Limited palette, limited ability

[Donna T]

I'm still recovering from surgery on my dominant left hand and trying to do what I can while it's in a brace. My right hand isn't capable of much either so I felt like Edward Scissorhands trying to hold a brush with whichever fingers were available. I could only open the tubes of burnt sienna, Payne's gray, black and white so limited palette it was. The shapes evolved from a splotchy underpainting and I put a few accents of pastel on top. Since I used gesso instead of white paint the pastel stuck surprisingly well. It felt soooo good to push and mush some paint around again! 6x9 acrylic and pastel on watercolor paper.

 

[Enyaw]

Congratulations on getting a piece done. It's a big step. The piece is quite lovely in my opinion.

 

[Arnie]

Lovely mood Donna. Pallet has worked well. The burnt sienna is lifting it. Lovely texture. Hope you recover full pain free movement quickly.

 

[Terri]

This is seriously gorgeous, Donna. Your perseverance did you proud. A beautiful piece! I agree with Arnie about the burnt sienna. Yay!!

 

[bethany]

Beautiful, atmospheric piece, Donna- with no hinderances evident!

 

[Bongo]

I'm loving the "out-of-focus" effect in this piece.

 

[snoball]

I love the palette, even thought limited, it made a beautiful almost monotone. Super!

 

[Bartc]

Donna, that's gorgeous! Muted color can be so lush ironically. Sorry about your hand, but clearly your "eye" works very well anyway.

 

[Artyczar]

I love this! You should have surgery more often (Totally kidding!!!). I think this is stunning and love the bits of pink that turned up. Just gorgeous.

 

[Donna T]

Thanks Wayne. It’s a big step for me just to think about the possibility of painting again. I don’t want to get my hopes up but I really want to paint!

Thanks so much Arnie.

Thanks Terri - burnt sienna is worth playing with again.

Thanks Bethany. I guess it wanted to be a damp day.

Thanks Bongo. Hard edges aren’t easy to get when much of a painting is done with a wet paper towel, the push and smoosh method, lol.

Thanks Sno, I always love a monotone, tonalist look.

Thanks Bart. Even one fully functional hand would be great! The things you don’t take for granted.

Thanks Ayin, eek I dread the next surgery but will do whatever it takes to not only be able to paint but tie my shoes and cut my own food. I miss washing dishes so maybe I need my head examined too.

 

[Enyaw]

I really want to paint!

and you will by will ... believe to achieve.

 

[Artyczar]

Oh, you will get there and start washing dishes again. Until then, who's washing them for you? (Are you getting a break from them at least?)

 

[Donna T]

My husband’s doing everything. Lucky for me he likes to cook. I can still clean the floors by pushing a rag around with my feet so I’m not completely useless. Also I provide entertainment by squeezing the peanut butter jar between my knees so I can open it and by using my elbow to squeeze out toothpaste.

 

[ntl]

Beautiful, Donna. I, too, hope you heal quickly and completely!
(Doing dishes isn't all that much fun, so no worries there! )

 

[IronPawn]

Beautiful atmosphere Donna... Feel better!

 

[Donna T]

Thanks ntl. I’ll probably save my hands for painting instead of housework.

Thank you Zoran. I appreciate it.

 

[JStarr]

This is *terrific*! It is a lovely balanced work, and the eye moves around and around seeking out those tiny little bits of higher chroma colour- not many- not startling- just a few that sparkle for a pleasing second.

I'm sorry to hear about surgery and the healing process and the adaptions having to be made in response (you know that rubbery-plastic honeycomb shelf covering stuff- comes in rolls? Cut a 4" x 4" piece and, trust me, you'll be able to open most jars. Without cussing, even!) It'll all keep coming back- and you might have to adapt a few times, but your brain is doing the most work- it won't fail you.

Love to see your profile pic, too- it looks quite intriguing---

 

[Donna T]

Thanks JStarr - I was hoping those little spots of color would keep it from feeling too gloomy. I have some carpet cushion stuff that’s a lot like shelf liner so I’ll give it a try!

 

[Jo Castillo]

This is so beautiful. Wishing you a speedy and full recovery. Loved reading the saga. Hugs, Donna.

 

[Donna T]

Thanks so much, Jo.