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This is how the last painting evolved.

I still need to get a more accurate "final" colour photograph. 

Today I am grateful for boxes ticked.

nine days ago

Nine days ago I was perched on a marble street marker painting this:

I seem to have misplaced the photos of the finished paintings. It was the artichoke festival (sagra) at Secce. A group of artists I belong to was part of the "entertainment". 

Until I find my photos you can study the artichokes :) 

And if that made you hungry, try these: http://www.acitrezzaonline.it/ricette/verdure/verdure06.htm

Google translated:

Ingredienti 8 artichokes; Homemade bread crumbs; grated pecorino cheese and chopped; one sprig of parsley; salt, pepper, olive oil. 

Procedure: Clean the artichokes, drain and cut the tips and the stem in order to make them feel very high standing in the baking dish. In a bowl mix well with bread crumbs and grated cheese with parsley and garlic. Add salt and pepper and finish mixing. 
Open the center and artichokes filled with this mixture. Place them tight in a pan and then pour the oil into the artichokes. Put the pan in the water almost to cover the artichokes (flush), add some more in 'water a tablespoon of olive oil, a little salt and a slice of lemon (to remain clear artichokes). Cook for at least half an hour. You can serve hot or cold.

Today I am grateful for walnuts and salted peanuts. 

out of time

Not the perfect photograph, but it has to do for now. There isn't such a great colour difference between the two sides, it was the lighting in my studio that did this. The roses on the right should be a bit more like the ones on the left.

The black is my own mixed dark, mixed from an emerald green, deep crimson and dark ultramarine blue with a touch of raw sienna (yellow). I don't own black paint, it is flat and dead.

I risked getting too bogged down in this, I wanted to add, add, add. I like my works to be tidy up close. It is a challenge for me to leave things "loose" and painterly. But the owner of "my" easel needed to borrow it back for a while, just as I was about to fiddle some more. It was great timing.

So, this is it. I just need to sign it and it is all done. (Of course the patient wait for six months for it to cure and be varnished gives me a window in which it can be altered again...).

Maybe I'll let you in on my stages later, you might be surprised! 

Today I am grateful for a sense of achievement.

maybe it is (almost) finished

I am not sure. It didn't live up to my original expectations, but it has a power of its own "in the real" that photographs just don't show. When I began this work I had something so clearly in my mind, and still can see it now, but my hand and the paint took it upon themselves to re-design my concept.

People who have seen it say "Don't touch it, leave it exactly as it is". Perhaps I should put it aside for now, and see what I think in a couple of weeks time. If I cancel my original concept from the equation then I can say I have painted a really strong work that people are reacting to in a positive and thoughtful way. That is what I want to achieve. If I think of the image I wanted to create, then I have failed, miserably, and this is not even close to second best. But maybe this is the better image. I don't know.

The roses do glow, and seem to lift off the canvas. I guess I should be happy with that. The symbolism is there, without a more literal aspect that I decided part way through to leave out of the composition.

Maybe, after a few more tweaks of colour, this is enough.

Today I am grateful for helpful critique. 

partial

This is a part of a work in progress for Legato (May). It is the work in water-soluble oils that have taken some getting used to. I don't have all the mediums for glazes that I could use with these, but I am determined to at least get this finished before I toss what is left in the tubes away (I'll give them away, for what that is worth, there wont be much left).

Water soluble oils because I bought them at the request of an Italian artist who then decided she didn't need them (after I had carted them from NZ for her). So, after having them sitting on the shelf for a long time I decided to try them and avoid having the smell of turps and oil through my studio home.

The work is about a metre square. Here is a little bit more just to show you what I am doing. There are many areas still to resolve, but finally I am beginning to feel that I have made some progress.

Today I am grateful for music while I work.

now you see them..

I photographed this view with the poppies from the car the other day to send to my 2013 flatmate who walked along here each morning and photographed this as the seasons changed.

The next day I looked out the window to see freshly ploughed earth... not a poppy in sight! 

Now you see them, now you don't...

Today I am grateful for my fabulous views. 

the year is flying by too fast

Today I am sharing this post so you can see that I haven't "just" been sitting around loving the birdsong, the blossoms, the sounds of the valley in springtime. I am learning to "put myself out there".

Legato went to Ortona. This is my contribution to the publication, and if you click on the link you will see some photos from the event.

Monte Cassino Foundation for Remembrance and Reconciliation

Out of the carnage and destruction wrought by the siege of Monte Cassino in 1944, there developed a strong tradition of remembrance and reconciliation - bringing together veterans of the many nations which took part in the battle (on either side of the front line). The many reunions of Monte Cassino veterans have been in support of this noble theme, with former foes developing friendships and discussing the futility and waste of war.

The last major reunion for veterans was in 2004, although smaller numbers of able travellers continue to return every year. This year, 2014, will see a very poignant commemoration as the travelling veterans are in their nineties and know that this will be a last visit to the places that are forever in their memories. 

Now the peace campaign must pass to the generations that follow, focusing on educating youth and society, as well as the veterans' activities. The Monte Cassino Foundation for Remembrance and Reconciliation, MCFRR, founded in conjunction with the UK organisation Veterans in Europe, is devoted to ensuring that the lessons of 1944 are never forgotten. 

The Legato exhibitions for peace and commemoration, established in Cassino in 2010, invite artists to research the history of the battles for the Gustav Line, exhibit in Italy, and then take the messages of reconciliation and peace back to their own communities through their various artworks and presentations. These exhibitions are inspired by the work of the late Douglas Lyne (co-founder of ViE and MCFRR), promoting peace and reconciliation through cultural exchange based on the creative arts. 

It is an honour for the artists to be invited to share this commemoration in Ortona. 

I was very surprised to be one of the main speakers, but welcomed the opportunity to share some of the things that I care about. I struggle a little with "putting myself out there" but there is work to be done and I am trying to be less hesitant about being in the middle of things. Despite being a Leo I am not entirely comfortable in the limelight, and after being out in the open need to scuttle away and hide like the introvert I suspect I am. (If you haven't read Susan Cain's wonderful book "Quiet" please do).

I have always seen myself as being a capable "behind the scenes" person, or perhaps even the "indispensable number two" in any public works. It may be time to get over that obstacle and start standing up and doing things more publicly simply because I can, and because they need to be done. I am reminded of the maxim attributed to Hillel the Elder, "If not you, who? If not now, when?"

Today I am grateful for the opportunities I am being given.  I am also very grateful for the birdsong, the blossoms, the sounds of the valley in springtime, and the chances I make to "just sit around and enjoy".