End of the 30 in 30 and a Happy Ground Hogs Day to You.

February 2nd is one of my favorite days of the year. 

It's Ground Hogs Day! And although I don't take much notice as to whether or not Woodstock Chuck saw his shadow or not, I do  acknowledge - with some joy- that we are half way done with winter. Yeah! I am also done with the 30 in 30 challenge for January. Another Yeah!


This time the 30 in 30 was very difficult for me.
I made the decision NOT to paint a new painting each day but to continue to work on what I was doing and count the hours, not the pieces. My goal was to paint a little over 3 hours each day for a total of 100 hours in the month. Happily, I painted every day of the month except for three. I had 2 classes and  2 commissions in the month. Most of my time was spent on the painting below. I started the month struggling to get painting time in and to complete all I needed to in a given day. How is that? 3 hours a day isn't much. Having said that, I fell short of my goal of 100 hours by 18 or so. It's back to the drawing board as far as my schedule goes. There's always some thing in the day that needs immediate attention.

The interesting thing on this 30 in 30 was that I felt as if I wasn't completing the challenge even though I painted everyday. There was a feeling that I wasn't quite producing if I wasn't making one complete painting a day. But the truth is. I have several smaller pieces from previous 30 in 30's and feel I need to spend my time building up a collection of larger, more substantial pieces.

I guess the bottom line is games. Games we play with ourselves with having preconceived ideas about how much we should get done a day or how fast we should paint etc. The painting below took me about 80 or more hours. I'm pretty happy with it with the exception of the large pink flowers which I will go back and add more shading to. But for now, I will live with it and continue to explore a daily schedule which will work for me. I will also be more aware of the mind games I am playing with myself and the messages that these games are sending.

Art in Bloom, 

Floral Arrangement by Amy O'Fallon

From the Rockford Art Museum Show of 2016

14" x 19.5" Alcohol Inks

$2350

This is a photograph of Amy's piece almost in its entirety. The painting behind the piece is what she used as her inspiration for her arrangement. It is a painting that is a part of the Rockford Art Museum's permanent collection. I was drawn to the colors and textures of the piece. I love its complexity.

Amy along with her mother, Kathy, own O'Fallon's Fine Flowers, 1605 N Bell School Road in Rockford. It's a small, charming floral shop with two ladies that are big on talent.

Day 19, And The Beat Goes On

January 19, 30 Paintings in 30 Days hosted by Leslie Saeta.

Day 19: 3.5 hours, Monthly Total: 52.5 hours

It's slow going, but it's coming along. I'm struggling with the roses or bit, or maybe it's that there are 13 of them in all. 

Work in Progress

Alcohol Inks

Day 16, a Morning At Katie's Cup

January 16, 30 Paintings in 30 Days Hosted by Leslie Saeta.

Day 16: 3.5 hours, Monthly Total: 45.5 Hours

Had a wonderful morning a Katie's Cup in Rockford. I go there twice a month to paint. Sometimes I have people join me, sometimes not. Today I was alone. It was pretty slippery out there on the roads. No problem, I just get out my earplugs and get lost in my painting and the music. This is a piece I was working on for a home painting party Friday night.

For more info on hosting your own painting party Click Here

 A Morning at Katie's Cup

Alcohol Inks and Pen

8" x 8"

Day 14, A Lesson in Golden Mediums, Pastes and Gels

January 14, 30 Paintings in 30 Days Hosted by Leslie Saeta.

Day 14: 6 hours, Monthly Total: 42

Yesterday, I went to a wonderful workshop
 given by a Golden Representative.



 
It was an opportunity to explore some of the Golden mediums, pastes and paints. Sandy, was full of information and ideas.




   














Our first experience was to experiment with molding pastes.
Sandy presented us with boards that had regular molding paste (smooth) on one side and coarse molding past on the other. We painted them with Fluid paints. The Fluids are good because you can see the textures below. We wet down the boards with water before we applied the paints.







The coarse is on the right with the smooth being of the left.
I've used the smooth before to paint with alcohol inks. I have to say I didn't notice a big difference when I painted on canvas - but there was some. It becomes more important if you want the paints to rest on the surface and react to each other instead on soaking in. Both pastes will accept watercolors and the coarse is good for pencils and pastels. I really enjoyed the Fluid colors. You don't need much pigment as these are very strong. They're a bit pricey too. You can make them last longer by adding Golden's Regular Gel to them; 70% gel to 30% paint.

