A Long Way, Baby

(If you cannot view the slideshow in Flash, please click HERE to go to the gallery)

This week - and today in particular - is very special to me. Today I begin celebrating my last year as an "early" 50-something. But more than that, 18 months ago this week I first dipped my toe into the wild and wonderful world of Art. From that very first tentative brush stroke with a cheapie watercolor set, I felt like I'd found a part of me I'd been missing my entire life.

Three months later (15 months ago for those of you who, like me, tend to be mathematically challenged), I picked up my first pastel - a scratchy, student grade stick - and although it certainly was not love at first sight to say the least, I was guided by some very kind pastelists toward the high quality artist grade pastels. Along the way, I also discovered the joys of sanded and textured surfaces, and eventually fell in love with the medium (although I do continue to paint in watercolor, acrylics, oil pastels and other media from time to time as well).

I have, of course, only begun to scratch the surface (no pun intended) when it comes to being an artist, but I feel comfortable saying I've come a long way in a fairly short time: I've participated in a few group shows, one solo show, done live demos, and even brought home a blue ribbon from the State Fair in Amateur Pastels! I've filled multiple sketchbooks, painted and sketched plein air (outside on location), taken online and in-person art classes and workshops, and painted over 400 little works so far. I've given several paintings away to friends and family, donated some to charity and even sold a few. I have no plans to quit my day job or become a professional artist, but painting fills my life with such happiness, and I never plan to stop painting what I love and loving what I paint. And if what I create brings a little joy to a sometimes too sad world, then that is all the success I could ever want.

Old Dog, New Trick

Helping Steve work on my plein air setup got me into the learning new things mode. So I've started learning how to cut mats and have discovered that apparently this old dog CAN learn a new trick! It's been a lot of fun, and I feel feel like my unframed pastels look nicer safely stored in archival quality mats backed with acid-free foamcore and sealed in protective bags. This also frees me up to paint nonstandard size paintings if I wish, which I often like to do. Right now I'm just doing simple single mats, but who knows? Maybe some day I'll move on up to double and triple matting too! The bags do create glare for photos, but hopefully you get the general idea...

Great Outdoors Test Run

Steve finished working on my test plein air setup today by making a wooden shelf for my pastel box and converting a cheapie tabletop easel to fit on the tripod. Today was quite overcast, so not perfect for plein air painting, but we decided to head out for a test run this afternoon anyway. The little easel actually did okay despite being very lightweight and simplistic, and the tripod seemed quite stable using my backpack as a weighted support on the center post. We still need to arrange a small shelf to hang on the side of the box for all the little extras, like pencils, shapers, erasers, blenders and such, but for the test run today, the bare-bones were fine, and I just grabbed accessories from the backpack as I needed them. Having a shelf will definitely help with comfort and convenience, though, making those items more readily accessible without the constant bending and rummaging.

DIY Plein Air Pastel Setup

Fry enjoyed the views from the river rocks while I got started on the preliminary sketch.

Fry and Me

And he came over to supervise while the painting was being blocked in.

Fry Supervising the Painting Block-In

We still need a few more tweaks to get things exactly like I want them, but so far, I have to say I'm pretty impressed with Steve's handiwork making me a DIY plein air setup!

DIY Plein Air Setup in Action