Progress on Canvas #2

Rained Out

So much for the big blue umbrella.  Sunday evening, it filled with towering storm clouds.  The only creatures interested in my painting were a couple chiggers crawling around on the canvas, between blue lines.  Their cousins were busy sucking my blood.  Suddenly the heavy heat broke, and I scrambled to pack up.  The canvas bucked so hard in the wind, I could hardly wrestle it to the car. I hoped my easel wouldn't act as a lightning rod. Big fat drops pelted the windshield on the way home. 

the sky

the lake

Canvas #2 Has Begun!

I set up Canvas #2 on Saturday.  The Texas heat has already lowered its lid over my corner of the world.  The lake was no longer humming with breezy spring activity, and few people stopped to paint.  I was wondering if I should have set up closer to the playground, when a runner came along, announced that he was heading off to art school in the fall, and jumped into painting with gusto and panache.  First he smeared his hand red and made an arching row of handprints to follow the blue lines I had painted.  Then he mixed water into red, yellow, and green, and tinged areas of the canvas with subtle, transparent washes.  He tried several brushes, splattering thin yellow over the washes.  He told me about his latest project, which had involved homemade paint mixed from dirt and clear gesso.  I regret not snapping a photo of this fearless artist (who was flecked with paint by the time he was done), but I was too engrossed in watching his process to think of my camera.

Painting at Jess Harben Elementary

After she saw this blog, my friend Sheridan Braggs invited me to visit her first grade class.  They created this colorful canvas, which is nearly finished.  The children dove in with great enthusiasm.  Check out the periwinkle blues!  Sheridan says everyone who's seen the picture has been thrilled about it.  In fact, rumor has it that a giant collaborative canvas will be part of the next teacher inservice meeting at Jess Harben Elementary.  Go, Sheridan!  Let's spread the notion that we're all part of something big, beautiful, and singular!