Monday, May 12, 2008

Mother's Day Flowers Finished



This was a hard one to finish with all the detail. It felt like putting together a large puzzle where between each piece I had to stop and reconfigure my thought process before putting down the next bit. It wouldn't be too big of a deal except I realized I was holding my breath through a lot of the process.


On the cruise, Ann Kullberg was describing me during my first cruise workshop with her, mentioning how easily I get bored while doing my pencil work. A good impression of her impression of me would be something like, "I'll do a little here, ok I'm bored with that now (5 seconds later), so I'll put a little over here (another 5 seconds goes by), okay I'm bored again, so I'll go back to this area... and so on." It was a very accurate impression of the way I work, so it had me in stitches. You can imagine how a complex pattern like these flowers though would be against my natural psyche.

Its not only the way I draw though. It took me 2 hours to empty the dishwasher last night. I started the top rack, got about half way through, then decided I needed to take out the garbage. I got back from that and put a few more cups away. Then my kids were trying to get snacks and it was time for dinner so I started cooking dinner, with the dishwasher still open. I put on some boiling water and the rice cooker and then put a few more cups away and maybe a bowl or two away. Then it was time to cook the meat and after back to a few more dishes. Hmmm a bit bored I better check my email. OK the meat is done and the rice now I'll do the veggies, and then put away the silverware from the dishwasher and I'm finally finished with the dishes and ready for the cleanup. Sigh.

8 comments:

hbedrosian said...

Wow, Nicole, this came out beautifully. I like the composition you chose; it really leads the eye around the whole piece. The vase, flowers, and even the shadows are so expertly done that I just keep staring at it!

Anonymous said...

looooove it!!!

Laura Zarrin said...

It's beautiful!!! I totally relate to the boredom factor. I work the same way. The only reason I don't burn dinner anymore is that I have to stay in the kitchen to monitor, prod, and plead with my son to do his homework. Bad for me--good for dinner.

Anonymous said...

Um, I think they have pills for that now... Seriously, I don't take mine either! ;0)
I'm so impressed that you created that gorgeous piece in just a couple days! I feel like I could reach out and just touch the petals and feel the glass. Marvelous!

Judyvan said...

Your work is so inspiring to me. I am so impatient and I try to do those very light layers and before I know it I am pressing so hard and then am mad at myself. I love your art journal.

Judyvan

Michael Finley said...

Beautiful

I see the flowers just placed and the water still cold.

I like how the stems are refracted.

"JeanneG" said...

I really love this. I too just keep staring at it. This week I am doing something similar with Jeanette J, Rose W, and a couple more artists. We are all doing Jeanette's cat Tripod.

Jo Castillo said...

This is so gorgeous. I, too, stare!

Describing how you work gives me hope. If I take too long on something I get bored and don't want to finish. Sigh......