Ancestral Guardians

"Ancestral Guardians"  - mixed media on paper, 15" x 11".  Available on Artfinder.

There's no place like home.

Unless you have more than one place that feels like home, like Ireland does to me.

So, in this case, there is no place like my own studio. :)  I am back in my paint pajamas, delighting in the things paint will do when you just let it do its own thing.  This piece began in Listowel during a marathon painting session with Bridget.  It was a "failed" painting, which was repainted at least six times, then dried and brought across the Atlantic to see if it could be resurrected. I guess this one wanted to be finished here in Florida, because I am now so happy I didn't leave it behind.

I'm also thrilled that 300 lb watercolor paper can withstand a beating and many layers of paint. This paper is a workhorse!

Normally, January 1st would see me diving into the semiannual 30 Paintings in 30 Days event hosted by Artist Leslie Saeta. Fortunately, she postponed the paint marathon until February this year, which gives me a lovely pause and a gentle slope to climb until then.  It also give YOU, dear reader, the opportunity to consider joining in the melee!  There is nothing quite like it to jump-start your mojo, and to give that pesky inner critic the heave-ho.

There is a cold front blanketing the country, even in Florida, where cool temperatures and rain feel like a gentle hug from Ireland. It's the perfect weather to organize the studio, contemplate new projects and to purge everything that makes me feel ho-hum. It is nearly a ritual with me, this clearing out of things that don't bring me joy.  And that includes paintings and art supplies, many of which find themselves re-homed (or painted over) during the clearing process. This clearing process makes space for new things, experiences, people...like reserved seating for VIPs. We just don't know who or what they are yet.