Fear of Foliage

Yeah, I have fear of foliage.  Not real foliage, mind you.  My fears 'stem' (hehe) from a dread of painting silly looking trees and bushes.  I have ruined more paintings by adding my uptight versions of greenery than I care to remember.  It's depressing, actually.

The point I got to when I decided to walk away.  (I didn't prime this with yellow, the light was low when I took the photo)

I started a painting last week, Beyond the Wall and was so excited to get going on it.  Excited, that was until I realized I had planned shrubbery and trees into it.  I got the background roof and hillside started and began to plan ahead and came up with a bang against the greens.  Instead of doing my usual trick of wading in with a loaded brush and no plan, I put my brushes down, turned off the music and ran. I found myself so afraid of making a mess of this that I totally froze up.

First tree in and all is well.. whew..

I have spent a week letting the trees needed in this piece, um, take root (so sorry) in my mind.  I've been thinking of how to handle them as I go to sleep, soak in the tub, go for walks and hurried past the studio with my eyes averted.  It's been a weird week.  I've been afraid of a silly painting.

The greenery is in and done.  I didn't ruin the painting with it.  This is big, folks!  

Finally, yesterday I felt like I was ready to begin the Alice Webb version of shrubbery-  I've tried everyone else's tree style over the years, perhaps it's time to figure out my own.  Thankfully, what I cooked up in the back of my mind seems to have worked.  It's not Edward Wesson's version, it's not Claudia Nice's version, it's mine.  And I like it.  When I finally let go of what I thought I was supposed to be making trees look like, my instinct took over and made up my own.  Before you get too proud of me, remember that I've been stubbornly throwing myself at this concept for 20 years.

I may be slow, but I am persistent.  See you soon!  Alice