It’s been so long since I’ve seen rain. I heard it this morning while I was sleeping and it startled me. I’m glad I saw the forecast before I went to bed, otherwise I would have gotten up wondering if something was wrong. It’s the rain we used to get before global warming made violent thunderstorms the norm, easy and gentle. Just hours and hours of rain. We need it so badly.
With the rain comes the darkness, so this morning I needed extra light as I was painting. “Minnie” is complete. She’s an 11x14, oil on board painting of a pup. A cute mutt. I will call the client later today and let her know. I also worked on another house portrait that’s coming along. I may be able to finish it tomorrow or Wednesday. After that I’ll get focused on the church painting.
I was contacted this weekend about doing a portrait of someone’s home on Canyon Lake. I sent her my sizes and prices but never heard back. It happens a lot. I think people get excited about the idea of getting a painting commissioned but then realize that they’re not cheap. I actually think my prices are pretty low. Since I’m just starting out, trying to get going, get clients, I want people to feel like they can afford it. I’m an unknown, after all. But in time I’ll raise my prices, so now’s the time. I hope I hear back from her.
I spent the weekend reading. It was so nice. I sat on a screened in porch in the country and read. I got two hundred pages into Little Women, which I’m loving. Now I know whey people have loved it for 150 years. It’s amazing that this book has NEVER BEEN OUT OF PRINT! Never. In 150 years. That’s beyond amazing, actually. Louisa May Alcott makes you want to live in their world with them.
Although I haven’t made anything from the recipe book I got with it (The Little Women Cookbook), I’ve spent a lot of time looking through it. One of the beverage recipes is Amy’s Lemonade, which she made in one of the scenes I read late yesterday. Also, Hannah’s Pounded Potatoes. After Amy gets humiliated at school by the strict teacher, the housekeeper Hannah pounds the potatoes with her pestle like it’s the teacher himself. I think I’ll make the Cottage Pie with Pounded Potatoes first.
I also spent time reading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay Nature. I haven’t finished it, but so far so good. I like when he refers to the milky way as the City of God. I love spending time in nature and I too find it rejuvenating for the soul.
The fourth book I took to the country is called The Power of Crisis by Ian Bremmer. It’s about China, global warming, and COVID, three crisis he says are driving global and domestic change. It’s hard to argue with it. I’m hoping he ends the book on a positive note. It’s great to keep up and know what’s going on in the world, but not if I have no idea what to do about it.
I often ask myself, why can’t you just be into true crime or The Lord of the Rings or something? Listen to podcasts that are entertaining or riveting or funny? Why do you have to be into politics and emotionally charged topics? Maybe it’s the addict in me. Maybe I still need something to give me an adrenaline hit. I don’t know. But yeah, the Ian Bremmer book is heavy, but Little Women overpowers it. Between Ralph Waldo Emerson and Louisa May Alcott I’m fairly balanced.