What Makes you Feel Most Alive?

Aug 15 2023

Why are we drawn to certain colours, smells, sounds and places?

Imagine your ideal space. Is it wandering along a path in a scent-filled garden with vibrant blooms. Or standing upon a high peak with all the drama at your feet and the fresh air in your lungs? Or is it escaping into a great novel or finding the peace of mediation?

What makes that experience so fulfilling for your soul? What makes you feel alive?

I think our daily routines can provide a existence of safety, normalcy, comfort and the satisfaction of productivity. We can treasure the mundane as a good thing. Those moments are a gift. But what if we are able to reach past the mundane and embrace those spaces that make us breathe a little deeper, lift our chins a bit higher and know abundant joy, then gratitude can sustain us through daily struggles.

Personally, I have tried skydiving, and I have flown down the mountains on the highest, fastest zipline in North America. But, for me, the memory of standing on a cliffside as the blunt force of wild waves of the Atlantic hit the shore, the smell of salty water spraying upwards and feeling the mist surround me was one I can relive in my mind over and over again. Whether wild waves, or the calm movement of the tides of the Bay of Fundy, it is where I most feel alive.

I suspect that whatever appeals to us individually can be influenced by a connection with a memory. I grew up spending summers on the shore of the Bay surrounded by laughter and love. When I paint waves, I am connecting with those memories.

PALETTE PRATTER

Prussian Blue has become a staple on my palette when painting some of my seascapes. It can be intense like Phthalo Blue but it gives me just the right green/blue for the water and with white and alizarin, I can get the lovely sky reflections on the surface. Prussian Blue is less intense than the Phthalo and I can still get the strength of colour that is Ultramarine Blue cannot give. You can see the results in the seascapes below

Thumbnails.

I have fallen in love with creating thumbnails. I try making about 5 before selecting the one I like the best. I have always been eager to get to the fun part of getting paint to the canvas but this has slowed my planning process and I truly believe the results are better designs. I want to give credit to T J Cunningham for inspiration and for the image to work from. This was part of my ongoing courses through The Art Journey. I used the Procreate app on my IPAD. I am learning the program slowly. I bought a book and will do a review on my next post.

ONCE UPON A CANVAS

Despite the rainy weather, I have not grown webbed feet. But combined with travel and family get-togethers, my brush-time has been limited. And that is a good thing. I am eager to get back to my routine, my studio and painting en plein air.

I did manage to complete a commission and just about to wrap up painting of one of New Brunswick beautiful beaches, New River Beach.