I always take the summer off of painting because the girls are home and it’s too hard to stay focused with so many people and logistics in and out every day. Even though COVID made it a much quieter summer than normal, I was ready for a break from the portraits by the time school ended in late June.
But, back to painting last week! As always, the first few days (weeks? gah, I hope not!) back after a hiatus don’t feel great. But, you can’t get to the good stuff till after you’ve ripped off the bandaid of awkward first, so that’s well in the works at least.
I’m thinking I’m going to work in acrylics for awhile again, and play with some figure painting, but have it be less portrait-y. I’d also like to play with pattern and stencils. I love fabric patterns and color and have been curious about how I could integrate those loves more into my work… without actually switching over to fabric. One of my students is a whiz with stencils and she gave me a little tutorial this past Sunday. Here’s some initial exploration — 12x12” working with acrylics, from a photo I took of my niece and nephew a few weeks ago:
Now I have to wait for the stencils I ordered online to arrive so I can keep going :-D