When Life Hands you Lemons . . . .

When I was setting up at painting, I wasn't expecting to have any problems with materials.  I had checked my bag last night to be sure I had my painting, paints, brushes, photos, and other materials that make painting possible.  You know what happens when you think everything is going your way?  That's right.  All of a sudden it isn't, and all you have is a bag of lemons.

While I had checked to be sure I had the folder with my photographs, I didn't check to be sure that the two necessary shots were in the folder.  One was there; one wasn't.  It's like trying to walk three miles with only one shoe.  It could be done, but it wouldn't be any fun!  So I decided I wouldn't even try to work on the Italian landscape.

Instead, I turned my attention to a subject for which I definitely needed and had with me only one photo.  It was also a photo that I took only because I loved the name of the street.  Later I discovered that the picture might be worth a painting.   Of course, I hadn't brought any paper, but Sharon gladly gave me some (more on that paper later).

And so I started a new painting; this one of Via Dell'Amore in Pienza:

Once again you are looking at a painting so pale it's hard to tell what it is.  You may be able to tell that there is a stone wall on the left with greenery above it, the road leads to an open archway and building.  There is another building on the right, but it's only barely indicated at this point.

The paper I was given was a challenge from Sharon.  It's called "Schism" (that's what it sounds like, but I doubt it's spelled the same way as the noun meaning "a split or division between two opposing views".  It has a rough surface which I really love, but the properties are quite different from other rough papers I've used.  It seems to suck up the wet watercolor paint like a blotter but quickly and it spreads quite a bit!  Other papers with which I am familiar either allow the water to sit on the surface for a bit before soaking in or soak in but with minimal spread.  

I say that I think it was a challenge because that's what a good teacher does.  She tries to stretch her students abilities by facing them with something new.  It makes the student grow in experience, and even if the experience doesn't pan out, learning has occurred.

I think I'm going to have lemonade when all is said and done!