Back Home--Get Started !

Sometimes, after being away, it is hard to get back into the routine or pattern of things, even things you really want to do ! I have unpacked my suitcase (always satisfying to do after a trip) and done lots of laundry. I wanted to paint...so why did I procrastinate and do everything except paint ? And then why the deep contemplation and indecisiveness about what to paint ?

Finally after chores, a walk and lunch, I just picked up a photo from a flower photo shoot I did in December...and grabbed a 36 x 24 canvas and just got started. Though I dawdled a bit in getting going, watering the african violets on the porch...choosing some music to listen to, opening the windows for the cats to enjoy afternoon fresh air. And then I committed and just made a super quick sketch in charcoal to get my bearings. Sprayed fixative on that, picked out lots of yellow and orangey paints and just got started. There's something to be said for just getting on with things !

This is the first underpainting (above) and it is painted loosely, just to capture the feelings and messages I am getting from these flowers. I was not sure if it would come together...in fact, the first half of this painting session felt a bit "off", but maybe it has just been too long a break. In any event, after a couple of hours, it came around and I am pretty happy with the start on this at today's stopping point, and have good navigation points to pick up from next painting session.

While I am painting from a photo, I did a big photo shoot with these stunning David Austin yellow roses--they were really fantastic to shoot from every angle and the light in my living room in afternoon was fabulous too. I took several hundred photos and had prints made up of a handful of the best compositions. Most of the best ones were close ups of the bouquet you see at bottom right.

Here is Pookie too, who "helped"...well, kind of. That sort of help around flowers is not always what one most wants or needs. But he did look cute. Though this photo is not his best pose with the yellow roses, it shows good cattitude nonetheless.

Signs of Spring

Hello Again, just got back from another work trip overseas. And one of the things I enjoyed along the way was seeing signs of springtime in Northern Hemisphere places that were still chilly, on beginning to emerge from their winter thaw. Well, many of them were. By the end of my travel, I managed to find some nicer weather along the way, here and there.

Here are some market scenes from London (where it was still cold a few weeks ago, maybe not much improved quite yet ?).

And cherry blossoms in Washington DC, where they just happened to be at their peak a few days before Easter and were getting lots of visits from tons of tourists and lookers on enjoying lovely warm weather.

And california poppies and white wisteria yesterday, 85 F or about 29 C in LA, where these were found. In

gardens of a lovely neighbourhood near an organic food cafe called Cheebo's which has a fab kitchen and is worth a stop by if you are around !

Back to autumn at home now, lovely weather though today. around 25 C now, sunny and perfect for laundry after unpacking suitcases.

More soon !

Roadtrotting

My blog has seemed a bit quiet, but this is just due to some intensive travel lately. I have hardly had a moment to stop and think, and the blog is look not as up to date as usual ! And I did travel through China, which is always hard (can't get to Google reliably from there)...and then I was superbusy in Lithuania and UK. And had some stressful travel days in that mix too, very tiring.

But this weekend I hope to get some new posts up. I have got some photos to download and will have some new things to post soon. So please check back this weekend. And have a nice new Easter holiday too :)