Be Kind To Yourself

Painting is hard work, yes? It doesn’t always go like you expect. Your paintbrush gives you a mudpie when you wanted fresh veggies. You know?

I had one of these paintings just recently. I got up super early to meet my plein air challenge of three a week. It was the morning after a rain. The air was crisp and still. The sun was just coming up but it felt a little stormy. I drove to the tippy top of the east table where I could get a good view of the valley. The sun was dancing magic on the fields below. The yellow grass in the foreground was lit up. The sky in the west began to get darker and darker, super dark blue. I heard rumbles. Saw the wind start pushing those clouds harder and faster toward me. The air was very still. And we know what happens next. Yes, we do.

Storm over the west table

I kept painting, painting. Praying for a miracle on the canvas. Praying for the rain to hold off.

Guess what. You guessed it.

The raindrops began to fall. I schlepped everything back into the car. Drove home. Unloaded and took the painting inside to get a better look. Sigh. I didn’t like one single thing about it. The view I saw really spoke to me but something got seriously lost in translation. I'm sorry I can't even bring myself to show it to you. 

I could spend time on this one trying to resuscitate it, nurse it to health if you will. But. There is so.much.more.to.paint. Right? So I’m not going to beat myself up over it, there will be more lemons like this and hopefully, more like the ones I want to paint.

Be kind to yourself my friend. Here’s a little reminder by one of my favorite artists.