This is a fun painting that I did earlier this year. I used two separate reference pictures imposed them on each other to have them be both separate and together and a bit reminiscent of stained glass.
I love how the geese seem to be talking to each other
It's 11x14 Acrylic on Fredrix watercolor canvas board.
I just put this one up for sale in my ArtFire Studio
I am literally tickling my ears with jazz music tonight. Something about the singer that I'm listening too currently on the radio program (I'm listening to on the headphones) totally tickles me, and gives me little shivers all down my spine (if the announcer comes on and gives the name of the singer I'll let you know).
This week I'm continuing my Creativity Workshop on the WetCanvas Acrylic forum, please feel free to stop by. I'm finding that doing the workshop has expanded my creativity as well. I'm trying a lot of new and experimental things right now. Some of this is going to be extremely personal and autobiographical which is a bit of a departure for me. I haven't done a really personal painting for a long time. Not since the self portraits I did a year or more back. Maybe that's something that my work has been lacking recently. It's been reasonably good on a technical level, but maybe it's missing that visceral impact that really personal paintings have.
Speaking of being creative though... This week's painting of the week is something really ambitious. I completed this painting in a series of 15 pours. I poured the dilute acrylic paint over the watercolour paper and let it dry. Then I would cover some areas with masking fluid and pour again. Repeating the process over and over until I got the depth of colour I wanted. It took me three weeks to finish this painting and I am really proud of the results, the time and effort were clearly worth it.
It's called Mandala of Spring. Exploring my theme of mandala's and the circles of meaning in our lives, and the great circle of life. It's 12x16 inches on watercolour paper and is for sale in my artfire shop.
My five year old daughter has already decided that she will come back for another few turns around the planet in “her next life”.
“I have decided that I want to come back as a Mallard in my next life.” she stated as we walked home from the store the other day. We had passed a pair of mallards who were swimming in the pond not far from our house. “I thought I might come back as a rose, but I think a Mallard would be better.”
Then she quacked and played SuperMallard for the rest of the morning.
This afternoon instead of getting my painting of the week ready for listing (sorry 'bout that) the family went to the Bird Sanctuary to look at more ducks, this time all of us were armed with cameras. The weather was clear, but cold. We had a really great time wandering around and looking at the old and new nests. We even saw a porcupine. The girls had lots of questions about birds and animal tracks and I felt very fortunate that I had the answers for them. I am a lucky person that I have had the outdoor experience that I have. I hope that I can pass that along to them before the wilderness is gone.
They had questions for the docent when we got back to the “bird house” and then we bundled up and headed back to the car.
Next we were off to the art supply store for some canvases for a new commission I have. They also had Purple Lake acrylic ink – which might be just the ticket to get the lilacs painted onto a bamboo tile pendant I've had a request for. (the blue and red I have now make an aubergine colour that I'm not happy with, so instead of mixing for colour I'll be mixing for tone, which is easier!).
I will get the Painting Of The Week ready and photograph it soon. This week is going to be insane with a birthday celebration plus school plays for both the girls on different nights. But I will get through it as long as I don't lose my to do list.
Don't forget to have a great week, no matter what live throws at you. We have so many choices in our lives. Choose to be joyful.
The worst thing about being self employed is your boss. My boss is constantly bugging me about getting stuff done, and is really on my case this week because I haven't knocked the things off my to-do list that I wanted to get done, but I did play a lot of games on Facebook. No wonder she thinks I'm a slacker.
I am participating in the monthly painting challenge at WetCanvas, and my painting is long way from being finished (I thought I would be done last week... but I'm sitting here looking at my painting and wondering if getting out the hairdryer to hurry things along might be a good idea.
On the upside I did a few things that weren't on the list, like making some “lenses” on Squidoo about art. That was very satisfying.
I didn't get a painting of the week again this week (once again wondering about the hairdryer) but I did finish five scrabble tile pendants that I listed in my ArtFire Studio.
Uh-Oh my boss is wondering when I'm gonna wrap this up and get back to work... better get going!
This morning my youngest daughter came into my room really early, saying that she was certain that she had heard the thumping of bunny feet downstairs, and it had woken her up.
My husband rolled over and started to explain to her that an 8 foot tall rabbit was bound to make a lot of noise. But he was dismayed that the furry critter hadn't made any coffee this year like he did last year. By the time we had decided to wake up her sister, my little girl was convinced that rabbit mayhem and merriment had been had downstairs just moments before, and could hardly wait to go and see what had happened.
The egg hunt was a lengthy one. Seems that big rabbit had some new tricks this year. After eggs hunting (and consuming) and after breakfast, we went to visit my brother and his church's sponsored egg hunt. My girls were already full of chocolate, but enjoyed looking for a few more eggs and all the festivities that went along with that.
Then we came home and had some quiet time before visiting grandma for dinner. What a busy, busy day. But a really enjoyable one. Easter really is the kick off of spring for me and I'm feeling very joyful and ready to celebrate.
This week I began working on my new pendants for summer. I'm doing some wee little scrabble tile pendants, each hand painted, glazed and varnished. The current ones are of sunflowers, but upcoming pendants will be of other flowers and summery designs.
I listed the first set of sunflower pendants in my Artfire Studio this afternoon and they sold out almost immediately. That is a great sign for these little gems. If you are interested in picking up one or two you can subscribe to my studio RSS feed and it will let you know when I've listed new things, or you can follow me on twitter, I usually tweet when new items hit the shop.
