Celebrate

  

 

 

Celebrate what you are! Your age, your looks, your station in life and your gifts. Be confident in yourself. I know so many who are unhappy about their aging, their looks and their talents.

 This is a waste of our precious time on this good earth. I will never be a master painter, but I have enjoyed the challenge of the masterpiece just around the corner for about sixty years now.  I look like a train wreck compared to my young self but so what? I am a lot happier and smarter than I was in my young, naive adulthood. With age comes a humble and open attitude, grateful for every day. 

 If you are obsessed with politics and the state of the world, don’t spend another minute. Support the causes you believe in with donations and leave the worry to those who can actually do something. Study history to understand that this generation of angst is only one of many since the dawn of humanity. Get out and vote and help others to get to the polls, but leave the worry behind.

This country painter is joyful for life……..

Out on the Trail

 I got my paint box filled and ready to paint yesterday. This morning I’ve been out on the trail for my first location painting of the season. I started with a five x seven painting. 

 It felt great to hear the birds sing and hear the rustling of small animals in the tall grass, while I enjoyed the beautiful October morning. 

 The field that runs along the edge of the trail is so pretty in October. The weeds are waist high, all blooming with tiny flowers, touched by morning light. I enjoyed being in front of my paint box again. This is my first outdoor painting in two years, due to my struggles with ongoing PMR. I consider this morning as a victory. 

 Painting outdoors is so different from the studio. It is much more primitive and basic, but fun. For a long time I was a plein air painter who also did studio work. I have evolved into a studio painter who also does plein air work. I enjoy both but I have always been a better studio painter. 

 Country painters love the woods…..

Helping Hand

  

 

These days can overwhelm all of us, but especially artists. We are in a precarious position in the best of times. As negativity increases, it is easy to begin to lose hope and turn to a “woe is me” mind set. 

 Now is the time to have faith in your own good, hard work. Now is the time to focus on your friends, nurturing them and nurturing your own artists’ communities. Avoid negativity and bad news. Enjoy a life of gratitude, that you have been given this rare gift of art. Reach out to an artist who struggles. A kind gesture goes a long way toward success for you both. If you love an artist’s work, share it on social media and with your friends who might be in the market for a painting. Tell friends about favorite artists.

 If you wish to help a beginning artist, lend him/her frames for an exhibition if you have extra. Most painters like me have a closet full of frames.

Offer to review their work and help him/her select paintings for a show.

Send a gift card to a struggling artist for breakfast or lunch or even coffee. Encouraging them might give them faith to soldier on.

 Buy small paintings from artists to help them financially and give them hope.

Be grateful to those who share your work or comment on your work. I am deeply grateful for my friends who help me in small ways as well as those who can financially support me with collecting. Lend equipment or give a tube of paint, canvas or brush to a struggling artist.Anything you do to further their career is a way to endure hard times. I have had many collectors assist me over my long career.

Most importantly, keep your attitude one of gratefulness and wonder at the beauty of being an artist.

 Life is wonderful for country artists......

Back on the Trail

 

 

I’m back on Deer Woods Trail. Each season I have a lot of clean up. I pick up debris one trail at a time. After the trails are cleaned up, I start trimming the tree limbs that reach too low and far onto the trail. I leave the limbs and debris on each side of the trail to gradually rot away. Since it is a private trail, I don’t have to groom it, as public land trails do. Someday I would love to have a controlled burn, but I would have to have professionals do that.

 

The mornings on the trail are gorgeous now. As soon as I am through with the hard work I will get my paint box ready to set up for the painting season.  I have already picked out my first scene. I set up my box on the trail and tie a large heavy black garbage bag over it. My tripod is metal. Then I move it up and down the trail through the season. It works great.

 

Country painters love the trail……