Alison: Oooh shiny!

The sewing will have to wait, the dolls will remain unrealized - I am under deadline to paint a cover for the annual Community Guide. Since the early 2000's the newspaper I once owned and now am blissfully employed by puts out a glossy four color (remember when that was a new thing?) publications listing facts and whatnot for the towns I live in and around.

Last year I painted a watercolor a la the New Yorker's view of the world by Saul Steinberg.

Above: His awesome version. Below: My attempt to steal his awesomeness.

This year I have NO IDEA what I am doing! I think it will be a painting but so far I have spend a gazillion hours agonizing over it and have produced one crappy acrylic painting I gessoed over yesterday, a watercolor that is now in the garbage can and a watercolor sketch I made yesterday evening on a postcard sized piece of watercolor paper.

Here are my inspirations that make me want to tear my hair out:

Eric Sloane

By the way - I stalked him one day, while an art student in Connecticut - I found his address in a local phone bok, found his house, knocked on the door. He was having lunch so he sent me to his basement gallery with this advice: go out the basement door that leads to the driveway when you leave. Ah, such words of...I can't be bothered with you, you annoying art student.

My sister's art teacher, Anda Styler

The vibrant colors in her paintings are only matched by the vibrant colors in her amazing quilts. I adore her. I loathe myself.

My sister.

Andrew Wyeth.

The opposite of Anda and my sister, Susan Warner, he is not a colorist. Just like me. But his drawings and drybrush paintings of grass showing each individual blade and portraits showing each strand of hair. Up at 1 a.m. reading his autobiography - a book I found in Rockport, Maine... I DO have bald spots from all this. Or at least piles of hair on the floor.

Last night I dreamed I had piles of my hair around me, white against red and black cloth. See? SEE?!

So I have lots of photos of this one spot I love - this wonderful old barn on a sleepy dirt road set on a hill above the farmhouse that has been in the family since the early 1900s. The more I visit the place, the more I am in love with it.

Originally we were going to create a cover with one scene that shows the four seasons but that was too hard for me!!!
Then we decided to make it a timeless scene - late fall with summer clouds and snow on the distant hills.

It's early spring for chrissakes! The barn is set in lush greenery! We have endured six months of grey and white and brownness and now I am supposed to skip right over all this greenery and immerse myself in brownness again?! I don't think so!

Okay, I may lose my spot as cover creator forever, since I have produced nothing and it was due YESTERDAY, but I have to paint the way I imagine I can paint not like someone else wants me to. I'm stubborn like that. AND I can't paint what I don't know or cannot (will not) feel.

I'd better get to work! Wait. I'll eat a pop tart.

I mean, never mind I haven't painted in YEARS!!

Okay. I can do this. First to cut a path through all this hair...