180 Degrees

Friends –

Almost every time I make a painting, or other item, I pose a mini-challenge to myself to see if I can do it.  Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don’t.  With these particular pastel paintings, I took on a little different trick, that really did stretch the limits – at least for me.

Back in April, I had completed a painting entitled, ‘California Dreamin’, based on a photo taken in the California Central Coast in springtime by friend Greg Gearheart.  It was sold to a friend who made a generous donation to Doctor’s Without Borders for the purchase.  Well, it was Bob’s big idea to do a mirror image of the painting, and (by-the-way) make the 180 degree image one of the opposite season (autumn), and to sell the pair together.   It sounded like a cool challenge, so I embarked upon that journey.  I was lucky that I was assisted by friend, and photographer, Jim Ginney, who provided me with a mirror image print of Greg’s photo, as well as Bob’s critical eye for autumn colors. 

In spite of all that help, I still found that drawing the mirror image shapes onto separate water color sheets, AND inventing the fall colors for the Autumn part was an enormous challenge for dyslexic me.  Still, I think that this painting – ‘180 Degrees’ – is fun and soothing to the eyes.  And for those familiar with California rolling, oak tree hills, it is a rewarding site.  I have attached 3 photos – one of the two paintings side-by-side, and one each of Spring and Autumn.   Hopefully, this will also bring some well-deserved contributions to Doctor’s Without Borders, or my preference – to Lane Community College Foundation Scholarship in Eugene, Oregon.

I have yet to decide to put both paintings into one mat or to matt each separately.  What do you think?

Happy warm summer days to you.

margie lopez read

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