Happy New Year

"The Art of Photoshop Compositing" by Julieanne Kost has been my favorite course of all the Lynda.com tutorials I've watched this year. So now finally, in the last few hours of 2014, I'm taking Photoshop out for a test drive, with a backseat full of cherished images.

Love ya Mom, and miss you mightily. It's been an unexpected pleasure spending New Years this way.


  

Meaningful Work

My largest painting to date: the cottage and deck. 

All year long, I wait for those three precious months - June, July, August. In years past, free time in summer was spent hiking, kayaking, bicycling, running, painting. But not this year.

This was a summer of devotion. Hour after hour - before work, after work, all weekend, every weekend - no radio, no distractions, just listening to the sounds of the neighborhood and my mind's griping, as I scraped, primed, and painted.

Whenever I'd find myself beginning to despair, I'd "pranam to the guru" - surrender to the job that needed to be done. This brought peace. Time passed without anxiety. Situational awareness was like meditation: moving the ladder, setting it's feet, balancing high above the ground, avoiding power lines and stinging wasps. Working until I was too hungry, or tired, or it was too dark to see.

First completed: deck, planters, and railing.

Scraping by hand, inch by inch, each face of the building, over and over.

The south side had always been prone to blistering.
The solution: paint at the end of a dry sunny day,
after the wood has cooled.

Found this tool in a Newtown paint store and HAD to buy it!

Setting ladder feet into a rocky slope was a precarious challenge.

Even with the hot muggy New England weather, a respirator and mask were essential.

My belovéd Aunt Helen worked for Mine Safety (MSA) long, long ago.
She was a quality control inspector,
overseeing the production of gas masks.
Miss you Helen! 

Nearing completion: new molding around the door, and a new light overhead.

HOME SWEET HOME

And so the intimate connection to this place that I've been calling home for so long, continues to deepen. It's nothing fancy, but it is close to my heart. May the universe forgive me for being so attached. But there's something special about a home: if you take care of it, it will certainly take care of you.

And now the year 2014 draws to a close, and I look back and cherish the results of this summer's efforts. Hmm, think I'll fix myself a drink, get the fireplace going, put my feet up and listen to one of the best storytellers I know: Snap Judgement.

Peace be with you all in this holiday season. 
Love Everybody,
 - Nancy Boudreau

That's Not What I Meant

The title describes the method. Painting begins with an effort to express my mood by using color and texture. As the paint dries, I see that what I've done does not aptly express my intentions. So I take another stab at it, add more color, more texture, and again that's not what I meant. I try again, and again. The painting builds until it finally speaks for itself, no longer needing my input.

This little ditty, is an acrylic painting on an Ampersand 5" x 7" basswood panel cradled with a 7/8" profile.

The auction on eBay will run for one week.