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brush in hand My good mood of the past few days is still with me and part of me wonders how much longer it will last. Everything appears to be in order and I am able to rise above any minor distractions. I might almost describe myself as being calm. After weeks of thinking of starting to paint again, I came one step closer tonight when I stretched some watercolor paper on a piece of plywood. This is the way that I start all of my watercolors to avoid any buckling that might occur. In hindsight I really should have done more than one, because having more than one painting going at the same time is more enjoyable. With multiple paintings I can switch to another when I need to let one dry. The one piece that I did is small and I have no idea how many weeks it will take before I make something worthwhile. I am trying to keep my expectations realistic, because it has been over a year since I last attempted something with a brush. Past experience has taught me that I have to make at least a dozen pieces that are failures until I come up with something that I don't want to throw away. Maybe the ratio is more extreme than those figures, but I doubt that they are closer together. Watercolor for me is so much easier to use than oil paints in a small area. I don't have to deal with any fumes while I paint and clean up is minimal. Years ago when I first graduated from college I had a whole room devoted to my art stuff with supplies lying everywhere. It was my own version of a studio with an old drafting table in one corner that I used as a makeshift easel for painting. Whenever I painted I could open the windows in that room for ventilation and close it off from the rest of the house when I wasn't painting. Unfortunately, where I live now that isn't possible. The ceiling is much lower and I have less of a crosswind in the house. Well, maybe it is possible, but I care more about my health than I did a few years ago.
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