First Even Me Painting Finished!!!

Listening to Mason Jennings in my well-lit (thank you, spring forward!) studio apartment, I looked at Glory. My fingers gripped a small filbert paintbrush that held a perfect mixture of yellow ochre, titanium white, and cadmium red. Instead of reaching out towards Glory's face, my hand was still. It didn't go anywhere. I stood and waited. Eventually, I put my paintbrush down and stepped back. I crossed my arms, squinted, opened my eyes, squinted, opened my eyes (about 100 times) and grew in confidence that I had, indeed, finished Glory. 

I am proud to say that I have completed my first Even Me painting! Glory took a total of 47 hours of work. I wasn't quite sure how the finished piece would look, which is one of the reasons it took me so long to finish: I didn't know when to stop...until last Wednesday, of course! 

One of my new Delandian friends, Clark, who's quite the artist himself, described Glory as an impressionist painting. Although I've never considered my work to be impressionistic, I believe he's right: Glory is composed of small brushstrokes of color and has an emphasis on contrasting light. Maybe this is a new style emerging (for those of you who read {morethorp} you might find the word "emerging" to be particularly funny)? 

The first thing I thought of after finishing Glory was Glory herself: the real-life Glory. "I want her to see it," I thought to myself. Thankfully, one of my dear friends, Sara, is currently living and working in Tanzania. I asked her to show a photograph of the painting (image above) to Glory.

I found this video when I opened my email today:

With tears streaming down my face, I was completely awestruck. I had no words. I am so grateful to be working on such a touching project. I am completely inspired. Thank you so much, Sara, and all of my backers, and supporters!

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Almost done!

The Morning Sesh has BEGUN!

It's a strange thing, growing up. Climbing into bed around 9 pm and waking up at 6 am was not foreseen, even in my adult life. However, I've reached that point (at least on weekdays), and I have to say, it's quite nice.
I have begun painting an hour before work every morning. It's an absolutely perfect time to paint. Usual nighttime interruptions such as text messages and phone calls are replaced with complete silence, total concentration, a cup of tea, and beautiful sunrises. This quintessential setting gives me freedom to meditate while I paint. Instead of focusing on the work day, or what's next on the checklist, I focus on the face I'm painting. I think about the child's character. I think about what the child is doing at the very moment I apply a stroke of color on his earlobe. I consider WHY I'm painting; for what reason. And I hope and pray for each child's dream to come true, whatever that may be. 
It's March 1st, and I am hours away from finishing two Even Me paintings. I've been working on Glory, as she was the first piece I started with. Instead of reaching a stage of completion, I reached a place of frustration with her. I couldn't identify the next step, what colors to use or where to focus, and although she's close to finished, I wasn't satisfied. For that reason, I put her aside and set John on the easel. 
I was hesitant to work on John out of fear that this painting, too, would lead to frustration. However, I've experienced quite the opposite. John is coming along much faster than I anticipated. My brush is drawn to hues more quickly, colors are mixed correctly on the first try, I have a desire to paint all the time, and everything seems to make sense. Glory, being the pioneer painting, was and hopefully will be, the most difficult of the 24. What was that wise saying I've heard before, "Practice makes Progress"? With all that being said, I am hopeful that each painting will get easier and easier, the more I practice.