Artsy Fartsy

Due to eye issues (long story short I can’t see to read or work at the computer but can see for everything else–  Hoping it clears up soon) I have been spending my time away from the computer.  Lots of snow outside (constantly snowing for the last week and the next week to come) means lots of snow shoveling, which helps my eyes feel better so I am doing lots of snow shoveling.

Also have picked up the paints again, this time trying out acrylics which I have a natural aversion to.  They are made of plastic and despite my love of computers I can’t stand anything plastic.  I prefer materials I could make myself and I can make oils and watercolors no problem.  However due to the RA oils are out of the question–oils are surprisingly hard ont he hands.  So, I am giving acrylics a go–  which is interesting as I am completely and totally out of all reds beyond bright orange.  In case you haven’t notice I LIKE red and use a lot of it in my paintings and attempting to work without red until I decide if I can even bear to work with acrylics is an interesting challenge on top of not having touched acrylics since I was in high school (at least 20 years since I touched them).  And in that time I have spent most of my time working in oils and more recently watercolors.  Watercolors are very different from acrylics, you work them differently, the support is different, everything is different (even the palatte of colors I have available to me).  And I refuse to go out and buy any acrylics until I am sure I am going to use them.

So I have a work in progress and have also joined several weekly painting inspiration groups (attempting to get back into doing Illustration Friday as well as the other art groups I am a part of.  And likely will do so if my eyes continue to be a problem (can’t do too much database work when I can’t bear to look at the screen for more than 5-10 min at a stretch–typoing this while looking at my keyboard. :))

I do have a new-to-me computer to work on which has plenty of space fo photos of my work plus a dual boot which will allow me to work in Ubuntu AND use the Windows programs I need to use.  Now if I could just get a new camera to replace my “dust in the lens making it impossible to take decent art photos” camera  I will be doing good.  God provided the computer box (my brother-in-law’s cast off) and so I will have to trust Him to provide a decent camera, and maybe even a printer/scanner so I can get prints of my work done.  I have a feeling I will be doing less website work in the future (hoping– health issues make it too hard to be diligent) and I much prefer doing painting and photography anyway.

We’ll see where it all ends up, every year I think I will do this or do that and then find myself doing the thing I thought I was done with.  And yes, when I get some work done, or at least further along, I will post it.  Right now my husband is loving what I have done with acrylics but I am finding it pretty creepy looking.  If I just had some Payne’s grey and some crimson I would be much happier– why yes I am a color snob, why do you ask?