Hope's Art Journey

  Ever since Istarted going to Suwannee, on the way to the fishing spots near what is called“East Pass” is this cypress tree with no leaves.  It stands out from the marshes and shines inthe sunlight.  I don’t know about therest of the residents there but my husband’s cousin calls it the “SilverTree”.  I have many photos of it from alldirections, have even gone back to get shots of the base hoping for interestingroots (not so) and different marsh backgrounds. The composition has eluded me. Centering it on a canvas is not interesting and neither is blocking outall the background.  It begs to bedrawn.  [...]

I have had a fascination with this clump of palms across the road from our place in Suwannee, FL.  I've photographed and painted them from several directions.  This one is from a photo that was not well lit by the sun but still showed the wonderful rust and gold colors of the marsh.  I started the 6" x 6" gessobord by spreading heavy gel/molding paste across one way with a very large pallette knife.  I didn't really try to pattern it, just let it happen.  Then, I washed a coat of yellow ochre over the entire board as I usually do.  [...]

    During the journey as an artist, life happens to change schedules, motivations and the reason for doing large paintings.  I am at that point for the time being.  When blocked, I study methods and techniques used by other artists and go through my multitude of photos.  During this latest search, I found many photos that looked good when I took them but the light was bad or the composition incomplete.  Therefore, I did not see an immediate opportunity for a large painting.  The series I have begun is from photos taken at Suwannee, FL [...]