A Couple More Pages from my Journal

 I'm almost done with my sketch journal for the Brooklyn Art Library project. It's certainly given me something to occupy my time during the pandemic, not that I'll ever run out of things to do.

In Florida we are under what I'd call Wimpy Lockdown. They haven't enforced much so far, so my expectations are low.

It's funny the things you are forced to notice during isolation. I can't go to the nail salon for a pedicure and I'm wondering when my toes got to be so far away.

The virus has certainly improved the looks of our yard. We have spent our time in isolation whipping it into shape, and it is much improved. I wish I enjoyed cleaning out closets as much as I enjoy gardening. Maybe this summer I'll be able to do some more paintings while standing in the pool. It's the only way, what with global warming and all. It's going to be a scorcher of a summer.

5-Day Challenge, Day 5: Big Ole Vidalia, 5x7 Oil on Panel

This is the final day of the challenge to paint a small artwork in 20 minutes. So happy that #ArtWorkLivingChallenge has done this online exercise. People did some beautiful things in a measly 20 minutes! It makes you have to plan and think, instead of just jumping in. Thanks, Mary Gilkerson.

Carmen

5-Day Challenge: Costa's Hummingbird 5x7 Oil on Panel

Many thanks to my friend Tom Gottfried for sending me beautiful hummingbird pictures. He is quite a photographer, and cultivates flowers in his yard that attract hummingbirds. The results are stunning.

Carmen

5-Day Challenge, Day 3: Beach Day, 7x5 Oil on Panel

Before I began this, my third 20-minute painting, I couldn't resist drawing a cartoon about the experience of doing a painting in such a short amount of time.

Carmen

5-Day Challenge, 20-Minute Painting, Day 2: Old Florida, 5x7 Oil on Panel

This reminds me of my younger days in Central Florida. It was always an adventure to look for wildlife, and snakes or gators gave us bragging rights. We used to pick Rosary Peas, bright red beans with a black spot, and use them for peashooters. I now know they are poisonous and we could have killed ourselves with those things!

I primed my board with red, which I brushed on and wiped off. I like it for landscapes because it gives all that green some spark.

Carmen

5-Day Challenge, 20-Minute Painting, Ho-Hummingbird 5x7 Oil on Panel

The artist Mary Gilkerson periodically conducts a 5-Day Challenge on her website, https://marygilkerson.com, and today is the first day. We have 20 minutes to complete a painting. This is an incredibly useful lesson and comes at a time when we are all stuck at home, so no excuse not to do it. This is my first painting, oil on panel, and the urge to correct is strong, but I am sticking with the flat 20 minutes, and what you see is what you get. It takes a lot for me not to nitpick.

Carmen

Florida Jungle, 10x8 Oil Painting on Canvas Panel

This was a very complicated landscape. I do like the thick and tangled jungle look of Florida woods, and it's always so tricky not to have everything green, green and more green. I'm pleased with the way this one turned out.

Carmen

More From My Journal, My Life in Limericks

I have not posted anything in weeks because I've been sick. I'm better now and have done a bit more in my journal. In the last post we were living in Bermuda. Click on the picture to view it better:

This was our second tour in the Azores, and we had a great time there. I started working at Lajes Air Force Base, and the rest of the time we were playing sports. We got our first horse there, a little Portuguese cart horse named Canasta. It was a great place to raise children.

Carmen

Children's Church Mural

For the

For the past four weeks I've been working on 82 feet of mural in the River Run Christian Church in Melbourne. Hap and Audra saved me hours by putting in the largest blocks of color, then Kathy Garvey came and painted many of the little critters you see. Last Sunday a two-year-old little girl walked right up to the wall and gave a turtle a kiss. That's what it's all about.

Carmen

More from my Sketch Journal, My Life in Limericks

We were living in Charleston and Suzanne was a baby when President Kennedy was shot.

Next came Bermuda. Can you imagine living in Bermuda for three years? Yes, it was wonderful. We lived in Diamond Cottage on Suffering Lane. That was our whole address.

The water was turquoise, the beaches had pink sand in them. Snorkeling was great and we could stay near the shore. Beautiful fish were abundant. It was a great place for kids.

Carmen