The finished Andy painting, plus a little piece of inspiration

SOLD

Andy © 2012 by Karen Mathison Schmidt

6 x 6 inches • oil on museum-quality, archival Gessobord
private collection • Poway, California

We’ve been having a few problems with our internet; the tech people seem to think that our dish may be just a touch out of alignment. The service guy is supposed to come out and check in the next couple of days or so. So hopefully I can post work-in-progress photos of this one mañana.

Meanwhile, 2012 is starting off with a woosh ... I’m finishing up one commission, I’ve got two more commissions for large-ish paintings lined up, and a possible third in the offing as well. 

And ideas for my own choice of subject just keep on coming. I’ve been reading The Art Spirit by Robert Henri (which I read from cover to cover every couple of years or so), and he mentions more than a few times how our art isn’t created in a vacuum; it flows out of a life well-lived. 

Here’s a little sample of the kind of inspiration that surrounds me every day:

Yesterday the thermostat on our central heat went out, so we’ve been using only our gas logs for heat until it could be fixed (which it was this afternoon ... hooray!) This morning Sophie, Blue and Buster were cozying up with Paul on the sofa ... maybe because they love Paul, maybe because there was a little electric space heater on the coffee table right in front of them, or maybe because Paul was munching on a piece of toast spread with grape jelly. 

Anyway, I was really taken with the soft morning light coming in the window, how the green blanket complemented the dogs’ reddish coats, and the bright red plaid blanket draped over the back of the sofa (barely visible in the top right of this photo). I tiptoed out of the room and back in again with my trusty Canon complete with zoom lens, and, totally unnoticed, snapped a few pictures from across the room. I was holding my breath, willing the dogs to be perfectly still because of the low light and slow shutter speed (I imagined I was a stealthy National Geographic photographer capturing some kind of wildlife on camera) ... I owe a big thank you to the grape-jelly-covered toast for holding their rapt attention. This photo was a total gift; it’s not often that such a pleasing composition just happens.

Hallelujah!