Testing My Grit

"Cliffside"

oil on stretched canvas, 16" x 20"

You saw the last post. Who wouldn't be excited about painting thaaaaat?! I sure was. That photo was taken last week at about 2 in the afternoon. Placid water. Warm day. Gorgeous sky. From that visit, I was exited. I flew out of bed at 5:45 AM with no alarm. I had loaded car the night before and I was psyched.

I left later in the morning with shorts on and a light summer shirt. When I arrived a brisk breeze was coming in off the sea . . . .a cold sea! We painted long after the morning demo. We started at around noon. Prior to that, several easels had blown over and the wind was now at 15 to 2o mph and carrying large quantities of dirt and sand. I found a 40 pound rock to hold in my easel weight pouch so it wouldn't go over, but still had to bungee it down to a root at one point.

The wind disallowed puting up any sort of sun shade (Umbrella) as it would have become a very efficient sail! Short version: we painted till 4 PM and willingly threw in the towel. It tested every bit of patience I had . . .and my grit. The canvas bucked and wobbled the whole time.

As for the final test? To be sure I could stand it, nature sent me home with 1/2 pound of grit in my back pack . . .every pocket . . .every cranny . . .every wrinkle, on me and my belongings had grit in it. And . . . you know what? . . . . . .

I had a BLAST !!!! :-)