Is it Autumn yet?

"Provencal", acrylic painting on 4" x 4" x 2" wood block.

Day 265: Provençal

I’ve been meaning to get around to doing some more wood block landscapes for October’s show. Wouldn’t you know it? Now that we’re down to the wire, I’ve managed to find some time to do them. Someone once said, “Artists don’t get down to work till the pain of not making art exceeds the pain of making art.”*

And while this particular statement isn’t 100% applicable to me at this point in my life since I’ve been making myself make something every single darn day for nearly 9 full months now, I’d clearly have to agree that deadlines in and of themselves can sometimes be the greatest artmaking motivator.

So, in between prepping some canvases with gesso for other projects and taping together several sheets of newsprint for my gallery wall mock-up, I printed out some photos I took from a rainy day back in March (or sometime thereabouts- remember the wet sheep?) and spent some time on this little guy in the studio today. I titled it “Provençal” because the hint of a return of cool weather and views of the countryside remind me of my time in Southern France. But this image itself is actually from out in the Delta Loop, here in the Sacramento area of California.

Is that the sun peeking behind those clouds? Kind of. It's the wood grain from this slice of fence post. 🙂

*I tried to find out who said this but I couldn’t track it down. Thanks for nothing, internet. 😉