Openings and Oil Paint

Knowing that my exhibit finally opens on Wednesday, I now have jitters. Nothing new to the process I always have stage fright but how to keep focused is a bit of a conundrum. Lucky for me I had two large oil paintings to complete...ah...oil paint. It is so much fun to paint on canvas once in a while. Canvas is a lovely active surface to work on and oil paint is so, well, it's oil paint. The lovely aroma cast it's spell on me a very long time ago. I can still remember walking upstairs to the painting studio at ACNNJ and knowing I was home before I opened the first tube of paint. It was probably the solvent that came first. Yes it's a bit weird to love that aroma, to some "that smell", but there you are.... painting is in my being. This week I have been treated to that odor and have loved coming into the studio in the morning. I have also like working so quickly and fluently which is a little harder when working with encaustic though I'm beginning to work more intuitively with every new encaustic painting.

The paintings are now finished and I have to clean up. This part of the process, ugh. With encaustic there is so little cleaning to be done. I truly love that. I did have to tell myself "stop, stop, stop", enough with the layers. But I listened and now all I have to do is take them off the stretchers, roll them up, and send them on their way. As for the studio, I'm resetting everything, making medium and paint and after a brief but wonderful weekend out of town with friends, I'll be ready to begin again.