Getting back to Painting

I've been itching to do more oil painting.  Every time I would start, something would come up and I'd get distracted or I'd sit there and stare at the white canvas and not know where to begin.  But today, I was looking out the studio window at the neighbor's shed across the fence and loved the way the light was playing across it's surface and lighting up the roses and the canoe they have stored on the side.  I quickly got the palette set up, chose a small canvas and got right to work.  It's nice to find that all I had to do was start playing with the paints and the skills came right back.  It's not perfect, but I'm happy with it and happier still to have actually gotten painting again.  Here's hoping that I can keep up with a small painting fairly frequently now!

Yesterday while I was driving between Boulder and Greeley, the sun broke through a thin spot in the clouds and sent rays of light cascading through the sky.  Had to stop and take a photo!

How heartbroken I was to hear of the Hotshot Firefighters who lost their lives yesterday.  If you've been reading my blog for a long time, you may remember that my sister is a firefighter and the  Forest Deputy in Fire Plans (for the Kaibab National Forest) and the fire behavior analyst for one of the Type II teams in Northern Arizona.  I am grateful that she and her team are safe, but I also know that the firefighting community is a close knit one and the loss of these young men will be a hard one to bear.   My heart and prayers go out to all the families and co-workers.