Reply To: The Giant Introduction Thread Of Doomydoomdoom. (Or just introductions.)

[Trissa Nova]

Hi everyone.  I’m not sure whether folks still use the forums but I’ve just joined the site & thought I’d make an intro.  It would be great if other folks could post about themselves as well.  Even if you already did…some of the intros on the thread are from a while ago and so much has changed in the past couple years (to put it mildly).

I live in the USA in Minnesota, in the Frozen North!  I have a family of 4, with my oldest just starting her second semester at university. Our son will finish up his high school in spring of ’23 and is in the midst of making university decisions.  We have two dogs: a lab mix and a great pyrenees.  I own a small advertising agency.  We do the “numbers” (media buying) side of advertising, not the creative side.  Work takes a lot of time and I don’t paint as often as I’d like.

My husband & I are planning to retire in the next 2.5-3 years.  We will sell the house & most belongings, move into an RV trailer, and travel full time for at least a few years if all goes well.  Our bigger pickup should arrive next month and the trailer is on order for summer delivery so we have time with the setup in advance of moving in full time.

I was active in art in my teen years and received some recognition, but was advised by my parents that art wasn’t going to be my career so I shouldn’t focus on it.  They meant well, but I have only come back to it in the past year or so.  As I thought about hobbies I could develop for when we’re traveling…things that don’t take a lot of space…watercolor seemed perfect so I dug in.

Watercolor goals & things I struggle with:

• I have been known to focus on development of my “kit” more than painting itself.  i.e. Finding the perfect palette (which honestly I think I have done, for me anyway).  Building a plein air support board with mounts for all my accessories (despite that at least currently I don’t really paint outdoors), designing/sewing a cross-body bag that fits my supplies (only to have the supply list change somewhat).  I don’t think this is bad per se.  It is part of my personality.  But it does take away from painting time.
• I am trying to get down to a simplified set of colors.  I need to use fewer and understand them better.
• I have a tendency to kind of draw with my brush rather than use more loose or gestural marks that take better advantage of watercolor’s unique beauty.  And part of me wonders if I should just embrace this and develop more of a botanical practice.
• I’m trying to work on seeing what’s actually in front of me versus painting what I expect to see.

It is also my hope to develop some art-minded friends because I don’t really have people in my life with whom I can talk about these things.  My family is interested & supportive for sure, but nobody is interested in my questions about whether I have too many yellows in my split primary setup.

Looking forward to spending some time here with you all. – T