8/11/2010

This would be day one of the painting a day series. What will the series be about? Who knows. Anything to get paint, pencil, pen and ink, etc. on paper. Will I be happy with the images? Some days yes, some days no. Will the sketches be meaningful? Yes. In each I hope to wonder and wander a bit in my thoughts.

Today's was inspired by a couple of people and a couple of places. Dawn Chandler of Taos Dawn gave a presentation at Philmont Scout Ranch on her artwork. Her journey through art is as inspiring as her person. Dawn spoke of creating a painting a day to keep her working and thinking about her art. My sister has challenged me to a painting a day, as I have challenged her. Together I hope that we can brighten our artistic selves that have been shelved due to changes in our lives that occur with marriage, children and jobs. Maybe we can bring a bit of that with us to the table.

The actual trip to Philmont was inspiring. It has been many years since my last visit. Some things have changed, but one thing is the same. The peace of mind that both the setting and the people at Philmont bring to me is as present now as it was 20 years ago.

This first painting is one that has been on my mind for awhile now. It is a sketch and I hope to come back to it more completely. Every summer my father-in-law travels to Slovenia to spend the summer. My husbands family immigrated to the states from Slovenia in the early 1900's. At any rate, PaPa Steve returns from his trip with wonderful stories of his adventures in the mountains. Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia is in several of his wonderings while abroad. This sketch is from a photo of Triglav.