Then we wet the smooth side down and added a layer of Golden's Open Paints to it. Using the eraser side of a pencil we scratched away the paint while it was wet to reveal the bottom colors.

Course Molding paste peaked with a palette knife.

You can also use a plastic bag to get the peaks. Lightly dry brush paint over the peaks. This piece has a bit of everything  - metallic paint, interference paint and fluids.

Coarse Pumice Gel

This was my favorite. It reminds me of a painting I grew up with that my mother used to call the mustard painting (due to the colors used). I have always loved this texture. The paint is the Fluids with a lot of water. The pigment goes in the groves and mixes the the joining colors while exposing he peaks.






Interference, Metallic and Fluids on black paper.
Don't forget you can also mix the interference and metallic with other colors for different effects.

Tybek Paper

Usually used as house wrap. It won't let water through but it will let vapors out. What a wonderful surface to paint on. Such a strong paper, yet the light will shine through it and you can see the threads going through it. It made for a wonderful background.

We painted with Open paints which are more like oils. It has a longer dry time but not quite as long as oils. It has a nice thick quality to it. Don't use water as a thinner, use a polymer medium .



















I had bought a Golden sampler a few years back and I didn't really understand what everything was for so I brought it to ask.
I finally learned what the Silverpoint Drawing Ground was for.  How was it that I missed this in all my years? Just spread this out on a board, let dry and then go ahead and scratch the surface with anything metal. I used a paperclip. Some of my favorite drawing were drawn by the Masters using this method and I never knew it. What fun!




I was interested in Self Leveling gels which will be wonderful over some of the collage work I'm hoping to do in the future.


Our last project was to paint a portrait using Williamsburg Oil paints and a palette knife. I love palette knives but I was a bit out of my comfort zone. Instead of linseed oil we used Galkyd Lite to decrease the dry time. It was very nice but I missed the smell and creaminess of Linseed.

All in all, a great way to spend  a Saturday.

Day 13, a Lesson in Scheduling

January 13, 30 in30 hosted by Leslie Saeta

Day 13: 3 hours, Monthly Total: 36 hours.

Happy Friday the 13th everyone. When I was a little girl I asked my Father if Friday the 13th was a good day or a bad day. My Dad's reply was, "Well, I was born on Friday the 13th so I'd say it was a pretty lucky day for me." So I have always like Friday the 13th. I hope yours was equally as lucky.

We are almost to the half way point of this 30 in 30 challenge and I have been learning a lot.  A lot about my schedule. I can say that with classes, marketing and whatever, I have not been painting 100 hours a month. I assume not even 70. This is a problem for a number of reasons, most importantly because you only get better by painting. But how do you fit it all in: 2 hours a day marketing, classes, meetings, laundry, bookkeeping, bill paying, exercise time, shopping, cleaning etc? 

One of the mistakes I have made in the past was to 
create a schedule that was inflexible.
3 hours painting starting at 9am. I tend to an all or nothing type of a person. This can be a problem. What happening if something comes up and you need to change your plan? Your schedule is tossed out faster than a New Year's resolution. I am playing with a schedule which just states how many hours a week I want to paint, for marketing, for emails, for personal chores. Over the weekends I usually make out my to do list along with meals and grocery list. Now, I'm trying to schedule my days one week at a time. If a friend comes to spend the day, that's just fine I switch my days around. I'll let you know how it goes in the in a few weeks.

The point is that this 30 in 30 shouldn't be such a challenge. 

It should be business as usual.

I've been enjoying this painting. Here is an additional 8 hours. Gosh, can you even tell? I've struggled with the blue flowers on the right side of the painting. This painting seems very similar to putting together a puzzle. Work on the spots I know then come back to the more difficult pieces. I've found painting the surround area of the difficult part helpful as it will define the outline, the value, of the pieces you're having a hard time with.

Work in Progress

Alcohol Ink 

 

Day 10, Back to the Alcohol Inks

January 10, 30 Paintings in 30 Days hosted by Leslie Saeta.

Day 10: 3.5 hours, Monthly Total:28 hours 

I'm back to alcohol inks today as I continued on the Rockford Art Museum's Show piece, Art In Bloom. I'm working on some areas that are hard for me to understand, the purple spike flowers, the blue flowers all the way to the right. I do what I can in these areas then I concentrate on the surrounding areas. they give me clues as to the shapes and shades of the difficult areas. The green piece was just fun.

