[marla karimipour • almost a painting a day] high kickers

[Marla Karimipour]

6x8


One day I will have more than 3 hours to paint a picture.  One day I will have more than 3 hours to paint a picture.  One day I will have more than 3 hours to paint a picture.

I figure if I say it enough, it will magically happen.  I guess I could spend more than one naptime to work on a painting....  Not that I'm complaining though.   Having such a short timeframe really makes me kick myself into high gear (no pun intended here I swear), and it is such a great motivator.  If I had more time to work on a painting, it would be more precise and tightly painted, but I actually don't even see that as a good thing.  I can probably say that I wouldn't be painting nearly as often.  Ah, the irony......
 
This painting took two hours and twenty minutes, and then I had to race to make dinner (fried rice with leftover chicken), all before the babies got up.  I felt like I was rushing for sure, and I can tell that I rushed it a bit, but I am really happy with the results.  This painting was ambitious to say the least, and I am very proud of myself that I was able to step up to the challenge.  Not to mention my daughter pooped for the first time on the potty all by herself during naptime.  I am so proud of her I can't even stand it.

All in all, it's been a great 3 hours.







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Posted By Marla Karimipour to marla karimipour • almost a painting a day at 4/26/2011 03:36:00 PM

[Beth Van Dam]

Oh my god, love you!

Sent from my iPhone

[Coni Grant]

How well I remember nap time craziness but it prepared me well to paint en plein air and I worked up to a 16 x 20 in 3 hours.  2 hours is about as long as you can hang with a view when you are out in the landscape - so much changes. The sad irony is that my 6 x 8s take almost as long.
      I used to paint on top of the stove, because it was one of the few places the babies could not get to but my husband suffered because I didn't want to stop and clear the stove to cook (I have priorities). Usually an unfinished piece would go right into the freezer so it would not dry; that didn't go over so well either.
This is not a soap box for me, but, women painters have issues that most men painters never even consider.
Nice cups, - Coni

[Marla Karimipour]

That is so funny- I didn't even think this would help me paint en plein air, but this really would be the best training!  My current painting area is quite literally inside a cage (2 baby gates put together into a rectangle shoved in the corner of the room by two windows behind the couch), to keep the babies OUT.  It works great!  But I can't really paint when they are around- the youngest really wants to get in, so he will shake the gate quite enthusiastically...  enough so that my light, which is affixed to the gate, is at risk of falling.  My daughter, the oldest, wants to get in too, but to paint "using your stuff mama"...  my stuff, which also includes my easel.  Thus, the painting while the babies sleep is my current solution.  I love the use of the kitchen appliances...  I would never be able to use the stove (although that really is a great idea!) because my son has a life threatening dairy allergy, so I have to cook him 3 meals a day.  My stove is pretty much in use at any given moment.  And I totally agree about the gender differences!!  Although my husband is usually home by 2 or 3 (he works early and then works again after the kids go to bed- he is also an artist), it is I who does all the cooking, and 90% of the baby care.  Don't get me wrong, my husband will definitely step up if I need him to, but I have gotten into such a great little routine, it is just easier for me to do it all.  Or..... maybe I am a bit of a control freak.  Yeah, that might have a part also.........