Blog

Is there something in your life you’re obsessed about? 

Maybe even…addicted to?

Like, chocolate? 

Or bourbon? 

Maybe it’s Dancing With the Stars?

Whatever it is, I won’t judge, I promise. I think everyone has something in life that makes our heart sing when it comes into view. At least I sure hope we all do!

As for me, well, I’ll admit to more than one thing that makes me lose my resistance. That makes my knees a little weak. That yes, I even dream about. My friends reading this are probably rolling their eyes about now and saying “yeah Pat, we know you love your red wine.” And they’d be right. 

Hey! Don’t judge! 

Actually, aside from my boyfriend, my pooch, Triscuit and cheese, Marilyn’s chocolate chip cookies, college football and sometimes the Red Wings, my biggest obsession in life might be…

Color!

Lucious, creamy, bold, sublime, glorious color. Colors that make me squint from their vibrancy – or squint to see their subtleties. 

I’ve always been really happy that I was born a human instead of a dog or cat, since I’ve heard they can only see things in black and white. That would be so disappointing for me. From the baby blue to cobalt skies; intense yellow leaves fluttering alongside even more intense reds and oranges; or the cool violet shadows that unroll across green grass. Every day there’s a sight that dazzles me!

Especially a fall day in Michigan! My eyes have been on overload for several weeks now and I’m so grateful to be able to drink it in.

But even on a cloudy, dreary day, there’s still a smorgasbord of color waiting to be seen and painted. And I’m grateful for those views too, as a spectacular image doesn’t always have to mean thousand-watt color.

For those of you who aren’t artists, you might not be aware of the range of shades within each color - even when we’re talking about grays or muddy browns. There’s warm and cool versions of everything, even blacks and whites! In fact, if you are a painter, you know that it’s often the surrounding muddy (or neutral) colors that make the brightest colors look their best. We play with contrast, and values, and hues that compliment each other.

You could make this into a science, but in my case, I kind of just go by instinct. I can gaze out across a field and see a predominantly drab wall of trees in the distance. Dirty grayish olive green, maybe with a whiff of dirt brown streaked along the bottom. And there’s a quiet beauty in those muffled colors. But for me, it’s as though my eyes zero in and pluck out the one tiny beautiful green leaf that seems lost in the thousands of stale ones. I spot that flash and next thing I know it’s on my paintbrush. It’s like a parlor trick. 

For those of you old enough to remember the days of record albums and turntables, its like my eyes and hand work like the amplifiers we used to connect to our systems. They made great music sound even prettier. 

I’m an amplifier!

So, I turn up the volume of those murky hues and make no apologies! The view is still as you or I see it – but juicier. I’m not out there painting to replicate what my camera can do. What’s the point of that? I’m taking what I see in front of me and feeding my craving, my obsession. And I doubt I’ll ever stop. 

I am fully embracing my addiction!

Shoot… if I wasn’t supposed to use all this color, then why does Gamblin make so many different paints?

———————-

Hey, please leave a comment here about what YOU crave. What gives YOU joy? And do you feed that craving? I hope so! Whatever it is - fishing, writing, travel…what lights YOU up like color does me? I’d love to know.

Thanks for reading my ramblings once again. Please make suggestions on future topics you'd like to hear me ramble about.

The painting shown below is from a recent crispy crunchy colorful day at Ludington State Park in Michigan. I hope you enjoy!