painting – Polilla Writes

Hi Everyone!

How are you doing lately in this changing world? I’m not even going to mention the social and political upheaval, how about the climate?

Here in Canada, we had an abnormally dry spring which opened the way for fires that quickly got out of hand. Even here in Nova Scotia, starting in late May, there was a record loss due to forest fires. Canadians in several provinces were battling forest fires, and many people had to evacuate their homes – some losing everything. So tragic.

Now it is rain. So much rain. Not every day, but it sometimes seems like it. We went from too dry to too wet, so you can imagine what that is like for growers. Hot, humid, thunderstorms, rain; this is summer 2023.

On another note … I am still plodding along with building a website for my paintings. I’m sure it is simple for some, but not for me. I’d hoped to have it ready by now. If I don’t give up in exasperation I will let you know when you can visit it – if you are interested or curious.

Last topic: I found a couple of things that I enjoyed and thought you might, too.

DON’T LET ANYONE WHO HASN’T BEEN IN YOUR SHOES TELL YOU HOW TO TIE YOUR LACES.

And this African proverb for the writers among us …

UNTIL THE LION LEARNS TO WRITE, EVERY STORY WILL GLORIFY THE HUNTER.

What has the weather been like for you?

and, Can you relate to either of the above quotes?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Hello my readers!

Finally I’m back, making another attempt at blogging again. It’s been nine months since my dad passed away, ending 11.5 years of caregiving. The total change has been very difficult, but I am feeling better as time goes on while I’m figuring out and adjusting to my new normal. Grief takes its time.

Do you find it interesting how we go through phases and seasons in our life? By that I mean, for myself anyway, interests come along to explore and spend time in, then they morph into something else to learn from and grow in, and on it goes through life. Or we find ourselves in a pleasant working relationship, which eventually has to come to an end. That is difficult to deal with and what I’ve found is that change is the one consistent thing. It will happen, like it or not, so I can adapt and hold onto what I’ve learned or I can make myself miserable. The first choice is the better one to live with, don’t you agree?

As you know, I’ve loved books all my life, reading them, accumulating them, even learning to write them for children. When I got burned out on the ‘write them’ part I was directed into learning to paint. I am still reading a lot, but now I am finding joy in oil painting. I haven’t given up on the writing goal, but it is set aside for the time being.

Creating through painting seems to be the something that was missing for me, the something that was locked up inside me in great need of expression. It is challenging, frustrating at times, rewarding, tiring in a good way, confidence building, fun, healing, and surprising. Surprising when what I’m trying to do turns out the way I want it to or even better than I’d hoped. It’s a growing experience, and I do enjoy the challenge, as I am a creative and have to be working at something.

I’m telling you this because I am going to try to set up a place where you can view my paintings. So, please, bear with me. You may come here and find things are all messed up, while in the meantime I am probably consulting a WordPress Happiness Engineer to help me undo and fix my mistakes.

Most of my paintings are from photographs taken by my instructor, or myself, or my daughters. I will talk more about that later. Below is the very first painting I did, chosen for me to learn how to colour match. What you see is my copy of the original by Lawren S. Harris who was a member of the Group of Seven. My apologies that my photo is a little dark.