"Sea-Green" oil 16 x 20 Once, when I trumped my bridge partner's winning trick, Judy exclaimed, "What were you thinking?" I blurted out, "Blue," and the table exploded with laughter; we were all painters, you see.
When I first started painting, it took forever to find something I could paint, a situation that gradually eased as my experience increased. Nonetheless, my great leap forward happened when I met the delightful Kathy Bailey, who introduced me to glaze oil, a Renaissance method more forgiving than watercolour and more leisurely than acrylic. Tackling the technique was overwhelming at first but worth every hour invested. Sincere thanks, Kathy.
Now that I am not so intimidated by level of difficulty, the "what to paint" issue has taken a turn. There is a wonderful story about Alex Colville's wife, who was chatting with an interviewer about the great painter. When asked, "Is your husband currently working on a painting?" she replied, "I think so. This morning I caught him outside with callipers, measuring the dog."
For me, as for most representational artists, I'm sure, the creative process begins with a kidnapping. Margaret Laurence always said that she could silence the insistent voice of any one of her main characters only by giving her an independent life on the page; I too am captive until my mind's eye won't accept anything less than transferring that image onto a surface .
When I first started painting, it took forever to find something I could paint, a situation that gradually eased as my experience increased. Nonetheless, my great leap forward happened when I met the delightful Kathy Bailey, who introduced me to glaze oil, a Renaissance method more forgiving than watercolour and more leisurely than acrylic. Tackling the technique was overwhelming at first but worth every hour invested. Sincere thanks, Kathy.
Now that I am not so intimidated by level of difficulty, the "what to paint" issue has taken a turn. There is a wonderful story about Alex Colville's wife, who was chatting with an interviewer about the great painter. When asked, "Is your husband currently working on a painting?" she replied, "I think so. This morning I caught him outside with callipers, measuring the dog."
For me, as for most representational artists, I'm sure, the creative process begins with a kidnapping. Margaret Laurence always said that she could silence the insistent voice of any one of her main characters only by giving her an independent life on the page; I too am captive until my mind's eye won't accept anything less than transferring that image onto a surface .
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