30 Painting Days in 30 Days - Avoidance (and Painting 8)

                                                                       Acrylic, 8x8"

Now, my dear friends and Watchers, it is time for a profound confession.  All the paintings I have submitted to the 30 in 30 Challenge this time, all the florals, the sunsets (you've seen one, there have been more), the colored pencil landscapes, much as I have enjoyed creating them--in actuality, all of them, I mean ALL of them, have actually constituted one thing to me--AVOIDANCE.

Avoidance, because what I really want to paint right now is people, in motion, in their acts of living, although in a somewhat glorified manner.  And with the above painting, I move closer to where I want to be.  It's not where I want to ultimately be, but it's closer.  I'm now on the path...

I know the painting has flaws.  I see them and will possibly try to fix them.  But in the fixing, something else may become ruined/lost, particularly the spontaneity.  So, I will show this to you now, knowing that you are wonderfully supportive Watchers, after all.  And knowing in my heart of hearts that I must learn to paint as I envision, whether it ever pleases another soul on earth or not!

There is actually one other subject I am yearning to paint, and when I do, I will show you.  And I believe I will always want to paint landscapes and still lifes, as well.  I love doing them, and doing them is part of the whole learning thread.

Thank you so kindly for being here, dear Watchers.  It means the world to me.  I was very shy to start this blog, very hesitant to show anyone but a couple of trusted friends what I was painting.  At some point, though, an artist needs to be seen.  This is where you come in, and to some extent, I could not do this without you, Watchers, so I extend my heartfelt thanks to you!

FYI, there are several paintings I haven't shown from this month....I still may show them, but have needed to focus on other things.  I am planning a big trip at the end of this month and spent most of yesterday working on the logistics.  I didn't get to start the above painting till last night around 9 pm.  I was up till 1 a.m. this morning working on her.  So, I'm pushing myself to do the painting work and right now, the blogging and all that goes with it (visiting YOUR blogs and expressing my appreciation for YOUR wonderful work) has taken a back seat for a couple days.  Thanks for your understanding.  Hope to be back in the "reciprocation saddle" soon.

Proofreading this, I notice I have referenced my heart several times.  Perhaps moving closer to my desired work is also a heart-opening experience...

For those of you who read my intro to my challenge on the first day, you can skip the rest of this post and not miss anything.  I kind of consider what is written below to be my "full disclosure" and may post it every day throughout this challenge:

 

Notice I did not say 30 Paintings in 30 Days in my Subject Line?  Most of my artist blogger friends are doing a 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  I'm along for the ride, but my intention is to have 30 painting days in 30 days, not to complete 30 paintings in 30 days.   I would LOVE to do 30 paintings in 30 days, but I quickly figured out last time that with my schedule, I would be placing myself under far too much stress to make myself do an actual 30 paintings.  After all, I don't want to come out of the challenge hating the act of painting! 

Leslie Saeta is once again the initiator of the challenge, and you can follow the challenge on her blog.  Over 200 artists are participating.  So many great things happened to me the last time I joined the challenge (read about it here), that I just couldn't resist saying "YES!"  again."