Gray Monday!

It has been a gray Monday here at the Brick and Mortar.

My studio window overlooks the main west to east street through our little town and it has been a swirling snow flurry all day. Many times it looked like a flurry of small bits of paper the flakes were so big and white.

Needless to say, if I can report on the various sizes of snow flakes flying by my window ... I didn't get too much "work" done today. I am hoping to get more accomplished after I lock the door and can focus on a small abstract I want to work on or the logo I have to ink. Both projects have been whispering to me all day. I will give them a little attention before heading home and sewing more on the black and white art quite that beckons.

I think the lesson today would be to look at small amounts of time as a gift, a plus. Look at these small amounts of time devoted to a project as time well spent, not as a failure to complete the masterpiece you wish you had time to complete. Small clusters of minutes will soon add up to the finished project.

Think of it this way ... a little bit of creativity each day (writing, painting, sketching, thinking, sewing, knitting, you get the idea) is better than NOT creating.

Dark values last !

Artists work with their darks at different times of the painting process ... I find that 95% of the time with my watercolors I hold off until the finishing steps for place the darkest darks and make the lighter values POP!

I am preparing an assortment of items for an upcoming holiday bazaar in Bloomington IN and as I worked on these little snowpeople, I had to restrain from putting in the dark coal and brown twigs... I knew that would make it look so much better ... but in watercolor - it can/will smear!

Everything takes time in art and in life.... patience is often required to be "successful". Working (and playing) at your art every day brings about the knowledge to know when it is the time to control or let loose.
Enjoy the process!