A few weeks ago, I started this as an abstract painting. You can see it here. I added some stylized flowers and stenciled circles. I don't think it counts as an abstract anymore because I added identifiable (even if stylized) elements. What do you think? Is that right?In any event, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It's definitely a departure for me. That's one of the reasons I really appreciate Paint Party Friday - it pushes me to try new things in my painting. If you want to see other examples of painterly goodness, check out this link.
I was inspired by one of the lessons in "The Art of Wild Abandonment" class I took a while ago to paint a small canvas, using texture. Using a sketch of sand dollars from my sketchbook, I drew some sand dollars and then painted them with pumice gel that had been tinted with titanium buff. I overpainted the shells with titanium white and then silver. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. Carolyn Dube of the "A Colorful Journey" blog is running a very cool summer event asking bloggers to join her in a Virtual Beach Vacation. You can read more about it here. I'm submitting this piece as part of her party and as part of Paint Party Friday. For more Paint Party fun, check out this link.
Welcome to Paint Party Friday - a wonderful gathering that encourages bloggers to take out their paints at least once a week and share their results. You can find the rest of this week's party at this link. As for me, today, I'm sharing a couple of pages that took me outside my box. The first one is a simple watercolor of a local pier. What makes it different for me is that I started by loosely painting the shapes and then followed later with pen and watercolor pencils to add definition. I almost always sketch first and then paint. It was a little scary, but I'm reasonably happy with it. I especially like the water. Here's a photograph of the pier which I found on the web at this link:I'm lucky enough to live near this pier, and I often have this view during my morning workout.The other thing I want to share is an abstract work in progress:I've been so impressed by the abstracts I've seen during PPF that I decided to try one of my own. This is the first layer, and I'm happy with where it's going. Have you tried anything outside your box lately? You should - it's scary fun!
Several months ago, I began a Modigliani challenge, sponsored by Ayala. You can read about the challenge in this post. I chose four different Modigliani paintings to copy and finished the first three in March. This last one has been sitting in my art journal, half-finished, for quite a while. I chose Paint Party Friday to finish it up, and I'm pretty happy with it! I've been playing with water colors a lot lately, and it was really nice to return to using acrylic paints. Ayala is currently running a 29 faces challenge in May; check it out if you're interested. (I did her 29 faces in February challenge and really liked it.) Thanks for the challenge Ayala, and thanks to Eva and Kristin for sponsoring Paint Party Friday - it really does inspire me to pull out my paints at least once a week and exposes me to new fabulous artists. You can check out this week's party by clicking on this link.
I haven't participated in Paint Party Friday the last few weeks, and I've really missed it! I have felt really scattered artistically lately, unable to focus and create anything. So, I decided to return to one of my small scale projects - my sampler of Prayer Flags. Once the weather turns warm, I'm going to have a nice selection of designs to choose from. Here's my latest creation. If you want to see some of my other prayer flag samples, click on the prayer flag label below. If you want to see other painterly goodness, check out this link for a list of other Paint Party Participants.I found that starting with a simple project has helped get me back to my art desk. What do you do when you feel stuck?
One of my favorite current projects is a sampler of ideas for prayer flags. I posted my first page here. As predicted, prayer flags seem to be gaining traction in the crafting world. The magazine Cloth Paper Scissors just ran this cover story. You can read a blog post about the article at the Prayer Flag Project here. Recently, I made a cover for my prayer flag sampler (above). Although I still haven't made any actual flags, but I'm still collecting ideas in my sampler. Here's a new one:And one more with a face I particularly like.This post is part of Paint Party Friday. For more painterly goodness, check out the links at this post.
I just started taking the online course, The Art of Wild Abandonment, taught by Junelle Jacobsen and Christy Tomlinson. The first week's lesson introduced me to the idea of working in a sketchbook. I sketched some lavender sprigs and colored them with watercolor pencils and a waterbrush:
I've worked my way through the wonderful free class "Finding Your Muse" by Alisa Burke. She suggests unplugging and finding some things that inspire you by going out for a photo walk or a sketchbook ramble. I find the unplugging really hard, but it's definitely something I need to do more often. Although I didn't get out to take any fresh pictures, I turned to my existing photo files to select some photos that really inspire me. I found this picture of daisies. I love the soft blur juxtaposed with the sharpness of some of the petals. Love the intensity of the colors. The next step is the process suggested by Alisa is to actually do something with your inspirational starting point. So, I took out my acrylic paints and made this art journal page:It's one of the first paintings I've ever made where I didn't start with a sketch. I just started laying down color in appropriate shapes. It came together quickly, and I really like how it turned out. For you painters out there, do you usually start with sketch or do you start with color? And for the rest of you, where do you find inspiration? Come back tomorrow and see my "ten on the tenth" post with some more photographs that I find inspiring. For today, check out this link to see other painters participating in Paint Party Friday's Celebration of One Year of PPF!
