Day 13 :: SHADE TREES :: September Daily Painting Challenge

SHADE TREES
original pastel, 6x6"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck
$50

It was bound to happen eventually. Today's acrylic took all my energy, and I love it. It feels like I'm illustrating a book about a farm in Vermont that I love. The pastel needs another 30 minutes but today I'm gassed.

This morning I enjoyed painting at a local cafe. Painting en plein air is fun but tiring. Adjusting to school has been tiring, too. September is a month of transition. Add soccer on top of it all, and I am impressed with myself for making my way down here tonight and working on these two pieces. 

SHADE TREES
original acrylic, 18x18"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck

Again, "nothing feels as good as doing the work." Tonight as I headed down the stairs to my basement art studio I knew I'd feel as good going back up the stairs as after a tough workout. This month is about my own self-direct art workout, and it does feel good. 

The plein air painting from this morning came out nice, too. (You can see it on my Instagram account @kimweineck.) I enjoyed speaking with the most wonderful people who came specifically to support me and with others who stopped by to get coffee and noticed I was there working. The town we live in is full of wonderful folks, and I'm so happy we landed here. 

One more word to a friend who I know reads my blog posts: Thank you so much for bringing my dad to Cilla's Coffeehouse to see my work. It was such a treat to have him tell me he saw (and liked!!) my paintings hanging there. I really appreciate it. xxoo 

This farm is the same one as my painting from yesterday, in case you were wondering. Magical place, I tell you....

PRICING NOTE:  I am taking risks with this challenge. The work created is about learning and  my pieces are experiments and priced accordingly. Each piece is A BARGAIN at only $50 ($10 shipping if you're not local) rather than $125 for my usual gallery-worthy work. Only my pastels will be available at this time. Email kimweineck@gmail.com to purchase. Of course, thank you! 

Thank you for reading (and supporting!) ~ kmw

Day 10 :: REEDS :: September Daily Paintings

REEDS

original pastel, 6x6"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck
$50

Weekend! Day ten! No longer in the single digits with one-third of the month behind me. Today, as mentioned yesterday, here is the same marsh view with some sky. My color in the original is a bit different. The reeds in the foreground appearing like bluish white dots are actually in the bright light orange family. Optimizing photos is difficult and as long as I keep doing daily painting challenges like this, my editing skills are bound to improve. 

Feel free to comment on what you'd like to see for the month. I have a feeling more figures are going to appear at some time. Acorn still lifes showed up last September. As I walk the dog early in the morning I keep picking up unique little acorns and thinking of paintings. 

We foraged for grapes and elderberries today. The house smells wonderfully of riverbank grapes. I'm not sure if a painting of a wild grapevine would translate. We'll see! 

MARSH REEDS

original acrylic, 18x18"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck

Here's the acrylic. Quick and fun. I'm feeling that it's not quite abstract enough and not quite detailed enough. What will I do going forward? Maybe we'll have a resolution about this for the end of the month. Twenty more paintings to go!

PRICING NOTE:  I am taking risks with this challenge. The work created is about learning and  my pieces are experiments and priced accordingly. Each piece is A BARGAIN at only $50 ($10 shipping if you're not local) rather than $125 for my usual gallery-worthy work. Only my pastels will be available at this time. Email kimweineck@gmail.com to purchase. Of course, thank you! 

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day 8 :: REFLECTED :: September Daily Paintings

REFLECTED
original pastel, 6x6"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck
$50

Being an advocate for working in a series, here is another marsh scene from this same bridge near where we live. The colors in nature are changing, but I am in denial of anything autumnal just yet. I trust that the colors will soon win me over with exciting pops of red, but for now I'm pretending that the colors are as they were when my family hiked near here in August.

Heck, our summer day family hike wasn't that long ago, and yet it seems forever: school started, the light has changed, it's getting darker earlier, and we now have sports and all sorts of after-school activities! I do have some time while the girls are in school to get things done and here on September 8th I really am taking advantage of that time. 

This painting is pretty fun on my storage shelves in the studio. The prior two paintings are spoken for already (and I'm grateful) but they really do look nice as a triptych -- and I didn't even plan that! 

