Today's painting: A Study of a Brook 9x12 Acrylic on Canvas Pad

 

2016 was absolutely the most miserable year of my life. My wife of more than 20 years suffered a series of strokes that left her completely paralyzed which led to her death from pneumonia. If that wasn't enough of a blow, less than an hour after returning home from her funeral, my upstairs ceiling collapsed with a loud "whoosh" as gallons of water from an unknown roof leak crashed through onto the rug. So, not only was I in the middle of dealing with overwhelming grief, I now had to deal with probate and insurance. Fun.

Managed to get roof fixed. Spent lots of time with lawyers and in court to probate her estate. So, now what could make things worse? Well, suddenly the college that I had taught electronic engineering at for almost as long as I had been married, closed its doors with about 2 weeks notice to staff and students alike. Now, on top of everything else, I am unemployed. And I said "To hell with it!" and retired.

But now I had time on my hands with nothing to do. Or nothing that I wanted to do. So for about a year, I more or less played mindless computer games and did little else except grieve. I knew I was depressed and I knew I had to do something to change it, but really did not care. Toward the end of 2017, however, I noticed that there was an art class (specifically painting) at one of the local senior centers. I decided to give it a try and jumped right in, as they say.

Now I have been painting about a year. I have decided to join the Daily Painting Project where you paint a small painting every day. I have been doing that for about 2 weeks and already have noticed an improvement in my art. I have decided to share this daily journey with you and use this blog to record it.

The other four paintings on the page are all among my first 10 paintings. Three of them, Red Sky at Morning, Mountain, and Braies Lake were displayed in the local libraries for the early part of 2018. Compare them with todays painting to see if you think I am getting better. I will post more paintings and more ramblings about them in the days to come. I hope that you decide to read along and enjoy the art.