Jennie Again

Jennie Again

"Jennie Again" and "Jennie" - watercolor and acrylic on paper, each 15 x 11.  Available here and at Artfinder.

Bridget's beach photos were a ticket to trouble, I tell you.

​With little to do but paint and thumb twiddle, I decided to pull out our own family photos (well, I asked my husband to do it, truthfully - we have at least forty pounds of photos).  Hidden in the stacks of birthday and holiday pictures  were some real gems from waaaaaay back in the day.   Photos of family, pets and even a few of my own self.

My mentor, Caroline C. Brown, used to push us to tackle portrait challenges head-on - beginning with ourselves.  So I channeled my inner brave seababy and started with a photo of me.  I'm experimenting with a new painting set-up to accommodate my neck, working more vertically instead of flat or slightly tilted.  It helps me to paint a little longer before becoming tired, and the large, flat easel surface allows paper to be taped right on it to keep it from buckling.   Two birds, one stone.

The easel nearly holds a full sheet of watercolor paper (though I am not strong enough to work that size just yet).    The surface board is thin enough to use binder clips or clamps on the edges to hold up photos or even the substrate.  I'm pretty tickled with this thing.

I have a lot (and I mean A LOT) of time on my hands these days, so I decided to take a couple of passes at this painting. Normally, I cringe at painting anything more than once, but in this case I quite enjoyed it.  Who knows?  Maybe there will be a third.

There is wisdom tucked inside each of our inner children.  Spending the week with mini-me in the studio revealed a few interesting and unexpected pearls...I wonder what other treasures she holds within?

Jennie