Men at Work or Battle of Artist and Painting

It is summer in Bellingham. That means that half the streets in the city are torn apart for repair. It makes getting from point A to point B a real adventure. This project is the rebuild of a very old bridge. It happens to be at the end of Bay Street, just past the parking lot entrance where I and my fellow painters park during open studio at the Trish Harding School of Art. So we are currently parking in a very busy cul-de-sac. And just to add insult to injury, the part of Holly Street that goes past the turn onto Bay is torn apart as well. So it was really fun a pain in the neck getting to open studio today. And the photo is what was going on when we came out at the end of the day. Loud! But interesting. What ever was he doing? Haven't a clue.

Painting was delightful as always but I was a bit frustrated because my painting has moved from the original charm, through a nasty patch (ew) to a better but not really fresh place. It is being a teenager. (No disrespect meant to the young by the way.) A painting can be a teenager in the rebellious sense of the word. It stands on its hind legs and refuses to cooperate. And at the end of the day, you look at it and think, "erm... not really what I had in mind." And it is probably thinking the same thing. It is trying to tell you what it wants to be but you can't hear it. And you are trying to tell it what you want it to be and it won't listen. Much fun. Usually in the end you find a good solution so you and it are happy. I'm not there yet with the painting I worked on today.