Monday Muse--On Wednesday?!

Okay, so I'm a little late in getting this posted. After a hiatus of a few months due to Terry's health problems and a few holidays, I returned to the library for the weekly painting sessions a few weeks ago. These are my two latest efforts, both taken from photos by Alissa. I am attempting to branch out from my beach pictures to other scenery and flowers, but I think I am still better at the beach pictures. I guess they are right when they say you should paint what you like, and the beach and the desert are what I really like. Not that I don't like other scenery or flowers, but they are not my strongest talent.

Having said that, I will say that I entered two pictures that were previously posted here (March 31 and April 7) in the Bullitt County Fair just to see what would come of it. I ended up winning a blue ribbon for my watercolor of the mountains and lake and a red ribbon for my picture of Alissa's country road at dawn. I actually liked the red ribbon picture better than the blue ribbon one, but I wasn't the judge. I also won $8, to spend on art supplies, I guess. I was pleased, but I suspect that my two paintings were the only ones entered by an adult. I don't know that for sure, as I didn't go to the fair, but I can't imagine winning both first and second place in a pool of other entries. And none of the artist ladies that go to the library on Mondays entered anything, either. Anyway, I was pleased for the ribbons and for my pictures to hang somewhere for awhile where someone besides my family sees them. I truly think I have painted better pictures than the ones I entered, but most of my best work is in the homes of Alissa and Doug. They like my beach and desert work, too!

I guess next week I will try a watercolor again, as I've done acrylics for the last three weeks. I am not as comfortable with watercolor as acrylic, but I think I need to do one every once in a while just to keep from forgetting how to do them. Of course, many of my watercolor pictures end up looking like acrylic ones anyway, but that's okay. Art is all about what the beholder sees, anyway. I am always striving to make my work look like the photo or the scenery from which I am painting, but a lot of people are a lot more abstract and less detail-oriented when they paint, and their work appeals to many viewers, too. I guess that's what makes it art!

(P.S. I just went back to proof-read this, and I noticed that I scanned the flower picture upside down. I don't think it matters a whole lot, except that the shadowed petals were on the bottom when I painted it. Of course, when Terry looked at it, he said it looked better sideways because what I painted as buds on the side looked like a stem to him! Like I said, it's all in the eye of the beholder!)