Feb 30 in 30, Day 1

30 paintings in 30 day challenge.

This year the 30 in 30 is being held in February instead of January. There's good and bad to that. I wasn't quite ready to jump back into a 30 in 30 right after the holidays but probably should have. And, of course the Olympics are starting in 7 days and I love, love, love watching the Olympics. Painting??? Maybe, I don't know, as long as it doesn't interfere with my TV time.

So having said that, this 30 in 30 is important to me. This is the month that I devote to creating
Ugly Art! So before I offend everyone let define "ugly art". I've been creating art for what, 5 years now, and there is always that pressure to make the piece look good enough to sell.Commissions need to look good, there's always new shows to get ready for. There's a lot of pressure to produce and that's okay. But sometimes the creativity gets a bit lost. And let's remember, it's in the creativity where we get swept away in a wonderful bliss... the high. Anyway, I'm feeling like it's time to try new things, to explore without worrying about the consequences. 

So I'm telling you now, this may get ugly! And I kinda, hope it does. I hope I can explore a few things fearlessly.
Let's make some mistakes!

So here's the deal; I still have commissions to do this month and shows to get ready for. I will still do those and I'll be happy to crawl back to my comfort zone from time to time. But I'm hoping that at least half the time I can do some exploring without concern if it will "work out" or not.

I've decided to start an art journal. After resisting for a long time I feel this will be a great introduction into mixed media for me. I grabbed one  of my many half used sketch books and started gessoing the pages. Some of the drawings I'll keep and incorporate into the journal, some I won't. I'm pretty pleased about repurposing this old boring sketch book.
 
I should let you know that when I was eight I experimented with mixed media in my sketchbook.... it was a disaster! I always thought it the ugliest page in the book. It has taken all these years to recover from it.(lol) I'll post it if I can find it. And YES I still have my sketch book from 1968. Don't you have your old sketch books?

So this is my first journal page. I have to thank Laura for coming to paint with me at the studio and spilling the yellow alcohol ink. In the process of cleaning up, she created the most beautiful paper towel. It became my inspiration. I think I used just about every journaling technique I found on U Tube.

 A Little High A Little Low

Mixed Media