Happy Birthday to ME!

This is a very special Birthday... I have received the gift of enjoying being me. It sounds so simple, doesn't it, but it took me 56 years. After our journey on the Queen Mary II, the transatlantic ship sailing across the sea, we sailed into South Hampton, England. 

We visited many museums in London and Paris and noted the paintings' dates. "So, how long DID it take him to paint this painting?"

Hmmm.... Some masters took years to finish a painting; why can't I?

I can!

I will no longer follow in someone else's footsteps or compare myself to anyone else. I am here to give love and guidance to those who cross my path. I am going to enjoy the minute, the hour, the day. Enjoy the small things throughout the day. My Daddy has passed, but his spirit has come to me; I can feel it. I do not need to be in art shows every week, I don't need to win ribbons, and God knows I don't need street art shows.

Was that a nightmare!

All the work for what? To hear people say, "Oh, you are really good"! For Goodness' sake, I know I am good; I do it because I love it. It is a passion, and if my passion works throughout the day, that is great. If it takes a break, that's great too. I will listen to something else that needs to be done.

Thank you for coming to me and helping me see the light. I know my Dad is here opening my eyes.

What a wonderful birthday gift I received.

What a fantastic party I had. There was so much love from John and all my friends.

Thank You.

1st Oil Portrait Complete!

After seven years of taking oil portrait classes, I finally got it!

One has to mix the colors backward. Does that make sense? Let's say you wish to make a peachy cheek; start with the white, then add the colors and make enough so you don't have to guess.

Slowing, add your premixed (colors with the white and the oranges and a puddle of premixed whites & reds). Go slow; make a value range out of all your pools; too much color will ruin the entire puddle of paint.

Keep the warms and cools separate; as soon as they touch, you have created mud, which may not be wrong if you are in control. Use that control and generate value shifts with your color and temperature.

Build up and take a break, maybe a day or so; check your work with a mirror and look through it; you will get a different perspective, and it will surprise you, sometimes for the best (if you are lucky). Well, I'm not one to write a bunch of stuff. Those words are the best suggestions for now.

Take Care and keep trying.