Serendipity

It's a Great Word

Serendipity

Saying the word makes me feel like jumping up and down, or skipping around the room or across the lawn.  Yes, yes, I do have lawn outside this time of year.

Serendipity is good fortune.  So when I was invited to head south into Mexico to paint for a week I thought the invitation serendipitous.  As you know, if you read this blog, I have been working on three commissions simultaneously.  That can get a bit hectic and I can get a bit scattered.  With sketchbook, watercolor paints and brushes I headed south thinking I would draw and paint palms because that is one of the commissions, palms.  I would have a chance to step away from the studio, relax and center myself.  I would focus on palms.

Serendipity is an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.  So even though I declared I would be painting palms, in Palmilla, I discovered, quite by accident,  I wanted to paint pineapples while there.  A beautiful pineapple sat in the kitchen upon our arrival.  One of these commissions involves a pineapple painting, so what a great way to get to know this fruit, one I have not painted previously, one that had been in my scattered thoughts, one that needed some attention.  I would draw and paint this fruit.

As is typical of the way I work, I sketched the fruit in detail and then painted these quick watercolors to give me working knowledge of the pineapple and how I might like to present it in the final painting.  

Check back to see how this all comes together...there is apt to be more serendipity taking place and maybe just a little skipping.