Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The Blog That Almost Wasn't.....


After The Hunt Sold 24x30

I haven't fallen off the face of the planet although it may seem like it....but I did fall into Facebook and almost didn't escape. There is a lot to be said about the instant connections and updates...but it does lack a lot of the personal appeal of blogging. So here I am...back 6 months later and as usual the past months have been extremely busy and rewarding....I guess I don't know any other way to live...the busy part!
If I go back to August...that was when I was doing a lot of canning and also getting ready for the Midwest Gathering of Artists. I did up a lot of tomatoes and peppers...dried onions and herbs. Froze spinach but mostly ate it fresh. Lots of lettuce which finally bolted and not a single raspberry...the birds got them! We still did fairly well though for the most part. The trees have been trimmed so there will ne more light next year and I would like to expand the garden some.
Now on to the painting part. I took on a project that my friend and galler
y owner, Cherry, prompted me to do. I was in her shop and saw some pheasants on a wreath and mentioned I would like to paint them. She wholeheartedly allowed me to use them and we ran over different items to put with it. I finally decided on some copper and onions and a piece of oriental carpet behind the hanging pheasants. Then threw in a piece of pottery and some cobalt glass and commenced to paint! Well, it was a real learning experience....how do you balance all the textures...how do you simplify the feathers....how do you get the feeling of the different textures.....what color are the shadows and how much of them.....and on and on. About 4 weeks later I had my painting...but not without much wailing and gnashing of teeth!! The end result was satisfactory....the best I could possibly do at the time....but that's the way it always is. A continual learning process....each brush mark...each value...the temperature and all the adjustments that go into painting no matter what style you have.
The final panting is at the top..... there is also a photo of the setup but of course it was painted from life...as always.
Thank you everyone who inquired to where I was at...I really appreciate the care and concern...:)
Tomorrow I will tell you about the amazing out come of this painting!
Theresa

4 comments:

Marian Fortunati said...

WOW...

You are sooooooooo amazing. What a complicated painting and what a fabulous job you've done.

It's nice to see the set up... but you brought so much more to the actual painting... really really nice.

Glad you're back to blogging. FB is addicting... but then so is blogging, isn't it??

TSL said...

It is gorgie, Theresa. (I myself have had unavoidable life matters come between me and my art, I have much to make up for.) Best wishes and looking forward to your news about the painting.

Theresa Rankin said...

Thank you so much Marian...good to be back! I am glad you saw what I brought to the painting...as an artist I feel it is my duty to make the ordinary extraordinary! Need to wander over and check YOU out!

Theresa Rankin said...

Tina so good to hear from you. I hate it when life gets in the way...but that is...after all....life.
Hope you can resolve the space between art and life matters.
Theresa