Painting in a new place...

I've been so excited to paint! Making sure I have everything I need, getting my creation station set up and then...WHAT?! I'm so distracted! Really... I pushed through.

Usually, when I start a painting I prefer throwing paint on the surface to see what shapes or ideas take form. Here's is the aftermath of the first layer.

​I don't usually use a lot of yellow in my paintings and the day I started this piece San Antonio was HOT, so I was feeling this sunny color along with two of my favorite colors to paint with - orange and red. ​

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After my first layer of paint dried I added contrast with black paint in the effort to tone down the bright pinks and orange.

Then I thought, oh jeeze...I just made a mess out of this painting!

I wasn't thrilled with the muddy results from adding black paint.

At this point I thought the color orange was taking over most of the painting - like a giant fire with black swirls of smoke whipping around and a red-black muddy ground. 

So, what did I do? 

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I threw on more paint!

​Ha! Why not? 
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I added random spots of blue and white paint for  some color  balance.

At this point of the painting certain ideas started to pop up and figured out WHAT I was creating.

I decided to create San Antonio from my new to town view.

​That weekend, my husband took me to the river walk. This fun local social spot inspired the block-like spaces to become buildings and people in the forefront. 

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This is the final piece. I saw myself in this warm, busy and exciting city - overlooking all of what is and could be. New friends, new experiences, new everything! Since moving to San Antonio I've been feeling a little lost and overwhelmed. When I go places, I see all the people, the buildings of people aquariums, the doors waiting to be opened. Where to start? I've just been soaking it all in without much participation. I have yet to make friends!

What came out to me in the end... when you move to a new place there are so many things to see, people to meet, windows of opportunity, doors to open and I have yet to experience the full effect. I look forward to jumping into the middle of it all, opening doors and doing much more than looking into windows in 2018.

Merry New Year, y'all!