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2025 Here We Come

Stella De Genova

Blind Artist Vision: blog by Stella De Genova


It’s a new year.  Welcome 2025!  Personally, I find January a little overwhelming.  The excitement and madness of the holidays is over.  We place new  resolutions on ourselves while at the same time, we have no idea what the new year holds in store for us. One thing I do know is that we can count on sharing planned and unplanned moments with loved ones.

 

In my last blog post of the year, I wrote that I don’t get any artwork done through the end of the year and the end of 2024 was no different!  Now it’s the January blahs and it’s cold outside with no relief in site.  The idea of curling up with my blanket and a cup of tea and watching All Creatures Great and Small sounds like the perfect thing to do.  But instead of sinking into the couch for a long winter nap, I’ve put away Christmas decorations, put a stew in the slow cooker and am determined to get my mind back into thinking about painting!

 

The first thing that comes to mind is that I hope I didn’t forget how to paint or, more specifically, haven’t lost the ability to see what I want to paint.   I can procrastinate with the best of ‘em so what I make sure I do is sign up for my instructor Julie’s pastel painting class.  Even at my age, there’s nothing like an assignment that’s due to get the juices flowing. 

 

Now I decide what I’m going to work on and then I cut and set up my paper for my drawing.  This sometimes takes longer than painting because I have to find and follow light lines.  It can be frustrating but it ‘s the hurdle I have to pass to get to the rewarding part of the process.

 

Our first assignment is to work on eggs in a bowl or a still life of our choice.  I chose to do some pears in a white bowl but you won’t see white in the painting.  We are using secondary colors – greens, oranges and purples.  I did my underpainting in purples.  This is the baseline of the painting and from the underpainting, we build, edit and layer.  We always joke about the ugly stage that every painting seems to go through and when the details and colors come together, that’s when the finished product will take shape and emerge.

 


Underpainting of Pears in a Bowl: drawing of 2 pears in a circular bowl, using purple pastels to find lights and darks

 

As it turns out, I’m pretty happy with my first attempt of the year and I’m not ready to get rid of my art supplies  just yet.  Another year, another challenge.  And on a much larger scale than a legally blind person painting, I am certain that if we all care and help each other, we will weather the storms of 2025, be they literal or figurative!

 


Pears in a Bowl: a  painting that depicts two pears in a circular bowl with dark shadows inside the bowl.  The image is textured and realistic but with an impressionist feel.  The colors range from green and purples to oranges and browns.





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