A Painted Process, Courtesy of Micheline

There is a wonderful blog I look at from time to time full of art and paintings and beautiful stuff.  It's the kind of blog that makes me feel bad about myself for a minute or two, but then I quickly begin to feel inspired and want to make things.  Even with that, though, it is obvious this lady is hogging all the Awesome.

The other day I was nosing around on her site and she periodically posts photos of her paintings in process, start to finish, and talks about them and the process a bit.  It's really fun and I enjoy so much getting to see everything from the beginning.  

Though people always say they like my "style," I don't feel much like I have a style.  And while I don't know what my style is, I know that this lady's style is very, very different from mine.  But because I can look at each step of the painting all the way through and she talks about each phase, I got a real sense for some of the techniques she uses.  And her paintings are beautiful -- bright colors, lots of contrast, interesting and gorgeous and fun.

I got to thinking.  

Well, I don't paint landscapes, but I can use some of these techniques painting portraits.  Why can't I paint portraits using some of these techniques?  Will it work?  Can I make it work?

I decided to make it work.  I spend 7 hours painting yesterday and 3 today, and I still have a lot more to go.  Two paintings are finished, two are in process, and I still have one blank canvas waiting.

So, here we go.  The fruits of my labor, process included.

Jamie Redeaux
Acrylic on canvas
March 2012

I was so high while I painted this.  Okay, not literally high, but I felt high for hours and hours.  I found an entrance to the Zone and stayed there ALL DAY LONG.  For anyone who has trouble getting in the Zone or finding that sweet, buzzy head space required to make things, you probably know

a)  how hard it is to find, and

b)  how hard it is to freakin' STAY there

The fact that I was in the Zone for about seven straight hours is kind of unbelievable.  I am as mystified about it now as I was yesterday.  I won't ask questions.

Peej Redeaux
Acrylic on canvas
March 2012

These two days have been kind of a breakthrough for me.  Things I could never understand before suddenly make sense.  Things that freaked me out or I felt like I couldn't utilize in my paintings I suddenly felt totally capable of doing.  And this feeling, the one that has carried over into today and will last for days, is one of the best, most accomplished and most euphoric feelings I know.