REFLECTED
original acrylic, 18x18"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck

Every post mentions that the acrylic is what starts my studio time. I need to get some bigger brushes! In my prior post I say: if nothing changes nothing changes. Yesterday I made changes. Today I continued to try to make deliberate changes in how I work and apply acrylic paint. (Acrylics dry quickly and oil painting techniques do not necessarily translate.)

Lo and Behold! I am happy with the right side of this painting. The left will have a bit more work to it at another point. It's changes like today that make me happy with this regimen. By month's end who knows what my acrylic paintings will look like? I can't wait to see.

I saw a sign once that said:

Nothing will make you happy but doing the work

I am really understanding that sign and I'm only on day eight!

PRICING NOTE:  I am taking this challenge to heart and taking risks. The work created is a labor of love and learning. For this #30in30 challenge my pieces are experiments and priced accordingly. Each piece is A BARGAIN at only $50 ($10 shipping if you're not local) rather than $125 for my usual gallery-worthy work. Only my pastels will be available at this time. Email kimweineck@gmail.com to purchase. Of course, thank you! 

Thank you for reading! ~kmw

Day 3 :: FISHING :: September Daily Paintings

FISHING
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"
SOLD! 

Experimentation continues! Sparkle is obviously on my mind and today's piece made me stop and take note. I've also confirmed I need some more pastels. Terry Ludwig's set of lights would do the trick for super sparkles! 

The back part of land in this piece was the best to paint. In person there is a modulation of color that really sings. Exciting to get that right! The silhouette is fun, too. Placing people in paintings really adds scale and interest. 

FISHING
by Kim Morin Weineck
original acrylic, 18x18"
 

As usual, the acrylic painting came first. I love the sparkle more to this one but I am not sure it reads as sparkle. I have a bunch to learn but sure am enjoying the process!

PRICING NOTE:  I am taking this challenge to heart and taking risks. The work created is a labor of love and learning. For this #30in30 challenge my pieces are experiments and priced accordingly. Each piece is $50 ($10 US shipping if you're not local) rather than $125 for my gallery-worthy work. Only my pastels will be available at this time. Email kimweineck@gmail.com to purchase. Of course, thank you! 

It's my anniversary today. Eleven years with a fantastic guy. Love you, Timmmmay!
Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day 1 :: THREE SHRUBS :: September Daily Paintings

THREE SHRUBS
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$50 + shipping

PRICING NOTE:  I am taking this challenge to heart and taking risks. The work created is a labor of love and learning. For this #30in30 challenge my pieces are experiments and priced accordingly. Each piece is $50 ($10 shipping if you're not local) rather than $125 for my gallery-worthy work. Only my pastels will be available at this time. Email kimweineck@gmail.com to purchase. Of course, thank you! 

At a recent family reunion, one of my creative aunts and I had a quick conversation about the spirit of childhood. Adults can get so pent up, yet as children there's an exuberant sense of freedom. My aunt gave me props by saying something like:  You know that feeling, I'm sure. As an artist you must let your inner child play and explore all the time.

Funny thing is that I don't let my inner child play pretty much ever. If she comes out, Blam! Inner critic shuts that mess down with some sort of blurt. Art is a struggle and not supposed to be fun or come easily. Artists are depressed. To make art, one must have angst!

My artistic inner child likes to use BIG brushes on BIG paper with cheapo paint and make messes sometimes. For my challenge this month, I'm working on being a little more experimental and see where it takes me. I have no theme for subject as such. My aim is to paint more, paint big, and feel my way through the work.  And to be more abstract (that goal will take some work.)

Today I thought about this goal and decided I'd visit a subject but paint it larger and in acrylics. Acrylics aren't my strong medium and my hand isn't as confident as I would like. Today's painting ideally could have had less marks, but I was having FUN!

THREE SHURBS STUDY
by Kim Morin Weineck
original acrylic on paper, 18x18"

The acrylic study informed the pastel. By the time I painted that one hours later I was mentally in a great place to make art. It flowed from me all zen-like.

We shall see about tomorrow.
Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #30 :: SNOW MELT :: January Daily Painting Challenge (in February)

SNOW MELT
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

Interestingly enough, last week I went into the studio and four of these 6x6" pieces poured out of me onto their painting boards. It was intense and a perfect definition of "flow." When I came upstairs I showed Tim what I had done and he shot me a quizzical look. "In 40 minutes you did those?"

