Mingus #100. 11,5 x 5.5 in. watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Number one hundred was a struggle. It just was not working. I started on an 8 x 12 inch piece of paper. More room for big sky. I got the first layers down. And then the electricity went out. Lightning hit a power box. Or transformer box. What are they called?

For about an hour I was focused on getting the power back on. Thinking I needed to just flip the breakers and it would come back. Then a neighborhood conversation started. Phone calls and suppositions.

This was worrisome for me, as I am connected to an O2 concentrator 24/7. Earlier in the day I had run errands. Got home, started chores and I hadn’t yet plugged in the portable to charge the battery. There was 3.25 hours of charge left. Now, I also have regular O2 tanks. Some are empty, but I have a total of 8 to 16 hours there.  And if all else failed, if the outage lasted longer, I could always jump in the car and charge the battery that way.

But I think that first, “Uh-Oh”, messed with my mo-jo. Two hours later power was back, but I was stuck. I picked up a brush, and fiddled a bit. But the way forward was, cloudy. So I called it a night.

The next day, I realized, I had sketched on the back of the paper. Arches can be used on either side. The back is smooth. That could explain why I was having a hard time. I am not familiar with that texture. So I flipped the paper over. Transferred the image again, and started to paint. And the same thing happened. I got stuck.  I painted in the sky, thinking that would get me on the right track. I have fun painting the skies, and they often come together quickly for me. Not this time. It was muck.

The image I was working from, has a bit of curved road and some trees in the bottom right corner. I thought I would attempt a more “complicated” piece, a “grand slam” for the finale. “Ha ha ha,” said the universe. There are also distant homes under the smaller ridge, to the left. It is a view from town. South of my usual Mingus view.

I hit a wall and called it a night. Again. But I did manage to get my #Worldwatercolormonth pieces done. I started #100 one more time. Got about half way, before my eyes refused to stay open. I went back to the 5.5 x 11.5 size sheet.

This morning I looked at the painting, and went to work. #100DaysOfMingus, #The100DaysProject, done. Whew!

#WorldWatercolorMonth

#11 WWM. 5.5 x 8 in. watercolor on Strathmore 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

#12 WWM. 5.5 x 8 in. watercolor on Strathmore 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Not sure why, but #12 was difficult to edit. The colors are off. Below is a photo to give you a better idea. This is sort of abstracted ice plant.

When I was in 4th grade, my brother and I were latch-key kids. Mom owned two hair salons, one of which was just down the hill behind where we lived. If needed, she could walk home in five minutes. We used to climb the hill behind out house, and make forts in the bushes at the top. Climbing that hill from the parking lot (red), was our “Olympic marathon event”. It was steep, and we had to use the irrigation pipe as our “rope”. Had to do that on the sly, so we wouldn’t get busted.

Hills

The hill directly behind our house was not so steep. One day we got the idea to use the plastic rug protectors as sleds to slide down the ice plant on the hill. Well, the cleats on the bottom (yeah, had to look that up) caught on the ice plant, so that was a no go.

Brilliant idea, and I think the credit goes to me, “Let’s flip ’em over!” So we excitedly slid down the hill, thorns poking our backsides. It was a quick ride. We forgot to think of an exit plan. At the bottom, was a cement drainage ditch. So we had to, sort of, lean to the side to jump off before we hit cement. And THAT is when the thorns scraped our bare legs. Yup, ouch. But I guess the ride was worth it, because I remember we did it once or twice more.

The drainage ditch was usually dry. So. Cal., not a lot of rain. That is what made it easy for Mom to climb the hill. It also was a quick route to the 7-11 that was there at the time. You could still get 5 cent candy then. Ice cream, soda, gum. What more could a kid want but easy access to junk food. There were spindly trees there, and we would sneak behind them so Mom could not see us if she happened to look out the window. We had to be very stealth.

Not sure why I am sharing this, only that these were the things I was remembering while I worked on this piece.

Yellow-Salon, Blue-path to 7-11, Red-steep hill, star-home.

#12 WWM True color. 5.5 x 8 in. watercolor on Strathmore 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

All 100 are in the gallery now. My next post will be a review of #The100DayProject. I will show you my favorites, and share which posts were the most popular. It might take a day or two to go through them all. Ha ha.

Enjoy your weekend!!

#100DaysOfMingus  Gallery

A Year In The Life Of Mingus

#WorldWatercolorMonth