Work in Progress

Alcohol Inks

Day 9, An Update of Flowers and Studios

Day 9, 30 Paintings in 30 Days hosted by Leslie Saeta.

January 9: 2.5 hours
             8:  3 hours
             7: 2.5 hours, Monthly Total:23.75 hours

I know it looks like I'm falling behind because I'm not posting every day, but I'm still here. This weekend I spent some more time with my RAM flowers in alcohol inks. There's a part that really has me stumped. I'm probably over thinking it too much. It's been very helpful to jump around the painting, working on different flowers depending on how comfortable I feel with them at a given time.

I got the opportunity to pull out the watercolors, my first love. Well no, oils were my first love, but I do love watercolors. Anyway, I have a commission involving flowers in watercolors. My client has asked me not to post my work on Facebook and I will respect her wish. But, I did get permission to post some preliminary sketches that I have been working on.

I'm enjoying this 30 in 30. No real pressure, let's just get some work done. I want to spend more time in my studio. I'm not feeling pressured with having to produce a finished piece. Nor do I feel the pressure of is this "good " enough to sell? There is pressure to post something each day and I have fallen behind in that a bit. Since I don't have much to post by way of these flowers - and I will have several more days of them - I will spend some time giving you an update on my studio.

Many of you know that Mark and I purchased a building in downtown Rockton last July that we will transform into my studio.  Last Fall there was such a push to finish the 160 year old house that Mark was rehabbing that we haven't had much time to work on this building. As we find ourselves short of the funds, and as the temperatures are low, 29 degrees, our progress is slow. We are planning on starting with a small build out so I can open my studio and begin working there soon. It's a challenge. The building has no heat nor water currently and heating the 4000 square space is out of the question at this time. We are at the planning stage. Such an exciting time.










The 170 year old building is such a gem! It's a mess and disaster, but it has so much potential! It has a basement that housed a cooler. It's kinda a homemade cooler that isn't original to the basement. But it has an incredible door that appears to be from the 1910's. It would be an incredible piece to refinish and use upstairs.

Day 6, Mc Kee House

January 6, 30 paintings in 30 days hosted by Leslie Saeta.

Day 6: 3 hours Monthly Total: 18.5 hours

I'm still not done with this commission but feel as if I need to back away from it and "live with it" awhile. I'll go back to it and add more to the trees and shadows in the building. It was wonderful going back to the watercolors and I plan on doing several more hours in that medium before this 30 in 30 is done.

My current commission, the McKee House was built in 1936 by the WPA (Work progress Administration). All the bricks are Naperville Firestone, hand chiseled by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The building served as the headquarters and superintendent's residence for the DuPage County Forest Preserve from 1936 to 1982. Robert L. McKee was the 1st superintendent of the Forest Preserve. He is responsible for acquiring large parts of the current preserve, planting thousands of trees, speaking out against water pollution. He worked on battling Dutch Elm Disease and was instrumental in the preservation of the Graw Mill at Fullersburg Woods.

The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency deemed the house and its outbuildings as likely candidates to be included on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.  In 2013 a study was commissioned by the Preserve to decide the cost of bring back the building from its current state of disrepair. The cost was well over $4 million so this beautiful building was at risk of being torn down.

The McKee House Coalition is fighting to stabilize the condition of the house with a new roof and other improvements. They'd like to see the home used by county residents as a multi purpose facility.

For more information see the McKee House Facebook Page click here

The McKee House

Work in Progress

Watercolor and Pen

Day 5, a Great Thing

January 5, 30 paintings in 30 days hosted by Leslie Saeta

Day 5, 3 hours, Monthly Total 13.5 Hours.

A great thing about alcohol inks is that you can go back into an area that has already been worked and paint on it just as if you never left the painting. I'm enjoying working on this painting, bit by bit. It's getting there.

And a great thing about painting at home is I can do it in my jammies! It's 7 degrees out. A great day to stay in, be comfortable and paint away the day. Time for some hot chocolate.

Work in Progress

Day 4, Put it in Perspective

January 4, 30 Paintings in 30 Days hosted by Leslie Saeta


Day 4: 2 hours, Monthly Total 12.5 hours

Today's post comes with a bit of  a confession. I don't like to pre-plan my paintings very much. I get too excited and have little patience for preliminary work. That's why I can't premix my colors or do a quick study. I can't. I just want to dive in and paint... NOW! My motto is, figure it out when you get there".

