Landscape Painting 1: The Inspiration

Those of you who have been around this blog for a while may recall that I occasionally paint. I have too much creativity, and it overflows from fiction to knitting to, lately, painting. Because it’s not my core strength, I actually do not paint that much I knew that 2020 was going to be the year to pick it back up again, because I was going to spend a lot of time in France, where the landscapes are stupendous. And indeed I was fully justified. I executed several dozen paintings, all in watercolor since they are a portable medium, easier by far than oils. I did not have to learn how to describe the type of turps I wanted, in French!

Now, back in the US, I considered turning those watercolors into something … more. Larger. More vivid. More creative. But between buying a residence and moving into it I never got off the dime. Until this came into my life!

I found this by the dumpster in my building. Is it not startlingly awful? What -is- it, a black eagle perched on a black bough? A black island on a blue cove in a sunsetty sky with side tree? who knows. It’s a canvas! 60 inches high — which would cost me about $100 in the art store. Perfect for repainting, and that’s what I’m going to do. Wanna come along? I’m going to turn this ugly abstract into a more conventional landscape!