Fall musings

It's a beautiful cold crisp clear day in Idaho today. My knee is slowly healing after knee replacement surgery. The stitches come out tomorrow and I have a very ugly scar. I'm going to physical therapy twice a week.  Having surgery, prescription drug negative reactions, pains and aches reminds me of my aging and also my earlier years when I was in a bad marriage and struggling with depression.

I have had little motivation to paint, but started a new painting of Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick anyway.  I need to get help with color mixtures next week when I go back to class. As I start feeling better and get back to doing things myself, I hope I will paint more.  As it is, my wonderful husband has to drive me everywhere since I can't drive for a few more weeks.  I do try to wake up each day with positive energy, but it has been hard.

Hopewell Rocks is really interesting. The tides change on the Bay of Fundy with great force and an alarm sounds so the tourists go up the ladder before the tide comes in.  It is also possible to boat around the big rocks when the tide is in.  When we went there years ago, we were in time to walk around the rocks at low tide. You are actually walking on the ocean floor, not just a beach there.

After looking at hundreds of photos on my computer, I decided I wanted to paint a picture with people in it, something that kind of tells a story.  I had done a acrylic painting on paper of this area many years ago, but decided to try this in oil paints as I am in an oil painting class now. There are many interesting rock formations there and I could make a whole series if I felt like it.

I had done a sketch of this scene in pencil at one point, but the puppy ate a good part of it. Luckily, I had already made a photo before he chomped it. I used a projector to enlarge my original photo for my canvas. That was easier than doing a grid.

I also had a good start on a painting of my old house in NH in the fall (I'm only a little homesick as I'm enjoying our new house in Idaho).  I still need help with shadows and some details to finish this one.

I noticed that the oranges and reds in New Hampshire are much brighter than the leaf colors in Idaho, but it's still pretty here too and the sky is clear now.  We had many days during the summer with hazy, smoky skies from the wildfires in Montana and Idaho. That seems to be finished now.

I have a list of easy hikes nearby so once I can walk better, you will start seeing more photos, sketches and paintings from Idaho.  I'm looking forward to exploring my new home state.