I have been replacing the impressionistic landscape paintings on my wall with my recently painted urban sketching watercolors. I like to study my recent paintings as a way to see what’s working and what’s not. Plus, it’s a nice change of scenery on my walls.
I’ve pretty much run out of wall space with over 100 paintings hanging everywhere so the oil paintings are getting stored in my spare bedroom for now. For now, my plan is to rotate what’s on my walls periodically.
I notice with other urban sketchers that they keep their paintings in sketchbooks instead of displaying them. When I get to the point of actually going somewhere to sketch outside, I can envision doing that too. A sketchbook is much more convenient for traveling.
For now though, I like seeing the art on my walls. It brightens my day and gives me something to admire – even the bad ones.
As far as hobbies go, this one fits right in with my life:
- It focuses my mind.
- It is both frustrating and meditative.
- It challenges me to improve.
- It sparks creativity in me.
- It gives me something to think about during the day.
- It makes me smile when I see the finished product.
- It’s frugal – watercolors last a long time, paper is inexpensive, my mounting/framing solution is pretty cheap, and my lessons are free (or under $20 for formal classes).
- I can do it alone.
After my wife had died and I was going through her things, I read the book:
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter by Margareta Magnusson (Author)
I didn’t need help getting rid of stuff. In my grief, I purged too much. However, if you have a lot of stuff, I encourage you to read the book. It deals with the psychological, societal and emotional impacts of hanging onto stuff and of being free of it.
The book wasn’t about grief and mourning. It was about getting rid of your own stuff before dying so that you didn’t leave a mess for your heirs to deal with.
One thing the author mentioned was was own paintings that she had created over a lifetime. She gave some of them away and threw many of them out.
That sticks with me.
Perhaps, when I think I’m closer to death, I’ll be doing the same thing.