Perspective is one of those things I'm too impatient 
about to do very well.
 In school my professors used to tell me to watch my perspective and I'd answer back, "I'm marring an architect. Isn't that enough perspective?" My teachers never really knew how to answer that one. But through the years my husband, Mark, who is supper sensitive to perspective, has tried to teach it to me. I've improved a bit.

Today, I approached him with my commissioned drawing
 of the McKee House in Glen Ellyn. 
I knew I was a bit off in the windows and I felt totally overwhelmed by the bricks and the shingles. Well, Mark can't stand perspective that's so off. It was all those years of drafting. He was trained in the days before Autocad. He's explained 2 point perspective many times and even drawn out the lines for me but he's never shown me the nail trick before today.

He quickly pushed all his work aside and asked me to find a large board. I used a box from a Dick Blick paper order. We taped down my drawing and found the vanishing points on each side. Then he stuck a nail in each point so he could pivot a ruler off of it to draw the lines for the tiles and bricks. What a great trick! Why haven't I seen it before? I guess after 34 years of marriage he still has some tricks I've never seen.

He introduced me to a parallel ruler. Who knew? What a great tool! I need one of theses.

 So here is my drawing. Ready to be painted then inked. ( I initially was going to ink it before I put watercolor on it but, decide against it as I will use color to define the bricks and want to see how that goes before I add dark lines.)

The McKee House

Work in Progress

11" x 14"

I'll write about the McKee house next time I post it - a very beautiful and interesting home.

Thanks Honey, for all your help today.

 

Day 3, How Long Did it Take You to Paint This?

January 3rd, 30 Paintings in 30 Days hosted by Leslie Saeta.


Day 3: 5 hours, Monthly Total: 10.5 hours

"How long did it take for you to paint this?" 
It's a question most artists dread. Maybe because it implies that artists should charge by the hour. Maybe it implies the question, "It took you THAT long to just do that little ole thing?" Maybe it's because we honestly can't remember how long a painting takes. We don't normally time our art.

This month I'm timing my art. I'm not concerning myself with how much I produce but by the amount of time I spend painting. I'm just enjoying myself.

I look at my painting after working on it for 5 hours today

 and think, I sure paint slow!  

It's okay. I'm getting some much needed work done and I'm happy with my results, except for the two large pink flowers. (I'll get back to them later.) For now, I'm enjoying basking in the detail of the painting. There's so much going on - even in the dark shadows. Some of the flowers I have no idea how to paint, but I just take it slow and pay attention to the lights and darks. If I just do that, my painting usually will emerge.

Work In Progress

Day 2, One of my favorite Things

Jan 2, 30 in 30 hosted by Leslie Saeta.

Day 2: 2 hours,  Monthly Total: 5.5 hours

One of My Favorite Things.
About two years ago I started painting at a local coffee shop in Rockford. Actually, I have to give Leslie Saeta credit for this one. I was listening to her weekly podcast show, AHA, Artists helping Artists and she suggested painting in public. I decided that I would do this in connection with my local art guild as a social program.  So every first and third Monday I'm down at Katie's Cup sipping tea and painting.

My thank you to Katie's. It now has a home by the fireplace.

Open studio at Katie's Cup was started as a service but I quickly found the benefits. It took awhile for it to catch on. Sometimes I sat there and painted alone. But, I instantly loved it. There was always someone who would approach me and ask me about my work. Not only was I learning to paint in front of people but I was learning how to talk about my art. Slowly, I started having people show up with whatever they were working on and join me. This is one way that I began getting to know my fellow art people better. This is were some wonderful friendships were built. 

I've learned that art is not only about creating work and hoping someone likes it well enough that they buy it allowing  you to paint another day. There's many components to art. One is of sharing.... sharing your time, your opinion, your friendship, your skills.

Open studio is so important to me that I plan to 

keep it going after I open my own studio in Rockton.

Today, I had plans. I needed a few friends to try out  a design for a class I'm doing at 317 Studio & Gallery  on January 26th. Sign up here 

 Winter Visitor

Alcohol Ink and Pen

6 x 6

NFS

When we got to Katie's it was closed.( Honestly, Dee and I asked two weeks ago to see if they'd be open.) We went to Mary's Market instead. Who know it was BOGO day on breakfast entries. (Thanks for the yummy quiche Laura.) We had a great time talking, laughing and painting.

I got just what I needed, some tips for my class and a great morning with friends. Isn't art wonderful?

