LE CAFE’…
As the struggle to re-introduce my right hand back to full use with daily hand exercises, I also continue to sketch and practice endless scales on the piano. My ultimate quest is to learn how (by teaching myself) to watercolour, and [again] play complicated Haydn and Bach duets with my friend, Rosemary.
Let there be no mistake here…the above image is a pencil/graphite drawing not a watercolour. LE CAFE’ could be called my value study, so important in the painting process. The next logical step is to re-sketch LE CAFE’…which I’ve done…map the colour scheme…which I’ve sort-of done, and begin the process of watercolouring with…colour…and…water.
I think I have artist brush-block. My Reader thinks I’m stalling.
Probably.
I’ll be in touch…
Jots from a Small Apt. 
just checking on you, amiga! hope that the summer has gone well. z
LikeLike
Thank you for the shout out! It’s been somewhat of an…interesting summer. Loving your posts…my respite from reality. You are utterly amazing…we should be neighbours and not just soul-sisters. XXOOXR
LikeLike
Hope all is well, Jots, and all the parts are working as they should again.
The thought of you not dancing or painting comfortably is a difficult one.)
LikeLike
the magic carpet’s getting ready for a check ride, and i cannot imagine taking a spin around the globe without your amazing wit to entertain us!
playamart.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/round-the-world-check-out-ride/
z
LikeLike
been missing you around … and love he new pic of you by the way
LikeLike
I am distressed because your posts don’t seem to appear in My Reader…I am not savvy enough to know why. Today I sought out your blog and fell in love with your most recent work. Years ago, I did black and white photography and hand colored bits and pieces of each photo. Your cafe reminded me of those old works. Lovely job! Hope you’re healing quickly! 🙂
LikeLike
Hi there – not been around on here as not been v. well. If you send me a message I will reply and explain. Hoping you are still coming to England in September….. Best wishes, Pat
LikeLike
I’ve emailed you. Let me know if it arrives if not message me again here. Yes…2 wks: Salthouse & Blakeney. VERY close to you. We can finally have that cup of tea…I’ll have white coffee, please…I’ll even bring my own half-cream!!!! Fondly, Raye
LikeLike
Wonderful atmosphere! I’d love to sit here and sip my coffee and watch life pass by.
LikeLike
LE CAFE’…R. This is wonderful! and I can almost hear the music from your piano. I hope you have great weekend and I am sure we will chat soon. Best wishes, James
LikeLike
I like this very much. It puts me in mind of street artists in Paris, who do such lovely work while people mainly just rush by and offer only a glance. Thank you for posting this so I can take my time and enjoy and appreciate. Hope your hand gets better soon! I can hardly wait to see what comes from the “well” if this is from the ailing hand.
LikeLike
Thank you so much for the very nice comment!! We oft times do rush by…leaving the quiet images behind…flower pots on window sills, lace curtains, umbrellas waiting for company…..
LikeLike
Yes…..we do. But pictures like yours reminds one to slow down and appreciate all that can be seen, felt, tasted, smelled….slow down.
LikeLike
Le Cafe is Le lovely, Jots. You have much talent in your hand/hands there.
LikeLike
Merci Merci! Ms. Curtain….
LikeLike
I think this is a lovely drawing, Jots. I’d buy it and hang it up as is.
LikeLike
I am savouring your comment, MW…most likely all day…
LikeLike
Brilliant and beautiful…
LikeLike
Thank you so much, Don…always nice to hear your voice!
LikeLike
You’re welcome, Jots…
LikeLike
Your cafe is a remind of the many reasons why I enjoy the sights and sounds of Europe. I enjoy your just-enough touch of color. Hooray for your progress on your hand!
LikeLike
There is something very special about morning coffee, sitting outside…watching and listening…an embrace of a day just starting…I’ll save you and MrsA a table.
LikeLike
I wrote a little poem kind of thing on my most recent post (which for some strange reason did not appear in the Reader) about my “relationship” with watercolours… WATERCOLOR intimidates me immensely, but it also traps me inevitably…it both grounds me and takes my breath away…it makes my heart beat at a faster rate, and puts me in a zen like state, it grabs hold of my senses and lets my mind soar…it, simultaneously, stops me in my tracks and sets me free …a fluid medium…that keeps me static, in a trance, where all I can do is discover and admire at every chance… WATERCOLOURS, the day I achieve inner peace, that day I’ll start watercolouring…till then I’m working with oil paints … but that’s me. You Jots, find energy in the challenge, I admire that attitude, hope you show us your work as you progress to a “proficient watercolourist”…oops I eavesdropped on your conversation with the wonderful Z… read you soon, Alexandra
LikeLike
I read your w/c post Alexandra…which inspired me to write about the angst of “brush-block” and fear…of doing it wrong. Well…you can not do ART wrong…right? We’ll go with that and…since you eavesdropped…it is now the secret of the three of us.
