Glenfinnan, still... with interruptions

Hello again, As I write, I'm still hanging in the studio in Glenfinnan, but painting - solidly, for the most part. The Glenfinnan Gathering interrupted me, then visiting friends from the South...and only yesterday ( two weeks later), did I pick up the brushes and begin a new piece from Iona in order to help me finish the previous one I'd started from the South of France. Sometimes it happens that way. Sometimes, I just have to start a whole new piece before I can just work with new paint on an older painting. I hope to finish them both today - the rain will tell.... at the moment, its too dark to see my work correctly.... that's my excuse anyway! This post seems to be a stream of consciousness type post! But I digress.... in the meantime, one part of the interruption of the two weeks was an incredible journey down the lochside with a friend in my little BMW Z3.... 18 miles (about) of gravel road - no one in their right mind but a former resident of Taos, NM, (famed for its dirt roads and spring mud) would take such a car on such a road, but she did it well, and as long as I drove slowly, handled it perfectly. then I also spent two days in lovely Glenaladale - reachable only by boat - working hard helping friends and getting inspired to paint more of the Highlands. This too is part of my job. Not just hanging in the studio, looking at my photos, remembering and then picking up the brushes; but, experiencing the landscape, the people, and letting it speak to me! (Which is why I get so stuffed up if I'm in denial about what's really happening in my life - I don't hear the voices of the landscape, the music, the people's hearts.) So, while this post is about painting, its mostly about what else is there that helps the painting progress. I'm also STILL in Glenfinnan - having passed through two offers of short-term residence in France that I've not been able to take advantage of - YET. But I've had a sale on that will end soon, that has helped me get closer to taking the leap of faith I must take in order to leave. in the meantime, I was here to be reinspired; and that's a good thing too. My life, and I suspect the lives of many artists, is about ebb and flow; and as much as we'd LIKE to plan it, and have things move according to that plan, it is pretty much impossible and out of our hands. The important thing for me is to keep working, keep an eye out for open doors, and ear to the ground for approaching train wrecks, and be ready to leap when it really HAS to happen. So, my post illustrations are about inspiration, rather than completed work!!

The completed work will come - soon! Enjoy!!