Painting is difficult.

Coneflowers

Acrylic, 16 x 20 inches. $325.

The first line of M. Scott Peck's book, "The Road Less Traveled," is "Life is difficult." I first read those lines more than twenty years ago. I return to them often when I become overwhelmed by the task at hand. Although I know that I am being overly dramatic, especially when I am referring to painting, and he was referring to living with integrity when faced with living life on life's terms, his words have always spurred me on when I wanted to throw in the towel, or in this case, brush, when things get really hard. I am, of course talking about painting a Pear. It is my Moriarty. My nemesis. My Achilles heal. My.... Oh, whatever.

I am taking a break from painting my pear to work on the entries I am submitting into upcoming juried shows that I am interested in. Currently there is a "Call to Artists" to enter into the Kent Summer Art Exhibit. I exhibited in this show last year and it is a very good one. I am planning to enter about five 16 x 20 inch paintings and hope that the jury will accept one or more of my pieces. "Coneflowers" is one of the pieces I am entering. I also plan to enter "Fall", and "First Flight", both of which I have posted before. I am not all that tech-savvy so I will be spending time filling out forms, composing my artist resume, editing photos, burning a CD, etc. I will post the other paintings I am thinking about over the next few days. After that, I won't have many more excuses for not finishing my pear.

Penelope