Long lovely hours...

So...  today I had all good intentions of going to Quaker Meeting.  Oh well!  Ironically, I actually got up too early to make it happen!  I was up at 8 and already on the computer printing out the images of Bling Lady so I could draw her onto the canvas Chris and I finished last night.  I was still meaning to go to Meeting, but then Chris offered to make breakfast - a very rare occurrence! - so of course I didn't want to miss that - then I just wanted to get into the studio - oh well!  It was time well-spent.  The first thing I did was feel excited about the painting I finished yesterday.  It's always good news when I still like it the next day.

After that, I started drawing Bling Lady onto the 60"x40" canvas.  I had planned to use the canvas for another piece that I'm very excited about painting, butit just feels too large for that piece, so I'm doing this one instead.  I'm calling her bling lady because she is wearing shiny jewelry, but, more significantly, the picture contains her bike helmet as well, and it has tons of bling!  She is 64 years old and competes in half Iron Man competitions!  That means, I believe, that she swims really far in open water - can't remember how far - a mile, maybe?  Then she bikes 25 miles and runs a half marathon - maybe not in that order, but all in one day.  She is understandably proud of her physique and her bike helmet!  She has a rhinestone butterfly on the back of it and some lights on the sides.  I plan to do them in silver leaf if I can figure out how to do it.  I think it'll be fun to have them shiny and jangly in the midst of the otherwise fairly tame picture.

I photographed her in a chair I bought at an estate sale.  I saw the chair on Friday then came back on Sunday to get it when it was 1/2 price because I could completely imagine pictures taken in it.  It's also very comfortable to sit in when I'm musing or reading in the studio.   Multi-purpose!

It took me about 3 hours to draw the image - that's a very long time - normally they aren't so complex and only take about an hour.  I guess this means it'll take a while to paint too.

After drawing, I had some lunch then came back out to put on the finished details on the drawing.  Then I noticed that I had some details to finish on Beauty with a Veil II - I'd had to move her earring and her mouth line and hadn't quite finished.  I also darkened her lower arm so it would look more realistic.  NOW she's finished!  Finally!

This evening I was planning to boil a chicken, but it wouldn't defrost enough to be able to pull the bag of innards out, so I guess that'll be dinner tomorrow night.  Tonight Dylan made some delicious muffins in a dinosaur muffin pan he just got as a gift.  They were bacon/corn/herb delicious!  Yum!  I was really glad to not have to cook - I was totally caught up in the painting.  I started painting the red chair for Bling Lady.  It was so much fun! 

So 10 hours+ in the studio today.  That's a record.  Tomorrow is another day - time til 5 then a lovely walk with a friend, then a new activity - I'll be taking free voice lessons with the Sweet Adeline Chorus for a month.  I haven't sung formally since I changed my name to Singer in 1996.  I'm looking forward to it!

By the way, this last picture is of the studio at night.  I find it to be such a beautiful building!  I am so blessed to have such a great place to work!