Something Beautiful, The Making of a Collection, Part II

(read part I of the series here)

I mentioned in my last post that this collection grew out of a longing for beauty and a lost opportunity to live in my dream home. What do they say about hope deferred making the heart grow sick? Well, hope deferred makes this Enneagram 3w4 driven and dramatic.

So I did what any determined woman with a penchant for melancholy would do-

• binge watched Yellowstone and movies set in the English countryside (Sense & Sensibility, Peter Rabbit*, Shadowlands)
• made myself a sentimental playlist 
• started collecting all the BEAUTIFUL inspiration I could find. Took lots of my own photos ("Mom, you don't have to take a picture of every field we see!", SHUSH YOU, YES I DO), corralled the loveliest Instagram posts in an Inspiration highlight, and pinned all the pretty pins on Pinterest. Some of you even messaged me the most gorgeous photos from your own homes and travels, please never stop doing that.

I don't typically paint directly from reference photos unless I'm doing a commission but I still absorb all the colors, details and general mood of the photos I save. Then I start narrowing down subject matter and palette.

This is mostly an emotional process- what images literally make me feel something, almost an ache? It's something deeper than just appreciation... again I go back to that feeling of longing. It's the same feeling I get when I drive by a horse farm, or see those aerial shots of the Dutton ranch (it has nothing to do with Kayce, I promise), hear the theme song from Up, or watch Willoughby canter away from Marianne's wedding.

Good grief, I'm feeling that 4 wing today. Maybe that should have been the name of the collection - Something Beautiful: An Enneagram 4 Paints Her Feelings While Walking Through the Swamp of Sadness...

Next post, I'll share the overarching color palette of the paintings and why I decided to use vintage frames instead of custom. Remember, the collection releases on August 1st, 2021. My newsletter subscribers get early access to the collection on July 31st, so make sure you're on that list (scroll down on the home page to sign up).

**Peter Rabbit was surprisingly funny and the scenery was amazing. Exactly what I imagined Mr. McGregor's cottage looked like. 

**I am fully aware that the loss of a "dream home" is a totally first world privileged problem to have. I've said it before but it bears repeating that we have a lovely home in a beautiful neighborhood and I am so grateful. Dreaming of something else doesn't have to equal being miserable where you are. I may never get that perfect dream home on this earth and I'm ok with that. There is so much beauty in my life and, if anything, this process of losing something I never had has taught me to really see all that beauty- in the interstate cornfield, the wildflowers behind a gas station, the clouds on a neighborhood walk.**