Friday, October 13, 2006

Painting the Outdoors Outdoor



William paints outdoors with house paints (donated). The trees rustle behind him and late afternoon light plays on the ground where he's scattered lumber from the scaffolding he built. His canvas is a 10' x 30' free standing wall.

Neighbors have requested he add certain animals and plants (a deer, a bunny, woodpeckers, mushrooms) and he'll add those details with more expensive acrylic paints later.

He's far from San Diego, in the hills - at the end of a short dirt road with cabins for rent on both sides. He's hoping the property owners will pay him something for his time and effort. He's hoping this project will get him back into his art that he abandonded 30 years ago.

William walks with a limp and a twist. He's on disability and very depressed about it. Four years ago doctors did exploratory brain surgery looking for a tumor (that didn't exist) and the scar tissue caused him to have multiple sclerosis.

Every few minutes William would walk away from sketching in rocks by the side of the stream, to see how things looked from afar.

He's worried how he'll be able to paint when the weather in the hills gets cold. He had to stop working for 3 months during the summer due to heat.

William told me about collecting images. He cuts them out from books, magazines, posters - everywhere and has an extensive filing system to keep them. He uses them for ideas and references.

1 comment:

Norvona said...

Oh how I wish I could give him my mags: Birds and Blooms, Country, Farm & Ranch Living, Reminisce. They have no ads and beautiful photos.

I wish the best for him.
Norvona