Patricia played with pastels, perfectly pushing pigment on paper. Palette pale with pinks and purple, Patty places peaches in paintings pulsing with pleasure.
I spent the week with one of Jim's sisters (estrogen overload perhaps!) More specifically, she spent the week with Mimi and we didn't go anywhere. We stayed home except to go pick up Jamie from Horse Camp (which was fun). Even more fun is the fact that Patty is an artist. A pastel artist who has a gallery opening next week in Santa Fe New Mexico, where she lives and works.
She not only brought some pastels and paper (we went to Jerry's Artarama and I purchased some of my own) she worked on a watercolor painting for a class she was taking. So we both had a great time playing and learning new mediums. After just watching her, I feel more confident in trying both water colors and pastels.
I know I know . . it's not Bob Ross style. But I think Bob wants me to learn about everything that interests me, using him as a starting point and becoming my own artist. I don't intend to stop painting with Bob. In fact I can't wait to get back on to the easel and apply liquid white. (I know I still have Episode 6 on a black canvas that is half finished.) However it has been so hectic around here that painting with oil seems nearly impossible. I get only a few minutes here and there to play with something.
I find that I really like having pastels on the table so I can just pick up a color and experiment while Mimi naps or watches. She thoroughly enjoyed watching Patty and I this week. If her arms and hands were working she'd have joined right in. As it were, we just got a lot of smiles and thumbs up signs (which she can still manage to put together ;)
Today (really Today? . . wow) marks ONE YEAR since we picked Mimi from the floor at the assisted living facility where she was, and brought her home to be with us. What a year it has been. Remember that I discovered Bob Ross and the Joy of Painting on television when I installed a TV in the kitchen (where I was spending a lot of time all of a sudden) so that MiMi and I could be entertained. We didn't hook up a cable box and only got basic channels from the hookup. Low and behold, one day on channel 8 (public access) I found Bob Ross.
His slow gentle voice was just what Mimi needed and his style of painting a complete landscape in 1/2 hour was intriguing to me. So far the rest (this blog and my entire painting career) is history. His story and My story, Her story and probably Your story. The world is so amazing. I know very little about practical application and or the history of the masters and Patty knows so much (art degrees and all) but we both learned from each other.
What she learned from me (besides how to care for her mother in her new phase of life ;) was how I am using the internet for companionship and inspiration. How she might do the same and even sell a painting or two online. Help me SHOW HER and the gallery owner who has her work that you support their art. Visit their web site, or better yet, visit them in Santa Fe.
Mill Fine Art and the artist P.E. Baldwin. It's pastels today, and watercolor tomorrow. Who knows maybe next time she comes we'll do a "throw back" weekend and I'll teach her to understand Bob Ross and the wet on wet Oil technique. Talk about JOY! I can't even think about it right now. It's Monday morning and I have work to do.
8 comments:
you have your hands full for sure ! sounds like Patty has just the thing for you to play with, sketch proportions, and branch out past scenery, its a good thing!, keep listening to Bob while you try this too
Kay: Thank you for the new blog. I am also a student of the Bob Ross style of painting, but I have also branched out into acrylics and watercolor. It is good to experience new things. Bob would like that for us. You are an inspiration for me. I have been through a similar situation, having lost my dad to alzheimer's and parkinson's disease a few years ago. It is hard, I know. Hang in there and keep painting. It is good for the soul.
Barbara
Karyl - I'm reading a book that keeps saying "draw what you see, not what you THINK you see" and it is helping me a lot with proportions and such.
and Barbara - Thanks for reading the blog. It keeps me motivated to think anyone else cares what I'm doing.
Kay, I don't know if you are aware that our uncle, Richard, (Uncle Buster), has done some beautiful paintings, a la Bob Ross. I don't know if he actually followed Bob Ross, or if they just resemble them, but his are gorgeous. I will have to take some pix of the ones I own and post them on Facebook. I am so glad that you and Patty and Auntie Kay had such a wonderful time together. I wish I could get out there to visit, maybe one day soon. In the meantime, I am so enjoying your photos and videos. Thanks, Dottee
Dottie - I did NOT realize that Uncle Buster did some painting in his life time. I'll have to remember to ask him to see it someday. Thanks for looking in on the blog. As you can see, I do a lot of things, and I seem to have the need to talk about it all too ;) Kay
You are an excellent painter! So realistic it almost looks like a picture!
Love it..kiss mimi
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