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Thursday, September 20, 2012

We'll Have Pancakes Instead


 Bell Peppers  and a Bermuda Onion on A Dick Blick Catalogue, Watercolor Alla Prima

I had no intention of starting a conversation concerning socialized medicine versus the free enterprise system, or the cost of medical care. My little paragraph yesterday was simply a little story about shit happening in a waiting room full of  people who had been up all night shitting.

Today was a carefree day. I have no stories to tell. I didn't feel like painting or doing anything seriously, so I got my bell peppers and a Bermuda onion out of the fridge and did a wet into wet painting with watercolors. The peppers and onion were to be roasted for supper, but we'll have pancakes instead.

28 comments:

  1. Linda: I guess I started that mess yesterday by going first. It was not intentional. I just wanted to agree that shit happens, and it happened to me. I apologize if it cost you any aggravation. For the record, I am almost apolitical, and definitely independent.

    In any event, I love your peppers and onions.

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    1. I realized I must have hit a nerve. Medical procedures do remind people of their experiences and those bring out dissatisfactions, (Christine's reply to you) with the medical system. Then I got caught up in it. Today, I had an interesting time reading about what the two of you were talking about. Then I deleted what I wrote to you in reply. Things had gotten carried away. Simple as that. I thought it was fun. Thanks. I really do have to cook those peppers or else painting will be the only thing they're good for :-)

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  2. And my mea culpa follows having picked up on JJ's comment, it was the quoted cost of the ambulance that exercised me. Anyway to the important stuff, your painting. I love the lots of lost edges and blurred relationships that speak of the wonderful collation that will follow.

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    1. I hit some nerves. No care is free. We all pay to care for the sick Mick. Ambulances are scary. I've ridden in two.
      The peppers were all I could muster today. Now I'm off to make pancakes.

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  3. I think this is great! I'd be happy with my day's output if I did this. And such vibrant colors! What brand of watercolors do you use again?

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    1. Reeves. nothing fancy or costly. Then throw caution to the wind and jump in. Following the WS instructions of working with a limited palette, I used yellow, red and ultramarine blue, black and white. Today I'll add a more vibrant green than what I got mixing ultramarine and cad yellow medium; it was a bit dull. The amount of water in the mix seems to be the thing to pay attention to with watercolors--but ain't that the truth with acrylics and oils? So it's nothing you haven't done before. You've got great control over your watercolors. I lack it and so ignore it entirely. Let the paint fall where it may.

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  4. Lovely watercolor painting. Just enough information to make out what vegetables it is. I love how simple it is.

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    1. Thank you Roger. I'm pretty uninhibited with watercolors. I do not like them too controlled. It takes all the fun out of the medium. It's just paper. You do get an few trys out of one sheet of 140 lb. some of those trys are bound to be worth saving.

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  5. This watercolor is so fresh...love it! I guess I missed the controversy in the other thread...

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    1. This is probably a bit overdone. I'm going after those vegetables again today. I have to hurry; they're on the menu tonight. I do not feel like killing my self with the oils. After years with fluid acrylics. Watercolor suits me just fine when I want to just play around.

      The "other thread was funny." Talk about one medical procedure and everybody's mind goes to the worst things that have happened to them and the high cost of care. Nobody in that waiting room gave a damn what that test cost; they just wanted to get it over with. And I fell into the trap. I think Christine started it, not really JJ. Then John Simlet flaunted his totally free medical emergency and things got confused and Mick had a few words about the cost of ambulances and it all got out of hand. Socialize medicine versus free enterprise; medical insurance versus out-of-pocket cash payment. Actually it was funny how one little paragraph can open a can of worms.

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  6. What an absolutely beautiful free and loose watercolor!

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    1. Thanks Judy. I don't have the patience for first drawing, then blocking out, then working from light to dark then glazing. Too much regimentation. I'm getting enough of that with the oils.

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  7. Linda!
    Love this watercolor! So loose and free! Great fun! Love the colors and the movement! Nice!
    Now let's see the pancake painting! Mmmmm!
    Keep painting!
    Michael

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    1. Thanks Michael. It was great fun. I intend to have more of that. No pancake painting I'm afraid. We ate them all. :-)

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  8. Hi Linda, I am always enchanted by your watercolors painted "alla prima." Thanks to you, I feel that is maturing in me the desire to try, at least for a time, to paint a watercolor alla prima.....and see what happens. Ciao!

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    1. Thank you Tito. It's just paper. I like the immediacy of working that way. Very rarely will I go back to firm up with pen or pastel after the initial wet into wet dries. You just move on. Of all the mediums, it seems to be the freest. But then I do like abstraction.

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    1. Thanks Sharon. This is such a lovely way to paint. The hardest part is when to lift your brush and say that's enough. Vegetables aren't as demanding as grandchildren.

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  10. Lovely watercolor. Peppers particularly are so beautifully shaped, a joy to paint.

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    1. Yes they are especially with watercolor and not oils.

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  11. Lovely jubbly, Linda. Good to see things getting back to normal. Great painting ....where are the pancakes? ( I like pancakes :0)

    Oh dear, did I seem political over health? Sorry, didn't mean to be, its just that so many people were asking me about the National Health Service - following the opening ceremony at the London Olympics. I thought there was a general interest.

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    1. We're a bit odd. We've had breakfast for dinner many times. We've also started to prefer going out together for a lovely lunch (dinner), rather than doing the Friday or Saturday night thing, and having lunc/breakfast foods for dinner at home. I miss the dressing up though.

      There was a general interest. A lot of interest. You did flaunt your socialized medicine thing in answer to Mick--but after I thought about it, you do pay for your medical through the taxes you pay to the government. I think ambulances are always extra? The whole thing was Christine's fault bringing up paying with cash--like my cancer care would have been cheaper without telling them I was insured--like I could have paid for all the procedures and tests that went into and are going into that. See? Then I jumped in.

      Our little test and my little paragraph just opened a can of worms on a topic that has everybody over here concerned. The fact is that the healthy pay for the care of the sick no matter how we pay through taxes, through insurance premiums, or out-of-pocket. I did think the discourse was interesting. It got me to look up a lot of things about our health care system, of which I knew nothing. My old man takes care of all the bureaucratic stuff, I'm ashamed to say.

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  12. Damn... now I want pancakes too :)
    Glad you enjoyed a carefree day and I'm enjoying your beautiful alla prima watercolour!!
    Hugs and smiles.

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    1. We often have breakfast foods for dinner because we have dinner foods for lunch. Very unamerican. But we like to eat that way. Plus I make up a batch and cook them all at one time. We each have two and I freeze the rest for further down the road. I'm getting lazy in my old age. I'd rather spend my time here or in the studio.

      Watercolor alla prima is a lot more fun than oils alla prima.

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  13. So fresh and beautful this watercolor alla prima. I love it . What a beautiful colors. Big hugs Linda

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    1. Thanks. I had a good time. I used red, yellow and blue, black and white. Total palette. I'm starting to think that's the way to go. It keeps painting simpler.

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  14. Just love the 'courage' with the bold colors and the wonderfully artistic composition.

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    1. Courageous--or foolhardy--is me. Pick up a brush, dip it in a puddle, lay it down and see how it flows. It's just paper. Thanks, this was lucky paper:-)

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