I'm so bad at blogging. It's been 2 months since my last post.
During this time a new show has come up. I put my swallows on hold to get things together for an exhibit at the Belvedere-Tiburon Library. My home town library, so it feels good to be there. The show opens November 30th.
I have revisited two Red-breasted Nuthatches that I have worked on, off and on, for ages. I started three different paintings with these two birds that I photographed in my backyard a few years back. The first two paintings were in gouache, but for some reason, I was never able to finish them. Never got the composition quite right. Then I tried one more--this time in oil. It was a promising painting, the two birds on a branch in front of a dark tree. I almost completed it, but the fumes from the oil and turpentine made me sick, plus the slow drying time of the oil paint discouraged me. Again, I put this one aside.
But this month I looked at the painting again, and, with a gulp, cut the painting into two smaller ones--each bird its own miniature. I was able to go back to the oils for the time it took to complete the two, and I finally have a feeling of completion about these two little birds that are so special when I see them flit past my studio.
