February 30 in 30, Day #5

30 paintings in 30 days.

When I do journals I never know what's going to happen. I like it that way... I think it's good for me to be spontaneous and problem solve on the spot. Some of these journals seem to take time between the layers. Time, not just for the paint to dry, but to get away and see it with fresh eyes.

This page had a self portrait that I drew with Conte' crayons several years ago. It wasn't very good but my intentions were to keep it and have the eyes showing or some recognizable face part. I kinda lost it as the layers pilled up. I knew I wanted to use leaf cut outs but I wasn't sure where I was going. It became fitting to use the dragonfly, the symbol of change, metamorphosis, as my face morphed into something else totally different and unrecognizable. I liked the poem. It's from an unknown author. I'm liking using words as an added texture on the paper. I'm drawn to cursive handwriting - something that will be obsolete at some time, as school children are no longer taught it. I like the idea that if any of this survived 50 years or so the journal would have some secret long forgotten language on it. How cool would that be?

Metamorphasis

Mixed Media

Febrary 30 in 30, Day #4

30 paintings in 30 days

I had a freebee with my newsletter this last month.
If you sent me a picture of your pet and I would randomly choose one of those to paint.  Pat Bryan's name was chosen. She submitted a cat.

 

Pat's Cat

Alcohol Inks and Pen

8" x 10" on Yupo

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February 30in 30, Day #3

30 Paintings in 30 Days

A day back in my comfort zone. Today's apple blossoms were a bit of a challenge, to keep the whites and soft colors using alcohol inks which are known for their vibrant colors.

Apple Blossoms

Alcohol Inks and Pen

8" x 8" Canvas

$185 +S&H

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February 30 in 30, Day #2

30 paintings in 30 days.

Continuing with the art journaling I now have found a home for all those cool incidental pieces of art that you can't quite throw away but you don't know what to do with them.
This was a quick demo on what alcohol inks can do. I saw a face in it, drew it out then thew it in a pile.( You know the pile... we all have them.)

On a side note, I have to say, I'm thrilled to see how great pan pastels are for journaling. It's so fun to be able to so many supplies at one time.

I wasn't happy with this piece. I wasn't sure how to finish it. Then the song "The Impossible Dream" popped in my head and I decided to write the lyrics on the page. I found a U Tube of Susan Boyle singing the song and proceeded to write the lyrics. As I did this,  I remembered why I loved this song so much. My mom loved music and had a lot of classical music but also some show tunes. When I was 6 my folks got a new cassette player and started collecting music. My favorite was Man of LaMancha. I spent hours dancing around the living room and singing the songs. "The Impossible Dream" was my favorite song. So I wrote the lyrics and all of a sudden the piece felt complete.. and I liked it. I was happy to have recaptured that memory.

Let Your Mind Wander

Mixed Media

(Sorry, I see that the large picture isn't so clear.)

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 

 

September 30, 30 in 30

Day #29 & #30, 30 paintings in 30 days
hosted by Leslie Saeta.

This one actually took me 3 days. I can't believe we're to day 30 already.This was one of the easier 30 in 30's for me. That's because I paint in my studio 5 days a week. I look forward to posting more paintings in the future. Now that my illustrations are done I can devote more time to commissions and paintings. There's a ton of paintings I still want to do.

Orange Orchids

Alcohol Ink and Pen

11" x 14"

$185 + S&H

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September 28,30 in 30

Day #28, 30 paintings in 30 days
hosted by Leslie Saeta.

The summer is over. That went fast. Time to slow down and look back.

In Northern Wisconsin, there are two lakes dear to my heart. They are call The Twins Lakes. One is much bigger than the other, they don't have much in common except they are connected to each other. The place they join is a shallow ... sandbar possibly? I'm not sure how to describe it. Anyway, the land comes to a point where it meets the channel between the lakes. So, it's called "the point". I walk down to the point each summer with family or friends dragging a small boat to collect stones or driftwood found along the way.

 I like to tell the history of the land we are passing; how Julius logged the area. He delivered the mail to the ends of docks using a  kayak. First he sold some land to the Well's who built the house we stay in today. But he was so unhappy at how mean Mrs. Wells was that he refused to sell anymore land to anyone. Loraine and George Doerfler went Up North for almost ten years getting to know Julius before he agreed to sell them some land. When he did, they built their own cabin. Loraine went up North well into her 90's and became one of my mother's best friends. She lived to 105. Her son and daughter in law live there today during the warmer months of the year.

Today's painting is from the other side of the point on South Twin. It's a charming boat house that's full of personality.

The Other Side of the Point

Alcohol Ink and Pen

8" x 10"

$105 + S&H

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