All our company is gone except for the lovely family that is joining us for New Year's Eve tonight. We're having a late night BBQ with craft brews from Michigan and my "Prize Fight" cookies...big fat calorie bombs that I first concocted for a prize fight party at a friend's house (that I did not attend because men bashing the hell out of each other has yet to appeal to me). I sent the cookies over with my husband (who, of course, loves a good fight!).
My man, who is usually slammed this time of year, decided to take some time off and spent the holidays, Christmas particularly, without his pager and phone going off every five minutes. It was heavenly. Speaking of heavenly, we also celebrated our fifteen year anniversary on December 29th. It's funny to feel so contented after this long, knowing that I wouldn't have done anything differently (except say I'm sorry more during our first year which was chock full of sparring--and my fault at least 50% of the time...or 80%, but who's keeping track?). I'm still not sure how I managed to land him, but I'm thankful for each and every day that we get together. He was a great get.
Anyhow, I've been working on a rather large piece...not a huge piece, but it's about 20x48, or something along those lines. Perhaps I should measure it.
This is a figurative piece, a little bit of a new thing for me, painting a painting underneath a painting. You'll see what I mean below. It's going to be a challenge getting this done before Sunday. I have three or so layers of paint and need about six, not to mention, her face isn't on yet, and that is the most strenuous and time consuming part (in my humble opinion).
I have a few time lapse photos for you to see tonight, so here goes:
"Where Did I Go?" Acrylic on Canvas +6 hours
+7 hours
9 hour mark
"Where Did I Go?" is about a young woman remembering herself as a child, with her mother, wondering why she chose a path that took her away from those days, from that life. The piece is pretty scattered right now, as it's only about a quarter of the way done. I hope to have a long day tomorrow and Saturday at the easel. We'll see. Please wish me luck. I would much like to have this piece juried into the MFA Winter Member's Show at Circle Gallery in Historic Annapolis.
I wish you all a very Happy New Year. 2015 will be pretty hard to beat. Thank you all for following along my artistic endeavors and many blessings to you in 2016.
JWR