“I Want Something”

It’s a great feeling to be wanted, isn’t it… especially when it comes to art. I’ll admit to feeling quite pleased and a bit proud of my accomplishments on Saturday when my husband and I visited his parents for a little fall family get-together. We had a great fish-fry, got to see many members of my husband’s extended family, and even gathered a few ripe pears — perfect for eating, and perfect, too, for a bit of still-life painting, so don’t be surprised if you see pears appearing here soon.

But before the food and festivities began, my mother-in-law beckoned for me to follow her. “I want something,” she said, and when she followed it up with “…only you can do it,” I knew where we were headed. We were going to her “art wall” where she displays her favorite works of art. One of my watercolors is prominently displayed there, next to a watercolor landscape in a similar style that she found in a thrift store.

Here’s the picture I painted:

As you can see by the date, this was painted five years ago. It was a gift to my father-in-law for his 79th birthday. While he liked the painting, too, my mother-in-law eventually claimed it as her own, and I’ll admit that I feel good every time we visit and I see my artwork hanging on the wall.

The “thriftstore” watercolor is in the center of the wall. My watercolor — smaller — hangs at the right. Now, my mother-in-law wants an additional painting, another smaller one, to hang on the left.

In some ways, doing a second “complementary” painting — similar but different — presents a bit of a challenge for me, simply because the first watercolor was done in 2016. It’s now 2021, and my approach to watercolor has changed a lot. I wasn’t sure if I could really come up with something that would “match” well with the original painting.

I know that what my mother-in-law most loves about the “birch tree in winter” painting is the use of the blue and orange hues. I like the painting, too, for the exact same reasons. Yet I didn’t want to play “copy-cat” and make a painting that would be too close to the original. So… what to do, what to do…?

I thought back to another watercolor I’d done several years ago. This scene was painted soon after the “birch tree” painting:

Could I do something similar to this? Well, maybe, or maybe not. I went to the easel this morning, and using tube watercolors (just as I had for the paintings shown here) I began working on a scene very much like this “tree at the river” painting. I’m not happy with my result.

While I do like the reflections I created in the lake, I’m not happy with the overall composition. It’s a starting point, though. I’m going to browse around a bit for reference photos and maybe I’ll get a better idea of what I want to paint.

Now, though, like my mother-in-law, I want something, too … from you. I want your ideas, your suggestions, your thoughts — on this first painting and on other possible compositions. I’m sure that if I matted and framed this painting, my mother-in-law would be delighted with it and would proudly display it.

I want to paint something else, though, maybe do several paintings so that she can choose for herself. So, what thoughts do you have?

Thank you so much!