September 29th, 2025

OK, back to a normal schedule after last weekend on the Island and the annual Kiegerl Oktoberfest with the whole family here yesterday. 'Normal schedule' feels like a rest.
So, back to painting, and with increasing interest and confidence as I get more regular practice.  Special thanks to Yvonne Reddick for keeping me on track. Besides her phone calls every 2 weeks, she lives rent-free in the back of my mind and reminds me to 'think art' the rest of the time.

So ...

• I am trying to remember the next steps after the grisaille on the 'Storm' painting;
• I have enough dried flowers for one more painting like "Living on the Edge" and I have a frame/support chosen, so I can start anytime;
• A black and white picture is calling me, so I have decided to try a larger version of the rowboats. The 8x10 I painted years ago is still one of my favourites.
  
• Now that it is cool and rainy, I can try palette knife with acrylics again. The extreme heat and zero humidity gave me an exercise in frustration this summer. I found a helpful book in Saskatoon - Palette Knife Painting in Acrylics by Tim Fisher. The section on knife techniques will be useful to practice first instead of doing another 'learn on the job' piece to throw away again.