Summer Time

It is finally warm and summer like in Alberta so why does my paint brush fail me now? I have been waiting for this wonderful time to arrive.  Is this an another example of procrastination or is it fear?  As a painters I often face this wall but I try to scale up the wall using perserverence and disipline as my main tools.  So why, now, do I struggle? Why does this hurdle feel too big to scale?

Something about the summer allows me to think it is ok to slack off.  Long days offer and temp me that there are more hours in the day to complete my work.  I will have to raise my paintbrush, soon, and try to do battle with my wall or my minds eye may exaggerate this wall until it appears to be a mountain.  Then I would need new climbing gear- which could mean a shopping trip...Hmmmm

Commission Work

                                           A Stones Throw- Acrylic on Canvas- 12 x 16- 2010

This is a commission piece I did for a cousin of ours.  It is of her daughter in years gone by.  I am enjoying, once again, the satisfaction of doing commission work for friends and family.  It is challenging to take these commissions on as there is often an expectation from the client that is difficult to define.  One persons memories, preferences, minds eye are always different from the next persons.  It is the uniqueness of our personality that makes artwork hard to commission when the reference or expectations is not the artists. 

It is a challenge that I am beginning to enjoy- the pleasure of connecting with people and using my skills to build on their desires is rewarding.  When it works it works.  When it doesn't work- you can try a second time or let it go.  No harm done.  Gesso is a wonderful invention.  I am grateful to do what I do and humbled by the growth ahead of me.