Painting all day

New Day
36 x 48 inches
acrylic on canvas

If you know me you'll know that I'm not a 12 hours in a row painter.
I need lots of breaks, to stand back and dream, to plan,
to go away, to read my book, to talk on the phone and read
your blogs. I crave that type of art experience.

Today I locked myself in the studio with a coffee, came out
to breathe a few times, had lunch, looking at my paintings,
but other than that never left the room.

I painted from 8:30 this morning (also not my favorite
time to paint) until 7:30 this evening because my paintings were
going in an exhibition tonight. I know some of you paint
on that kind of a schedule every day, and I bow to you,
but I find it a tough go. I listened to books on CD,
and the radio. When I used to be a journalist I'd frequently
have three or four people sitting with me while I typed
the final version, and they'd read it, and find typos and
ask questions until I thought it was ready to send off.
Today I got some of my big paintings off the wall, and
brought them in to be with me while I painted, to tell
me what to do. I'd see a lick of light here, a way of
treating shadow there, and I was comforted by my
beautiful (in my eyes) completed work. Then later
in the day a very good friend came by and sat with me
while I put the finishing touches on the two big
portraits. One of the painters I read said he gets
looser as he progresses in a painting, that definitely
happened with this one. I was up against the wall
metaphorically, but it looks like I was having the time
of my life. And I was. It's been a really wonderful day.

Have a painting-hard-and-loving-it day.