Icon Progress....finally

It's been quite a while since I posted anything about his subject as I took most of the summer off to enjoy the weather and back yard. After we came back from Mexico I was reinvigorated to get more painting done and I started working again.

Currently I am working on a private commission and this large canvas for the opposite wall at the church. Folks have not been asking about this much lately and I have become a bit spiritually lazy and allowed the Devil to talk me out of finishing and believe me, he whispers in my ear without end with words of discouragement and eminent failure.

Actually the amount of work itself is daunting and I am trying not to repeat perceived mistakes I may have made on the first canvas.  One of the greatest killers of one's work ethic is to compare oneself to another. When we visited St. George in Kearney early this spring I was so overcome by the quality of the work and talent of the artists I lost my way,  finding that artistic muse so easy to derail. Artist's should only compare themselves to their past, nothing else.

This summer,  after a conversation with the potter I purchased a vase from, I came to realize that working in isolation is really detrimental to some artists as she was complaining about being alone in her studio and missing the input from a peer. Just someone to bounce an idea off of or garner an opinion.

Now the weather has turned cooler and Brenda has a few late nights at work I find myself back in the studio, mildly overwhelmed by what is left to be done but trying to stay on track, paint a little each day and refocus my life back to the church. Currently I have been refining the faces and expressions while filling in large color blocks in preparation for folds and drapery. Why I do not work on hands at the same time is beyond me since you would think I already have those colors available but they are always a separate part of my work.