July 10

Day two. Getting myself into a rhythm. Here’s my daily plan: two sketches, start a painting or sculpture (although I have no supplies for 3D work) and take two walks. Of course, I will not stick to this schedule but being a terrier, I need a job and a list. Already, I am not sure what to do with all this green in the landscape. Yesterday afternoon, I went back through my sketches from County Mayo and started a painting sketch.

Sketch of Achill Island. Beach at Doogart. Still love those rocks.

Painting from sketch…. overworked —lost the energy in the drawing. What the heck.

So, this morning, I knew it was time to find some more material. (Painting is not going to hold my interest/be successful until I find an image or two to ponder.)

I hitched a ride with a resident painter to Coothill to find a hardware store.

But first I must tell you about my dear friend, Frankie who gave me a lift over to this Center from Ballycastle. I had mentioned I was looking for “found wood” —like painted woo from and old shed - and he showed up with some molding and a leg from a bed. You just have to love his willingness to help me. I played around with the materials yesterday.

Rather quirky. Used the wood molding as the intersection of line and form. I sanded the leg to give it texture and then painted the white shape to bring another light area for contrast. It is a reference to the shape of the metal frame for the bed and the foot.

OK Now - back to my day. Fun trip into town. I came back with a saw, paints and a bag of kindling for my “found wood”. Seriously, what was I thinking? I need little pieces since I have to fly all this art stuff back over the pond.

Spent the rest of the afternoon, painting kindling and playing with shapes. Here are a few for fun:

These are size of starter kindling…. around 7 inches in length. The top one - black house paint and wood; the bottom one - graphite with letter stencil and wood.