Back to Work--Part 2

"Meditation"
8X10"
Colored pencil

Here's another project that has been sitting around waiting for me to finish my novel. I've been working on it for quite awhile. It was inspired by a very relaxed and peaceful period in my life that happened around the middle of September. I have worked on it during lunch breaks at work, at home during quiet mornings, and at a local park when the weather was especially nice. I can't really say right now if I ever intend to finish it. It not only gives me a sense of peace to look at it, but it also is very relaxing to work on. I decided to post it here, in case anyone else could benefit from the same sense of peace that I get when I look at it. With the busy holiday season upon us, it's always a good idea to take a moment to just breathe and relax.

Meteor Shower

"Meteor Shower"--sketch
8X6"
Pencil

Sometimes a painting sits around in my brain for a long time before I get around to executing it. This sketch is an example of one such idea.

I went with a friend to see a meteor shower about five years ago. Since we were living in a major city at the time, we had to drive to a park outside of the city in order to see anything. The sky was very clear that night, and there was a slight breeze through the trees. It was late September, so a few of the trees had lost their leaves. It was an amazing experience, something that I have always treasured.

I wanted to paint or draw something to capture my memory of the event right after it happened. But every time I sat down to do something, I just couldn't get the picture to look the way I wanted. Well, within the last couple of weeks, I started thinking about this painting again. I realized that now I have more artistic tools at my disposal than when I first had the idea for this painting. So I sat down and drew this sketch. The scene has changed slightly from my original idea, but I like it better this way. Sometimes a good idea just needs to ferment in the brain for awhile before it's put down on paper.