Take the Long Way: An Enlightened Artist Blog

What goes into a painting…

Painting of sailboats on a cloudy day at daybreak — It’s Daybreak at the races and the sun is cracking through the fog.

I often take the long way because I like the view. I go by the shoreline – I watch the sunrise and stare at the moon.

The sun, stars and the moon

I choose to live a block from the water facing east and work on a lake. Each morning I take the long way…which means I get to see the sun’s first rays and all the colors that come with that. It is fascinating to me how those colors can be different each and every morning. Sometimes the bark on the trees is orange, pink and golden. The sides of the trees are on fire. This feeds my wellspring of artistic imagination and passion.

mixed media painting of a sailboat with the word Irie — Irie by the Sea with fellow warrior women

The monochromatic world as I see it

As I cross over the bridge into the next city I watch pelicans, osprey, wood storks, ibis and seagulls sailing along with the airstream of the cars and wind.

There are very foggy days when the water and sky disappear and I search for the horizon. Those days are so very interesting to me. On the bridge, I watch as a crack appears in the swath of the many shades of white and grey. Right there in the crack- where the sun is doing its best to break through – is the brightest of whites and gold. About 5 minutes later those rays reach all the way to the shimmering silver water. The world is monochromatic and I imagine all of the metallic shimmery colors of coppers, bronzes, and golds.

painting of many sailboats on a tumultuous day — Low Tide at the Races has a magical design with repeating patterns and images.

Sailboats and imagination

I choose to take the long way because it informs many of my paintings and mixed media pieces. I use this as inspiration and then sprinkle in my imagination. Lately, it’s sailboats that I imagine because their sails can flow in so many different ways and make incredible compositions. I do go out on the boat to study this quite often to bring an informed eye into my creations.

Mixed media painting of sailboats — Flying the Chutes 1 show sparkles of glimmering light over the water.

Serious study of weather as phenomena

Some of my sailboat paintings are serious studies of weather as phenomena and how it affects the water, sky and vessel. Other sailboat pieces are mixed media expressions. I create these using my 5 step multilayered process that begins with randomly torn black tissue paper in the shapes of sails. My imagination tends to go wild here and you will see the sun, stars and the moon.

painting of a sailboat on the rough sea — Sailboat and Its Crew on the Rough Sea shows my interest in weather as natural phenomena and how it affects the sky, water and vehicle.

True artist’s passion

I apologize if I’m a tad bit late sometimes… Ya know to work, yoga or a cup of coffee with a friend. I get lost in it all, dreaming that I’m in front of my easel. I’ll get there soon! By the way, I wrote this (in my mind) while driving and listening to the radio and I wasn’t that late.