Blog

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Lipetsk.

The day dawned bright and clear, and it seemed like a great day to take the easel outside.  

Outside AND into the park, to be specific.

I've told you before, Bykhanov Sad park is a busy, well-used city park.  And considering the beautiful day, folks were EVERYwhere.

And I've also told you before, I am a bit gun-shy of people looking over my shoulder as I paint.  Even more so if they look over my shoulder, speaking по-русски.  (that's 'speak Russian', for all you without the knowledge of the русский язык)

But I am nothing if not brave, and so there I was, paint brush in hand.  Some nice guy plopped down on a bench that I just happened to have my easel pointed toward.  Thank you Sir!  And he was reading his book, even better yet.

Did the painting turn out marvelously?  No.  But I realized later, that I'd made a few less mistakes than the time before.  Progress, however painfully slow, is still progress.

I was wiping out my brushes to call it a wrap, when a girl walked up.  Maybe 9 or 10 years old.  My русский язык has progressed enough that I was able to understand her question.  She wanted to know if it was okay if she looked at the painting.  In my best русский язык,  I let her know that was okay, and that normally I speak English.  Her face registered surprise, but she took it in stride.  She made a comment that I didn't understand - hopefully it was complimentary, because I responded with a thank you  :)

As she skipped away (yes, she really did skip!) she told me "weh cool!" and "good-bye!"

Dang, but it's a beautiful, sunny day!

Thanks for stopping by!

Later, Karen