My first attempt was a disaster. I set up a still life and started in, after struggling with the background, I disassembled the still life, blended out what I had started on the canvas and considered how to begin again. Oils are very different from water color and I need to get the feel of the paint and start with something simple. Flowers are not difficult, I'll start with them. The Poppies that grow on the hills around Jerusalem in the spring are beautiful and I have some pictures of them, I'll use these pictures as reference and paint my own bouquet. I took a fresh canvas, layered in a background.........Hay, not too bad! I think I'm getting the hang of this..........and today I'll work on the flowers. After my "successful" second try, I am thinking, " This is fun, why didn't I do this sooner?" The last time I did anything with oils was in 1960!! I'm starting from scratch, but am excited about the challenge.
Because I don't have a torch here and don't have a place to use it, I have been frustrated about the silver smithing. There are things I can do with out a torch, but the things that I want to do requiring soldering. I give up, I'll just concentrate on an other medium, oils present the challenge I need. I'll let you know how it goes............
Shalom.................Bernice