It was a very hot day in the studio today. I had sweat running down my back while standing still, more activity than that was out of the question. I worked more on my Sebbie painting, but as it looks more or less like it did in my last post, it doesn't need a new picture. I also spent a fair amount of time on a portrait I've been working on for months. I think I'm finding it so very difficult because I know the model so well, I always have an easier time getting a portrait on a stranger than a friend. But I'm determined to get it right, as this is a portrait I've wanted to do for years, ever since I met a man in Paris, by Montmartre, who was juggling with a large bowl of goldfish balanced on his head. At the time I was having a horrible day; I kept getting lost, which is something that happens to me so seldom, it shakes me up, especially in a city I know so well. And just when I was ready to cry, there was this man, with the goldfish, and everything seemed ok with the world again. I've placed him in Edinburgh, instead of Paris, and I've yet to adopt the goldfish I need to finish the painting, but I'd determined to finish the painting by the end of the summer.
I also have been stretching the studies I did in Alaska. It's easier to travel with unstretched canvases, so I'm stretching them now. Unfortunately, the art supply store has been out of ten inch stretcher bars since I've gotten back and I need a fair number. At least it's too hot to want to stretch more canvases just now anyway. Here's my collection of 'to be stretched's:
The small ones are all from Alaska, the big one is an old, unfinished painting I found while going through things in my studio. I thought I might have a go at finishing it, maybe. Maybe not, I'm much more excited to do some larger paintings of Alaska.
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