I've probably said this way too much already, but having lots of natural light in my studio has inspired me to paint so much more. Believe me, I would paint 24hrs a day if the sun were up that long, but having a bright studio is as close as I can get to extending my daylight hours so I'll take it! It's incredibly refreshing to be here. In my last studio, it was a "garden level" apartment, which sounds charming and quaint (and it really, really was at times,) but in reality it's more like a basement. It also only had just one window with another building just a few ft. away . . . can you imagine my weeping eyes when it became dark in my studio at 3pm in the afternoon? The struggle. ;) But it's made me appreciate this light so much more than I think I would having not been in that other, dark little studio for a year. Win-win, right? 

I'm learning that another way to stay inspired to paint, besides having great lighting, is to set up a still life at ALL times so there is always something ready to paint in an instant. That's what happened with these sunflowers. I had gone to Trader Joes early in the week and bought a plethora of fruits and stems of fresh flowers for a still life. After painting another still life I decided to not take the set up down. Instead, I rearranged the objects into a different composition so that it would be ready to be painted again the next day. Sometimes the prep work behind the painting can be un-motivating; it's hard to get going and prep a canvas, set up a still life (or photograph a model/object/landscape etc.,) sketch out the composition, made design notes ... and then finally start painting. When I returned to my studio the following morning, I can almost promise that I heard those sunflowers peeping at me saying, "paint me! paint me!" ;) And from there, well, the rest is history.