A Christ Holy Mess

I try to keep the negative self-talk to a minimum while I'm painting, but this was the mantra of the day..." a christ holy mess..." couldn't shut it up. A childhood memory, Mom and Dad's usual exclamation whenever they would enter our bedrooms. Remembering a forgotten memory is something to cherish, but this one got kind of old as it played and replayed on an endless cycle in my mind.

Fortunately I was in a beautiful quiet corner of the world, and though the painting was a struggle, at least I've gotten started and can begin to try to figure out what it is that I came here to do.

Facing these large expanses of field and sky, I realized how out of my element I am. How different the sense of space here compared to the cluttered interior of the Disston site, or the ordered architecture of the city landscape. There with objects in my line of vision from foreground to middle to back...here...just space...

What am I looking for? What am I doing?

These are questions I've been asking myself all the way here. I had it good at Disston. There it was quiet and cool, very peaceful, the moody space provided a seemingly endless supply of beauty and inspiration.

Now I'm going to be confronted with the wide open spaces of the Beauce landscape. What will I be looking for this time? I'll probably start with my favorite spot from last year as a jumping off point.

Just jump, and hopefully hit the ground running. Stay tuned!!

On the road again

Today I arrived in France. Picked up the car in Paris and made the drive down to Checy, near Orleans. I'm exhausted, but they say it's best to get right into the local rhythm, so no bedtime for me. Instead I'll get this blog rolling as promised, and tomorrow I'll start painting.I was here last November with my wonderfully light and compact gouache painting kit.

This time I am traveling HEAVY with my new acrylic paint kit that I,ve been taking on test drives this summer, down on the Chesapeake, and at the Disston site. Between the pochade box, the tripod, the box of tubes, the mediums, the larger brushes...it all adds up to something really unwieldy. I won't be wandering far from the car, that's for sure.

Here is a picture of my new set up. The magnificent interior is the Disston Precision manufactory, where i spent a nice string of Fridays painting before this trip.