Done at Last!

Finally, finally, my chickadees, Bathroom in Paris is finished! For a while, I thought I would be in my 70’s before I would be done with it, but here it is, in all of its completed glory. (Please ignore my derpy face.)

I have gone through many an emotional journey during my time with this painting, feeling many feels as I dotted many dots, and at this point, it’s basically an emotional support painting. It was with me through no less than three major life changes and many various joys and turmoils, and it feels like an old friend. I can’t say I will miss working on it, because it was a long slog and I’m happy to be moving on to the next piece, but I will be forever grateful for its majestic motif and its attendant reminder of the beautiful things in life.

Now it’s just a matter of getting the humongous thing properly framed and hung, which is a whole other journey. I think it weighs about three pounds, which is hard to imagine when each tiny drill feels completely weightless, but apparently that’s what happens when you painstakingly add them all up in one spot over years. I’m going to do some research into framing options, but at this point, I’m leaning towards the magnetic poster hanger option, with washi tape to cover the un-dotted portion of the canvas.

I’ve moved on to “Blue Field Memories”, which I was a little bit ambivalent about at first. But now that I have it all kitted up and have some momentum going on it, I really love it. It’s a nice break from all of the brilliant, saturated colors of “Bathroom.” The palette is primarily muted greens, browns, and whites, with some dusty pinks as an occasional pop of color against the sky. Most of the AB (sparkly) drills are dispersed primly throughout the subject’s gown and hair. It’s a very different experience in tone and subject, and I’m finding it totally delightful. I’m also getting through it at a much more rapid pace, since I am now far more experienced with the square drills and can multi-place with a lot more confidence and speed. I’ve been catching and fixing gaps much more quickly, too. So far, I’m pretty happy with the overall straightness and tightness of my placements:

For a more detailed look at the canvas, you can view my video here:

It was one of the first videos I ever did, so it’s not my best, but, hey folks, I’m trying.

Speaking of videos, I haven’t filmed one in a while, and I’m a little disappointed about it. I can’t continually order expensive canvases just to get content for a video, they are extremely time-consuming to make, and I’ve temporarily run out of ideas. I definitely intend to continue, I just need to re-group a bit and come up with a new strategy, along with an actual production schedule and a plan to promote the channel instead of the “park and pray” method I’m employing now. In the meantime, I’m just happy to have gotten a start with it, since it had been a goal for a long time. As hair-pulling as it can be, I really do enjoy the creative process of making them and want to get back to it soon.

--Kristen McHenry