Tomorrow the kids are home with me all day – I wonder what we will be creating?
Well it's been a weekend for the record books. The kids had some very physically active days that left them really tired, and occasionally cranky. (The occasions being about a half hour apart all day long). I had my first experience of one kid actually hitting the other over hurt feelings. And we had some discussions about that, but I'm pretty certain that the discussion was falling on deaf ears at the point.
I did manage to swoop in like SuperMom and save the day at one point over a lost pair of scissors (can you hear my cape flapping in the wind?) and was foiled in my efforts to have fresh baking ready for school tomorrow by the Forgetful Shopping Husband, who despite having the item on the list assured me with great sincerity that I had not told him to get it. A review of the tapes gave me the win on that one.
I was lead to discover Blip.fm this weekend. What a glorious time sucker that one is. I played with it too late last night and early this morning at the cost of getting a few things tidied away for my business, which I'll have to make up for tonight.
I did list something on Artfire today. I actually really like this one. It's a miniature painting on a wooden scrabble tile. I am going to try to do a few more of these for the summer season... I think they would look so pretty as an accessory with a summer dress.
It's not exactly a painting of the week, but it's what I've got, and frankly after this weekend I'm glad to have anything at all!
Well I have a fun painting of the week this week. I won't tell you that it's the only painting I completed this week (even if it is) I think this would have been the painting of the week anyway, because it was so much fun to do, and was a technique I haven't used before. If you have been reading me for a while you would know that I can't really resist trying new things. I guess I have an evolving style.
Anyway. This is a portrait that I did of an Asian inspired teapot. I did the initial drawing in ink, using a stippling technique (that is loads of wee dots to form the image) then I went back over it with watercolour. It measures 4x9 inches.
I am really glad to be back working with watercolour. It was the first medium I really mastered and now it's nice to come back to it, and the careful planning that is required to create with it. I don't know if this will be the first of a series or not, but I do know that I really enjoyed making this piece, it gave me a lot of happiness and was a very meditative process (making all those dots does allow you to clear your head of the weird stuff that clogs it up) and in the end I looked at it and was really glad that I made it, and was very happy with how it turned out.
If you are interested in this piece you can find it in my Artfire Studio.
Where the heck did that week go?
I'm working on my “to-do” list and it's pretty lengthy. And we have just started spring break here, so a lot of the stuff I want to do I won't be able to do during the day while the kids are home – so mom might be looking at some late nights here.
I am feeling pretty confident about how things are going. I am making some good art, and even the stuff that isn't turning out is helping me with my learning process of how my new materials work. I love these super-charged creative times when I can't seem to spend enough time in the “studio”. But that also means that other parts of the business are suffering, and I need to get to work on the organization, book-keeping, listing and getting some quotes on some new things I want to try.
Today is also my anniversary. I've been married 11 years today, and at times it feels like time has flown by, and other times I can't remember a time when I wasn't married. My life has changed a lot from that day when I said “I Do”, and I am very lucky to have a husband that has supported those changes, even if he hasn't always understood them.
Well – I need to wrap up the New York City travelogue, and then get on to finishing up a painting or two. I have no painting of the week this week. I just haven't had the time to finish up the one I'm working on (I have done a few small ones but I like my POW to be bigger than a bread box!)
Back to writing and finding pictures.... then it's light up the BBQ and have dinner with my family. Really it's a great day!
I wrote yesterday telling you about how busy things have been for me. I'm working hard trying to figure out how to get all the “Mom” stuff done and get all the “Artist” stuff done too. I know that this will be easier in the fall when both kids are in school all day (after I finish crying) – but that is nearly 7 months away and I have to get more organized before then.
Of course I'm not going to be teaching in the Virtual Classroom every week either. I am enjoying it, but in hind sight I should have prepared more demonstrations ahead of time instead of trying to do them with the class. And of course my husband had no idea how really busy I am right now when he arranged for my gallery space (with no pieces ready to hang!). But I have faith that I will get these things done. I do believe that I can do it, it's just a question of how much sleep I will get between now and then. Thank goodness the espresso machine is working!
Between the time at the Elementary School and working with my fellow artists in the Virtual Classroom I have discovered that I really do like helping people discover new things for their artist-selves to create. I find that it feeds my own creative spirit, while I help people tap into theirs. The level of enthusiasm is no different between the kids and the grown-ups, it's just expressed differently.
The demo I did at the beginning of the week turned out wonderfully. I am calling it Mandala: Joy – it is 10x14 acrylic on watercolour paper, and I have listed it in my ArtFire Studio.
Wow did that week ever go by fast. Thank goodness I have an extra day on this weekend to get a few more things done.
This week (and next) I'll be hosting a class on abstract painting on the WetCanvas forums. Feel free to drop by and have a look. You don't need to sign up to read, but you will if you want to post a comment.
I'm also trying to get two portraits done this week. That should be interesting. There is always so much to do, but this week seems to be a bit heavier on the commitment side than normal. Lucky for me that painting isn't a chore, finding the time to get everything done can be a bit painful, but the actual application of paint is actually quite joyful.
This weeks painting is another in my Mandala series of work. It's 10x14 acrylic on watercolour paper and it's called Manadala: Unity. I currently have it listed in my ArtFire Studio.