catching up

A view from the 18th fairway towards the final hole.

A view of another one of the 18 lush fairways between patches of desert at the Doha Golf Club.




I won't lie - it's been a bit of a week. And I did find it a challenge to switch gears from 'mama to a sweet but sick little girl' to 'artist' after 4 nights of broken sleep.

I was able to pop into the studio to continue work on the tentatively titled, "autumn". But the biggest treat was sneaking off to watch a bit of the European PGA Masters tournament at the Doha Golf Club.



I have a very basic understanding of the ecological impact of forcing a world-class championship golf course to exist in the desert. But it is absolutely gorgeous.

Visiting the course as a spectator (rather than a frustrated golfer ;p), I was able to enjoy the periphery and see what lovely things grew outside the manicured edges.

Here are some photos to be filed under 'possible future inspiration'.



The water hazards are quite beautiful set against the bright greens. But I found these strange crystallized clumps with stains of blue dye growing along the edges of the ponds most fascinating. (Blue dyed water looks better on tv, I think? And someone told me that it sorts out what organisms are welcome there.)

I don't know what plant this is, but its shape is so interesting! I do remember that my friend Basma did a painting of this while she still lived here.

Again, I don't know what this plant is called, but it is so delicate and beautiful. And in spite of those qualities, it thrives in this climate!

Some of the locals that live on the 18th hole.

hard at work

autumn - (working title) acrylic & mixed media on canvas;
a small detail of larger painting in progress

To be honest, this painting is still at the "I'm really unhappy with it" stage. So, this little peek at the underlayer is all I will share for now. To be continued...

jinx?

After all that excitement yesterday to get back to work today, I'm ashamed to admit that my only time in the studio has been the few minutes writing this. Instead of our normally fun mommy-and-me Wednesdays, we started our day with a one hour wait at the pediatric clinic. Sofia was really not feeling well. Poor thing caught a cold that also affects the tummy. Needless to say, today was a long and exhausting day. Thankfully, it's nothing serious. And I look forward to having another go at finishing what I started...tomorrow.

the next fix

waterlily detail of larger painting in progress - acrylic & mixed media on canvas.

(Conventional, I know. But I promise, it's not done. This is but a small part that I worked on yesterday for this larger piece.)

I think any artist will tell you that it's a kind of 'high' when one gets to the stage where it's really, really difficult to just stop and take a break. Today's the first day since I've been back at it, that that's happened. I can't wait to get back to work tomorrow!

115 days to go

I've had a really wonderful day in the studio today! I didn't feel like I was forcing anything, and I certainly made the most of the daylight. I painted for about four-and-a-half-plus hours straight today, and I think I'm spent.

Here's a peek at the chaos. (For those, like me, that would like proof that there is something going on up here.)

I'll see if there's energy left tonight to maybe sketch something. But after a couple of sleepless nights...

1)last Friday because Sofia has a cold and
2)last night because the garbage truck guys decided to empty the bins in the empty lot behind our compound at 12:21am and wake up the baby who has had a cold the last few days (argh).

...I can't promise anything. I'm just excited that I have one painting nearing completion.

P.S. I also need to put it out there that I have the most wonderful husband in the world. He volunteered to take the latter half of the sleepless night last night to try & get Sofia back to sleep, so I could have a bit of a nap before the day started. Thank you so much, xo.

beads, bugs & tea

This weekend, I took some photographs as research for one of my painting projects. These particular ideas may eventually get cut in the end, but I hope you enjoy the glimpse at how I sometimes begin.

"beads"

"bugs"

"tea"

weekend!

A weird seashell I found on Balicasag Island. (Thumbnail pencil sketch on paper.)

For those not in the know, weekends in this part of the world are on Fridays and Saturdays. Hope you have a great one!

Mommy-and-Me Wednesdays

I won't lie. I'm going to 'cheat' every Wednesday on my daily offering and post something that I've not necessarily started or finished that day; but it will most certainly be something currently in-progress.

Every Wednesday I enjoy my long mornings together with Sofia. We start off with her motor-sensory class, then a leisurely lunch with some of the other mums and babies afterward. The rest of the day is spent running/catching up on errands once she's down for a nap. So there's not much time left to get things done in the studio. I think because I absolutely love playing with her so much, I used to feel guilty that I wasn't upstairs working. But now I just feel really grateful and blessed to have this time with her. So sue me.