When people ask how long a painting takes, artists are frustrated by having to answer. So often, the paintings that take FOREVER are the ones that aren't as good. Not always, but often, this is the case. In my classes, I talk about saying the most you can with the least amount of strokes. Minimize your color palette. SIMPLIFY!

My classes also hear me tell this story --- which I LOVE so much. And if it's some made up literary legend, please don't tell me. I like to think that what I share here is truth.  ;)

Ernest Hemingway was talking with some of his writer contemporaries about story-writing. They challenged each other to write a compelling story with as little words as possible. Hemingway accepted and turned in this:

      For Sale:
      Baby Shoes
      Never Worn

Gets you right in the heart, doesn't it?

(And I just Googled it. Not sure if it's Hemingway, but I could be, so I'll hold on to my story line. Whew!)

And so with painting we want to say as much as we can with as few marks. We strive to make something difficult look as though it was done with ease. In Italian the word is "sprezzatura" and I first heard this in Professor David Nolta's Art History class at MassArt. Artists strive toward this "studied carelessness." It's a great contradiction: The art of making something difficult look like it was done with ease.

Winter seems to have broken, and I'm eager for this to be true. Only time will tell, but today's 50 degree walk in the muddy field with a smell of spring in the air was encouraging. This painting of greens touched with various light was a fun challenge to paint. I love the streak of sunlight: Warmth exemplified.

This painting wraps up the 30 in a row for 2016. I'm proud and excited about this body of work. Of course, I'm keeping painting. A new project has my interest and with teaching painting classes we shall see where my studio time brings me.

Be sure to stay tuned!
Thanks for reading ~kmw

Day #29 :: SNOWY STREAM :: January Daily Painting challenge (in February)

SNOWY STREAM
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

After a short hiatus, here's another painting from the January daily painting challenge. I know it's February. We get done what we can. Winter packs a wallop, and with it come issues of cold and snow, power outages, commitments, and other motivational difficulties. Funny, too, because our surroundings are quite inspiring. Seems the problem lies in time management and, perhaps more appropriately, light management. When it's dark at 4:30pm, I swear I'm ready for bed at 8pm with the kiddos. 

This painting was a challenge from the start. It's on a bright red surface which I thought would be a good way to warm up a cool subject. While that was the case, after a while the surface wouldn't take any more pastel and so I had to be quite deliberate about my warm and cool color notes. 

Perhaps it's more abstract than my usual work. The color harmonies make me so very happy. 

Again, this is a subject in my neck of the woods. We're so happy to have landed where we did, two years ago from February 1st. 

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #28 :: LATE BLOOMERS :: January Daily Painting Challenge

LATE BLOOMERS
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

The two florals I did at the beginning of the month are like beacons to me about spring and summer to come. When deciding what to paint today, earlier I chose a scene from a Cape Cod beach, and now I'm going back to a happy floral. 

I had a poor photo of these sunflowers I had bought from an enterprising local gardener in early November. I was jealous of the blooms still being produced from this green-thumb's garden and scooped them up from their flower bucket on the table at the side of the road for some ridiculously inexpensive price. When I remember back, I think I bought all of the flowers remaining, and the whole lot didn't cost more than $10. 

Today I struggled trying to make this piece cohesive. There's something fun about the entire top half. The bottom half I'm not sure about. I'll give it some time in the studio and revisit BIG! I have a hankering for some BIG work after a month of littles. 

When I studied for the trans-formative summer in Brittany, France, the artist Susan Lichtman was my teacher. Seeing her paintings was quite important to me in my artistic development. Another artist I follow posted an interview with Professor Lichtman and I immediately went to her website and ogled the paintings. Inspiration everywhere! Her process captivates me and drives me to take more risks and capture more in my work. 

The chair in the right top corner reminds me of her paintings slightly. It's imperfect and I find that imperfection simple perfection. 

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #27 :: SKYLIGHT :: January Daily Painting Challenge

SKYLIGHT
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

Sold! 

Perhaps you noticed I took last night off from painting. My sinus colds really take me out for the count, and I didn't have it in me to give in the studio. (I felt like I was breaking the law!) Instead Tim and I watched an episode of Masterpiece's Home Fires. Have you seen this show? It's a good one, and Tim pointed out that it's peppered with such beautiful greens. It's fun in an artist-household that a predominance of color gets noticed. 

