Forgetting the Unforgettable

My mother-in-law passed away almost a year ago. We spent last week at her house working on preparing it to go on the real estate market. Before we left I packed up painting supplies so that I could continue to work even while away from home. I was actually excited about it because there is so much light in her house and I knew it would be a great opportunity to relax while I was there. I had all of my supplies set out and then promptly drove away without them. 

Her home is in a small tourist village on one of the San Juan islands of Washington. They have a little art supply store there and I was able to pick up a few things to allow me to do at least a little something. Without my works in progress I was forced to start a new painting. I wasn't sure what to do until we were looking through an old photo album. I almost never paint from someone else's photograph, but this one was done in lighting that I think I can make work. The colors aren't rich and vivid because the photo is faded. But I'm actually excited about the challenge. 

My dear husband had forgotten about this vacation and the photo brought back treasured memories. I'm so grateful to have the photos I do to help me remember what I would otherwise forget. 

Misty Mountains

I forgot to get a photo of the sketch or even the very beginning of this painting. I was so excited to get it started I simply jumped right in. I wasn't sure how painting mist would work, but it's coming along quite nicely. I am still just roughing in the background and getting started, but so far so good. 

Fire Face

I didn't get a photo from my first painting session so this is a bit into the process. This is the last painting I completed in 2016. It was part of a local collaborative project hosted by the Hoffman Center for the Arts in Manzanita, Oregon, called "Word and Image". I participated in 2015 with the painting, "Sunday Dinner". They randomly pair a writer with a painter. As the painter, I create a painting inspired by my assigned artist. As luck would have it, my artist was the same as in 2015! I was there when they drew her name out of the hat so I know it was indeed random. And it was a gift to me. I really enjoy working her. 

A Fresh Start

I haven't been able to post, so it's nice to have a fresh start with sharing what I'm doing here at Pease House Art. This was my fresh start on a new canvas. I'm really excited about this piece. It comes from an image that has been forming in my mind. It's highly symbolic and hopefully will speak for itself when it's done. All is hope at this time. The realizing of it will come over the next few weeks.

Canvas Sketch

I'm participating in a fun and exciting project with the Hoffman Art Center in Manzanita, OR. The project is called "Word and Image" and pairs authors and artists to respond to each other's work. I chose a poem that my assigned author wrote and this is the canvas sketch for my visual response to her piece. I'll be posting it's progress as I move along. This is a  pretty ambitious challenge as I have two figures in this painting and only 3 weeks to complete the whole thing.... Here goes nothing!