Final Element

Ah... having a productive day feels so good... especially when it's time for bed! I got the second coat of paint up on the basement walls this evening, snuck in a workout at the gym this afternoon while the kids were asleep (Chris was home!), made a new dish for supper - a total experiment - and it worked out rather well, got tonight's painting done, and now it's time for some reading before bed. :)

Tonight I did the final of the four elements... Earth. I think I must have known this one would be the hardest and so saved it for last. I was trying to explain why to Chris... and I think it has to do with movement. He said something about it not fitting with the others quite as well... and I said that it's because the others are in constant motion whereas Earth is not so much. Well, unless you count landslides and tectonic plate shifts, but I figured those weren't a constant natural state so didn't want to try painting those. Instead I painted "Low Tide". It made me think of the mud flats at Five Island National Park. We walked on them once and it was pretty cool. It's easy to think of Earth as the regular soil/dirt that we can see all the time, but the crust of the Earth extends below the oceans as well. It's like secret dirt. :) Anyway, I threw in a mixture of browns as well as some white (for the Caribbean beaches and sea shells), some red (good ol' PEI), and some yellow (because Earth can also be sand from the desert). I'm not sure how it will turn out when it has dried, but I guess we'll wait and see tomorrow. Sorry, I'll see it tomorrow, you all have to wait until Friday. :)

I'm thinking my next 'series' of paintings will be the twelve signs of the zodiac. Should be interesting... some will be easier than others for sure!

Anyway... here's to happy thoughts of warming up the Earth. Three more weeks until the first day of Spring! I noticed yesterday that it was still light out at 5pm. Makes me smile. :)

Another Element

Ok, so today is element number three of four. I've done a Fire and a Water, today I did Wind. Tomorrow, Earth. I'll be honest (and perhaps a little self-congratulatory) I really like them! I think they're near the top of the list for my favorites so far. :)

I've been quite productive today... I took my son out for a little special just him and me time this morning. We went to the grocery store and the hardware store. Ok, maybe it's not super exciting... but it was time just for us two. At the hardware store we picked out some paint for the basement. I narrowed it down to two choices, and he picked the final one. Wasn't sure I'd get around to painting the hall today, but I did. During the afternoon nap/quiet time I tackled what will be phase one of four. The first coat of the downstairs part of the hall. There was too much stuff on the stairs part, plus it needs to be tidied and I'd need a ladder. I don't really do ladders... so maybe Chris will have to do that part! So, I'm hoping that by the end of next weekend it'll all be painted and finished up and I can start the next part... decorating!

I regularly get asked how I have time for this project... the painting daily and blogging about it. I'm not really sure to be truthful. I guess it's a matter of prioritizing. Sometimes the dishes don't get done... other times I'm up until after midnight because I had something pressing to take care of first. I guess I just think it's really important to not miss a day, so I don't. 58 days, and the one time I got behind was Valentine's Day, and I got caught up the very next day. Plus I think I had a good excuse for that day! I have no intention of shorting out on my goal of 365 paintings. There will be difficult times ahead I'm sure... but it's one of my top priorities so I know it will get done. It's all a matter of figuring out what matters to you and finding a way to do it. That's true of so much in life, don't you think?

Oh, tonight's painting is called "A Blustery Day". Hope you like it when you see it. Good night!

Super late night

Ok, it's almost one thirty in the morning and I'm just now getting to the blogging portion of my evening. I will keep this very short!

Tonight's painting is called "Agua Frio" and is a sort of companion piece to "Fire Dragon". My attempts at two of the four elements. Wind and Earth will follow soon I'm sure.

I like the texture and colour blending in this painting. I used some of my new paints (thanks!) and I've got to say I like how they worked out and how they dried. So, yay!

Quick side note... in terms of painting sales... would anyone be interested in a "buy it now" kind of option? Instead of waiting and having a big sale at the end with a whopping 365 or more paintings, I'm thinking I could sell some of them during the year... so if people wanted to 'call dibs' they could buy them early. I was thinking of doing a silent auction kind of deal at the end... so perhaps there could still be that option, but maybe we could add another way. Any thoughts? Let me know what  you think here or by email: jcope18@yahoo.com

I must go to sleep now... the kids will be up in about five and a half hours (or sooner!). Good night!

Week Eight Pictures!

Oh my... eight whole weeks! Today I reorganized my "studio" with the help of a suggestion from Chris. I was thinking I'd need some sort of shelving unit by the couch where I sit since my tubs of stuff always overflow. I'm not an obsessively neat person... but this was driving even me crazy. Chris suggested swapping some stuff around in our basement and it totally worked! Here's a picture of my little nook...  new and improved. :)

Overflowing bookshelves

My studio, such as it is

 So, very excited that I have all of my supplies neatly stored and organized. Now, when we want to bring the kids downstairs to play, there won't be the mad scramble to tidy all the random pots and tubes of paint! At least, not for a few days anyway. ;)

Tonight I finished my dragon painting. I started the background yesterday as I mentioned. Had a burst of productivity and it seemed like a good idea to do at least the background as it would take awhile to dry. So, it was all set to go today and I put the dragon part on. I quite like it. Dragons are interesting and so varied in their depictions in art and literature. If you haven't seen the movie "How to Train Your Dragon" (or something like that) you should. It's fun, and fun is good.

So, here are the pictures of the week's work. It's a little varied... hope you like it. :)

Feb 19 - Train Window

Feb 20 - Feet of the World

Feb 21 - Hidden Message

Feb 22 - Global Village

Feb 23 - Chocolate

Feb 24 - Finders Keepers

Feb 25 - Fire Dragon

Wow!

