You and Me, Happy As Can Be

Wow!  How long has it been since I wrote here?  I don't even want to look to find out.  

Sorry it has been so long but I have been going through some major changes.  They are good, but it means taking time away from all the time I used to spend on art.  Oh well.

Anyway, what I had been doing was working on this painting and I finally finished so I just had to show you!  Isn't it beautiful?  I do have to say, I was very pleased.

Of course, that is the short version of the story.  Originally, I was asked to do this painting and I thought "Oh, no!  I can't!  I don't know how to!"  And all kinds of other dumb stuff.  

Actually, Janine, my son's girlfriend, said her mom wanted to commission me to do a painting. I freaked out because I thought, "oh, no, I can't!"  Janine, who always very patiently talks me through my insecurities said, "yes, you can, Carol."  So then I asked what her mom wanted me to paint and she said "Anything" which freaked me out more.  

Isn't it funny how you wish people would want your work and commission you, and then, right when it lands in your lap, you freak out and want to throw the opportunity away?

Well, maybe that doesn't happen to you.  Maybe I'm the only weird one.

Anyway, I thought about it and of course I wanted to but was filled with doubt.  

Then Janine told me her mom liked waterfalls and she talked about maybe if I had some waterfall and some kids or something.

And then it clicked.

I thought about how Janine and her mom have been together on their own since Janine was young and I pictured her and her mom looking at this waterfall under the moonlight and it being this beautiful whimsical look and how they would be sitting together, hand in hand, under the starlit night.

So I sketched and sketched and then made a large drawing to transfer to a 16x20 canvas.

And then the really hard work began.

It is funny how you have this idea how you want it to look and then realize it is a whole other challenge to transfer that image from your mind to the canvas.

Well, I had so many ups and downs.  First I liked it, then I didn't.  Then I realized I didn't really know how I was going to paint this or that.  Then I got excited about how it was turning out. Then, when I was having problems, I got so discouraged I almost painted over it and said forget it.

It was at these times that I could hear my hero, Tim Gunn from Project Runway saying "Make it work!"

And so I geared myself up telling myself there was no such thing as quitting, but that I would just have to make it work and I did!

When I was finally done I was so excited!  I really did love the way it looked and I was so glad I did not quit.

I don't know how the painting is going to look up on this post.  It probably doesn't look anywhere as good as in person, but I promise you it really is beautiful and totally my own design.  

The end of the story is that Janine's mom really loved it, which was the number one thing I wanted most.

The name of the painting is "You and Me, Happy As Can Be."  

A mother and daughter, filled with hopes and dreams, knowing that whatever the future may hold, together they will have all they need.