully present in the Now by the time I arrive to where we plan to work that day.
I’m happy with this small sketch, approx 5 x 9. I drew in my main elements using a brush and a thin mix of Indigo as my base or ‘mother’ color. I’m liking the Indigo for this time of year because it best expresses cool earth and shadows for me. I’m learning to use much more water and to my advantage. I’m learning to plan my passages and work from my plan. I’m keying my painting to the middle ground, like I learned in Tony Connor’s class in Vermont at the end of Sept. I’m enjoying the process of the work and the child-like sense of freedom in the creation of a scene on paper. I love to draw with a pencil or charcoal but am enjoying the freedom and simplicity of sketching in my basic elements with brush and thin paint.
I feel that my painting is changing, evolving – and am a satisfied participant in the process. I’m enjoying the memories of this morning that are incorporated into this small painting. I’m enjoying that Painting Outside! is not yet over for this year. Hopefully, we’ll have another great weather Saturday next week, too.
Here’s how the morning went: woke late because the alarm on my phone didn’t go off at 7. The phone was still turned onto emergency mode after my call to 911 last night re: noise upstairs. I opted to do the bank and credit union stuff on Monday. Before I left the house I got a phone call from a good friend. I told her that I finally got up the gumption to call the police regarding the people upstairs and the noise & how happy I was about taking that step, which was difficult and a step I wish I’d taken some months back.
While I talked to my friend on the phone, I ran from room to room in search of my car keys. They were nowhere and it was also 9:40 which meant I was 5 minutes short of running late. We ended our conversation, I looked a little deeper for the keys and finally decided to get going, use the spare set attached to the strap of my bag.
From waking up so late and trying to get my head together and save what I could of the morning’s plan, I felt as if I were in a frantic attempt to run with my feet stuck in glue.
Stepping outside, smelling the air, feeling the warmth and seeing some very pretty clouds drifting across a deep blue sky lowered my heart rate, slowed down my thinking. I enjoyed the scenery on the ride to Watertown and felt closer to a state of Tranquility by the time I reached the farm at 10:15.
D was already at work, and I unwound about my lateness as I set up my stuff. Just before I sat down to work, I reached into my pocket for my gloves and heard something jingle. When I put on the left glove, I heard it again and when I pushed up my sleeve , there were my lost keys. Attached to my arm the entire time I was frantically looking. I’m chalking-up this brain-fart key-losing experience to stress, sleep-deprivation and tension from living with whatever is going on with the people upstairs as expressed through the excessive noise that affects me 24/7 for the past 10 months.
In the hour and a half I worked on this painting, this is all I got done. I like this painting, consider it a good exercise. The angle from where we were sitting made doing the storage barn difficult. There was also an overwhelming amount of subject matter all around us, new in a way, because we’re now into November and many changes since we started in Aug – hard to know where to start. It was colder today than ever since we started in Aug. We were both comfortable in our outer clothing, blankets, hats and gloves. Don’t know how many more Saturday mornings we can eke out but since we started this project in mid-August, there hasn’t been a Saturday when the weather’s been bad. If this trend holds, maybe a few more sessions between now and Christmas.
As I settled into my chair and my work this morning and my mind settled to observing what was in my immediate vicinity & throughout the process of selecting or discarding one element or another, I could feel my tension melting and after a few minutes, the moment of taking a deep breath, giving it up to the gladness of being here now. The hour and a half flew by as if 30 seconds. D left a little before Noon. I worked until I heard the noon whistle blow in town, 3 miles away. I slowly packed up my stuff, took a few more photos and then went to mom’s for lunch. She was just pulling into the driveway, back from her Saturday morning job at the library.
