Revisiting Drawing

   With things becoming just a wee bit more routine the past couple months, I've been gradually working in a bit of !!!!TIME TO PAINT!!!!   What a concept, eh?  Speaking for myself, a good portion of life has been spent learning to discern what I really wanted in life, and now that knowledge has surfaced, I really appreciate the importance of a Moleskine, Filofax, or some other such planner.  Just because they usually have black covers doesn't mean they're about serious things!  Mine's full of jottings, goals, and highlighted notations of blocks of time that can be set aside for the 'good stuff.'

                                              

Although painterly creativity essentially screeched to a standstill the past year (I'm STILL attempting to get salvaged supplies and materials unpacked and organized!), a wonderful opportunity to pursue increased knowledge and skill in drawing materialized.  It's now been a year of early Monday mornings, finding myself waking up to premier wildlife artist Joe Kronenberg's teachings in the style of the 19th Century French Realists and enjoying a delicious cup of coffee in the studio of fellow artists Craig and Rose Tedmon.  Can't speak highly enough of all three of them!  Think I've only managed to fully complete one assignment during the year, but the information, practice, and camaradarie with them and fellow-students are priceless.  Drawing is DEFINITIVELY the foundation for good art.

Grounded

  A multi-faceted term is the word 'grounded'.  Describes this painter's current situation to a t.  The pondhopping bohemian lifestyle I thrive on screeched to a temporary halt late in 2010 due to elder parents' needs.  Felt like I was back in school, being punished and grounded for something I hadn't done. 
 

 And the 'impossible dream' I'd held for decades to have a place of my own to create and live has materialized.  My studio was flooded in July of last year, resulting in four months of tent camping in a friend's yard in Coeur d'Alene.  Got a bit nippy in Oct.!!   Desperation for winter housing led to talks with the parents, and an agreement was reached to renovate the 18'x24' barn on the property for a studio/living space. 
 

 
Work began 1 Oct, and I moved in mid-Nov.  Work has been done on weekends and evenings, and there's still a good deal to go, but even in it's unfinished state, it gives me a comforting sense of being 'home.!  Yet another form of grounding it is.....knowing there's somewhere I can return to from wherever I've been, and finally be at HOME.  Aye, I'd prefer it was near a beach somewhere in the Western Islands, but for now I'll be quite content for the wee pasture and lovely views here while I'm painting Scotland on my canvases!