Not to put too fine a point on it... but wow. :) Thank you Very much to Dr. Joy Johnson for her amazing and generous donation to this project. A box arrived from Curry's Art Store today with Lots (capital L) of canvas boards, a whole rainbow of paint colours and new brushes. Oh it felt like Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one! I knew it was coming because we've talked on email, but still, opening that box was pretty amazing. So thank you a whole bunch for helping out with this project!!

Everyone that has helped so far deserves thanks and gratitude for sure... and there is a list of names at the bottom of the blog that I'm updating as we go with everyone who has donated and/or helped in some way. I've left off Chris's name because I talk about him so much in the posts, but he has obviously helped in so many ways it would be impossible to list them all. He's not forgotten though. ;)

This is such a huge project... and I don't think I thought all of it through when I started. Hmmm... yup, that sounds a bit like me. Jump in and hope for the best. I figure it'll all work out in the end. :) Definitely my basement is looking more and more like an art gallery/studio mayhem. It's a whole lot harder to take the kids down for some casual playtime! However, it is so totally worth it! I'm loving this project, I'm so happy to be meeting new people through it, and I think it's a wonderful part of my life. Even though it is harder in some ways than I thought it would be, it's better in others too. So it all evens out in the end. :)

It's funny, tonight I told myself that I wouldn't put too much pressure on since I sort of started last night. I thought, hey, I'll take it a bit easy, watch a movie, finish up the painting... no biggie. Well, instead I just couldn't stop painting. I finished tonight's kid-oriented piece "Finders Keepers" and started the background for what I think will be a dragon and started (possibly finished, will look at it again tomorrow and see) another one that was meant to be a companion piece for the dragon, but might end up being something else all together. I had new paints and brushes to play with. Whee! I missed a bunch of the movie, but that's ok... I've seen it before. :) I'm so excited about the two new ones... texture and colour mixing... lots of fun.

New pictures tomorrow too! It has been a crazy week in some ways... but a good week too. A few too many late nights, but hey, like I said before, it's all worth it!

One last thought... I know I'm thanking people who are helping with donations... but I do not want to overlook all the people who are reading this blog, posting it on their facebook pages, passing along ideas and suggestions, support and comments... and generally contributing in less tangible but also incredibly important ways. To all my friends, family, and even complete strangers who have found this blog and follow it... thank you! I hope that it inspires you to try new things, find beauty in odd places, and help someone out at a random time or place. We all live and share this life... let's make it a little better for everyone, together. :)

February 23rd

Is it Spring yet? Just kidding.... I'm probably going to be one of those annoying people who, in a few months, will be whining about how hot it is. Ah well, the human memory plays tricks on us to be sure. After all, every winter this funny white stuff falls from the sky. Oh yeah, it's snow... and yet... every winter so many people act as though they've never seen it before and have no idea what to do about it. Spring is my favourite season though. Sometimes I add Fall, but really, Spring is when things are getting warmer, new plants are growing, the air feels good, the world feels new again... nothing bad happens in Spring. Even if it rains it's just the Earth getting a fresh shower. I like the smell of rain and cut grass. Mind you, I also am one of the lucky few who do not fall victim to seasonal allergies! A few more weeks and it will be upon us. I know this because Spring officially starts right after my birthday. Yes, it's all about me. ;) It's like a turning point in my little world... once my birthday hits it's totally time for Spring... and won't Mother Nature just play along? Usually there's a bit more winter-y weather, but I can handle it at that point because I know, I'm older, so it's Spring. :)

I have no idea where this tangent came from, or why I've indulged in it, but there you are. The ramblings of a paint-stained person, here for your enjoyment.

Tonight's painting is called "Chocolate". It's a mixture of rich browns and it makes me think of my favourite treat. I can almost smell the chocolate goodness. Or perhaps that's just the scent of acrylic paint... who knows? I think I like diagonal lines... seems that a few of the more abstract-y type paintings have lots of diagonal lines. More interesting (and forgiving) than horizontal and vertical. I'm not so sure it's not because of high school math and those x and y axis graphs. Maybe it's my little rebellion years later! Here's a slope... so there! Did I mention I'm married to a mathie? Useful stuff math. Too bad it gets such a bad rap.

Ok, I'm off on another tangent... I think it's time to pack it in until tomorrow. When even I know I'm rambling it's time to go to bed! Almost to 1300! Thanks everyone for reading and for your support. I really appreciate it. :)

Up Late Again

Ok, so technically it's midnight already so this post counts as the 23rd... but it's about the 22nd and I figure in many areas of the world it's still Tuesday so I'm good. :)

I did a 5x7 canvas board tonight, so hopefully it'll fit in one of the frames I bought for them. Hard to hang boards, but I'm sure I'll tackle that issue as we go. It's called "Global Village" and is a world map surrounded by a chain of very simplified arms and hands. At least that was the intention. So... it's just supposed to say that this is our world. All of ours. Equally.

I really must start doing this stuff earlier... but life does tend to interfere... in a good way. Didn't get home until almost nine tonight so yeah, two hours and a bit of painting and here we are in the wee hours of the morning. Or the late hours of the evening... depending on if you're a half full or half empty kind of person. :) At any rate... tomorrow will likely be the same. Maybe Thursday will be an early night. Time will tell.

I don't know that I think every piece of art has to have a deep meaning or message... sometimes it's just plain old pretty... but I think it's nice now and again to think of ways to present positive messages and philosophies.

Until tomorrow... or, um, later today. :)