This painting came out of me this morning with ease. Ahhhh! I am not sure you can know how much I needed that after the humbling experience that led to my last painting. The nuances of color are better in person, yet again and with my apologies, but this image on the computer gets the message across enough that I'm confident in it. 

The second painting of the day will come later. At least for now I'm caught up again. 

January is nearly through. I've learned a lot from this challenge and look forward to what I take on next. 

Thanks for reading!~kmw

Day #26 :: APPLE :: January Daily Painting Challenge

APPLE
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

We all have these days -- when you aren't in the flow. Wow! I threw away three painting starts tonight. It was hard. It's like my alter-ego showed up tonight in my studio and decided to 'have a go' at pastels.

Ha! The struggle is usually overcome with ability or vision. Tonight I lacked both for a while. 

Here is my single apple. The colors are fun. The marks are vibrant. Some of the color notes are unexpected. 

Tonight I could have fallen upon my comfort references and painted the landscapes I love. A marsh or a hay field or a beach would have been fun, but I really took the idea of a painting challenge to heart and thought I'd push myself. 

After all that challenging work, I'm tired, BUT ----

I'm also quite pleased with my apple. 

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #25 :: MORE ACORNS :: January Daily Painting Challenge

MORE ACORNS
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

Sold!
Thank you 

Not being a big still life painter, these acorns are fun. And they are so diverse in their color and shape. Each has its own variety of oak tree. This spring, I'll have to pay more heed to the varieties of oaks we have in our neighborhood!

This assortment seems to be a collection of oddballs. The top left is so long and pointy. What fun that was to observe! The colors and shapes and indented tops of each are amazingly different and intricate. It was difficult to make them good paintings because part of me wanted to become a botanical illustrator and paint every little bitty detail. 

Funny that when I look at my collection of work, 20 of the 25 are from my neighborhood. The two acorn pieces are included in the 20. 

Five days to go. Twenty-five down. Feels great! I'll be hosting another open house in the future. More information on that to come. 

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #24 :: WINTER ACORNS :: January Daily Painting Challenge

WINTER ACORNS
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

When I look at the array of work I've created this month I am excited about what I see, but of course I analyze it to death. What colors are prevalent? Subject matter? I critique the marks I made and consider improvements, future subjects, and sometimes I also feel accomplished. Because there are six days left to this challenge, I don't hold on to the accomplished feeling too long yet. 

The subject matter this month seemed to be demanding more still lifes, and so today's painting. I called it Winter Acorns because some of them were collected just before the recent snows we've had. Others were from my stash that I picked up during walks during this past fall. When I collected them then, the colors were green-tinged and the acorns were tight. In fact, I did this painting of them then 

ACORNS
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

The caps of so many I had picked up in September and October are now loose or missing. Today's painting shows that with extra depth of color at the join of the acorn and cap. It was fun to paint the empty cap, too! 

I'm still sick and working on a bunch of things. Today I ironed and mended some clothes. Mending is fun if you throw caution to the wind and repair dark grey snow pants with bright purple thread! Not so ho hum! It's wonderful to get things like that done while you're laying low. And now off to a night catching up on some silly indulgences like Downton Abbey and maybe a cocktail ;)

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #23 :: FARM SUNSET :: January Daily Painting Challenge

FARM SUNSET
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 +$8 shipping

This painting brings me back up to date with the daily paintings. It's a relief. Funny how, while sick and resting, I'm thinking of painting and getting caught up. It was really bothering me! 

Today's final painting was the last from this series of three made today all of the same road. (For those local to me, it's Myrtle Street from the corner of Main to Hanover Street by Holmes Field.) 

Farm Sunset is the western side of the street and so the sunset was a glorious vibrant fireball while across the street for the previous two pieces you could see the moon in a warm blue sky. 

I struggled with the sky in this. As a rule I don't paint sunsets because they always look fake to me when depicted in paintings. I doubt whether the color was that vibrant, that intense, etc. My judgy artist self thinks sunsets are better left to photographers. That is how I felt until I've seen so many beautiful paintings of sunsets by those participating in this challenge! And so I thought I'd try. 

The rock wall was such fun to paint. I love the framing it gives to the composition, too.

Here they all are -- from the same ride home, same moonrise and sunset.

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #22 :: RIDE HOME :: January Daily Painting Challenge

RIDE HOME
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

This piece is inspired by the same day and drive of the previous post. The consistency of the shadow line on the distant trees alludes to that.

