Friday, July 19, 2013

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Lyme Fatigue, 100 Degrees and Watercolors


I have not been in the studio much because this new Lyme infection has been knocking me out with fatigue, and I already struggle with chronic fatigue from an older chronic Lyme infection. The best term that I have heard to describe the kind of fatigue that comes with chronic Lyme is "Incomprehensible fatigue", it makes even the smallest tasks seem totally overwhelming.

Not being able to be in the studio creating paintings on silk on a regular basis for the last couple of years has really been a struggle for me so I have decided to teach myself watercolor painting since it does not involve all the technical steps like applying resists, stretching the silk, steaming it for hours and is therefore less energy intensive. Today it is nearly 100 degrees outside so I spent the morning in my lovely air-conditioned studio experimenting with watercolors again. Feeling very grateful for the A/C that my wonderful hubby hooked up in here. Below is a work in progress.

This little woodshed painting is a work in progress. I will probably finish it up tomorrow and if I do I will post a finished photo of it. It is 5 x 7 on 140 LB Fabriano hot pressed watercolor paper.


 With temps like this I am glad to be in my studio with the A/C on painting watercolors instead of steaming silk paintings for 4 hours LOL!!



Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Watercolor Explorations


Well, shoot, I have a new Lyme infection that is slowing me down a lot. The fatigue and pain that has come with the new infection has kept me from producing anything very complicated in the studio so I have been playing around with watercolors. I have never really worked with watercolor before and I am enjoying the process of experimenting with it and learning how much it differs from painting on silk with dyes.  Here are some small, 5 x 7, watercolor sketches I have done over the last week.