My Daughter Kim

I painted this painting of my daughter Kim in one of the classes that I teach. Everyone did so well and we had many versions of her. You could have one hundred people paint from the same picture and you would have one hundred different paintings. Kim lives in California and spent the summer on the Outer Banks so we got to see each other more than we usually do. She had asked us to come down and dog sit for her and her beau Bryant to go down to Okracoke. I'm so happy to say that she got engaged. Congratulations to Kim and Bryant!!! When I was painting her I experienced such love for her while I was laying down colors and stroking my brush around the shapes of her face. I have felt these feelings while painting before. Sometimes I feel like I go into a trance and the brushstrokes just come naturally. I call it being in the zone. Other times I feel like I'm just using my technique to create a likeness but I do not have any emotional attachment to the process. I have admired the paintings of Mary Whyte for a long time. Recently I saw her show of her Working South Paintings at the Penninsula Fine Art Center. It was breathtaking. I went twice with two different groups of my students and I saw even more the second visit. I loved many of her paintings, the feelings that she captured being right there on display. My favorite was Shroud. It had such movement to it and it captured a dreamlike state. I just sat down and allowed it to envelope me into its mood. I recently was looking through her book Watercolor for the Serious Beginner. In the last chapter she discusses Forming a Personal Vision. She talks about making a Five Senses List by listing your five senses in a notebook. Over a week or two write down ten items in each column that really move you. The list should be very personal and individual. I am going to do this and have my students do it too. If you want to try it please do and just put it on a comment so that we can share it. I am looking forward to starting this blog up again. I have some ideas for it. Thank you for coming along for the ride.