Peace after painting

Hi there,

I've been painting all day, and I'm just beat, I was hoping to go to
art class tonight, and to get some reference shots for a painting I'm working on, but decided
there's a limit to how much painting I can do in one day. People who don't paint, don't know
how physical the job is.
Of course that's part of the pleasure of making art. I love the sound
of the brush hitting a canvas when I just start out.
Larger canvasses, especially on thicker stretchers sound
like drums when you begin to paint. The whole exercise
is invigorating -- the boom of the canvas, and broad strokes
of luscious colour starting to cover up the gessoed white.
But it is exercise, both physical and mental. All that aside
I've got a couple of things to show you. Here's one of
my favorite paintings from the dance series.
The model, Caitlin, was a complete delight -- a girl who
worked for me on a number of projects
and was always cheerful company and very
efficient helping me with office work, organization,
even gardening. Clearly she was a wonderful model -
an inspiration. There are things about the painting I'd
still like to change. I must get her back some day to do that.
She went off to university and I see her whenever possible.
The painting is 3' wide x 4' high.

I'm also including the next phase of the coffee pot - more
gold, and a bit more colour. I discovered what may be a problem,
gold likes gloss gel medium a bit too much, making
it hard to scrape it off where it's not wanted.
Never mind I've solved that. I'll show you the completed
little painting in a couple of days.

My friend Suzanne and I walked in the late dusk with the
dogs on leash (skunks love warm evenings), and let go
of the day and all the worries we might have had -- just
looking at the silhouettes of trees all coming into bud.
We'll have leaves in a week. The forsythia and magnolias
are out! But up north of the city in the Caledon hills
there are still crusts of ice along some of the higher routes.

Have a productive and joyful evening