This isn’t working I muttered to myself; this  painting is getting worse. Face it: I can’t make the colors or brush work together.  So, acknowledging it just was not working,  I am  giving up, for the second time, on this canvas.

ugh

Why This Isn’t Working

#1            I used the wrong sized canvas; I chose a square one, forgetting the original which I hoped to “copy” was on an oblong canvas. So from the get go, I had set myself up for problems.

#2            Because I had whitewashed away an earlier disaster,   this time I used so much paint, I don ‘t think even  GESSO will cover my mistakes.

#3             Adding heavier dollops of paint do not correct a basic problem of perspective and balance.

Hmmm — perhaps I need to think about some life lessons, here.

Well,  maybe later — for now, maybe should I try “mixed media?”

On a recent Antiques Road Show a painting by Larry Poon  was appraised for more than five figures! Of course, given how some of its owners had described it  before the appraisal – mixed-media-art is not always well received.  Before the appraisal, the family called it the vomit painting. They revised their opinion after hearing its “worth.”

I’ll keep you posted.

Try again. Fail again. Fail better. ~Samuel Beckett

Today is a good day to try something, for the sun is shining and the temperatures, invigorating. Shall it be gardening or art? If only the chores were done, I’d be home free.

But, face it chores are as much of a gift as good weather and playing in the dirt.  After all:

The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes. ~Agatha Christie

A little weeding, a stack of dishes, a pile of laundry, and the breath to kibitz about my trials . . . food I did not have to grow or butcher, solid shelter, running [CLEAN] water, COFFEE, friends . . .  and the Lord God who doesn’t give up on any of us! (Jeremiah 31:3)

Not sure how THIS could be woven into a book, or mixed media; but, I’ll keep you posted.

Father, thank you for the grace that has preserved my life to this moment. Now give me enough love for this day—a sense of love from you (so I’m not scared or driven), a welling up of love for you (so I’m not proud or selfish), and a resulting love for others (so I am not cold or distracted). Let your Spirit illumine my mind and enlarge my heart for that . . . ~Tim Keller

A postscript — when stuff isn’t working, may I share something that worked for me this morning:

Christianity isn’t true because it works. In many cases, in fact, it doesn’t work. It doesn’t solve all of the problems we think it should solve. (When Christianity Doesn’t Work)

The good news is the grandkids had a successful time with their autumn paintings!

This WAS working!