Welcome to Three Beautiful Things, my once a month round-up.
Enjoy your summary of best quotes and favorite art for the month.
This month I talked about the way friends work together to find a new pace. I gave tips and talked about tennis, rollercoasters and trains. Come see what you missed!
This was where we used to live in Steamboat, Colorado. This painting started with a rainy ATV ride. My two boys walked in the rain giving me 15 minutes to set up and paint. It was 40 degrees in early May, which is still snowy in the Rocky Mountains. Cold and wet, when we got home we made guacamole and had chips by the fireplace.
That sloppy and wet little study gave me enough to paint this larger piece “Rainy Walk”. You might recognized this path as I’ve painted before. In a piece titled “Leaning Douglas” (which you can find in my shop). But in spring, you can see those vibrant green aspen beginning to bud. And can you find the little scraps of unmelted snow? I placed them near the figures to highlight those two boys together.
To look at the pictures behind this painting see my post Walk With Me.
A Beautiful Tip
A good friend does not leave a friend waiting indefinitely.
And a good friend doesn’t insist on immediate response. Remember tennis again, we don’t need perfect shots or fast shots every time. The goal is to volley.
— from Return the Volley
This was originally painted during a six-week cross-country trip. My boys were playing tag while we walked to our van for another day on the road. It was early morning in Savannah, Georgia and I particularly liked the shadows. I worked on the original study a few days later in the parking lot at Kennedy Space Center. Dale and the boys looked at rockets while I stayed and painted in our van. You can see a pic I took that morning of my setup. That study became a value study back at my studio. Then I painted this larger piece which has all that early morning light.
That wonderful pleasure of playing tag with your sibling, putting your all into running just outside their reach. All good sibling relationships are models to us adults about how to be friends. It’s just no fun when your sibling refuses to play. Tag, like tennis and friendship, is meant for two.
To look at the pictures behind this painting see my post Return the Volley.
Which are you? Train or Rollercoaster
In friendships, if we want closeness, we must both adjust our rhythm. Some people will never be capable of giving more than a thrill ride. And when you finish the ride exactly where you started, you should start to wonder: What’s the point of this friendship? As we age, we need more friends like trains than rollercoasters.
— from Train vs Rollercoaster
My husband and I started our family in Steamboat Springs, CO. When our boys were old enough to ride bikes we would load up all our gear and drive to town to ride along the bike path. We would bike to Taco Cabo when it was on the farther side of town and eat this amazing Tacos Al Pastor and fresh baked bread. This painting captures some of those carefree weekends.
You can see how the pink blossoms on the tree sort of melt into the background foliage. I was just learning the courage to paint green-on-green scenes. Green is notoriously hard to paint, but I think this was a good attempt. The background sort of fades into a sunny green mist and the green leaves on the right don’t compete with the pink brilliance on the left. I like the sun sparkling on the mom and son’s helmets. And you can see one of my favorite subjects in this painting: shadows on pavement. Aren’t shadows so interesting? Beautiful to paint and to ride through. I think most people enjoy that movement from shade through the dappled light into the sunshine.
And a good biking companion has all the same qualities as as good friend: they are dependable at keeping up the pace.
To look at the pictures behind this painting see my post Train vs Rollercoaster
March Offer
For the entire month of March, all commission work will receive free shipping. Less than a week left!
As always, my art and cards are available for purchase in my shop. In blog news, as faithful subscribers I want you to know that I’m moving toward sending you excerpts each week instead of the entire blog post. This ensures you receive all the images for each post and keeps you coming over to visit the whole gallery I’ve created for you.
Thank you for visiting!
Yours in healing, beauty and friendship,
hello@jonalynfincher.com
