As Days Go By

          Days seem to fly by now and I scarce know where they go. I can hardly believe my beautiful little girl is nearly a year old! She seems less like a baby everytime I look at her and more like a distinct individual living in a little body--quirky, lively, cheerful, with a sparkling humour and a smile that fills the room. I can't imagine what we ever did without her (well, except for maybe sleep in every once in a while!). She's amazing, but she does keep our hands pretty full, so I haven't been as productive artistically as I'd hoped. Nonetheless, I have managed to finish the Haitian relief commissions, so I thought I'd share those. The first is a pastel still life for an extremely dear friend back home. She is a very talented novelist with a very eccentric muse whose first book is being released in late summer or early fall. She's also a professional photographer, an avid consumer of coffee, and loves to play guitar, so when she described for me the image she wanted, I was rather excited. Thus ensued, "Where the Muses Dwell".
          The second commission was much more challenging for me, even though it's more of a watercolor sketch than a full-blown painting. I'm not a landscape artist by any means, even though I enjoy looking at them, to be sure. I just figure nature is much better at putting in all those little details than I could ever be, and I think it's best left that way. However, the image I was asked to render happens to be one of my favorite photographs ever taken by husband. I had painted it previously with dissatisfactory results and always hoped to revisit it, so when the winner of the bid requested it, I thought now might be a good time. Well, I thought wrong! I sincerely hope the recipient likes what she receives, but as for me, I am content to admit the genre isn't for me and leave it at that!
          On the whole I find myself increasingly dissatisfied with my current style. There's something too static about my method and nothing I create seems to have the spark of life I hope for. This isn't a bad thing, just a sign that I've grown complacent and it's time for me to move and grow. Next week will be spent prepping for June 12th's art fair in Edinburgh--if anyone's in the area, feel free to stop by and say hello! After that, it'll be straight back to the drawingboard, literally, experimenting with materials, styles, and methods. Hopefully I'll reemerge with something that feels more like me, something more worth sharing!