I remember a painting demonstration at a local art association years ago. The artist mentioned that when one looks at a painting, the time of day, season, sometimes month should be noticeable from the visual clues in the work. Color, light, and other timely hints let us know when the painting is meant to show. 

This January challenge really cements this idea for me. So many of the paintings are so obviously January and winter for me. The color of the light on this one is all January. 

A wise-guy in the audience told the demonstrating artist that his painting felt like a Tuesday. I don't think you can tell that! 

The colors in this painting are not as punchy as some of my other colors. The light gave an overall cast of blue to the piece, making for the grass in the field to be a difficult color to pin down. 

In the end, I love the result. It was nice to get back in the studio and spend some time really concentrating on a specific time. The next piece I'm going to post to bring me up to today is also from the same ride home.

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #21 :: WINTER MOON :: January Daily Painting Challenge

WINTER MOON
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

In the midst of this Daily Painting Challenge I got pretty sick. The girls had been ill, along with Tim. The rascally germs were bound and determined to get me, too, despite my best efforts of hand-washing and over-sanitizing. It's now three days later and I'm still sick, but I'm painting! 

Here is a painting from my ride home. The light was just perfect as the final light shone warm and constrasting against the cool shadows. Trusty camera to get a poor-quality photo along with some composition notes and later today in the studio, safe from the first BIG snowstorm of the season, I made this painting. 

I could have spent forever on limbs. But I need to play and experiment with saying enough without having to say every little last word. Detail is important but only in balance. 

This was the first of three today. Off to post the next!
Ah-choo!

Thanks for reading! ~kmw  

Day #18 :: COLD SHADOWS :: January Daily Painting Challenge

COLD SHADOWS
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

Blue is my favorite color, and it is so prevalent during winter. The shadows, the sky, and the snow all feel so blue. Tonight I went out to shovel the four inches of snow we got last night and the light flakes all sparkled with crisp white and blue. Teeny electric blips of blue. It was beautiful -- but it was still winter and shoveling, so don't get me wrong ;)

This piece looks great on my bulletin board of work from this month. Next to yesterday's piece it is around the bend from that riverbank. My neighborhood inspires yet again. 

And how does this piece read? Is the blue water? Marsh? Field? It's not up to me. What I loved about this composition was the space and the light. 

Remember how I mentioned that new set of 200 pastels I bought at the beginning of the month? It's great -- but I need more blues! The Terry Ludwig Best of the Blues set of cobalts and ultramarines should do nicely. My birthday is in March, hint hint. :) 

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #17 :: RIVERBANK :: January Daily Painting Challenge

RIVERBANK
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

The sixteen prior daily paintings are all lined up hanging on a bulletin board in front of my desk and it's quite something else to see an expanse of work so obviously inspired by winter -- with the exceptions of only two florals on days four and five and one rogue Swanboat painting.

Today's piece is no exception to the #embracewinter hashtag I've been using on Instagram for the past few winters. Winter and I have a difficult relationship. It's of course beautiful. White snow makes everything look clean and crisp and blue. The light is purer in winter, without the humid haze of high summer.

Funny that--we have high summer and deep winter.

Winter does me in, though. I get cranky and a bit sad. Often it seems like so much is harder. And there's little light. We wake in the dark. The girls are off the bus and it seems that darkness comes upon us so quickly.

Good therapy for embracing winter is to approach it with mindfulness, and I think painting is a perfect example of mindfulness. I have been taking time to examine the winter landscape and the light, although seemingly fleeting, and have been admiring its glory. The paintings from this month really embrace that.

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #16 :: ICE :: January Daily Painting Challenge

ICE
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

The notes and iPhone photo for this painting look nothing like this image. In fact, I'm going to show you my thought process for this piece! I had fun and think you may like to see the progression from start to finish painting. 

This painting on your screen doesn't do the painting justice, either. The sky here is odd and fluorescent where in person, the effect is more dynamic and smooth. The bottom photo gives the best representation of the painting.

As I said in a previous post, my mind is like a viewfinder, scoping out new paintings everywhere I look.  Sometimes when I see big shapes and angles, I take a cruddy photo with the intent of working it out better in a painting. Sadly, this intent is often not followed up on, and I have a ZILLION poor photos laden with the potential to be something better.

