I'm getting settled into working in the temporary studio at our home in Bend. Plans are underway to build a 500 sq. ft. studio in the back yard, but ground hasn't broken yet. So for the time being, Bob and I are making do with the third bedroom as a studio, and the garage as storage and additional workspace for Bob's printmaking endeavor. It is a challenging room: beautiful light from the east window in the early morning, but awful lighting in the afternoon and especially the evening. I am enjoying walking on the floor cloth I painted! (I wrote about that here: http://www.lynnadamo.com/transitions/ I have been managing to be productive in the temporary space. I finished two pieces in time to submit to upcoming shows. Setting out to meet two deadlines and achieving the goal was an important step to getting "back in the saddle." The work of the last 6 weeks has energized me to move forward. In doing so, I'm reaching back to finish something I started in 2012, but had put it on the shelf. It's a landscape, inspired by the view out my parents' kitchen window in Vacaville, California. I'd taken a photo on a wintertime visit, made a color sketch and the line cartoon. I'd gotten so far as putting the cartoon on a piece of WediBoard and even began mosaicking the bottom right corner. But then, some larger commissions came up, and that board was put on the shelf. When I packed up the studio in Hillsboro for the move, I decided that I would complete the piece this year, and try to give it to my folks for their 60th wedding anniversary this summer. Pulling out the board, I realized that the Wedi was really bumpy (the mesh was very raised on this piece.) I've been making my own substrates in recent years, and a smooth surface is much preferred now. So my plan was to put a scratch coat of mortar over the cartoon, and start again. When I went to get started, I realized that I didn't know where my color sketch was. Did I throw it away? I vaguely remember tossing the full size cartoon of the work— I figured I'd already transferred it to the board. Now I wish I hadn't done that! Oh well, I guess I'll just make a new color sketch and a new cartoon. I wanted to use a big sketch pad clip board so I could sit on the couch and color. Fortunately, Bob knew where we'd put that clip board. He got it for me from the garage. I gathered my box of pastels, a photograph of the scene, some new line cartoons, reduced size, that I could use to color on. I laid the clipboard on the floor an noticed a few white sheets of paper clipped to it. Hmm, what did I clip to the board before moving it to Bend? I couldn't believe what I saw when I unclipped the papers. Seems I'd clipped that original color sketch and the photos of the scene to the board for transport! Serendipity! It was a completely surreal feeling. I guess I am meant to finish this work!
The clipboard!