 

 


 

Day 1, For the Love of Painting

Jan 1, Happy New Years, 30 in 30, hosted by Leslie Saeta.

Day 1: 3.5 hours, monthly total 3.5.

And Now For Something Totally Different... Or at least it is from my previous 30 in 30's. This time I'm going for hours painted in the month of January, not by the number of paintings I produce. My goal is to paint 100 hours this month.  I have loved producing 30 - 8" x 10" each January and September but I feel I currently need bigger, more substantial pieces. The piece I worked on today is something I've been carrying on with for months...  or maybe I should say ignoring for months. In fact, I was afraid I had lost this painting. It felt good to work on it today. My plan is to get it done in time for the Nicholas Show in February.

I have a lot of large paintings that are not getting done along with a few new ones I need to start.  I'm also hoping to get to some "bad" art this month. Which is just my way of freeing myself up to explore without the pressure to produce something to sell. There are two commissions that I seem to be putting off for some reason which will make an appearance this month.

The goal this month isn't to feel pressure to produce

 but to work for the love of painting.

Work In Progress

This a floral design from the Rockford Art Museum's
 "In Bloom" show.

I fell in love with this piece and sought out the designer to get permission to paint it. She was thrilled. I, on the other hand, can not find her card with her name on it. I seemed very discombobulated today in that I had a hard time finding many things, photo, earphones, camera etc. (I will find her name before the month is over.)

I paint very slowly, as you can see from the above piece. It took me three and a half hours. This is a large alcohol ink. One of the largest I've done.

This is the piece with the painting which inspired it behind it. I'm attracted to the colors, the textures and the pieces complexity. it reminds me of a grand finale at a fireworks show.

Looking Back on 2016 With a Quick Glimse Forward

It's already New Years Eve, the family has gone, the parties are over - except for tonight. All I really want to do is run up to my studio, plug in my head phones and get lost in some painting. There will be time for that later, first a check in.

I have heard so many times that 2016 sucked. Really? Admittedly, we lost what seems like a large number of celebrities which is very sad. Truly, any year we make it through is a good year. Right? There were losses; the last aunt on my side, the neighbor's daughter, Spike, our much loved lab of 15 years. And I don't think anyone, no matter which side you were on, would look at that election and feel good. It was the year of Michael Phelps at the Olympics becoming the most metaled Olympian of all time. My daughter got engaged, my other two children got new jobs, Mark finished renovating his 160 year old Italianate home, we took a family trip to Savannah, Georgia then got to spent another week all together Up North 6 months later.

I'm excited to start 2017 at Finally Art but feel the need to just breath and enjoy 2016 for a moment. 2016 was my biggest year so far. I continued doing shows and classes in local galleries. I even went out and started doing my own classes which is so enjoyable. The mess walls of my new booth makes set up and take down are much easier.  Art Leagues have asked me to demonstrate alcohol inks, I've started doing workshops. My husband and I bought a building that will become my studio in 2017. Fall brought my biggest commission season yet. The best gifts of the year were the new friends that I made. Who knew how incredibly social and fun art could be?

Tomorrow is the first day of the January 30 paintings in 30 days. 
I haven't started any paintings, I haven't made any plans. In fact, I can't find my camera, which may be a bit of a problem. My plan for January is to paint more. Instead of 30 paintings I'm going for 100 hours. That doesn't sound like much but after the marketing, bookkeeping etc. that art takes it comes to about 4.5 hours each week day. Easy right? Not always, with classes, emails and blogging. 100 hours in January, we'll see where that leads me.

As I post my works I will be reflecting on my goals for 2017. 
 I hope to spend time  with one of my biggest goals: To Make Bad Art. I'll explain more later.

January also brings a special this month, $75 for a one day, 8"x 10" pet portrait in alcohol inks. The price includes all taxes, shipping and handling.

So here's to 2017! Let the fun begin!

A Review of the January 30 in 30 Painting Challenge.

January 31st

It's official, the 30 in 30 challenge is over.
And although I didn't paint 30 paintings this challenge, I am most proud of this one out of all the other challenges that I have done. I ran my art business during the month of January and I spent a good amount of time painting. What I struggle with the most is balance; time painting, marketing, getting ready for shows, personal goals etc. The 30 in 30 challenge forced me to look it how I spend my time. I don't have any of it resolved but I know I can run my art business and continue to paint. Sometimes I feel like the business is taking over and leaving little time to paint.

