New paintings listed on my Etsy shop, Lakes & Lights!

I'm a perfectionist. If I can't do something well, then I get really frustrated. I'm so much of a perfectionist, that I dread having to practice. When I was a kid starting out learning the piano, I hated practicing because I wasn't able to just sit down and play a song perfectly for the first time. It's still hard for me to be motivated to practice and improve, because I admit, I'm lazy and want to be perfect the first time without having to "waste time" practicing.

When I paint, I hate to waste any paper, so if I sit down to paint and it's not right, then I sort of give up for a while and put the paints away. All my best work has come from times when I've been in a class and been forced to practice my technique. Now that I'm out of school, this has been really tricky because there's no professor pushing me to practice, to waste paper, to get loose. I get caught up in making the dimensions perfect, in getting all my lines straight, in getting just the right shade...but sometimes I loosen up, I waste paper, I scribble, and I make paintings that I'm proud of, which gets me going on a roll.

In the past week, I've made two new paintings, and added them to my Etsy shop, Lakes & Lights, that I've neglected for quite a while. There's a lot of room for improvement, but I'm actually excited to practice.

Enjoy!
Rachel

Siena, Italy

Harlem, NYC