Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Father/daughter painters

I have posted before about how my father taught me to paint, how I took several art classes in college and felt intimidated by my instructors. My confidence was pretty much destroyed and how my dad said the right thing at the right time and I spent several years painting almost daily with him. He was (and is) an amazing teacher and I wish he would paint again but understand he has no interest right now, it's just something you have to be "in the mood" to do. Oil painting is messy and can be a chore to set up, to go through the motions of sketching and filling in, feeling the mood and trying to get it "just right," knowing when to stop and then a big clean up job after. On my days off, it seems I have so many other "things" to do I have a hard time committing to that 3 or 4 hours of time needed to complete a painting yet I OBSESS over wanting to do it. Crazy! Right now the weather is in the 90's and I need to paint outside, not the best situation so I probably won't get out there again until after the Scotland trip.


For a few years now, since my grandfather passed away, we have been clearing out his house and a large painting of my dads was unearthed, literally dug out from the garage in a state of major disrepair. He says he painted it maybe age 13 or 15 with a Picasso/Cubist influence. I see it and immediately beg everyone to please let me have it, please! Of course it's got mold on the back, a hole right through, painted on some kind of particle board and isn't even finished. Hmmm.... perfect! Let's just say everyone looked at me like I was crazy and it became MINE! I thought I might tackle the job myself but was lucky enough to find a local frame shop run by a young artist who took the project on. She spent weeks cleaning it, drying it out, varnishing it and then framing it. I have mixed feelings when I look at it now, a mix of "love it" and a "what was I thinking?" too. To me art is a very personal thing. I never thought of myself as someone who really liked abstract art, I find some of it so simple and boring BUT even though this painting is strange it speaks to me and makes me think. I enjoy following the lines and colors around, it has movement and interest. I really have no idea what a professional art critic would say, love it or hate it? Who knows but if it's hanging in my house, I want something that catches my eye and makes me sigh and this sure does! 
IMG_9469


When I told my dad about the project he immediately said, "I hope you didn't waste too much money on it!" shhhhh... I won't tell but I hope he likes it (he hasn't seen it yet) I admit I am nervous because in the past he has felt some of his work was "god awful" in his words and I know I am biased because he is my father so we'll see. It has been a really wonderful experience to finally have a few of my dad's paintings, I find myself gazing at them and stopping for a moment here and there to take in the details. Something is coming full circle for me, finally feeling confident in what I paint and what I want to put on my walls and how I feel about the experience I shared with my dad many years ago. Feels good!

2 comments:

  1. That painting is absolutely gorgeous!! I surely couldn't paint that. WOW!

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