Journaling and Emerging

So as for my painting additions....
I was trying to keep it non subjective but I see a face emerging.  Do you?  I like doing faces, especially non representational ones, but I wanted this to be different.  But what I am learning with intuitive painting is what I want and what the painting wants can be two different things.  I still have a long way to go with this baby so I'll try to stay open and see what happens.  I am still a little tentative so think I need to let go and do something bold?  So hard!

Day 8 I did some mark making with housepaint.

Day 9 Did some glazing with Quinacridone Gold and Transparent Iron Oxide,  both Golden colors.

Day 10 Added heavy body Golden Light Turquoise with a palette knife.  Sprayed with water and rubbing alcohol and scraped back.  Made some nice texture.

Day 11 Spread some heavy body Golden Zinc White in some areas with a palette knife,

Day 12 Literally threw some Blick liquid acrylics onto the canvas and spread around with a palette knife.  Then made some charcoal marks and that's when the face started showing up.

Took some time to do a few journaling pages, actually using some of the techniques I did on the painting.  I feel a lot more free in my journal, maybe because I don't feel it's so precious.

I have no idea where I'm going to go next with the painting.  I'm wanting to add some collage but feel it's a little early in the process.  Stay tuned......

Getting Down To Business

I'm finally accepting the fact that the holidays are over,finished, done, and it's time to get down to business.  I don't even know what that means.  Life doesn't take a break for the holidays.  But I am wanting to get into more of a regular schedule, get back to eating healthy, give the house a good clean(?), and start a new online class.  More on that to come.

So as for day 6 and 7 of my painting.  Saturday was really busy so I had very little time to do anything big or too messy so I just made some crazy gestural lines with charcoal using my non-dominant hand.  I kind of felt like I needed a little line structure to work within.  I sealed those lines with matte medium so they might stay,  but they still can be covered up.

On day 7, again a busy but in a good way day, I went in with some titanium white near the lines to make some movement I could start working with.  Scratched some more lines in the white areas.  Did a little tool mark making with a foam mouth moistener from a previous hospital stay but didn't have time to do more.

So today my plan is to go in with some more tool mark making.  So as in ART, like Life, I'm craving a little structure and plan,  But in LIFE, as in ART,  things don't always go as planned.

Day 5 and Please Don't Judge Me

I didn't have time to rip and tear like I had hoped yesterday.  Christmas decor needed to come down.  But I did do some today and what sometimes happens I felt the need to sort my hoard, I mean collection.  This was just the small tote where I stash what's left on my desk after a project.  Believe me there are baskets drawers and bins of more up in my studio.  So please don't judge.  I am well aware I have an addiction to paper.

As for my painting yesterday,  I added four different yellows with my fingers.  I started off very tentatively as I usually do but then just went with it.  Not crazy about the outcome but I have 25 more days to go!

I didn't have much paint left over so I just pressed my palette paper on my second painting.  when I pulled it off  I saw a small face emerging.  Couldn't resist and sketched it with my favorite Stabilo pencil.  I've been wanting to try teabag art so using matte medium attached to a teabag and then made some marks.

So next on my painting I'm thinking I'll do some more mark making but with different tools and stencils.  That's my plan but who knows what will happen?

Day 4 of 30 Day Painting

I decided that this day I was going to do some black and white mark making with a thin brush and a feather.  Learned to use a feather to make veins in my old decorative painting days.  great for veins in faux marble.  Also did a little spattering and couldn't resist using a little Coral Blush paint that was sitting on the table.

 After a long cold day of errand running I didn't find time to add something yesterday but I'll make sure I do 30 days.  Sometimes life just just gets in the way.

Side kick

This is an old painting I wasn't so crazy about so decided to cover it with the paint I have left over.  I learned this technique from Orly Avineri.  It is usually done with a journal, which I do, but thought I 'd try it on this.

Today is another sub zero day in the midwest.  Luckily I can stay in, stay warm, and hopefully find some time for art making.  I have the urge to tear and glue today so plan to add some saved papers and scraps to some of my many in process journals.  As for my painting I'm leaning toward adding some paint with my fingers, maybe yellow.  We'll see.

30 Day Painting

 My addition to my 30 day painting.  Neon paint dripped, dribbled, spread with a credit card.  Actually surprised at how much I liked it.  Probably will end up buried under several more layers but that's okay,  The process is about trying, learning, letting go.  I'm thinking next addition will be some mark making with different tools and black and white.

Playing it safe

This is my first journal spread of 2017.  Lots of feelings expressed about how I want to approach the new year.  I love to start my pages with random pages pulled out of old hymnals I collect.  And even though the page is chosen randomly there is always a word or phrase that speaks to me and I go from there.  Serendipity!

  

 These are pages in an old journal I found in a thrift store.  Along with hymnals I like the idea that someone long ago held these in their hands, turned the pages, took time to write the entries, which are in beautiful handwriting by the way.  Even though I cover most of it up I know it's there,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                As far as my 30 day painting I decided to play it safe and use a favorite color palate, Paynes gray,VanDyke brown, and Titan buff mixed with glazing liquid.  I probably overdid it a bit but this is going to change a lot over the next 28 days.  the whole purpose is to let go and not get too attached.  Really hard for me to do.  Not sure what I'm going to do today to it but for some reason neons are in my mind!

30 day painting

Finishing, Beginning, Starting Over

                                  Happy New Year!

  Remember me?  Figured the beginning of a new year is as good a time as any to start up this blog again.  No excuses for not being here, you know them all.  And as far as resolutions, nope, not me.  That only sets me up for failure.  I'll try my best.  I am struggling with a new computer that I am not at all fond of and no idea of how to use this new template.  I hope to learn as I go along.  Please bear with me.

Like most mixed media artists I have many WIPs that need to be
finished.  And there are so many projects I want to begin.  And many online workshops to complete and several that start soon.  I should probably resolve to finish before I start again, but I have learned that when the creative muse shows up with yet another idea or technique, I have to jump on it.  I often vow to clean my studio before I start anything else, mostly because I need some space, but inevitably a supply calls my name to be used....Now!

 I journal almost daily, dabble in watercolors (my newest adventure) and love mixed media collage.  My very favorite is painting with acrylics on canvas, watercolor paper, wood, pretty much anything I can get my hands on.  I also participate in an art exchange with a small FB group which luckily has deadlines so those usually get finished.  I also completed a 30 day "faces" challenge on FB.  So although there are many unfinished works in my studio,  I have actually accomplished quite a bit, explored new techniques, have grown as an artist, and most of all have enjoyed every minute of artmaking even with all it's mistakes, frustrations and messiness!

This is my new project for the new year.  I read a blog post by artist Seth Apter in which he listed his favorite blog posts of 2016.  One of them was a post by artist Tracy Verdugo.  She was inspired by artist Judy Wise.  Gotta love artists inspiring artists!  The idea is to start a canvas and each day for a month add something to it.  Anything.  More paint, marks, more media, whatever you feel in the moment.  One of the online classes I took this past year was an intuitive painting workshop by Flora Bowley.  I hope to use some of what I learned from that class which was fantastic.  I hope to post my

progress and feelings here on my blog.  No promises but I'll try.  I wish I knew how to post links for the above artists.  I'll try to learn that the next time.  they are all great and I'm sure if you Google them you will enjoy their blogs.

Hope to see you soon.  Have a wonderful beginning to the New Year!