Charlotte Artist | Robin Winningham | Artist Blog

It feels like midnight!? This time change always messes me up!

A short list of what I listened to while painting today:

Silversun Pickups – Lazy Eye

Death Cab for Cutie – I Will Possess Your Heart

twothirtyeight – Suitcases For Always

Some random Radiohead..

I took some breaks to eat lunch, do laundry, and curl up on the couch.? I always make up an ambitious list in my head of things to do on days like these, and rarely do I complete everything.? It was a quiet day though, and I probably needed it.

I did a lot of detail work on the painting, but I can’t decide if it’s finished (which usually means that it’s not).? But hey, tomorrow is Friday instead of Monday and I think it’s going to be a good weekend.

Time to curl up on the couch again!

-Robin

Happy Veterans Day! Thank you to all those who have served, are serving, and will serve in the future.? Our country would not be what it is today without you.? I am thankful for your sacrifice and proud to have veterans in my family.

I’ve had my coffee, I was somewhat awake when the guy came back to service the door he installed yesterday (long story), and I’m in my painting clothes.? It feels much later than 10:00 (which is good) and I think I’ll get started on finishing up the painting from my last post.

Our tree has to be the best looking one on the street.? Today was the first day I noticed that there isn’t any green left (it may have looked like this for a few days, but when I leave in the morning for work it’s barely light out, and by the time I get home it’s dark.. gotta love the shorter days).? I wish the leaves would stay like this through Thanksgiving, but the ones at the top are already starting to turn brown and could blow away at any minute.? I love maples and I wish we had some in the backyard too!

More later regarding the painting(s)..

-Robin

Some people get their best ideas in the shower. I’ve had those moments, but I do most of my thinking when I’m either painting or driving (or throwing pottery, but since I can’t do that right now I try not to think about it because of how much I miss it). I currently have a 40-50 minute commute to work, a 40-50 minute drive to my second job, and another 25 minute drive home. So for three days a week, I’m driving up to 125 minutes per day. I’m not complaining because it’s my choice to have a commute like that (and living in Florida prepared me for it. In college I would drive to class in Boca, then to work in Ft. Lauderdale, and home again to Coral Springs.. if you know anything about South Florida, my commute in Charlotte isn’t much different. In some cases, it’s probably better simply because it’s NOT Florida). Anyway, my point was to say that today I did both — painting and driving. The drive was first and it was through the mountains of Virginia. The painting was spontaneous and I’m glad I made time for it.

A good day of painting for me includes the moment when it turns from something inanimate into something I feel like I have a part in. That probably doesn’t make much sense, but let me say that there are plenty of times when I’m painting and it feels like I’m just going through the motions. Then I’ll get caught up in thinking about something and all of a sudden I’ll look down to find that what I’ve just painted makes perfect sense. It’s almost like my subconscious knows more about what my hands are painting than anything my conscious mind could convey. I love those moments and there has to be at least one of them in each painting for me to feel like it’s complete. I’m sure no one else will be able to point out those moments in the paint, but I know they are there and that’s all that matters. And maybe someone will see something in my paintings that makes perfect sense to them.. That’s really what I want. I don’t care if you don’t see the same things I do.. Just the fact that you may connect with something that’s part of one of my paintings is enough for me.

This next month is going to be a game changer for me. It’s the end of one chapter and the start of another. Don’t be surprised if my paintings somehow reflect this. I may not know what is going to happen, but I’m embracing the chance for a change and looking forward to getting the uncertainty out of the way!!

Thanks for reading. I think this may be one of my favorite posts thus far.

-Robin

(I didn’t mean to wait until after dark to take the picture.. sorry! Also, my .com no longer exists. I’m working on that.)

I don’t even want to look at the date of my last post. These months have flown by and the summer is a blur (probably because I didn’t go on vacation this year unless you count one weekend in Maryland for a wedding). But things are about to change dramatically. By Christmas I may be unemployed and embarking on a new and exciting chapter in my life.

I’ll have to continue this later.. I’m more than ready to call it a day. I’ll try to attach one picture here of what I have painted in the last 5 months (so. much. work. It makes me tired just thinking about it).

Goodnight!

-Robin

Here are the two paintings I’ve been working on. Picture quality aside, at least it gives you an idea. I’m still not done with the purple/red one despite what I did on Wednesday. Actually, now I feel even farther from completing it. The other one started from an idea I had simply to use those colors. I love the background color on that one and you can find it in most of the paintings I’ve done in the past year. It’s probably mixed with other colors, but it’s fairly pure here.

It’s almost 9:00 and I haven’t eaten dinner yet. Sounds like a Saturday to me.

-Robin