When my daughter was 18 months old, I started to become obsessed with skies. It did not take long to realize the parallel:

Skies changed about as frequently as she seemed to. Ten minutes pass and it looks nothing like it did. Each view is beautiful. It was so similar to how little kids are- I blinked and my 6# baby was running, talking, and turning on the tv.

Then my son was born a few weeks later.

When he was about 2 weeks old, I decided to start a project called “Fleeting Moments.”

Paint the sky outside. 5”x7”. 20 minutes. No cheating. When 20 min were up, paint brushes go down. The point was to quickly get on the panel what the sky looked like. Love it for those 20 minutes. (You know... the max amount of free time a day with two kids under two ;)).

From life (or “en plein air”) is ideal, but this project is about life. So sometimes they are from photos and done during those elusive naps. That’s ok.

I don’t have a goal number to complete, but I plan to do them for a year. See where it goes. Paintings are documented below!

I’m updating this real time. It’s unedited, unfiltered, learn as I go. Come with me!

22 May 2018 love the way ultramarine blue and Payne’s gray create that deep night sky. Courbet green is the perfect cool green.

Eleanor and Bode when I started this project.

26 May 2018 Ceruealean blue and titanium white. Late afternoon haze.

7 June 2018. I like these wooden frames. I think I’ll use these to frame them later. The sky at this time changes so fast. You have to get the major shapes in there quickly and rely on a little memory. Even in 20 minutes.

4 July 2018. Gosh I feel like a failure today. Eleanor just wouldn’t go down tonight, the fireworks kept waking her. I held her for a really long time tonight and just needed a break. Caleb did too. I had hit my limit. We don’t do this often but we … — 4 July 2018. Gosh I feel like a failure today. Eleanor just wouldn’t go down tonight, the fireworks kept waking her. I held her for a really long time tonight and just needed a break. Caleb did too. I had hit my limit. We don’t do this often but we let her cry it out. And to be completely honest, I went upstairs to paint. I needed to decompress and the sky was beautiful. While I was painting she cried so hard she threw up. I didn’t know and after I was done I went down to Caleb cleaning up the mess. It was such a moment of grace. I felt terrible that we let her get to that point (it was only 10-15 minutes too!!!)

15 July 2018. We just discovered the beach is the only remotely less scorching place to hang on a Saturday morning. Plus it’s a great place to run and try to get back in shape. The picture shows a lot more contrast than the painting actually has.

30 August 2018. It’s been a little while. Been working on some other things. It’s also storm season. I love these thunderheads.

4 Sept 2018. I turned 30 yesterday! Feel so blessed to be where I am at 30. Ultramarine blue, Naples yellow, cad red light, and radiant white for the sky. Loved the big swooping strokes.

these panels are my favorite. I discovered them through a deal on jerrysartarama.com and I just bought about 20 more to continue this project with. It’s interesting to me how different paintings work better on different surfaces.

11 Sept 2018. Again, the colors appear brighter and higher contrast than they actually are. Ceruealean, pthalo (!) blue, some cad red light and Naples yellow with radiant white. Really drawn to those subtle variations in thick clouds. Starting to notice them in trees too. It’s a huge mass of vapor, yet it is a definite volume- shadows and light, reflecting all sorts of colors around it.

4 months old. More beach skies to come 😍😍

17 September 2018 so interested in perspective in sky use thicker strokes for higher up clouds next time. Payne’s gray and cad red light makes a wonderful purple. Bode is blowing spit bubbles😊

Gestures. 18 September 2018

19 September 2018 the beach has become such a place of restoration and fresh air. we can encounter nature and wonder what’s on the other side of the horizon. I’ve always thought that living on the coast makes me dream bigger. It’s hard for your worl… — 19 September 2018 the beach has become such a place of restoration and fresh air. we can encounter nature and wonder what’s on the other side of the horizon. I’ve always thought that living on the coast makes me dream bigger. It’s hard for your world to get too small when there is this constant reminder that there is something so enormous and full of questions.

