October 18 - still sick, oils plain air, more learnings

Tiny plain air oils, at the Arno river, Florence

Good afternoon dear humans, it seems like that today I stay in bed. This time for real. I mean, I could go to the Medici Palazzo and draw figures (statues) on the outside of the Uffizi. (Buhuhuhuuuu, we were meant to go to the Uffizi tonight. Till next week they have a night time special on Tuesdays and one can stay in the museum till 9:30.. We try next week. A good thing is that they refund the tickets (48€ for 2 people). It is a bit of a hassle to fill out their weird and hilarious word document (see below) in which one declares "I am sick". But if they need this for a refund, ok.)

So I am still sick. But I believe that it is getting better. I try to use the time for planning other projects, exhibitions, and communications with others. There are actually quite some calls I am owing people. But talking makes me cough, so I stick to writing.

One of the things I am working on right now is, that I decided to show all my Florence (and Pisa) work in my studio on December 3-4. So if you are in Linköping, let me know and I send you an invitation.

2 other small exhibitions are coming up in November. If you are interested in events in Linköping you can also sign up for my Studio Newsletter. Here is the link: Studio Newsletter.

And I realize that there is so much to do, even when one is not painting.

What I really enjoy about this trip is that I feel more and more how essential for my mood and wellbeing it is to paint and draw every day. I am somewhat surprised that this is the case. It feels like a positive addiction. A true calling. I need to express myself. A need to digest what I see, smell, hear, taste and feel and translate it into my painting or drawing. And it does not need to be heavily loaded with meaning. The result is nice. But the doing is more important. I feel I am more myself, calmer, more centered, when I paint. And the lesson I learned from the Academy, that I can paint even though I don't feel like painting, does come in handy. I just do it, like a workout which is sometimes exhausting. It feels so good having done it. (I feel somehow reminded of a friend in Berlin who said this about his music some years ago. Interesting.)

As you might have seen I snuck out of my apartment yesterday, seeking a more lonely place where I could paint and nobody would be affected by my cough. I found a very nice spot on the benches of Arno river. You can see the results (tiny oil paintings) above and below. It is so much fun doing oils on site. And I need to figure out better methods of cleaning the brushes on site (or have more brushes and be disciplined :-) ).

I was going back to my studies/learnings from my "Color" videos from Florent Farges for these little oils and tried to apply a little bit of his theory. (I will let you know when I have digested my learnings better so I can actually explain it to you.) It surprises me how much this video makes me want to PLANmy paintings. And that me, the spontaneous artist. To look for a color scheme, a composition not just consisting of things, but also value, hue and chroma. This is so exciting and I haven't thought about this before. I guess there is a series of exhausting and time-consuming oil paintings coming up... And I definitely need more art supplies.

When walking through Florence, even when I am late or carrying stuff, I cannot stop taking pictures. The whole city is one big reference photo. I also look for fun things like the little (annoyed-looking) wooden angel (a door knob). In Florence, there are no bad sights, I believe. And this makes it overwhelming and very inspiring at the same time. What is the next spot to draw? There could be something more exciting around the corner. So I try to figure out where I want to go and what medium to paint or draw with, before I leave the apartment (To be honest, I still take ALL the supplies with me, just in case I want to do a watercolor, ink drawing or markers sketch. You know, one needs to be prepared :-)).

I'll leave you now. Will have some food and then study a bit more color theory. Looking so much forward to start the video on general oil painting practice. I let you know, what I learn there.

Have a lovely Tuesday,

Siri