Thursday, January 11, 2018

Turquoise Barn

© 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.


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