I drive home early in the morning to get started on the painting.
In case I didn’t mention it, I live in a beautiful rented 4 bedroom 3 bath home in Fredericksburg, VA that I dearly love. Initially my daughter and her two sons and I lived in it and then they all gradually moved out and went on with their lives and so I rented out their rooms. I sleep in the dining room so the rent I receive from tenants pays for the whole rent and utilities for the house, and I live there for free now, which is a great help to me.
Unfortunately, while I have been on this great Asheville adventure I got a call from the landlord that someone wanted to buy the house, he wants to sell all his properties and retire to Florida, so there goes my beautiful home that everyone loves so much. It’s the nicest house I’ve ever lived in but that’s okay. Living in the dining room has really prepared me a little for van dwelling.
I guess I’m just a vagabond at heart because when I moved my younger daughter Melanie to St Michaels MD recently, I fell in love with that little town and thought I’d really like to live there. So I guess I’ll keep her house as my home base and travel from there until I get sick of it and find another place of my own. A year ago she offered to put me up, but I think she’s hoping at this point that I spend most of my time traveling. She’s 40 now and had been living with friends until she got settled in the new area and was so delighted to have a place to herself.
Then my other daughter, Jena, moved in with her to use this as a home base for her van dwelling and she hasn’t even had a chance to be on her own here except the 2 weeks we were traveling. I will do my best as a dutiful mother to stay out of her way. I love my girls and we live together pretty well when we need to, but we live apart much better. Both my girls are single and beautiful and have every right to live their lives without their crazy mother hovering around. Jena and I were traveling in tandem and quickly learned that it’s great to travel near enough to help in an emergency, but it’s really nice to go your own way and explore what you are interested in.
Anyway, I digress….back to painting. This one is not going very well for me and I’m beginning to wonder about my sanity in offering this. I have not painted a portrait in over 15 years and that was pastels. This one I decided to do in acrylics and I’m wondering if I shouldn’t go with oils. The acrylics dry too fast and that was why I wanted to use them because I knew I wouldn’t have much time to work on it, but now that I have allowed my self the time to do it right rather than rush it, I think I may go with oils after all. I did just take that wonderful oil painting class after all. Maybe I can drop in on that sometimes and get some help with this painting.
It’s very large – 30”h x 40”w – which they wanted and it helps with trying to get details but I hadn’t counted on my back and shoulders being in such pain. I need to find some exercises to strengthen those muscles if I’m going to return to painting again. Well I had hoped to at least get their faces done and take a snapshot and put it in the card to give them but it ain’t happenin’. Allen looks old and sad and Shawnt’a looks scary cause I just got the underpainting done and nobody should ever look at that.
I am getting kind of old Mom, lol! Couldn’t be happier though. Take your time on that thing. We’ll love it whenever and however it comes.
I made some good progress on it yesterday, went to my art teacher and he gave me some pointers, so it’s progressing well and I expect to have lots of time to work on it today.
I hope you had a good time in Orlando and are all refreshed to start the new job tomorrow. My love to you and Mrs. Johns!