This weekend I painted on a large canvas for 4 hours in public. I have not painted on such a large scale for 20 years! {cough} Yes, I said 20. And my how the paint has changed. It dries so much faster than before. But still slower than my go to watercolor paint. I still prefer painting smaller watercolor paintings. AND watercolor is STILL my number one medium.

When I started the acrylic painting, I did remember you must lay a base of color. Very similar to how you would start a watercolor painting. This is where {Progress, Not Perfection} comes to my mind. This part is the hardest for me. I blame my (60%) left-brained dominance. I want perfect, I want the blossoms to be defined and POP.

“Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts.” ~ Sigmund Freud

After 4 hours of painting and 7ish layers of paint applied to the upper right corner the “cherry blossoms” start to take shape.

A close up. Looks a bit abstract to me, but I’ll let is slide for now. I may or may not add the tiny veins to the petals.

We shall see next Sunday when I paint again in public, as I promised I’d be there. Due to my schedule of commissioned artworks and custom invitation / stationery designs, painting on large canvases will have to wait. I’m guessing about 5-7 years.

Remember friends, things in life take time. We may not always get to finish what we start. Or we may not always have all of the answers to our life’s questions. Time will tell. Hang in there and remember… {Progress, Not Perfection}

Have the most lovely Monday!

UPDATE: Due to an injury from August flaring up, and all of my current deadlines, I will not be painting in public at Fieldcrest.

5/31/12 UPDATE!!!: After 5 months of healing, I was able to complete my acrylic painting at 12:54 AM this morning. I already have the next painting lined up to begin. I can not wait. xo

Effervescence

Cherry Blossoms. 24″ square. Acrylic.