Today was an interesting day, but they have all been. After suffering from the most miserable jet lag, allergies, and other unmentionable physical issues, Natalia and I came back to the complex last night, had our dinners, and I went back to my room to just freshen up and check my email. Needless to say, I literally sat on the edge of my bed at 8:15 p.m., and passed out completely unconscious, until 7:30 this morning....I haven't done that since I was an infant, or dying of some dreaded disease. I woke up feeling like gangbusters, took a hot shower (yay! there is not been hot water these last few days, but I got some!), then had a very nice breakfast, and out the door we went.
We painted en plein air in the city today, and that was nice but a bit of a challenge. I picked the hardest spot possible, but for a reason...I wanted the challenge of it, since cityscapes are not my "thing," but this view of the city through this amazing corridor/archway at the top of Sibiu was very beautiful, but very complex, and I wanted to see if I could manage it "raw," without any tools to work out the composition. I did, and although it's not my very best painting, it was not the worst, it was successful, just not to inspiring to me, but that's OK. Iliya thought it successful as well, so I suppose that's a good thing. I dealt with extreme temperature and weather change, hordes of tourists (and questions), being serenaded by gypsies children playing "Old McDonald" on their recorders, gnats flying up my nose and landing in my paint, and the very worst of it: The pollen falling from the trees that coated me like snow eventually, and also was mucking up my paint, and actually changing the color of my painting from landing in it....but, I needed to really keep myself moving mentally, so as to not let my mind wander. I have a tremendously hard situation going on stateside, and being overseas where I feel helpless is tough, but long story short, I know this is where I should be, but that doesn't make it any easier.
The pollen count here is so high, another artist each day is stricken down with terrible symptoms, even if they never had allergies stateside. Sarah and I have been struggling terribly, as are a few others, and today, Dominique began to feel ill with swollen eyes and painful sinuses, and Natalia was so incapacitated by swollen, itchy eyes, sneezing and blindness, she could barely paint. It is pretty awful, and I'm hoping this will pass in the next few days as we get adjusted here. I'm just so happy I slept 12 hours last night, I'm doing the Snoopy dance of joy!
So tonight, Lee wanted us to go partying till all hours of the morning in Sibiu, but quite a few of us artists (particularly us "older" ones) decided that it was too much, so we quietly have tucked in for the night. We have a really heavy schedule ahead of us these next few days, so quiet is what we need....and I'm grateful for the blessings I was able to enjoy today, including a nice dinner of chicken and salad with the group, and just a very comfy bed! Have a nice evening all (even though we are 7 hours ahead, I'll wish it to you now!)!!!!
We painted en plein air in the city today, and that was nice but a bit of a challenge. I picked the hardest spot possible, but for a reason...I wanted the challenge of it, since cityscapes are not my "thing," but this view of the city through this amazing corridor/archway at the top of Sibiu was very beautiful, but very complex, and I wanted to see if I could manage it "raw," without any tools to work out the composition. I did, and although it's not my very best painting, it was not the worst, it was successful, just not to inspiring to me, but that's OK. Iliya thought it successful as well, so I suppose that's a good thing. I dealt with extreme temperature and weather change, hordes of tourists (and questions), being serenaded by gypsies children playing "Old McDonald" on their recorders, gnats flying up my nose and landing in my paint, and the very worst of it: The pollen falling from the trees that coated me like snow eventually, and also was mucking up my paint, and actually changing the color of my painting from landing in it....but, I needed to really keep myself moving mentally, so as to not let my mind wander. I have a tremendously hard situation going on stateside, and being overseas where I feel helpless is tough, but long story short, I know this is where I should be, but that doesn't make it any easier.
The pollen count here is so high, another artist each day is stricken down with terrible symptoms, even if they never had allergies stateside. Sarah and I have been struggling terribly, as are a few others, and today, Dominique began to feel ill with swollen eyes and painful sinuses, and Natalia was so incapacitated by swollen, itchy eyes, sneezing and blindness, she could barely paint. It is pretty awful, and I'm hoping this will pass in the next few days as we get adjusted here. I'm just so happy I slept 12 hours last night, I'm doing the Snoopy dance of joy!
So tonight, Lee wanted us to go partying till all hours of the morning in Sibiu, but quite a few of us artists (particularly us "older" ones) decided that it was too much, so we quietly have tucked in for the night. We have a really heavy schedule ahead of us these next few days, so quiet is what we need....and I'm grateful for the blessings I was able to enjoy today, including a nice dinner of chicken and salad with the group, and just a very comfy bed! Have a nice evening all (even though we are 7 hours ahead, I'll wish it to you now!)!!!!
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