No Longer a Secret!
It's a relief to be able to blog a little bit more freely than I could in November or December about what I'm working on. This was painted as a surprise Christmas gift from one sister to another, so I actually completed it before my cataract surgeries on both eyes.
I don't really notice much difference in my paintings since the surgery. Unlike others, I am not seeing less yellow or any discernable color differences since Dr. Michael E. Snyder of the Cincinnati Eye Institute gave me improved vision via cataract surgery. The big difference to me is the amount of detail I can now see. But my paintings have never been much about detail anyway.
I enjoy tightrope walking the line between abstract and representational painting in my home portraits, especially when I can capture dramatic lighting effects in them. And as long as the people commissioning or receiving their home portraits love them, and can recognize the houses as uniquely theirs, I'm satisfied with the outcome.
One of the stories about this painting is the challenge I sometimes have taking my own photographs of a home when the painting is meant to surprise the recipient as a gift. I don't want to get caught taking the pictures!!
My favorite times of day for capturing dramatic light effects are a few hours after sunrise or later afternoon 3:30 - 5:30 pm. But children are usually home from school or people are home from work at these times, so I often have to take mid-day photos, where lighting is not quite as inspirational.
Surprisingly, this time of year is one of the best times for me to photograph a home, at least in Ohio and the midwest. I can always change the season and the landscaping to spring, summer or fall in the finished portrait. But sometimes I can see the lines (skeleton, bones) of the house through dense foliage, so it's easier to take pictures in the winter, early spring or late fall than in the summer.