21 September 2018 mid morning rain showers with the sun still out. Rain and clouds make the colors pop.I am enjoying this 20 minute time limit. In this season of motherhood it seems like everything I do gets interrupted and left half finished. That … — 21 September 2018 mid morning rain showers with the sun still out. Rain and clouds make the colors pop.
I am enjoying this 20 minute time limit. In this season of motherhood it seems like everything I do gets interrupted and left half finished. That can be really frustrating day after day. I’m learning to be at peace with that, and also to break tasks up into... 20 minutes :) but with these paintings, I can actually finish something and not constantly feel fragmented.

24 September 2018

26 September 2018. Rain storms. getting the gray of the water was surprisingly tricky. Burnt sienna warmed up the gray water.

29 September 2018. My camera is exaggerating the blues. They are actually a bit grayer.

30 September 2018 Calm nights, trying to find a time to take a family walk when it’s not scorching outside. It’s almost October! Babies cried the whole way home. Is what it is.

7 October 2018: I’m hitting a bit of a wall with these. I’m finding challenges in other things right now and feel pulled in many directions in the studio. I’m learning my mind can only really take on about 3 creative challenges at a time. I’m finding it hard to be curious about the skies right now. I’m going to go solve some other puzzles and come back to these soon.

8 October 2018 well that didn’t take long :)

10 October 2018. this pair is my favorite so far. Tomorrow, my daughter turns two. This was the same evening, 20 minutes apart. The perfect illustration of how quickly these moments pass.

Im starting to realize something as I do these, in conjunction with the other body of work I’m exploring simultaneously. One of my mentors proposed the idea that my work is less about fleeting moments and more about transition. And I’m starting to think she’s right, but taking it a step further, it’s about the things that are constant in the midst of transition. I love that the same tree is in each skyline I paint, day after day.

19 October 2018I’ve forbidden Payne’s Gray from my palette for the next few of these. It’s a convenience color (pre mixed from primaries) that I love but am starting to rely on too much. These palettes are a warm and cool of each primary plus white,… — 19 October 2018
I’ve forbidden Payne’s Gray from my palette for the next few of these. It’s a convenience color (pre mixed from primaries) that I love but am starting to rely on too much. These palettes are a warm and cool of each primary plus white, and I did also include Courbet green, another convenience color I adore but need to challenge myself not to use in the future :)

I’m noticing a trend creeping into this project- a series of skies in the same day. It further emphasizes the fleetiness.

It’s also a little out of necessity. The moments where the babies are cooperative + I have a minute to paint + I’m near my paints are sort of unicorn moments. This project is supposed to be about this season, not fight against it. So I’ve been taking more photos and working them after the fact recently. And that’s ok!

i expect the next few weeks to be sparse. The holidays are always such a busy time.

23 November 2018. Ah, finally a moment for plein air. Today is Black Friday and my In laws were in town, kayaking during this painting. before you get all impressed that we resisted the sales, know that we went shopping later that day 😉

3 December 2018. another series. Waking up with the sun this morning.

23 December 2018. Holiday rush is almost over, and it’s been so fun this year. Eleanor is finally old enough to understand and get excited. We are currently leaving a visit with Caleb’s family- it got me thinking about the concept of yardsticks in our lives. In my studio currently I’m exploring those ancient oaks, which I realized acted as such in my own life- a motif of my childhood that showed me how much I’d changed after I left and came back. The same with these paintings- the horizon stayed relatively constant and the sky above it never stops changing. This trip was like that as well- it’s a trip we take every year (and usually more) where so little changes on the surface. The home, the smells (all good, except for the dog farts), the personalities... but each visit, our children experience it new. But then again, things DO change... just at contrasting rates. Health ebbs and flows, the number of cows seem to multiply, we are all learning how to be parents and grandparents and greatgrandparents.

In total, there wound up being about 36 paintings between May and December of 2018.

This project was finally ended when I felt done with it: The curiosity ebbed, new ideas took hold. It was a beautiful exercise in embracing constraints and shedding perfectionism.

Did you enjoy exploring this project? Join my mailing list below to find out about new ideas, work, and creative insights!

Fleeting Moments: a project about the moments that pass quickly.

Kristin Cronic is a fine artist from Jacksonville, Florida.

She sells original oil paintings, fine art prints, and does live wedding paintings in the Jacksonville, Fl area.

She's also occasionally available for commissioned tree paintings, home portraits, and bespoke collections to outfit your home.