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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Maurice, Maurice, Maurice


I had invited the girls to lunch.

I had ordered the food last night for pick-up at 11:00 AM.

It was snowing when I got up at six--and snowing and snowing and snowing as I set the table. If I had been invited to lunch on a day that looked like this one was going to be, I would have cancelled; I'm a wus when it comes to driving in blizzard conditions.

Still, at ten o'clock, neither of the gals had called. I was in awe. My friends were obviously snow hearty drivers--one, a nurse, the other a gal who had lived her life in Kalamazoo (lots of lake effect snow there). She was no stranger to winter driving; maybe the lunch was still a go?

I gave the house a wipe and a polish. There's nothing like having company to get you moving on cleaning stuff you should have cleaned weeks ago.

Honey trekked out to pick up the Maurice salads and homemade chips at ten forty five. He would have made a great mailman.

My friend the nurse called around eleven. She'd been out and everybody was slipping and sliding all over the place. She was worried not about coming, but about going home. I understood. I gave her a snow-check.

I called Kalamazoo and told her the nurse had said it was treacherous out. Kalamazoo thought it might be a good idea to get back in her jammies and cancel her evening plans as well. I agreed. Snow-check all around.

At noon, the sun was shining, the snow was sparkling and the sky was a brilliant cobalt blue. Talk about some nasty timing! BUT:

Bad luck, good luck, who can tell? Bad luck for camaraderie. Good luck for straightened bookshelves, spiffed up studio sink, polished lazy susan--and bringing the first large acrylic painting of 2012 to the observation stage. Hanging on the wall under the picture lights for a day or two, the final finish won't be too far off. I'll make my self-imposed deadline. --How important is that? I'd rather have been laughing with friends; studios are lonely places.

Maurice, Maurice, Maurice, guess what Honey and I are having for lunch, and dinner, and...?

9 comments:

  1. Goodness I hope you like salad! As for your painting, it's amazing, wish I could get effects like that.

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  2. You can, I know you can. You are very talented yourself madame. I think your TV sketches are a terrific idea and amazing. Meanwhile aside from eating a Maurice salad for lunch and anticipating one for dinner, I did start putting together a portfolio on my Blackberry. I met a young sales woman at St. John yesterday, who asked me what do I paint. I showed her the couple of my paintings I had on my cell phone; and she told me about a gallery owner I should go see. As the muses would have it, I knew the guy she bought the gallery from. A definite lead.

    Aside from painting this disappointing afternoon, I downloaded and organized a few cell phone art portfolios: portraits, florals, landscapes. Having my paintings at my finger tip,had paid off once, why not be ready again when someone asks, "What do you paint?"

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  3. Sorry your luncheon was cancelled; I know it's disappointing when you've done all the preparation, then have to eat all the food yourself. Well, that might also be a good thing, come to think of it. Another good thing is that painting! It perfectly captures the mood of winter, with fantastic muted colors and lovely brushwork.

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  4. Not always things go how we want, but the painting... is great:)

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  5. Hi Linda.
    I would have thought the painting was completed, you say it`s not. Dying to see it completed then. I love your comments Linda, don`t ever stop them, they really make me laugh. All the best.
    Vic.

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  6. I'm glad I make somebody laugh Victor. We all need to laugh at ourselves and some of the silly notions we have. Company is coming and OMG the house is a wreck and needs to be remodeled before they get here! --Or at least new throw pillows for the sofa. We forget the importance of friendship and community (newest word for togetherness). That's what keeps us stimulated and stimulating. I was disappointed when the girls couldn't come and miffed at the muses for being so damn unamusing with the drastic weather change. But luckily Honey and me like Maurice salad because after lunch and dinner yesterday, it's coming out of our ears! --When I say finished, I mean tweaked a little--little flicks that will break up other little flicks and are over stepping their boundaries--nothing much. I really could sign it.

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  7. Robert SELDOM do things go as we planned! Always expect the unexpected. Life is an adventure. Some of which we'd like to skip. This particular snow day was one of them. It's a rare event when I have people over; I hate to straighten up. I'm just glad I didn't get so carried away as to have the carpets cleaned!
    The painting is finished really. When I put it on the observation wall, I spend a couple weeks living with it, casually observing depth, planes,lines, interactions etc. and have been known to make a tweak here and there, but no grand gestures. I'll probably sign it today and move on. It's the moving on that removes me from that work. Moving on clears the head and allows me to look back on work with an unbiased eye.

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  8. Thank you Sharmon. The luncheon was a wash,but the painting won the day--and the straightening up I did around the house. It's amazing how dirty watercolor is. For such a mild mannered paint form, there were spots everywhere on my bar top and upholstered stools in the finished part of the basement. The wet into wet method seems to encourage vigorous brush strokes, my favorite. I'll just have to invite folks over on a regular basis not matter the weather report.

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  9. Linda,

    Your "Winter" for 2012 is magnificent. The mood is spot on; the colors, movement, and drawing within the painting are stirring and poetic. I love the new look of your blog. The new title suits you and your goals better. I know I'm a post behind, but I also think carrying a portfolio on your Blackberry is a brilliant idea. Should you go the gallery route, you ought to be very successful!

    Yours,
    Nanina

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