Pink Flower in the Library

Imagine taking in the scent of a freshly cut flower while reading an old book! Music softly playing in the background, and time holding still. Ah...such peace and serenity.

Beginning

In progress...

Final

This feeling, a flower, some old books and boxwood in a basket were the inspiration, the fantasy, the captured moment that I tried to portray in this painting. Time holding still, at least for the moment.

It is 16 x 20" on canvas.

Imaginary Place

Another finished painting! Yay!

Sometimes artists paint what they want, not what they see, and that's exactly what I've done here.
We are still in Salt Lake City, fighting the side effects of chemo, feeling tied to our oncology team and the cancer institute. I am struggling with cabin fever as well, and winter keeps dragging on, with California becoming an even more distant memory.
Fighting these emotional struggles is nothing compared to what my husband is going through, but I found comfort in painting an imaginary place where I want to be. And, as much as my husband and I disagree on so many things, he says he, too, wants to be in this imaginary place!
While I fine tune this 4 ft. X 2 ft. canvas, it hangs up in our living room, right across from Bob's chair. Sometimes I catch him staring off into this painting. He seems to be calmer, and I see him smile. That is why I paint!

Huge painting! At least for me....

Two feet x 4 feet canvas!

Huge, in many aspects!
The canvas size is 2 feet x 4 feet. Much bigger than the inspiration piece I did previously.
And, the purpose of doing this painting was huge! Painting it was therapy for me to get through the most difficult time of my life. As many of you know, my husband was diagnosed with cancer last summer, stage 4. It was a very rough journey, not knowing if everything we were going through was going to make a difference. Whether it would save his life, or just make it worse.
During our journey, I did this painting to help me through the chemotherapy treatments and all the side effects, the ER trips, the hospital stays, etc.
I wanted to develop this painting from my earlier one, but somehow it changed. The door became a window, the jar became more fancy, the ferns went away, and the lavender grew much more prominent. (I suppose because I used a lot of lavender essential oil for calming myself at times of high stress.) After painting the window, the shutters appeared...I think because I wanted control of my situation. But look how open the window is! and there is the sun, waiting to come into my life! My life is still dark, as my husband has a long road of recuperation ahead of him. I will be by his side, helping him get through this, because he is a part of me. We are like one...  That is love. On January 28, 2014, we found out he is cancer-free!

It's been awhile...

It is almost February, 2014...so much has happened since I last posted. But I am still painting, just haven't posted in awhile. My intent now is to catch up, uploading pictures of my finished paintings with stories of how they came to be.

This painting, titled "Hope", was painted in August, 2013.

I had been struggling with this canvas for some time...it looked a lot different before. The flowers were queen Anne's lace and orange lilies, with lavender and vines painted in great detail. There was no window, or glass jar...  Then it sat there on my easel because we were busy seeing doctors for my husband, Bob. I grew to hate the painting. I just wanted to finish it, and move on, but couldn't find where I was going with it. It seemed foreign, something I couldn't connect with. So it sat there...

Then the last Monday night in August, we found out the results of the 2nd biopsy, I was exhausted and went to bed at 9:00. I got up at midnight because I couldn't sleep. I opened the window in my studio (dining room) for some fresh air.  With only the chandelier casting light on my canvas, I started painting. I painted over the pretty white flowers and the big orange lily, added the windowed door with the distant light coming in through the top, and painted in the jar using dark glazes. The painting seemed to talk to me, which is odd because I usually have complete control of my composition. I used bigger brushes than usual, and before I knew it the sun was up, and this is what I got. The lavender is barely there compared to my start, the fern just developed, and the mystery of the windowed door appeared. 

Most of my paintings hàve started with photos that I take, which I carefully crop for good composition. I then try to paint freehand what I see in my photo. I don't use any mechanical means to copy, and I don't trace my photo, but I do try to make it look like my photo.  I sketch directly on my canvas with a pencil, or if I start out with a dark painted background, I use chalk. This painting is not painted from a photo, or au plein air...it was painted from my feelings, memories, and hope.

Recovered from Shoulder Surgery

For years I have been troubled with pain in my right arm, but doctors blamed it on herniated discs in my neck. Well, my right arm just got worse and worse, until a day in April, 2012, I couldn't lift my arm at all. I had to go see a new doctor (we had moved, changed jobs, insurance companies, you know)... But this time my doctor knew right away what was wrong. An MRI showed a torn rotator cuff, large amounts of calcification buildup, arthritis due to bone rubbing against bone, etc. Two months later the orthopedist surgeon rebuilt my shoulder, cut my bicep, removed a lot of calcification, cut 1/2 inch off my collar bone, etc. After 6 months of agonizing recovery, I finally could admit I was glad to have had this done. Another 6 months of further recovery, and now my right arm is better than I can remember! So, I am painting again!

But first, here is one of the last paintings I did before my surgery. I was inspired to paint this door, creating it in my mind, to make it look like something I would like to have on my house, overlooking the courtyard. I wanted the doors to look old, with layers of weathered blue paint showing its age. I wanted flowers on this narrow balcony, but in a painting I don't have to be bothered with how to keep them watered! I love painting...you can do gardening without all the work!

This is a 10" x 20" painting, done in acrylics. I have it sitting on a shelf in my guest bedroom, perhaps taking viewers to another time, place, etc. Italy, perhaps?

-Judy 

French Press Two

(This painting was done last September. I am just now posting it.)So I painted another French Press! Again, I tried to change my style a bit, using lots of colors layered on top of each other. Yes, it's done in acrylics, which I love because it dries so fast. But as I was painting this, I couldn't help but think I should try oils. 

I really enjoy painting still life, especially when there's glass and chrome. Can you see the reflection of the outside of my house in the lid? Once you see that, you can tell I painted this outside in my courtyard. 

Tiny Painting as Inspiration for larger painting

 My last entry showed my tiny ( 2" x 3.5") acrylic painting of Yellow Tulips, which was my inspiration for this painting, which is 10" x 20". I made a few changes, the vase, the placement of the flowers, and subtle differences in the background. 

This is by far my most favorite painting I've done...I don't think I did it justice here in the photo, though. The photo made all the colors too bright, which in my painting, only the bulbs and the pot stand out. I think that photographing it flattened the look of this painting.

I had hoped that painting the small painting first would have loosened up my style. Nah. It didn't. But I really enjoyed painting it...there's a bit of confidence that I had as I painted the still life again. I thought of the old masters who did the same thing. Hmm.