All done...

I finished this hydrangea painting yesterday.  Well I thought I had but made a few tweaks this morning like I always do, but no more.  I am officially done! :-)  Snaps of my painting process in extras.

I think this watercolour is the most controlled painting I've done since I started painting again in 2019.  Building up lots of glazes, one on top of the other, and being very deliberate on how and where I placed the paint.  A world away from the loose and random style ( I love happy accidents :-) I normally adopt but I've really enjoyed doing it.  There might be a bit of a botanical artist in me after all (although this is miles away from a botanical painting! :-)  

I have a couple more detailed paintings planned with very different subjects, to challenge myself although I suspect I will have to get a loose painting out of my system before I tackle another, more detailed work.

After completing three paintings in as many weeks, my studio was in need of a tidy up and re-setting.  It's not that I'm a messy worker I am but when my head is in create mode I refuse to say in the zone as I hate that expression I pull out brushes, pens, paints etc when I need them and cast them aside when I'm finished.  I then reach the stage where I cannot draw a single line / paint a stroke till I put everything back where it should be and wash my table. 

As well as doing that I took the chance to clear out my desk drawers too.  A job well done and now my creative space is ready for more creations.  But not today.  I'd had enough by then!  lol!  So some crochet instead...got 2 squares made.  Woo hoo!  :-)

Alan's new team member started today.  A baptism of fire with a full day's shift shadowing Christine this morning and Ally this afternoon.  It would seem all has gone well.  Alan is happy, she is happy, so here's hoping she will return for her next shadow shift on Thursday :-))

Ele, Esme, niece Jennifer and Gail coming for lunch tomorrow.  It was a bit of impromptu decision so hastily scribbling a shopping list for the Co-op in the morning.  Will make wraps I think.

Oh and I got the most amazing feedback from my friend S who I created a painting for, for her daughter's best friend's 18th birthday last week (painting in extras.  Incase you're wondering what the strange smudges in the painting are,  I've deliberately smudged some personal information to maintain the receiver's anonymity. )  

I was a little concerned about this one as I don't know the young person it was for but S had given me a long list of information to use as a basis for the painting design.  S explained that T has Autism (she's very clever.  Off to uni to study astro physics amongst other things!) and I was worried I might not  have used some of the references how she would like them and the painting would end up annoying her, but S sent me this message...

"Got the painting and N's friend is over the moon - she was sooo happy and she is not prone to demonstrative displays of any emotion but she yelled I'M SO TAKING THIS TO MY UNIVERSITY! I LOVE IT!   She noticed all the little nods to herself - pocket watch huuuuuge hit! Peter capaldi….back of the net!!! Thank you a million zillion times - it is amazing! "

That made me very happy :-)