Tonight‘s post will be a little more brief because I have more work I need to get done but I wanted to update everyone on how my week is going.
I woke up to rain so I used it as an excuse to sleep in a little so I did not get out of bed until 8:30 this morning, which was nice. I spent most of the day working inside. In the morning, it was a little too wet to go outside and there has been just enough of the breeze to keep me inside the rest of the afternoon. It is beautiful outside, but the wind does not get along well with my acrylic paint.
I am making good progress on the pelican painting. I am hopeful that it will be done tomorrow as long as I can work out the kinks with the acrylic. I sent the updated picture to my darling husband who is my very honest art critic and he gave me the very good advice to soften up the water so the focus is on the pelicans better. The problem is how do I do that with dry paint? With my oil paint I would just take a very soft brush and taking my time go over all the edges blending it together very gently and very subtly. Acrylic paint dries so fast, even with mixing it with mediums, it is very difficult to get a softer look with it. I am sitting here right now contemplating how to fix it. I will probably try some glazing to take the detail down a notch and just have to chalk some of it up to the fact that it is acrylic paint and that is just how it looks. I still have the sandbar area to finish and some tweaks on the birds, but I am overall happy with the progress of the day and I’m hoping some glazing this evening will help the water a little bit.
The highlight of my day was getting to meet the executive director for the North Dakota Council on the Arts, Kim Konikow. I just enjoyed a very lovely dinner at The A Frame with her. It really has me thinking about looking for more opportunities for my art. I have been very focused on getting ready for this residency and on being the featured member artist at Bismarck Art and Galleries Association this November, but what will be next? I do not know, but I am excited about possible opportunities. It has been my dream my entire adult life to do my art full-time and I am moving towards that goal. It has been hard to be patient, but the timing is finally right.
Now it’s time to go back to work for me. Good night everyone.