Return to Reality

Happy New Year! Back in the swing of things, I had a chance to paint the image I drew before the holidays,when the first amaryllis plant I'm growing this year was in bloom. As always, flower painting for me  is a return to watercolor painting.  Now I'm awaiting the flowering of my other amaryllis plants. One is orange, as I recall, and one is a soft pink. There is a third, but it doesn't seem to promising that it will eventually bloom.
It's an annual addiction for me, this need to record the beauty of this flower. If you look at my web page "Floral Paintings", you will find some from past years. Below is "Amaryllis Tied up in Ribbon", just completed tonight. Then skip down below the painting for more commentary.

Since I am not yet back at work, I am anxious to begin another acrylic painting. I began my layout for it on the canvas this evening, and I'm hoping to get to paint it tomorrow. (OH, IT IS TOMORROW NOW!!!)  It's another Southwest theme that I've been longing to paint for several years now. I love the richness of the medium. I always say that even if you didn't paint, mixing the colors is worth it all! So good for the soul and exciting for the senses. But then, there is the supreme satisfaction of creating an image that you have been harboring in the core of your being for some time, because of its beauty, and because it resonates within you. Since I spent time earlier today (or maybe that was yesterday, Sunday) looking at paintings by E. I. Couse, one of the original Taos Painters of New Mexico, who was originally from Saginaw Michigan, I am really stoked to paint my own themes from that territory. Keep checking with me, and I will try to share my progress as I involve myself with the new inspiration. Hope this will be a productive year for all of you! I can feel it in my bones that it will be for me! I'm on a roll! You know, like a sub sandwich...on a roll! Oh My God! It must be quitting time if I've sunk to that!