How to Get Everything You Want for Christmas

My 5 year old basically got everything she wanted for Christmas. But not because she is some super-angel child (which she is most of the time) or any successful wheedling tactics.

No, she did it the old fashioned way and wrote a good solid list for Santa. She even put in there (somewhere) "tea for Mommy".

This list, however, was a little non-traditional, guaranteed to get Santa's attention. She used the back of a piece of paper that was floating around my apartment...the color reference I used when i painted Twilight...

Whatever works, right?

Mr. Jitters

Drusilla and her 3 rat boys are staying with us for the holidays.  Here is a little painting of her hairless rat, Mr. Jitters.

2 hours, 8x10 oil on canvas

Plein Air 39

It's 27 degrees out today (that's -3 for you Celsius fans) and I have a day off, so I went out painting in Central Park.  It was cold and I was standing on a steep slope which was really uncomfortable.

This morning before I left my friend sent me a text WITH CAPITAL LETTERS  telling me I HAD to get a copy of Pema Chodron's Unconditional Confidence as soon as possible.  So I did, because I usually recognize obvious Signs when I see them.

I started listening to the lecture right exactly as I started painting.  Pema's opening lines in the speech were about- the act of starting a painting- and I do mean I was literally laying out my first brush strokes on the blank panel as she was saying it.  And this was not a lecture on painting.

(By the way, it is an excellent lecture and I highly recommend it)

I like when things like this happen, the moments of obvious synchronicity.  Things for me have been very quiet on the spiritual front. And life in general.  I have felt uninspired and generally in a flat place.  Like the Nice Guidance Voices have gone quiet and have been busy with other things.  So it is really nice when the universe says HI I AM HERE!! in a way I cannot possibly miss or misinterpret.


Anyhow, here is the painting.  8x10 oil on panel, one hour, it was toned with yellow ochre but I like an earth red undertone better.

Palette: Fanchon Red, Yellow Ochre, Lemon Yellow, Pthalo Green, French Ultramarine, and Burnt Umber.
I like this particular palette quite a lot, it might be my favorite plein air palette to date.

Today was also my new knife's first outing.  She had a great time.  I should have put more of that red leaf ground color in the rocks.