"poppies" - acrylic on canvas (unfinished)

Anyway, to get back to the point of everything...this piece I'm sharing today is most definitely a work-in-progress. You don't often get to see what an artist does underneath the finished product, so I thought it could be interesting to someone.

Not sure how often I'll do this though (show an underpainting) since I'm regularly unhappy with that layer; which is what propels me to finish it. That being said, when I am happy with the under-layer, I am often afraid to continue for fear of really buggering it up. All I know for sure is that this is not done. So, I'd like to quote one of my favourite movies of 2009 here and just tell myself to "nut up or shut up".

119 more days to complete (still) 22 paintings.

preparations

"rear-view" - pencil on paper (completed)

Today, I re-counted my waiting canvasses and started brainstorming and drawing thumbnail sketches for a possible series.

There's a 3-piece (each panel 2'x3') painting that I started back in May 2008. I've only got the underpainting completed at this stage, but I'm excited to begin (again). Not sure that it will fit into the series I'm planning for the exhibition, but we'll see. I've also decided to set a clear deadline for myself as of today: 120 days. 22 paintings.

rearview

"rear-view" - pencil on paper (unfinished - after posting, I wasn't happy with 3 of the petals. To be continued.)

Reacquainted myself with the old pencil set today. Not sure what's up with the 'flower' thing lately, since it's certainly something I've never been interested in drawing or painting before. Perhaps desert-living is making me nostalgic for the days when I could treat myself weekly to a $9.99 bouquet from the grocery store. ( One rose at a grocery store here can sometimes go for about $20.)

c'est fini!

www.ceciliafrancisco.com is no longer a 'coming soon' page. Couldn't go to bed until it was finished for some reason. Only 5 hours to sleep before it's time to be Mama again :) xo

weekend

Busy weekend in Doha. Have really been making the effort to go out and enjoy ourselves. Did the Corniche park on Friday, then Aspire today with great friends we met in our prenatal class. Haven't been in the studio today, but have been working on the website every chance I get. I am finally on the brink of finishing the website! Just have to go through it all and check my little O.C.D. things like what colours the hyperlinks are and what colours they'll become after. I'll officially count all of that as my creative achievement for today.

Fingers crossed the whole thing can go online tomorrow, then I can get back to painting.

success!

"poppies" - thumbnail sketch for a possible painting



This is yesterday's creative offering. As for today's, I finally got my old paintings up online. Please check it out*. I hope you enjoy them. Good night!

*I've killed the old link. The website is online!

trying

www.ceciliafrancisco.com is the other thing that I started late in 2007, which moved way down the priority list when I found out that I was pregnant shortly thereafter. (I swear I felt like I needed to become an OB/GYN within 9 months to make sure that I could even ask the doctors here the right questions or even trust that they were giving me the right answers. I'd like to say I've become less neurotic, but thankfully instead, I was happy to find a Western-educated doctor to assuage my fears. But that's a different longlifestory altogether.)

After spending a wonderful morning with Sofia at a baby motor-sensory class, I am finally getting around to at least attempting to put my portfolio up online today. Please, please, please don't fail me now "more-often-than-not-disappointingly-slow internet connection."

In the past two hours, I am in the midst of attempt number 3. So far, it's Qtel: 2, Cecilia: 0.

clarity

"Wings - a flower study" - pencil on paper in progress.

I started this longlifestory blog back in 2007. And I only revisited it for a second time last night. That's how good I am.

It's another beautiful, sunny day in Doha and I'm up in the studio looking at various paintings in progress and trying to find my way. One false move could wreck everything I've been happily painting up to now. But being afraid is also what's gotten me to the point of painting paralysis. I have 22 canvasses (some small, some very big) concurrently on the go.

Suck it up, princess. Figure it out. This is what you love to do.

the truth.

Wow. What was I saying about that momentum? I fell into a painting blackhole grasping for ideas and came out gasping with only 3 new pieces to show for all of 2008.

I had my first baby on August 13th, 2008. And between figuring out this motherhood thing, entertaining out-of-town family for months at a time...and wonderful, yet hectic extended vacations, I've only started working again this past September.

And I do mean really, really working. I had tried to prepare myself for the idea that I may not have time or energy to paint once my daughter was born; but found out that in reality, this is simply not an option.

It just took me longer than it should have to figure that out...