My missives never show up in my Reader…I thought that was normal? Is it not…?
LikeLike
Le Cafe did appear in my Reader today… If you follow yourself they should appear as you click publish… I do follow myself to see how others will see it… oooh, I’ve got a post on “doing ART wrong” which was what my painting teacher said when she saw my first all inspiration-no instruction oil color practices… it made me infinitely sad… I finished my course anyway but now I do whatever I feel inspired to… Promise to keep your secret 🙂 and will be cheering you on
LikeLike
So that’s the “trick”….follow yourself!!!!!! Like cooking…if only I’d read the directions instead of just looking at the pictures….
We should remind ourselves…yous and mees…there is no wrong way in doing ART…it is definitely the discipline of process, however, that can be a bit tricky to nail down…
Thanks for the “Reader” share. Are you working toward a degree?
LikeLike
if there’s a degree in motherhood, then YES…I wish I was…right now I’m ÁUTODIDACTA, that is self-teaching, like you are with watercolours… I’m eager to go back to school and get my masters in something 🙂
LikeLike
Your drawing with a damaged hand is worlds better than me with a good hand.
I draw a mean stick figure though!
Glad to hear your dexterity is coming back!
(And glad you’re taking breaks too, even if it’s hidden under “stalling”.)
LikeLike
I do “stalling” really really well…*snort*
LikeLike
I’m so impressed, yet I’m baffled about your block! I wish I were there to ‘coach’ you through that block!
I once had an adult student who was scared he would ruin his drawing with watercolor; I suggested he make copies of the work on an ordinary copy machine then practice on his copies. The following week he brought half a dozen with different attempts, We discussed what went well and what went – horrid – then he worked on the original in class!
Start with your lights and work to the darks.. I would start with a wash on the facade of the cafe. Then the awning.. and umbrella.. let areas dry before adding more, unless it’s ‘wet into wet’ for shadows and splotches…
You can do this!!!!
Z
LikeLike
Z…needless to say…wish you were here! After reading my w/c books/watching YouTube videos on process…know that I have to lay in my washes and start from there. And completely dry prior to laying in more colour. I make trace/cartoon copies so I can file them away for reuse. Gives me the option of using different wt. paper for different mediums. I’m also thinking that I may want to execute this in monochrome grays…just for w/c value practice. Your suggestions have bolstered my confidence. Off to my little studio to stare and maybe….start. Thank you, Lisa!!!! PS. I’ll share this with just you…I’m determined to become (perhaps not expert) but a proficient watercolourist…it was the only undergrad art class I did not fare well in….that “control” thing…let’s keep that admission just between you and I….
LikeLike
you will master watercolor! your work is so strong.. all you need is the ‘muscle memory’ and not to fight with the watercolors.
it’s so nice to visit with someone who understands values.. there’s a need for light, middle and dark values, and many people just can’t visualize them. when ‘flipped’ via computer or copy machine to graytones, they suddenly understand!
you like a good challenge and will ace this one! i loved that yellow touch on the umbrella!
LikeLike
Soul sisters…
LikeLike
:))
LikeLike
Beautiful! I love the contrast of the yellow umbrella against the rest of the piece.
LikeLike
Ahhh….had a hay loft once…when I was younger and memories were in the making.
Now?
Repeat the question, please….
LikeLike
I need to do such value studies too. Often I am too impatient and just launch straight into painting. I just so love the colours! But have been a tad busy lately and have little time to paint so I really should be doing more sketches for quick practise. Yes I am stalling too. BUT. I will be in touch too. : )
LikeLike
Monica…the fear of “doing it wrong” is almost (well yes) paralyzing….know what I mean? It’s all in the practice, practice, practice…where “wrong” doesn’t even and should not enter….OK here I go into the studio to walk the walk…..
Always nice hearing from you! Raye
LikeLike
A piece of white paper scares me so too. But you are so right, this is a place really where there is no wrong. I am in the process of learning to be myself and accept myself through drawing and painting. : )
LikeLike
Go ahead and paint and you’ll have accomplished more than the vast majotiy of us.
LikeLike
Where your talents are concerned…I doubt that! The stall? HA!! Get it??? STALL….barn…boots…it always comes back to the deep stuff….and fear.
LikeLike
You have an uncanny knack for getting us back in muddy boots in the seclusion of the barn, with no one witnessing us but those cows. They’re not judgemental, most of them anyway.
LikeLike
I forgot about cow judging…
LikeLike
As if they’ve got room to talk, standing there with their cud-chewing looks of detached superiority. This is why people often retreat to the hay loft, away from their giant, prying eyes.
LikeLike