Today’s post is a look at some of the tasks that occupy my working hours.

First, Trail Guy and I went for a walk. I was surprised to see wisteria and a fence, right here in my neighborhood, very much like the painting I recently (almost) completed. “Almost”, because the recipient would like some blossoms on the wisteria. I mentioned the conflicting seasons, and she said that the wisteria blooms there in the fall too.

I think that the photo of the wisteria makes my painting look cartoonish.

I had a conversation with an artist friend who said that I might benefit from the idea of “lost edges” in my paintings. This means “blurry”. I looked at my little beach paintings and decided the horizon line in 5 of them could get lost. The one with no horizon line got to lose its line at the top of the wave.

The worst part is that I have to rescan them after they dry. Do you have any idea how sick I am of messing around with tech?? And yet here I am, fully appreciating it as a tool to write, because the words and ideas and thoughts are ceaseless and the blog is a daily outlet so I don’t bore Trail Guy or any of my friends too much.

I spent much of the day sitting near the computer and the phone, communicating with the amazing Amanda who was repairing my website, wondering if I could get any painting done. Hence, the sick of messing around with tech.

The artist friend also suggested photographing some paintings and turning the pictures to black and white. It’s supposed to show me which edges need to get lost. (It just made me wish I had drawn them in pencil, because I could have done a better job.) Since I fully trust this friend’s judgment, I complied and will try to understand the purpose of leaching out the color.

I went spelunking in the files in the studio, looking for something that might help me write an article for my friend Carrie‘s online magazine called “Colored Pencil Magic!”. I proofread for her, have written an occasional article, put together a tutorial, submitted a piece or two, and now am planning to do a bit more writing for her.

Finally, my friend Hannah, who owns Stem & Stone in Three Rivers, texted me about something, which caused me to remember she sold a sequoia painting and needs a replacement.

The beginning of Sequoia XXXII (that means #32) went quickly, but will require some careful detailing to salvage it into something sellable. I’ve painted more than 32 giant sequoias, but this is #32 in the 6×18″ size with the title of Sequoia Gigantea. I know that Latin name because it was the name of the school paper at Redwood High School. A redwood is a sequoia is a giant sequoia is a sequoia gigantea, not to be confused with the California redwoods in Big Sur.

And that’s what a day of work looks like around here. Now I need to put away the palette and go wash my brushes.

WAKEY WAKY!! I’M DONE!