Another surgery... tons and tons of waiting around to find out what's happening and perhaps what might happen next.  Yesterday was not a great day.. but happily today is better.

After Dad's surgery was over yesterday and he was settled in for a good rest after lunch I drove home and decided to dive into a new painting.  I wanted to paint something a bit bigger than the small formats I've been doing and use the brushes.  I will continue with the palette knives in the future, but at this point they do not satisfy me as much as using the brush does.  I'm hoping that feeling will change and I'll become a bit "easier" around the knife.  However, I decided to paint an image from the beach near Isla Vista where I spent four years living when I was in college at UCSB and where my daughter lived too. 

I didn't have much time and really wanted to get it done before I headed back to the hospital to be with Dad at dinner.  Actually, time flew and I almost thought the painting was finished so I photographed it with the thought in my head that sometimes it's a great thing to have time limits. However when I looked at the painting in the photo I just had taken, I realized that it will take a bit more work...  Some of the light colored areas of the cliffs were too light and perhaps the far mountains needed to be lightened up a bit.   Do you ever notice that you see more faults with a painting after you photograph it than before???   I'll do some more work on the Isla Vista Beach painting if I get a break sometime today.   Overall that painting really soothed and pleased me.  My plan is to finish it and post it tomorrow.

I am surprised that sitting around in a hospital can seem to tire me out so....   but it does.  Imagine how it makes my Dad feel -- he's the one who has had four surgeries and had to be in and out of the hospital so often in the last 3 1/2 weeks.   Hopefully the procedures to come will be more successful than those past ones.   Thank goodness he's got such a fabulous outlook on life!

In the meantime, I'm posting a little 7"x5" study I did of my little guy, Tyler, when he was at the beach one time a while back.   It's called "Beach Play".   Please click this LINK for more information about the painting.   I like the looseness of it.   Lately since my husband is up in Washington and I wanted to get to the hospital early to try to talk to the doctors, Tyler has been spending the days and nights with my son - his uncle.  They've had a great weekend - playing paintball and going to the movies.   Tyler's had such a great time he may not want to come home!


Thanks to all of you for your good wishes for my Dad.  We both appreciate it!