It's the first Paint Party Friday of March, and I'm posting the last of my faces from the 29 21 Faces Challenge run in February by Ayala. I really like this one - I think she'll be a recurring figure in my art journals. The journaling is a letter to my daughter, inspired by the song "I won't give up on us" by Jason Mraz. (Don't know who Jason Mraz is? Check out my friend Carrie's blog, and you'll become a fan). By the way, thanks so much for all your good wishes last week on parenting a teenage daughter.Things definitely are getting better with her, although since she's so much on my mind, she keeps popping up in my art journaling. This page is called "learning to fly," and I enjoyed incorporating some rubons and drawing on a piece of patterned paper.But not all my faces are serious. Here's a quirky pair that I made using the water color technique I learned in the 101 Faces class. Except that I used acrylic paint instead. It was a little more difficult to get a result I liked. But of the ten face blobs I started with, these two managed to capture my imagination:I call them Guido and Sluggo. I'm sure they have a story to tell.Finally, my last face for the month. It's an art journal page. Acrylic paint with rub ons. Not sure where the inspiration came from, but I ended up liking the strength and confidence in it.Although I only managed 21 faces, instead of 29, I'm really glad I participated in the challenge and really appreciate the inspiration given by Ayala, as well as the opportunity to meet some new blog friends. And I'll definitely keep drawing faces in my art journals and other places. If you want to check out some of the other 29 Faces artists, check out this link.And, the other paint party participants are here.*****************************************************Finally, congratulations to Beverly of BEGlorious on winning my March Stamp Give Away! Beverly, email me with your mailing address. If you would like to win some new or gently used stamps, check in on April 1 for the next set.
I missed Paint Party Friday last week, but I'm back today to share the beginning of a new project. I'm making a Prayer Flag Design Sampler. I started with a small (about 3"x6") chipboard book which I had covered with gesso. On each of the eight pages, I plan to paint a design for a prayer flag. I think I'll try to stay with the traditional prayer flag color palette (blue, white, red, green and yellow) and put a message on each one that I want to send out to the world. Don't know whether I'll ever turn the designs into larger prayer flags, but I know I'll enjoy this process.Here's my first flag: Trust in Love. One aspect of my one little word for 2012 "Home" is a commitment to nurture my family. To be honest, my 13 year old daughter is very challenging right now. But I trust in love to get us through this tough time. Yes love. And cocktails. Because it is Friday after all. And we made it through a pretty good week with her.How about you? Are you ready to celebrate Friday?
I've been thinking a lot about prayer flags lately. It seems to me that they could be the next big thing in the world of crafting design. They would build on the bunting/flag trend but bring an ethnic and spiritual flavor as well. Plus, I think we're ready to move away from all the vintage colors into something a little brighter (but still subtle). So, when prayer flags start popping up on stamps and patterned paper, you can say you read it here first!Today's acrylic painting is a page in my art journal. I definitely see myself turning it into a canvas in the not too distant future (sans journaling). Prayer flags are hung in two different styles - horizontally between two points or vertically on a pole. Traditionally, there are five flags, flown in the colors and order shown above. The center of the flag features a winged horse, and there are four spiritual animals (an eagle, a dragon, a snow leopard and a tiger) in the corners. Mantras are written on the reverse side. I'm happy with my stylized versions of these animals on the prayer flags flying over my home. My "home" and the journaling both refer to my "one little word" for 2012 - I'm tending this year to my physical home, the relationships which form the home for my heart, and also striving to find my artistic home.Thanks for stopping by for Paint Party Friday (for more great painting, go to this link). Tomorrow, come by to see some of my 29 faces and stop by Sunday for Storytelling Sunday (Photo Version).And do tell, what do you think about my prayer flag theory?
I'm arriving at Paint Party Friday a little late - you can see the other participants at this link. But I'm really happy to have done this page because it finishes up my Gratitude Journal, which I started way back in June, 2010! The journal is very rustic - the pages are made out of plaster, and this page has also been collaged with an assortment of patterned papers. The Journal is called "Pieces of Me," and each page describes something for which I am grateful. Here's a sampling of some of the other pages:I am so glad to have this journal finally completed! And it makes me interested in pulling out some more plaster to work with (although it's easiest to work with that medium when the weather is hot and dry, so I may have to wait). It reminds me of a friend in Southern California who only knits in the winter because her hands get too hat in the summer. Are there certain media that are "season-dependent" for you? Thanks for stopping by!
I've been working on a series of ATC's featuring elements from the periodic table (click on the ATC tag below for details and other examples). This one is Thallium, an extremely toxic substance known as "inheritance powder" because it was commonly used to poison people during the mid-1900's.I used my twinkling H2O's to color in this stamped image. I've never been very good at using markers to color in stamped images (and refused to go down the copic marker rabbit hole of consumption), but I'm pretty happy with how these work. I think I'm just more comfortable with a paint brush in my hand than a marker. I also like using radiant pearls, but they take too long to dry. Linking up to paint party Friday and asking does anyone else use any type of paint to color stamped images?
Thanks to everyone who visited last week as part of Paint Party Friday! I tried to visit as many of the participants as possible, although blogger seemed to be eating many of my comments. I really enjoyed the link-up, and I'm back again this week with two more characters. For these, I wanted to make the faces more colorful (last week's all had fairly true flesh tones), and I really liked the results. In comparing with last week's faces (here and here), these seem to have more character and depth. I think it's a result of my growing confidence. I want to try something similar using acrylic paints, instead of watercolors.It's funny, I've always said that I don't like working with watercolors. But what I should really say is that I don't like working with traditional watercolors. These paintings were done with twinkling H2O's and a water brush. I'm curious about what other water color and brush combinations people use and like - please share your recommendations in the comments.And thanks for stopping by!
When I painted my series of watercolor faces for the "Faces 101" class I'm taking (you can see the other paintings here), I found myself compelled to add captions to them. The one on the left reads "She always blushed when she drank too much." The one on the right, simply "Pixie Cut." I found myself doing the same thing when I drew some faces in the next lesson. Except for this drawing, which I didn't caption:Nothing came to me. So, now it's your turn. What caption or title would you add to this face? Or would you just let her be?I'm linking up today to "Paint Party Friday," a blog challenging artists to paint and post at least once a week. You can see the current week's paintings at this link. My blog friend Gloria is a regular participant and planted the seed in my head. Thanks Gloria!