Until today!

My photo with big shapes and GRAND plans! 

Sure, this photo (which I cropped perfectly to be a fantastic square composition) is fine. If I were to paint it as is, the result could be a lovely calm piece. When I originally sketched out my shapes at the onset, I had in mind I would do a color scheme similar to the one shown, but give it a bit more oomph. You can see my original color mapping below. 

(left-top) The draft close to the photo and
(right-top) finished piece with imagined color
The finished piece under my two drafts

Something gnawed at my creative mind and told me that the grays and blues were too staid. Even my intellectual mind agreed! I drew the image again and laid in color on top of color and played with color relationships and balance. It took a few layers and corrections to get where I thought the piece was best before I started on today's painting. 

Tim just visited me in the studio and asked if the painting were from a place we frequently walk on a Cape Cod beach. I smirked knowing that this piece is actually from the newly constructed neighborhood being built near our home. 

He then mentioned that the piece looked and felt cold. Isn't that neat? The painting is oozing pinks, yellows, deep maroon, orange -- all warm colors, and he is agreeing with my thought the the painting looks cold. What power we artists wield! 

How great is it when your spouse totally backs you up and they don't even know that they are doing it? Tim so affirmed the lesson of tonight's studio time: 

 
*You don't have to paint exactly what you see. The viewer is only going to know what you make them see. Make it matter. 

*Play with color relationships. Convey what you want, but stretch yourself. Say more with color than what is there, and study color relationships. Work them out before getting into the painting. The effort will pay off in the end result. 

A big painting and seeing lesson tonight. I feel so teach-y!

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Day #15 :: JANUARY :: January Daily Painting Challenge

JANUARY
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

For those who paint with pastels, I've been painting with a lovely complete set I purchased at the beginning of this monthly painting challenge. When looking at my work, I would guess the new set arrived for the eighth painting. The marks changed a bit and my palette broadened.

My go-to set for a while was Sennelier's plein air half stick set of 80 colors (funny how 80 color options isn't enough) because of its range of intense color and neutrals. My newest set is Gallery Mungyo Handmade soft pastels full set of 200 colors from Jerry's Artarama. If you're interested in adding to your pastel collection, take advantage of sales, coupon codes, and free shipping. Today's price is waaaaay more than what I paid, FYI.

With 200 pastel colors to select from in this set, I finally don't find myself saying "I wish I had this one color..." For this manufacturer, this is it. And so I force myself to make it work, and that is good practice!

Of course, despite the 200 (!!!) colors to choose from, I needed different blues (of course I did.)
What an important lesson that is. It took me a spell to figure out what sort of blue I wanted for the sky, the roof, the house itself, the snow, and the large evergreen. Some of that negotiation is visible in the finished product, but I am thrilled  with my result.

I'm getting good practice on painting buildings and it's obvious this monthly painting challenge is in winter --- everything is snow and cold and I have so many nocturnes. It's been SUCH FUN! For those in my neighborhood, this is the wonderful antique home on the corner of Miller and Myrtle streets. The candles in the window are still up and they make me happy each time I drive by.

All my posts end with a thank you, but, goodness! It's day fifteen and I have to thank all who have read, commented, liked, and encouraged me along the way. I appreciate your support more than I have words to express.

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #13 :: THROUGH THE TREES :: January Daily Painting Challenge

THROUGH THE TREES
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

Our neighborhood is an enchanted place. Being an artist, I spend my time looking at things around me seemingly with a viewfinder in my mind taking snippet notes of my surroundings and thinking "someday it would be nice to paint something or other...."

This daily painting challenge makes the 'someday' turn into TODAY! 

Tonight's painting is from the marshy area on the Charles and Mill rivers in our neighborhood. As you drive home at sunset/dusk/twilight, the light coming through the trees creates this magical twinkling of the spectrum. 

During winter this color show is vibrant with only silhouetted evergreens and the tree branches. I find the scene foreboding and yet also hopeful simultaneously, such a contrast of feeling, much like the painting construct is a contrast of dark and light and of warms and cools. 

I have SO MANY IDEAS swimming through my mind. Maybe tomorrow I'll have some time to fledge them out a little more fully. Bigger pieces are jonesing to be painted. I taught an oil painting class today and their buttery quality made me want to get smooshing around some oils. We shall see....

Thanks for reading! ~kmw