Monthly Archives: August 2022

A month of art

Posted on August 30, 2022 | Comments Off

August has been scorching here this summer. Too hot for outdoor work. So I spent much of the month in the studio just being an artist. This was a great respite from all the other chaos of the summer.

However, we did have a couple of days of lovely cool temperatures, in the low 80s. Fling open the windows! I took advantage of the cooler weather to clean out my studio. This meant dragging nearly everything outdoors, rewrapping and packing many of the paintings, vacuuming, debris clean out. Just making an inviting space to work again.

Our garden was in name only this summer. And I only gave cursory attention to the weeds and flowerbeds. This meant that I had plenty of time to devote to creating some art.

I began with building up some inventory, especially of sunflowers, some of my favorites. Although I usually grow several different varieties from the mammoth giants to the multi-stemmed, to all the colors that are available, this year I only had a few to work with. I planted them but they just didn’t want to make an appearance. So I used some of the many photographs that I’ve taken over the years.

I did several sheets of minis. I can get four 4 x 6 on a quarter sheet of watercolor paper. Although I often repeat a theme, they never turn out the same. I buy mats and backs in bulk so it’s pretty easy to prepare them for display or shipping.

Four mini sunflower paintings on quarter sheet of watercolor paper. Although the top two are the same subject, they’re not exactly alike.

Then I did a few larger ones. After that, I created duplicates of two local scenes. These are not standard sizes so I have to cut the mats to size for framing. More time and money involved.

Two paintings of the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center on quarter sheet of watercolor paper

Finally, the last half of the month, I was really missing our usual vacation. This was probably prompted by selling some previous western scenes so I dove into that subject. These paintings were larger and more complex, the smallest being 9 x 12 and up to 12 x 16. I have some pretty extensive photo files from some of our western vacations so plenty of subject matter to choose from. The most difficult part with these paintings is canvas prep. And trying to come up with new titles. Grand Canyon Vista #1, Grand Canyon Vista #2, etc. But it’s so satisfying to just put on some music or recorded books and zone out. Due to the many years of plein air painting, I can generally produce a painting a day, maybe two. But I did discover that I had duplicated two scenes from previous years. They came out similar but not exactly the same.

Overall production for the month of August was twenty-five. Not all are shown in the multi-image above as several were duplicates. And I didn’t work every day. It’s very rewarding to spend time alone with my thoughts and just create. To build inventory for online shops, the holidays, or local and regional shops.

Most of these paintings will be up on my Etsy shops soon. https://www.etsy.com/shop/KitMiracleArt?ref=l2-shop-info-name or https://www.etsy.com/shop/My90Acres

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Posted in art, contemporary impressionism, country living, impressionism

Tagged art, contemporary impressionist, gardening, kit miracle, painting instruction, painting multiples, sunflowers

The rest of the story

Posted on August 21, 2022 | Comments Off

The consensus is that Brutus isn’t as bad as we thought. Probably a small fuel leak which was set off by a spark from the manifold. Some repairs needed but should be in working order soon.

Our friendly neighborhood mechanic stopped by to check on Brutus. He thinks it isn’t that bad and he can be repaired. Some scorching to the hood, the air cleaner is toast, and he won’t know until he tears the innards out. But overall, he can probably be repaired. That’s good as we sure need a farm truck around here for hauling firewood, straw for the garden, even the trash to the dump.

And the fire extinguishers have all been replaced including a much larger one for the house. A small but necessary investment.

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Posted in country living

Tagged brutus

Be prepared

Posted on August 14, 2022 | 4 comments

Brutus, the old farm truck. A family member for over three decades.

I have been working all week on a couple of ideas for my Sunday blog post. Although I don’t usually write it until the end of the week, I give some thought as to subject matter, finding or taking photos, etc. This week’s post was going to be about books.

However, life had other plans.

I was in my studio early this morning, packing a painting to ship today. My husband and son were outside installing a new battery into old Brutus. (See former posting here.) It was a sunny and blessedly cool morning so I had the door to my studio open while I was working.

Suddenly, something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I glanced outside and saw a fire beneath old Brutus. AAAAaaaggggghhhhh! (And my car was parked right next to the truck.)

I shouted to my son who came running, handed him the fire extinguisher that I keep handy in the studio, and he ran off with it. Well, two more extinguishers later, the fire was out. The outdoor faucets and hydrants are too far from where the truck was parked to have been any help.

We’re not sure yet what started the fire – maybe an electrical short, maybe a fuel leak, or even a mouse nest in the air cleaner. We’ll have a mechanic friend stop by next week to give us an assessment. Fortunately we were prepared or it might have been a very different story.

Although we live in a remote area which is our reasoning for having some home fire protection, I would urge everyone to have a few fire extinguishers on hand. You just never know what kind of emergency you might encounter.

I’m not qualified to advise what types of extinguishers to get but there are several varieties for the many kinds of possible fires – paper, wood, chemical, oil, grease, etc. Check online or with your local dealer or hardware store to see what they advise.

You don’t know when you will need one. Or wish you had been prepared.

The rest of the story

Here are some photos of poor Brutus after the fire incident. As I said, we don’t know what type of fire it was. This is the damage.

To outward appearances, Brutus still looks pretty good….for a 37 y/o truck.

On closer look, the hood is scorched. That white powder is from one of the fire extinguishers.

Ah, here’s the damage. What was burned and melted? We’ll find out this week.

One of the small fire extinguishers. This one is a C rating, meaning it will handle three kinds of fire/flames.

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Posted in country living, Uncategorized

Tagged brutus, country living, farm truck, fire safety, kit miracle

Writing a personal narrative

Posted on August 7, 2022 | 5 comments

I can’t draw a straight line.

I’m not good at math.

Science always confused me.

Mom liked my brother best.

We were poor growing up so I don’t know how to handle money.

Do any of these sound familiar to you? What is your personal narrative? What stories do you tell yourself….or worse yet, allow others to say about you that may not be true?

I was having a conversation with someone the other day that I’ve known for years but whom I rarely hang out with much since we left school. He made a remark about how I am shy or some such. I let it slide but it suddenly dawned on me that he doesn’t know me at all. Where did he come up with this story and, more importantly, why do I allow someone else write my personal narrative for me?

I haven’t been shy since I hid behind the door when I was a toddler. In fact, I’m one of the few people I know who doesn’t fear public speaking at all. I ran for office in school, worked for one of the world’s largest companies, have given numerous presentations on stage, in groups, on TV and radio. Nope, no butterflies.

This led me to ponder what other narratives do I allow people to attach to me? Or do I tell myself?

What stories do you tell yourself? Were you known as the smart sibling? Or the trouble-maker? The hard worker or the messy one? Sometimes we tell stories on ourselves or allow other people to define us. Maybe we were never like that. Maybe we tripped once, but are we really a klutz?

So, what should we do if someone starts telling our personal narrative for us? First, I think it’s appropriate to spend a little time thinking about those boxes that people have put us in, and be ready to stop the narrative. You don’t have to jump all over the person – maybe they’re just trying to find some common ground – but be ready to explain that you’re not really like that. That you haven’t run into a door since you were sixteen. But also, don’t let them argue with you. Maybe they’re more comfortable when they have you in that box even if it isn’t true. Just shrug and smile. Or give them a good long stare. They’ll get the hint.

And then give some thought as to how you would like to be perceived. Maybe you’ve changed over the past twenty or forty years. You don’t have to keep living someone else’s narrative of you. This is your own life and you are the author of your own story.