Reaching For Heaven

Reaching for Heaven, 6 x 6 inches, Oil Pastel on Paper

Generally, I let the painting tell me it's title if there is one. My friend Sheila was painting in my studio when I finished this piece. She looked at it and the title came to her so I let it be. With this piece, I decided to try a colored ground on the paper so I combined Burnt Sienna with Burnt Umber and white gesso. I used Gamblin Gesso which I like best even though I think it is too expensive. I found that the surface with paint in it was a little too slippery and the buff/adobe color made it more difficult to achieve the same kind of intensity with the color. However, the softness that resulted has its own kind of appeal and I ended up liking quite a lot. A lot of what these paintings are about is listening and acting without judgement or thought. Just doing and trusting what happens. It is challenging but also so incredibly freeing.