Friendship Lighthouse
“My old grandmother always used to say, Summer friends will melt away like summer snows, but winter friends are friends forever.”
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I'm really happy to share this experience with you today. Thanks for taking the time to read my blogs. Please be sure to subscribe, if you haven't already. I also would love it if you would be so kind as to leave a comment. I look forward to answering any questions you might have. Thanks!
Many years ago, I was given an incredible gift from a friend. I was living in a very small cottage in the middle of a forest. We were a young family just beginning our journey, and we didn't have much in the way of worldly goods. It was a very challenging time for me. My first child came in 1991, and my next two children came in quick succession. I was hormonal, isolated, and living in a situation I was ill-equipped to know how to manage either physically or emotionally.
My friend came to visit me. I know it was a joyous occasion. I always have cherished this friendship, but it had even more meaning to me at that time, as very few people had the courage to come out that far to where we were living or to endure the dirt trail that wound around through the forest to our home.
To make a sweet story short, my dear friend came. She has always had a way of sensing the needs of others. I know that for me she has always brought along sunshine. At the end of that visit, she contacted me and told me that she wanted to give me a gift. What she suggested would never be forgotten. It wasn't a small gift, but an enormous gift that I shall always treasure.
I had no clue as to how to thank her for her kindness. Thank yous are always a challenge, but in this case, especially so. I finally decided to just ask her what I could do for her to thank her adequately. The way she responded touched me deeply. She said she would just love to have a painting. Well, back then -- and we're talking about 15 or more years ago -- my painting skills were in their infancy. I had always been courageous in sharing my art, but to have someone request a painting at that time in my life was, once again, a gift to me.
And so I waited. I waited for my artistic abilities to grow. I wanted to be sure to give her a gift that I felt worthy of her kindness to me. So just this month, the painting finally happened. A long wait, right? Well, I am happy to report that my friend was absolutely delighted with her gift. Sometimes it just pays to wait.
So this month, I thought it would be fun to share the painting journey with you for this particular painting: Friendship Lighthouse.
Point Arena Lighthouse
I e-mailed my friend and asked her to send me a photo of something she would like me to paint. This is the photo she sent.
Mendocino Beach
I am lucky enough to live in Fort Bragg, California, so inspiration for the sea is all around me.
Every painting begins with a sketch. I use thumbnail sketches, which means a very quick, simple sketch on paper other than the watercolor paper you intend to use. Most often, however, I like to sketch directly on the paper I'm going to use.
Over the past five years or so I began my journey in actually painting the scene. I had lots of challenges with the scene. I am not a "landscape" painter. I've started to expand my painting vocabulary, but I can honestly say that this was one of my first attempts. The perspective presented a challenge. In the photo the lighthouse is at some distance. How could I make it feel more intimate? How should I paint the rocks, the water, the sky? What could I do with that large mass of rocks in the foreground?
In this version of the painting, I was playing with perspective. I've increased the lighthouse and decreased the size of the trees. I've also brightened up the palette, using both warm and cool yellows, turquoise and cerulean. You can also see that I wanted some flowers in the painting. I've painted in a few yellow flowers to catch your eye and draw you into the painting, although there aren't any flowers in the original photo.
In this third version of the painting, I tried to be more true to the original photo. I was very eager that she find in the painting what she had found in the original photo. I think I was getting frustrated with myself. Time had passed and I wasn't creating anything anywhere near what I had hoped to create. I was struggling with the pigment in the sky. How could I get that intense blue? Altogether, I felt this painting was a complete failure. Sigh. There was nothing to do, but to put the project away in the closet and hope that my painting muse would visit me with renewed inspiration another day.
Time passed. More time passed than I'd like to admit. I think, though, that you will see that this painting really did improve on the others. My juices were flowing again, and I decided to just have fun. That element is always so very important in painting. Your emotions really do make themselves known. You can see that I've really improved the perspective and just let myself go with the sky. I also tried to put in purple elements in the photo, as I knew this was my friend's favorite color.
I was happy enough with this painting that I decided I was done. I called my friend and told her that the painting was ready. We finally set a date for her to come spend the weekend. It was such a relief to feel that I had finally created something I felt that I could give to her that would adequately say thank you after all these years.
My friend and I struggled to find a time that we could get together. As time passed, I began to fret over the painting I had ready for her. There were many elements of the painting that I was content with; however, I was still worried about what she would love. While I like the sky in the previous painting, would she? It wasn't at all true to the original photo.
So in the final week before her coming, I set out to create the final version. In this version I went back to a sky that was more true to her photo. I also brightened the painting, adding the orange complementary color and changing the flowers to purple on the rocks, making the rocky mass more inviting. I've kept the perspective that I was content with after having visited the lighthouse to get a feeling of the place for myself and having my brother-in-law take some reference photos for me to study.
When my friend came, I shared with her my journey. She had fun slipping into my studio and studying her choices on her own. At first she thought she might like the second-to-Iast version. I think she liked the sky, which was so amusing to me as I had struggled so with that. am glad to say that she ultimately agreed with my decision and has taken this final version as her gift. She loved the purple rocks on the cliff, the final selling point.
In her thank you card to me, she thanked me kindly for the painting and said some kind things. The phrase that meant the most to me, however, was "Thank you for your gift of friendship." Right back at you, my friend. XX
Another thank you...
I also want to give a shout-out to my husband. He had to listen to all my worries regarding this painting over the years. He has patiently supported me at every turn, through the good, the bad and the ugly. Thank you for being my very best friend.
