Ho Ho Ho

Art is fun. I can honestly say that because I believe it with all my heart. In the beginning, when you are learning color theory, perspective and composition, it sometimes seems more like work. But later, after you've put in thousands of hours and gained some confidence -- that's when your efforts pay off. I wouldn't have been doing it this long if I didn't enjoy it so much.

Oil painting is the most fun for me. I have tried all the other mediums. Watercolor (mistakes are not easily fixed), pastels (lovely results but I don't care for all that dust- and framing is expensive), acrylics (easy to work with but the colors dry different colors and the texture is similar to plastic in most cases). So I stay with what I know and love- and that is the infinitely correctable medium known as oil paint. I make a lot of mistakes and when you cover up a mistake in oils you have the option of scraping to remove or just painting over it. I use both methods. Sometimes the paintovers and the scrapings create very cool pieces of art, that would not have been possible without the initial "mistake". I am spontaneous and this medium is designed for people like me.

My friend Martin came into my office the other day and I asked him if he ever played Santa Claus because he was perfect for it. He said that he had been playing the jolly old elf for years, but this year for health reasons he had to take a break. He was very accommodating when I asked him if I could take a picture of him and paint a Santa. Martin was wearing a flannel shirt and no hat, so a lot of this painting was imaginative.

So here is my seasonal contribution for this blog. I usually try to do at least one. Maybe Martin will show up on my Christmas cards next year. This is my idea of fun-- creating an original piece of art from something ordinary.

11" x 14" oil on canvas