The new painting I finished this week has become the face of this year’s Christmas cards. Sorry for the spoiler, family!
They’re off at the printers now, but once I get them I’ll be adding a few sets to my Etsy shop for anyone else who wants a girl with a foxy hat gracing their holiday mailings. No copyright notice appears on the cards themselves, of course.
You can buy a print too!
I felt like a rock star yesterday I got so much done. I got up early & got started on a new painting after finishing my usual check email/put out immediate fires routine. I took the dogs for a good long walk on the trails, stopped for groceries on the way home (which is a feat in & of itself because I *loathe* grocery shopping), cooked dinner for my boys AND cleaned the kitchen afterwards, then went back to painting. And finished it! When I finally settled in on the couch around midnight for some well deserved TV time, I was beaming.
This probably doesn’t sound like much to a lot of you; my sisters, for example, are the type A super productive sorts who seem to get more accomplished before lunch than I can manage all week. While wearing heels, no less. But if you’ve followed my tweets over the last couple of weeks, you’ve no doubt seen me complaining about The Painting From Hell that I just. can’t. finish.
I’ve been so consumed with trying to get this thing right finished that I’ve been unable to focus on anything else. John knocking on the door of my studio/our bedroom to tell me that dinner was ready? Disruption. If I lived alone I would’ve gone the whole week eating cereal morning, noon & night. Stopping to sleep because my eyes were burning & I really needed a break felt like defeat. It’s safe to say I’m not fun to live with!
The problem with The Painting From Hell is that it’s *almost* done. I love the background, I got the fog just right, I did a gazillion layers on the girl’s eyes and I think they’re the best I’ve ever painted. I LOVE this painting in so many ways. And because I do love it and I wanted to make it just perfect, I kept fiddling with the shadows on her face, trying to get more highlights on her round apple cheeks. Then it was too dark. Then not blended enough. Now the rosy blush wasn’t as visible. Have to add that back in again. Layer after layer, the painting is looking worse, not better.
It didn’t seem to matter what I tried (and I did try it all, including sanding the paint right down, but then I lost the texture of the canvas & the whole thing looked uneven) – it couldn’t be fixed. I don’t even want to think about the number of hours I spent painting, then wiping paint off, then adding more, then taking off. Seriously – this painting is from hell.
Why am I telling you this? Because very few artists do.
We all screw up. If we’re lucky, these accidents end up taking a piece in a new direction that works. Sometimes we’re not so lucky. Sometimes an artist IS able to save the piece, but it means his original vision for the work has had to change. And unless he says so, there’s no way of knowing that the end result isn’t exactly what he wanted.
I am going to save The Painting From Hell by covering up her painstakingly painted nose, lips and one good cheek (along with the bad one) with a Halloween-y mask. It fits for the painting and since the problem (now) is the lack of canvas texture, the smoothness actually lends itself to the plastic of the mask. I easily could have (and who knows…probably should have) just posted the painting once it’s finished and not said a word. But I know I’m not the only person facing challenges like these. And in case you’ve forgotten, you’re not alone!
Every mistake is an opportunity for growth, a chance to learn a better way. My lesson? Quit while you’re ahead. 
Fall in Vancouver means the weather is starting to get chilly and the few days of sunshine are immediately pounced on because we know we’ve got many months of cold, wet weather ahead. This seems to be showing up in my painting too.
I’ve got a new print up in the shop of this sassy miss with her cozy candy cane scarf:
And after tromping around in my rainboots a couple of weekends ago (my bee sting is STILL not healed, btw), this chica popped up on my canvas. My rainboots are yellow with a plaid green stripe pattern, but I wouldn’t mind snagging a pair of red ones with polka dots. Nope, wouldn’t mind that one bit!
The original canvases will be up for sale soon. I still need to do a layer of UV coating before they’re free to find new homes.
It’s Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend, so naturally I’ve been spending time thinking about the things I’m grateful for. Being able to spend time creating art, feeling the push of inspiration from so many wonderful artists that got me to start selling my own work, the support of my parents and friends…there are so many things I’m grateful for; I really feel like everything is falling into place in my life. But since this is the first Thanksgiving I’ve spent with just John, myself and my stepson, thoughts of FAMILY have been dominating this weekend.
John & JT on the seawall
I haven’t shared too much on this blog about my family. Quite frankly, I’m kind of paranoid when it comes to oversharing on the internet. But I can’t really talk about how grateful I am to be able to give my stepson, JT, a stable home and be vague at the same time, so here goes:
I am so grateful that JT is living with us now. It’s been a long, long 8 year battle with his mom, who has basically done everything she could to keep his father out of his life. John & I started dating when JT was just 4 years old. We were already good friends, so when John was going through a nasty break-up, I was there for him. It quickly became something more than friendship & within a couple of months, we were living together. That was just about 9 years ago now. Crazy!
From day one John’s ex acted bizarrely & used visitation with the kids as a way to torment him. She picks up & moves without warning every year (that means a new school every year too). She cancels scheduled visits by simply refusing to answer the door or the phone. She changes her phone number so we can’t even call. It’s been a long, exhausting court battle to just get regular weekend visits. So to finally have JT living with us full time? It’s something we never dared imagine would happen.
JT has been doing really well since he moved in with us. Without the weight of living in an explosive home where you know a big fight is looming around every corner, he’s just *happy*. He honestly looks like a different person.
He’s made friends at school and is thrilled to be allowed to bring them home after school. The biggest problem we have with him is that he talks too much in class! I really couldn’t ask for a better kid.
The only downside is that since we moved out to BC, we’re too far away from the rest of John’s family to be able to do big family dinners with all the aunts, uncles, cousins etc. Even all of our friends went out of town this weekend. So, for our first Thanksgiving as a family of 3, we wanted to do something special without trying to emulate the big turkey dinners we’re used to having at my mother-in-law’s house. Making turkey and mashed potatoes and the whole shebang for 3 people? Kind of depressing.
We managed to have a lovely day anyway, starting with a walk along the seawall around Stanley Park and finishing stuffed to the gills by the Thanksgiving spread put out by Hamburger Mary’s, a Vancouver institution. We had turkey, ham, Harvard beets, butternut squash, creamed turnips, mashed potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts…so much food! Pumpkin pie to finish the meal off, of course. It was all delicious and we practically rolled our way back to the car, just as John called the “Big couch!” for when we got home.
the Thanksgiving spread at Hamburger Mary’s
All in all? Not a bad Thanksgiving.
I’ve had a busy week painting, printing and generally covering my entire house with art stuff. Hopefully no one minds that the kitchen table is covered in drying prints that I protect like a mama eagle watching her nest. Who am I kidding? The boys are not likely to complain about being FORCED to eat in front of the TV.
Prints from my latest paintings are now available in my Etsy shop.
Here’s a peek at one of the paintings I finished this week:
