The Bridge Street Painting...

Detail of The Waxing Moon, 4/9/2011

 This is the painting that I started for the local television show "Bridge Street", I went in with this dusky burnt umber and Payne's gray wash:

The start...4/3/2011

I was a little bit concerned that people would take one look at it and say "Yuck, are you kidding, this is your painting?" but to me it was gorgeous and I was working out in my head the colors I intended to use, and as usual, I cannot plan what will happen...it's intuitive and once I get to work, anything goes...

At the end of the show, Layer #2, 4/4/2011

There was not enough time to finish a painting during the show...I never believed that I could, and I knew Fred wouldn't...it's a lot to do, so I had no expectations that I would... I really loved the foundation that I created...

I took it home and worked on it...4/4-4/9

Once I got into the third stage I needed to walk away from it and give it a rest, the top part was troublesome, but I finally got it settled by Saturday morning...

The Waxing Moon, 4/9/2011

Yesterday I fiddled and tweaked throughout the day and the result is this new nocturnal image that I'm very happy with...

The event itself was a bit of a learning experience...when people asked me how it went I told them that it was awesome and awful at the same time... it was what I expected, yet not... my Fred and I work well together during these moments of stress, if one fumbles, the other fills in the blanks...we did fine a classic grace under fire moment...so the interviewer got our last name wrong, I corrected her and we moved on...the lighting was terrible for painting, but we made do...small stuff...we remained calm and patient, and I'm glad it's done and the painting is just as beautiful as I had hoped it would be...

The auction went well on Friday, we were relaxed, and set up our table with postcards, brochures, our art book, and I set out my two novels (artwork featured on the cover, why not? And it is part of what I do.) Fred brought one of his stone sculptures, and I set out my portfolio of photographs, we kept it simple. Our artwork sold, bidders got bargains. The young woman who bought my drawing Lumina #2 was clearly pleased with winning the bid...it was meant to be...her smile was priceless. I didn't get to see the reaction of the winner of my photograph My Conversation with Georgia, but I did see it leave under the arm of a gentleman...it was for a good cause, and worth doing again. We met more local artists...it's amazing to see how much talent is in the area, most of us all do what we do on the side, a few are professionals (have retired from day jobs.)

It appears that Spring has arrived at last, I'm still photographing the debris of leaves and dead grass, the crocuses are the only things brave enough to bloom. A honey bee was buzzing in them yesterday, and a bumble bee buzzed past my head while I poked around at the twiggy remains in the herb garden. There was a bullfrog belching in the marshy area behind the barn last night, it was sweet hearing his noise...

There is rain on the way, I'm going outside before it comes...