Granddaughters

I've finally been painting again! I started this one, last summer, before my desire to create nearly disappeared. I didn't take any progress photos until I got back to it a month or so ago. By the time I took this first photo (below), the acrylic underpainting was almost done. 

The next photo is the last of the acrylic underpainting, before I switched to oils. I switch to oils because they are my comfort zone. I have more experience getting them to do what I want. 

The image below is after working in oils for 2 sessions. Getting started on the hair was fun. When I first painted it, it was way too light, but it's easy enough to come back in and glaze more color over the top.

After the session in oils I had below, I was almost done, down to the tiny details. The one big change I made on the final day, was brightening up the light area of grass in the background. You can see in the top image that the final piece has a little more pop. 

By the way, the girls were a hot mess after their serene looking beauty shop session, with nail polish up their arms, legs, and on their clothes! They also polished the legs of a babydoll, who has mysteriously disappeared.

Personal Space - Meditation

I enjoy getting into a regular meditation practice. Just 15 to 20 minutes, to sit silently, and try to clear my head of the constant chatter, worries, and second guessing myself, that so many of us deal with.

Here's an idea of my thought process when I haven't been practicing meditation:

I am in a bubblebath, on the moon.

It is an old-fashioned clawfoot tub with bubbles.

The bubbles are . . . probably flying out of the tub because there's no gravity. Right?

Heck, the water is probably flying out of the tub!

And me!

Can people with telescopes see me up here?

Can they see me naked, and flying out of the tub?

It's probably freezing.

What was I thinking?

I have so much to get done today.

I'm a million miles from home and I'll probably burn up on re-entry to earth's atmosphere.

This was a terrible idea.

Here's my thought process with a regular meditation practice:

I am in a bubblebath on the moon.

The bubbles rise nearly to my chin. Their barely-there texture caresses my skin.

There is a muffled silence, like after a heavy snowfall, that is broken only by the sound of the tiny bubbles as they burst.

They smell faintly of strawberry.

I've left responsibilities a million miles away.

My soul is relaxed and at peace.

I am in a bubblebath, on the moon.

  To see the two older versions of this piece, click below:

 http://tracyonoz.blogspot.com/2015/11/if-whimsical.html.

Baby Fox

I almost skipped this week because I've been working in oils, and oil paintings take me a Really. Long. Time. This little guy, however, has been a work in progress on my iPad for several weeks and I thought I'd just get him touched up and share him with the world. What an angel, huh?

I have one more thing to share:

I saw this amazing tree while riding in the car with my husband. He immediately pulled over, without being asked, and circled back, so I could get a photo. Is there any world in which this tree would not grab hold of the imagination?

Happy Wednesday!!!

Carousel Horse

I don't think I'm the only person who feels a sense of childhood awe while gazing upon a carousel.

The first two summers after my high school graduation, I worked for a concessionaire, traveling to various fairs and festivals in west-central Ohio, selling coney dogs, corn dogs, and cotton candy. It was hard work at times, but probably two of the best, and most memorable summers of my life.

Since then, I gravitate toward any books, movies, or pieces of art having to do with fairs and carnivals.

Working from a photo I took at King's Island, I did a large 28"x40" charcoal drawing for my senior show at UC. This piece, along with a couple other carnival images, has hung in my basement for many, many years, and as the years passed I became more itchy to attempt another of my do-overs.

Last summer I finally got to it. I still had the original photo I had taken at King's Island!

I wanted to try it in color, so I experimented with this little 5"x7" oil painting.

I also have a 24"x36" oil painting that I began last August. It has been sitting lonely and unfinished in my basement studio, but it was 2020 after all, and I feel grateful to have even finished the 5"x7".

A couple of weeks ago, I dropped a photo of the small piece into the Procreate app and began playing with it some more. I ended with the image at the top of the post. Using all of these attempts as a learning experience, I hope to have the large painting completed by the end of summer. Woohoo! Time to paint!