What I do know is how important it is to keep painting. It is the whole reason I'm doing this in the first place. I also know how important it is to keep exploring and trying new things. I didn't reach my goal of doing oil paintings, painting bigger, try a mixed media collage or doing batik paintings. I understand how important it is for me to continually have new pieces for the shows, galleries and shops let alone my web page. But on the other hand it was a pretty busy month for me and I fared okay. And in the end I tried some new things.

This month I:
 Spent the first seven days on a family vacation, worked one painting party, held 3 alcohol ink classes, did 1 show, took 5 art classes for enjoyment and exploration, registered for 3 shows while mapping out the list of shows to apply to this year, worked on 1 commission, gathered work for 4 different venues including the framing and matting of several new pieces, developed a new class for February, finished my finacial reporting, paid sales tax and had a marketing and financial meeting concerning goals for 2016 with a consultant, put out a newsletter, had a birthday full of fun with friends and family, took a mother daughter wine glass painting night, had a root canal, went out twice with friends for lunch and went to an art guild board meeting. 

I list these things for my benefit, to remind myself that even though there always seems like so much to do, I am accomplishing a lot. I should also mention that I have an assistant, my daughter, who is a tremendous amount of help in all of this. Without her the list would have been smaller and I have to remind myself that one day she will be off working elsewhere so best to get a hold of things now.

But the point is, the balance is not quite there. I'm not getting on my bike as much as I'd like to and on busy days there's no bike at all. My house is a bit unorganized... my desk is hard to find under the piles of papers and art stuff, my kitchen table seems to be the catch-all for all my framing work and my studio needs a good once over. One of my goals for 2016 is to loose 1000 pounds of junk from my house. January didn't see much of that going on. I want to declutter and organize, not just my business but my personal life too.

I would be remiss if I didn't say that the boundaries between my business and play are always a bit fuzzy. In truth, I love what I do. My art is my play and work at the same time. I know I need to write a blog post today - but I'm having a good time with the self reflection. My sister says I work all the time. What is it? Do I work all the time or do I play all the time?

So here I am looking a new month in the face.
I've written out a few personal goals - a few places that I feel I can improve for the month of February. I have a monthly calendar where I get to look at these goals and plan how to make them come about.

In short my goals are: 
Spend less time watching TV and playing games on the I pad. Relaxation is great - plan it better. 
Spend more time on my bike. Read more. Organize my bedroom. Clean and organize my studio and office. Finish my commission.  Try some abstracts, batiks and mixed media. Get new works for Spring Art Scene in April. Organize my business into one note book where I can keep tract of things a bit better.

So thanks, 30 in 30 challenge for reminding me that I can have it all with just a bit more time management and some good planning.

What are your biggest challenges and how do you achieve balance? Leave a comment please.

Day 27, January 30 in 30

Day 27th, January 27th

30 in 30 hosted by Leslie Saeta.

Just a quick pastel. Time to finish up my dog commission.

Day 26, January 30 in 30

Day 26, January26th

30 in 30 hosted by Leslie Saeta

I'm getting ready to be next month's featured artist at Womanspace.
I like having little things available to buy. Day 26 is one of those.

Now Serving; Sunshine

Alcohol Inks and Pen

8" x 8" ceramic plate

Not Food Safe

Day 25, January 30 in 30

Day 25, January 25th

30 in 30 hosted by Leslie Saeta.

Day 25 comes from a multi-media class.
Ink and watercolors on watercolor paper. This was a fun technique and something I'd like to try with my colored inks and watercolors. The interesting thing is the gold that photographed. There is no gold on the picture - that's all the camera's doing.

Intertwined

Ink and Watercolor

Day 24, January 30 in 30

Day 24, January 24th

30 in 30 hosted by Leslie Saeta.

Day 24. And now for something totally different...
I'm not a 3D artist. I was a bit reserved about the sculpture class yesterday at the guild. We were to make a goddess for the art studio. I was surprised to find out how incredibly calming working with the clay was. We'll need to get together again to glaze the piece.

The gutting of the sculpture was a bit tricky.
Some of us lost our heads during the process. 

Day 22, January 30 in 30

Day 22, January 22nd.

30 in 30 hosted by Leslie Saeta.

And back to the abstracts.... which I struggle with. This one is a mixed media collage with acrylics and molding plaster. It has several layers.

Inner Circle

Mixed Media

20" x 20" on gallery wrapped canvas

Here are some of the detail shots to show the texture.