Painting is my favorite exercize, Whistler
I love to get away to a beautiful spot like Whistler. I spend time walking, shopping and relaxing, but most importantly, I take time to paint my surroundings. I'm an early riser, so I use this time to get my palette out and sketch with my watercolors. It can be something simple, like a leaf that I found on my balcony, or something more complex like the view outside my window. I find that each time I face a blank page I get the same gitters that have kept me from starting a painting. It's the pressure we put on ourselves to produce perfection each and every time. When painting becomes routine, I believe it takes the pressure off to be perfect. We learn that just by painting we are winning.
These little sketches do more than provide us with little works of art. They are a memory and a disection of your surroundings. Using your artistic licence, you can decide what your reality holds. You can create an edited (or enhanced) version of your vission. These are not pieces that you would put in a gallery and expect to sell for big bucks, but what they do for you should be ample payment.
Each time I pick up a brush, I struggle with the concept that it's OK to just paint. I start by telling myself that no one will see this. It's an exercise. Sometimes it might just be an exorcize.
