Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Tulip Forest Cat + a mini-melt down painter's block

Tulip Forest Cat  Oil on cradled wood  8" x 10" 
I had some kind of mini-melt down/painter's block last week.  My Nephews were scheduled to stay over night Thursday (first time stay over) and doncha know I was excited.  I tried to paint on Tuesday and it was awful.  It was a bad painting day and I had to wipe it.  Feeling vaguely intimidated but still excited about seeing my nephews, I applied myself to admin tasks.
These guys are the bee's knees.
They arrived and we had great fun.  By Friday I was completely wiped out.  After recovering, painting somehow missed my to-do list. It was suddenly crucially important to have an area in my home designated for framing.  This lead to a three day spectacle of cleaning and re-arranging.  Yes, apparently my meltdowns can include cleaning, bonus?  But my bad painting day on Tuesday was taking it's toll.  Honestly, I forgot how bad a bad painting day could be. (Not counting the days where one paints and doesn't realize "it's bad" until much later, LOL)  ......while re-arranging, I had the most dreadful sense of having lost all artistic ability, not fun!  Finally today, I painted "Tulip Forest Cat" thinking it would be good to return to familiar subjects (Coco kitty! Tulips!) and it was. I'm happy with it.  Next time my little nephews come over, I must make a concerted effort to not be such a spaz.

10 comments:

  1. Hey Diane! This is a terrific bit o' work! Beautiful flowers, very realistic. And as someone else said, there's a wonderful velvet quality to the piece, especially young Coco! Great stuff, keep at it! John x

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  2. So lovely to have Coco lurking in the tulips!

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  3. I so identify with the spaz attack. Misery loves company.

    And I love this painting... esp. those curious eyes peeking out.

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  4. Whoa- totally identify with you & Diane. Yikes, I hate it when that happens. It obviously didn't leave any lasting effects though- this painting is wonderful! I love this velvety look where he's mysteriously peering out from a forest of flowers!

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  5. So easy to let "chores" take over...no time to paint, etc.
    But you recovered nicely!

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  6. Ha ha ha.... Imagine having them all the time, and you'll get an idea of why my writing and photography get lost so often in the mix. Now there are additional family obligations as well, but it's all good. Such is life.

    I love the composition and colors in this one. And Coco looks a bit devious....

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  7. this is absolutely beautiful! it's amazing that it seems as if we have to paint every day just to make sure we can still do it! fantastic looking kids!!!

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  8. I was so busy looking at the flowers that I didn't notice Coco right away....fantastic painting, Diane. and of course, Your nephews are adorable!!

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  9. This is beautiful!

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  10. Boy, can I relate to this post! Getting busy cleaning, organizing, etc. keeps us from sinking deeper into the funk, I think. The other priorities of life sometimes make me lose my painting momentum. And we are too hard on ourselves. At least what we're doing isn't life or death. Imagine if surgeons had "blocks" during surgery!! I LOVE your work. Just keep at it. :-)

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