Our Last Class

Tonight was my last Watercolor Class for the winter term, but in 3 weeks the next class will begin, and I signed up today for that one. I hope the class will take place - in the past if there were not enough students enrolled, the class was cancelled. There were 7 of us in this class that just ended. Carolyn will be the instructor again for the next one, and this class will be a continuation forward with what we have learned, plus new techniques and challenges. I feel as though I've come a long way since it began, and much of that is just gaining confidence in my own ability.

I also signed up for a course in Drawing. I talked to others in my class who have had that course, and it sounds great. You learn to actually SEE what is in front of you and then draw it. Carolyn has said that drawing is easy - it's learning to see that is difficult. Some of the exercises they described are drawing the subject upside down, or drawing with the opposite hand. One woman said she drew a flamingo upside down, and it turned out so well that she ended up giving it to a friend as a gift. Another said drawing with the left hand turned out better than what she had done with the right hand - and she's right handed. The concept is from the book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain." Someone told me that you will know how to draw by the time you leave that class, and that's exactly what I'm after. They have very positive things to say about the instructor. I'm excited about it.

Tonight we drew a still life setting of many items placed in a grouping in the center of the room. There was a vase of tulips, a couple of colored bottles, a plaster rabbit, an aloe plant, a couple of bowls, a shell, and a wooden cat. Each of us had a different perspective depending on where we were sitting. We also used a small frame to isolate the portion of the grouping that we wanted in our picture. Once we knew what we wanted to paint, we drew the objects and went on from there. Even though the class went from 6:30 until 9:00, none of us finished. Mine is perhaps half done. There is still a lot to work on, but I'm pleased with what I have so far, and I'll continue to work on it this week. I have several other unfinished paintings, and I want to finish those off before I begin anything else. I'll also work on them on Wednesday when we get together again for our weekly craft day. Carolyn will be there, and she can give me some advice if I need it.

I'm off to bed. Fatigue is setting in from my radiation therapy. Today I slept for a really long time after I got home from my appointment. I don't know if it's because I couldn't sleep last night - my radiation burn was itchy and I was hot - or the radiation is sapping me, but I was wasted today. I'm exactly 2/3 of the way through my treatments - 22 down and 11 to go.

PHOTO: Staircase through the park at Brighton Dam, in Montgomery County, MD.