Making hay with words.

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Making hay with words.

Sitting here painting enormously absorbed.

Detail is my essential preoccupation.

As I investigate my progress I see I am far from finished and the further I get the less done it looks.

But importantly I have to make sure I don’t over paint it.

I think I need a break and a beverage.

We made it through the Polar Vortex. How’s the weather doing on your half?

Last week it was -40 degrees F and today it was 40 degrees.

Tomorrow we have a winter storm warning from 7:00am-12:00pm with possible blizzard conditions but not until after I get to work.

We call this winter here hey:)

The cross-country ski’s are ready.

I know I should be thinking about getting this painting done but I like to think skiing is part of my creative process.

We went skiing two weekends ago.

The timing was perfect right before the deep freeze.

While we were getting our ski’s on we saw the tail end of four deer pass before us about 25 yards away.

Nature at it’s best.

13 Things I learned in 2013

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1)I love doing something quiet that the brain can focus on.

2)Pulling a deer out of the woods is a lot of work.

3)What POTUS means.

4)#1 U.S. export to China is scrap and trash.

5)When to use a pitching wedge.

6)How proud I was to see my kids on cross-country skis.

7)50% of the world population is illiterate.

8)It is always the red wire that they cut.

9)80% of Muslim do not speak Arabic.

10)Obama care consists of 2,700 pages both sides.

11)The Bible will be translated in every language in 2016.

12)The Packers still have a chance at the Super bowl.

13)why I call work Ninevah sometimes.

What is required to paint when you have none.

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It has been dark and dreary for two days.

We have been in a tornado watch all day.

I have been working a lot of over time so my painting has been minimized and limited to none.

It is all my fault I suppose…no energy, no ambition and no desire.

It is funny what is required to paint when you have none.

It is nice when you have a little left in the end of the day.

That little bit can make a difference.

Instead I sit and stare at my paintings in process and say I can’t. I can not see it happening.

My birthday was in October.

My birthday marks another year for me more importantly than the annual New Years Eve party and celebration that takes place every year in January throughout the United States.

I like that day too but my birthday is a special day that bookmarks my unique timeline.

It is telling me I have one year before I reach another decade in my life and part of a century as well.

So instead of a party…my goal is to have another art showing or another one lined up by my next birthday.

A show usually consist of 10-15 paintings. That is a painting a month. Is it do able yes. Can I find the time that is the question of the day?

Some how I was able to miss three deer standing in the middle of the road yesterday so I feel anything is possible today.

I call it the Finnish Sisu.

Sisu is about taking action against the odds and displaying courage and resoluteness in the face of adversity. Deciding on a course of action and then sticking to that decision against repeated failures is sisu.

First dandelion ever

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This is a 24″ x 20″ portrait that I am finally starting. I’m working on the preliminary sketch which I will get quite detailed with. I’ll lose it all once I start painting but I’ll have some good coordinates to work from. This is not a picture that I took but instead a photograph that was taken by my client and was asked if I could do a portrait from it. This is a very nice image although I did crop it by switching it from a landscape image to a portrait image. This is day #2, Day #1 was printing the picture and doing the grids.