Paint

Over Labor Day weekend, I attended the 35th annual Chalk It Up event, a free open-art festival for families. My daughter had the privilege of opening the show with her G.I.R.L.S. Rock Sacramento band, Wisteria. It was a lovely, albeit hot, morning filled with art and music.

Let me know if you have a favorite shot and have a fantastic day!

Photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW
See my photos of last year’s event
Find out more about Chalk It Up and their mission to support the arts
Considering donating to my favorite non-profit, G.I.R.L.S. Rock Sacramento

“The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most.”
― John Ruskin, The Stones of Venice

Welcome to the second week of my watercolor #100DayProject. After some experimentation, I’ve settled into a comfortable morning rhythm of painting and journaling. It occurred to me this week how both serve the same purpose—release and freedom. Both activities are about letting go, self-discovery, and seeing where it takes me. Taken in this context, it’s impossible to do it wrong. What a wonderful thought!

Things I’ve learned this week:

Stop painting before everything turns brown
Wet-on-wet is very enjoyable, but I need to go slower
Trying to copy other paintings can be frustrating
My emotional state affects the color scheme
I have no idea what I’m doing and it’s totally okay

I’m still trying too hard to control the paint. I ripped up and threw away two paintings this week and started over. The need to be perfect is still very present and I’m trying really hard to separate the work from any kind of judgment. I remain, as always, a work in progress. Thank you for following along on my journey and for all the wonderful comments I received last week.

Here are my offerings for Week 2: