I haven't posted in many moons.  Not only that, but I haven't been painting very much.  There is, as always, a long story attached to that, but I will spare you.  Part of it has to do with getting a new MAC hard drive, losing Photoshop and my Canon Camera Window.  Have had to buy new software and try to learn new tricks.  I'm just going to stick my toe back in the water and upload a picture to see if I am getting the hang of it again.

This is the latest and last name sign for one of my grand-children, the fourth grandchild.  Bowen had to wait a long time for his.  My son and his wife and children live far away, so I don't see them in real life much other than on skype.  I asked Bowen's Mom what sort of theme did she think he would like?  "Space," was the answer.  I then asked his Aunt Betsy, what sort of theme did she think Bowen would like?  "Space," again was the answer.  I thought, "How on earth am I going to depict "Space," and incorporate Bowen's name?  Trust me....it didn't come easy.  I finally thought I'd look to Kandinsky for inspiration.  I thought some of Kandinsky's art leaned into "Space," with dark backgrounds and vibrant colors with some geometric shapes.  And then, last summer, I did get to see Bowen in Holland and I went to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam.  Hmm......"Starry Night?"  More inspiration. 

Anyway, here's the finished product.  I spent a good deal of time yesterday cropping the picture and getting it ready for publish, but now it appears I didn't get that done correctly.  I'm using Affinity software and cannot get the hang of it.  Grrrr.....  Very frustrated. I miss Photoshop, but refuse to pay a monthly or yearly subscription fee to use it.  Adobe really should not have done that.  If anyone out there knows how to export and save jpgs + resize the files without losing quality in this Affinity program, etc.  I'd love the advice.  Meanwhile, you'll have to see this one, propped up on my easel.  (Yes, that is a brick paver sitting in front of it....I use that to weight and balance the small easel sometimes.)  I have a frame for it, so it is good to go.  I hope he will like it! 

Editing here:  I did finally get the cropped version saved and uploaded here.  Now I can't seem to move it to the bottom of the post, but it's here now.