Blinded Again

I thought the two pieces I did over a year ago of me looking in the bathroom mirror with light from venetian blinds striping across my face and body would be all I had to say about that. Then I received word about a show at the A.I.R. gallery in Brooklyn, NY which is about the place of women's morning bath and beauty rituals in their art and how and if ideas about such things have changed in the past 30 or so years and how it might relate to aging. I wanted to enter but the requirements are for four works so I have come up with some additional ideas on this and they can be part of the series of two that I already did. I am surprised and delighted by  the enthusiasm I am feeling about continuing this series as I have given almost no thought to the paintings since finishing them and having them exhibited last year. I was all set to start something else, trying to gear up for a new series, and suddenly I have an excuse to digress again. What does this tell me? Perhaps I don't really want to pursue the other ideas? I am afraid I won't do it justice if I do proceed? I am afraid of being stuck with a studio full of fairly substantial canvases that nobody wants?

It was interesting from a logistical standpoint to start this. I grabbed some blinds that were lying on the guest room floor from when I was painting the kitchen (I haven't rehung the blinds yet) and balanced them on two camera tripods in front of the window and set up a mirror next to them. I waited until 6pm when the sun was coming from the west quite strongly and cast shadows over my image in the mirror, hand held the camera, and took a bunch of shots.  I also tried setting up my computer next to the blinds and using the built in PhotoBooth. Both systems worked just fine for my purposes and saved a whole lot in model fees:-)

Today I need to let the two canvases dry that I toned yesterday and since the weather is cooperating I want to walk over to our nearest mountain stream and do a pastel painting, something I haven't done for quite some time.  Plein Air isn't my forte but it sure can be fun, sitting in on the rocks surrounded by forest and the music of the madly dashing water, which is running full steam right now from snow melt and weeks of rain.  If I sit quietly and long enough perhaps I will be visited by a bear or an elk.