Hudson Summer Dreams

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The past few days I have been thinking about my summertime adventures I am planning up and down the Hudston River. I feel I have been too complacent and lazy over the past few summers with my art, and this summer I am going to hit the roads and the Hudson Valley to paint. I can no worry about the fear of not being good enough----if I never paint I will NEVER be good enough. I have already decided what my kit will be for the travels, and will make a checklist.

Bathing suit, sunscreen, hat, towel, blanket, cooler, (wine), food, plenty of water, bug repellent, camera, paints. Oh, a book for a lazy afternoon break. Map. If I had a laptop I would write too. (I really need a laptop, even if it only does word processing for now....) OH and I need an IPOD or something like that, so that when I want, I can have music. I enjoy silence, but I like the option of tuning things out, especially if there is someone near me who I don't want to hear, or don't want to seem open to an invitation to chat. (I will chat at times, but that depends upon many factors, as I am a solitary person when it comes to creating.)

I have been making notes of vistas, interesting places to photograph and paint. I already know of some that I plan on visiting, and I must follow through and spend my early summer mornings and later afternoons traveling and painting during the best light. It is in my blood, and I need to put the desires into play.

Tonight's photo was made in response to all of my Hudson River daydreams. Larry took a photo of me at Olana (home of Hudson River painter icon Frederick Church) a summer or two ago. It is a combination of Islamic/Moorish architecture with a hint of Italianate in it. I was sitting in a foyer lined with Islamic tile work.

In my personal and art exploration, I am looking deep into myself, both my emotional and physical self. Tonights digital PS work explores a part of that. I find it reminiscent in a way of the classical romantic painters such as Gerome. Perhaps because it incoporates the culture that he painted, along with a respresentation of self but in a more surreal contemporary setting.

I am hoping tomorrow is a snowday. I am looking forward to divinding my time between artwork and taxes, and some house work. I really need another gift from the universe....
and tomorrow would be a small favor. In anticpation of sleeping in, Patti

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