Dapper

Dapper   Watercolor   34 x 21

is a work done just as it was in the photo reference.  This time of year, from September on, is so chock full of celebrations and holidays that my work time is far from contiguous.  After even weeks, or even days, of inactivity, a tension sets in.  A doubting.  A hesitancy.  How do I know I can paint?  Problem-solving skills are laying dormant.  So...Dapper was painted strictly, with little maneuvering, just so that I could feel the paint beneath the brush....to remind myself of who I am.

The Green-Eyed Monster

Girl with a Green Balloon   oil   20 x 10

lies dormant in each of us, always ready to threaten our senses of well being.

I was able to procure a balloon....good for me.

But the balloon is green....that other guy had red....hmmmmm.

I think that red is better.

I am not happy and won't be until I have a red one.

Sound familiar?  Questioning ourselves is, I'm afraid, a common human condition.  But I am a true believer in elevating the internal locus of control....I am an active participant in my own life.  So............I try to be aware of the green monster urging me on.  In admiring the work of another, I allow myself to see what is yet undone in me....what is yet to come.  Oh, the possibilities!

Check out the work of artist Katie Wilson!  I am an admirer.

Reference photos for "Girl with a Green Balloon" were shot at a local street fair. 

Boy with a Red Balloon

Boy with a Red Balloon   oil/canvas   48 x 24 x 1.5

is a work currently on exhibit at Hudson Fine Art and Framing.  While working on a group of paintings designed around the concept of hanging on and letting go, my husband suggested that we see the delightful short movie The Red Balloon.  On the surface, the movie appears to be total whimsy.  But it packs a profound punch in terms of human behavior.  Seems that the boy has a red balloon.  The school teachers and administrators regard this balloon as a diversion from the serious needs-to-be-done stuff of which our lives are comprised.  The boy is punished for his magic.  Other boys become jealous of this object of wonder and go about the game of capturing and destroying it.  They do.  But the defeat is only temporary.  For me, the balloon is the magic that is within each individual waiting to be realized.  Becoming jealous of another's "red balloon" is self-defeating and a waste of time.

The lesson is clear.  Get thee a red balloon of your own.
Discover your magic.