My Palette

It has been a different week. Mostly because my Dad had heart bypass surgery this past Thursday, which many of you are aware. He is making some slow progress in his recovery but your prayers for him would be appreciated.

No painting this week. I thought I'd share something different. These are a couple photos of a recent palette of paint. For many years I have used 5 quart ice cream pail lids as palettes. I even have certain friends and family who save them for me and drop them off occasionally. They are a good size, fairly neutral in tone, easy to mix on and donated to me free of charge (a good thing for a Dutchman).



There is also something interesting about each one after they are filled with color. I have stacks of these painted lids in my painting closet. Someday I'm going to do something with them. Maybe staple them all side by side to a gallery wall or cover an old car in paint palette lids. It'll probably never happen, but the stacks are there if I become inspired.

Some artists have a set system of how they arrange the colors on their palette. As for me, not so much. I do have those colors that I lean on a lot. Colors I couldn't imagine living without. Prussian blue, raw umber, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, cadmiums red and yellow, and cerulean blue to name a few of my favorites. It's rare for me to add new colors to the family of colors I use. I'm not sure why. It's probably like having a favorite sweatshirt that you love to wear. It feels like a part of you and the more years you wear it, the more attached to it you become. So a new one takes a while to break in and become comfortable with.