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 #7 :: WINTER HOPE :: January Daily Painting Challenge

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

$125 + $8 shipping

Today was a difficult January day -- as many days in January can be. Apart from the temperatures, which were rather mild for this time of year, today was about change. Changes that have happened and changes yet to come. 

I went to a wake tonight for a dear former boss. He and his family offered me such opportunity when I was in my twenties. Somehow I knew to work hard for them and see where the opportunities would take me and I went all sorts of places! Nantucket was particularly wonderful. So many years ago now. 

In the end, I could and should credit them with directing me to art school because they owned galleries. I spent my days working for them selling other people's artwork, figuring out what people wanted to buy, and studying what I sold. 

Funny how paths make sense in hindsight. 

Today we also got news of a family member's diagnosis. When you're hoping more than you can hope that it's not cancer and then it is....And I have no other words. Only prayers and making art. 

When I'm not sure what to do or when I feel lost or apprehensive, making art helps. 

Today's piece was a challenge again. Simple in construct, this solitary tree with some depth in the flat plane against a treeline and an oddly colored sky isn't as complicated as say a marsh with a dramatic sky and boat and and and... Simple in art is never simple. Instead simple is often a nightmare. How can it be done in a simple fashion and still feel professional/deliberate/confident/finished/etc? It takes some doing and experimentation to get there. 

My notes and reference weren't these colors, but when I painted them as they were there was no hope in the grays and dull browns. Those tones are for another day. Instead, what fun for me to empurple (a great word and joke for my art students) and redden and warm up the color notes! 

The piece is now more hopeful in its feeling. I kept at it with layer upon layer and finally arrived at a place I love for my painting and my head. 

Thanks for reading! ~kmw