Radically Retired

Tag: Painting

  • Velkommen

    Velkommen

    Those of you who have been following me for a while, may remember that I’ve been trying to learn Norwegian Rosemaling, a decorative folk art.

    My goal was to do some pieces using palm husks that I pick up here in south Texas after a strong wind forces them to shed the ground. The canvas is free, so what’s not to love about that?

    Although hubs is third generation Canadian, he’s of Norwegian ancestry – 100% on both his mother’s and father’s sides, as far back as they can trace their roots (which a family genealogist has done), thus my interest in their culture. When I came across Rosemaling, I fell in love with the colours, the sweeping scrolls and swirls, and the simple flowers.

    It looked easy. It isn’t.

    I’ve practiced and practiced in sketchbooks and finally decided it was time to try it out on a palm husk.

    To my eye, the end result (left in feature photo) was a disaster.

    I submitted the left photo to ChatGPT and asked for suggestions on how to clean it up.

    Not only did the app correct it perfectly, using my design as a guide, but with further questions from me, it provided step by step directions for the brush strokes of Telemark rosemaling – my style of choice. I’ve watched YouTubes and researched other step by step tutorials, but the one provided by ChatGPT gathered the information quickly and provided exactly what I needed, based on my skill level (or lack of skill).

    Velkommen means welcome in Norwegian, so I wanted to make one of these husks for the back patio of our home.

    I think now, that I’ll follow the design sent back to me by the app, but make the background sage green.

  • Practice

    Practice

    This spring, instead of transporting so many things back and forth every six months, I chose to leave all of my art supplies in Texas.

    I recently decided that I want some practice on brush stroke and acrylic paint techniques before I head back, but didn’t want to spend a lot of money for 6 weeks of practice.

    Enter: Dollarama. I purchased all of the supplies in my feature photo for $16.59 CDN ($12 USD) and this is all that I need.

    The paints and brushes aren’t near the quality of the ones waiting for me in TX, but they’ll suffice for the time being.

    For now, I’ll practice on a sketch pad and poster board.

    When we get back to TX, I’ll continue with folk art (my fave) on my “free” canvas … Palm husks that drop from the trees during big winds.

    These were my earliest attempts in 2021

    My current goal is to learn Norwegian rosemaling so I can paint those designs on the palm husks too. I’m not Norwegian, but hubs is.

    Making a bit of progress, but still a very long way to go