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| © Robin Edmundson, 'Turquoise barn and haybales', watercolor, 18 x 24 inches. $750, framed. |
I got stuck for a while right around the holidays. I couldn't seem to paint anything I liked and felt way out of whack. My mentor, the amazing Susan Webb Tregay, suggested that I focus on barns - lots and lots of barns. For days I painted barns in all the colors. I didn't try to make them 'good', I just painted them again and again. I used the backs of a bunch of paintings in my garbage stack. I tried new pigments, I tried new color combinations. I whined a lot. [A lot.] But every day I painted more.
One day, it was time to pull out the Big Paper. You know - the good kind, with acres of white staring at you, daring you to make a mistake. I dove in, adjusting along the way. Step back, let it dry, come back tomorrow, get feedback. Adjust again. Get more feedback. Adjust again.
I'm learning to linger over a piece and to not feel like I have to rush it.
And in the end, I have this. And of course I want more feedback - tell me if you think the gravel in the road is working. I tried something new and I'm not sure how I like it or if it works.
