Thank you for rejoining me in 2021 after my short New Year’s hiatus from blogging. After posting every single week of 2020, I thought I deserved a little time off to recharge and set some new goals. I’m heading into 2021 with loads of painting goals, but gentle ones.
To maintain sanity, Jake and I have been doing a lot of hiking. Every day where the weather is suitable, we are outside either in some local woods, on the rails to trails, or around the neighborhood. My first painting to be completed this year is of a scene from the local game refuge that we frequent on weekends.
Those who hate the cold or suffer from seasonal depression know how bleak and endless the winter in New England can feel at times. Locked in the pandemic, I feel still trapped in the winter of 2020; frozen in time and suspense. When I’m not hibernating to survive, hiking has been a lifeline.
This landscape for me is a record of what we’ve endured. Though still cold, it promises an eventual thaw. Though gray, it’s still pretty in it’s own way. It captures the stillness of this epoch.
In terms of process, as with most landscapes, it was painted light-to-dark, back-to-front. 9×12 on hot-press watercolor paper. Something new for me–I switched midway from painting at a low angle, to a steep one on an easel. I’m old now; I should probably look after my back and shoulders and paint upright. My advice to you would be, careful of the angle when laying washes. After the wet stuff is laid, feel free to prop to almost vertical.
I tried not to fuss with it too much. What I did lament over was how to sign it. I went with my new married name on the front, but signed my whole name (maiden name has become my middle name) on the back with the date. How do you sign your work if your name has changed? Has a change impacted search results or clients locating you that you know?
