Friends-
It is true that if I can't paint often enough, I get unhappy. Brush and canvas (or graphite) have been my emotional release since I was a kid. Art becomes more and more vital the older I get, for various reasons.
Thus, although I crave time with my grandsons, the inevitable slow-down in painting time can be tough. The good side is that they are getting older, too – now ages 5 and 9. This gives them an appreciation of the fact that I love to paint and an intense interest in how I do it. So, I find a way to do it.
In the case of this quick plein air painting – "Kid's Construction" – there was not an option to leave the house. And one could say that the premises right now do not inspire fine art because of the home-expansion the family is engaged in. What is true, however, is that the boys are at least as intensely interested in their home construction project as they are in my paintings. They even have their own kid-sized shovels!
So, this month, the combination of my mental-health need for painting and Benjamin and Leonardo's energy-driven construction activity called for depicting them doing their thing.
Soon to hold a concrete foundation, this hole will never look like it does now. But this painting can be their reminder of what it was. And it will forever remind me of the continual questions and unaffected commentary on what I should change in the painting – the kind of constant, curious chatter that would challenge any plein air practitioner!
I love them.