There's a local PBS show I watch
from time to time called Books & Company.
The host of the show interviews a particular
author and inquires about his or her book
and their personal process
of writing and developing their stories.
I love hearing about the different ways
they go about it.
I know many artists travel similar unique
paths to end up with their finished pieces.
Those kinds of things fascinate me, whether
it be an artist of the word, paint brush,
or musical instrument.
Today I'll briefly share one of the ways
I go about painting my pieces by
sharing some of my works in progress in
the earliest stages.
I'm working on a dog house and another
picnic table. One's in my family room,
and the other's in the garage, so the pictures
aren't the greatest, (thanks to poor lighting)
but you'll get the gist.
Before I start any piece I pray.
I ask God to bless the work of my hands
and to guide and lead me as I create the design
and paint the piece. I ask that it'll be a blessing
to whomever it ends up going to.
After that, I don't worry about it how I'm going
to proceed, I just start with one element and
let the design flow from there.
I always use one color (usually a dark one)
to get my basic design down.
This is what I call free hand folk art.
I have had to be more precise in the past
with a design image, and in that case
I'll draw it out on transparencies and
use the overhead projector to complete
the design that way.
I did the base design in the following picture
and started in with my first color.
That's what I usually do. Then I'll
go back with one color at a time and
continually add to the design until it feels and
looks done to me (which can take a while).
My husband always says, when he's dizzy,
he knows I'm finished.
I'll be sure to post the finished
pieces, (hopefully in better lighting)
so you can see how they turned out.
Until then, may God bless the work of your hands.
Terri
