She Shed

Sometimes I know exactly what I want to paint... have a reference photo that I want to recreate on canvas... have an idea that I want to convey in a painting... know the direction for the creation I'm working on.

And... then... sometimes... just no... the process has a mind of its own.

In the beginning I thought I was going to paint some kind of rock house - nope... maybe there would be vines on the walls - nope... flowers hanging over the door - nope...  possibly a path through the yard - nope... a window and window box on the wall - nope... probably mostly purple - nope.

I want to show the reference photo that drew me in.  It was not at all what I was looking for... But!  Oh, there's a windchime just like the one that hangs from my back porch!  And, a bird feeder just like ours!  And, a bluebird house!  And, two long planters exactly like the two I have!  And, a hummingbird feeder like the four we have! (For my friends who live much farther north than I do, you'll laugh that I wondered what the big flat shovel would be good for.) Then I zoomed in to those fabulous latches and hinges. Even with all that, I didn't intend to use it... until I started.  I didn't intend to make all the changes I did... They just sort of happened. I had several other choices with much more beautiful doors, yet I kept coming back to this one.  It's the one that drew me in... the one that had a story... the one that made my mind wander... and wonder...

Thanks to Sara  (my good good friend who lives 1,700 miles away and I've never met in person) for having what I need when I text looking for a just-right reference photo.

My Weekly-ish Art Challenge was "Doors & Windows."  I hope my image tells a story... makes your mind wander and wonder...

Original Oil Painting on 11"x 14" Wrapped Canvas
Click She Shed if you'd like to purchase this painting.

You Can't Miss It!

"Barely There"
photo by Sara Harley 

When I first saw Sara's Inspiration Image for January's Inspiration Collaboration, I thought, "Wait... I don't see anything!" Then I looked closely. There's so much to notice, but it's "Barely There."

There's a shoreline with trees and other vegetation.  There are so many houses. Everything is subtly reflected in the water. Sky and water seem to be one in the same but they are cut in half by the strip of life.

Oddly (or maybe naturally), my mind went in the complete opposite direction.  

I'm fascinated by people who choose to paint their houses loud colors. (By the way, my house is a calm khaki tan that blends in with the trees.)   I'd recently seen a show about the brightly colored houses in Scandinavia where so much of their year is colored white. It reminded me of the bright blue beach we stayed in which was next to houses of every color. Then I thought about the random orange or purple house I might drive by on an otherwise fairly normal-colored-house neighborhood street.


If you know me at all, you know that the next place my mind will go will be to some children's book that I love. Have you read The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater? (If not, click the link right now, head to Amazon and spend the $6.99 to get it!) 

Mr. Plumbean lives in a perfectly perfect neighborhood where all the houses look nice and tidy and perfectly alike... until... You'll just have to read it to see how that big orange splot gets on his house and how he decides to fix the problem!! 

I think that Mr. Plumbean would LOVE Inspiration Collaboration where creativity and individual style is recognized and celebrated!

Click the link and go have a look.  
You are welcome to join in.









Original Oil Painting on 6"x 12" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]