Day 3 – Tying up Lose Ends and Recharging Batteries

Ah, much better. Got home while it was still daylight and had time to work in my studio.


The first painting is on paper, 7×9 inches.
The second is on canvas, 8×10 inches.

I’d started both of these last weekend, so I just finished them up tonight.

Even with the good camera, the colors on the second are odd. I’ll take better photos over the weekend in daylight.

The first is...

Day 2 – Battery Snafu

So again, I get home after 9 tonight, and have just a short time to get in the studio and work.


Time well spent, though. I managed to finish something that I’d been hoping to get to, and I’m happy with it.

The photo doesn’t do it justice. No sooner had I grabbed the camera than the “battery empty” message flashed across the screen and the camera shut itself off.

Phooey.

So what next?

Art Every Day Month, Day 1

Today is Day 1 of Art Every Day Month, a challenge run by Leah Piken Kolidas over at Creative Every Day.
I’ve been all excited about this challenge, and was anxious to get home and do some ART tonight.

After a very l-o-o-o-n-g day, I arrived home at 9PM, exhausted and a bit deflated. Wasn’t sure what smidge of creativity I might have left.

Find out what happened...

Art Every Day Month, 2011

October 30. Is it really the end of October already?! Unbelievable.


The end of October means that it’s about time to flip the calendar to November. (Now, that's profound, isn't it?)

November is Art Every Day Month, led by Leah Piken Kolidas over at Creative Every Day.

Have you done Art Every Day Month in the past? Are you doing it this year? Leave a comment with a link to your blog so I can follow along.

Join the conversation over here: http://www.lifeneedsart.com/blog/art-every-day-month-2011/

Happy Thanksgiving - Day 25

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope your day is filled with warm memories and good food.

The pumpkin and apple pies and carrot souffle are all done and ready to be packed up so I can head off to spend the rest of the day with family and friends. Can't wait. This is without a doubt my favorite holiday all year.

Trees - Day 21

The inkblots from the other day reminded me of trees and a landscape. I added a few colors and lines to enhance that image. Otherwise, the original inkblot remains unchanged.

Reflections - Day 19

 

Silly me! I'd almost forgotten these photos until I was cleaning off my phone just now. I took these on Friday the 12th when I went to the Cleveland Art Museum. Any guess what it is?

When I parked in the garage at the museum, I'd backed into my spot. When I left the museum to go home, it was almost 5PM and very sunny. I hopped in my car, stuck the key in the ignition, put the car in drive, and looked up. THAT was right in front of me!

The car opposite me had pulled into its space with its nose up against the concrete wall. Sunlight was reflecting off the hood of the car onto the wall. Don't remember what type of car it was - some SUV crossover van thing I guess. Wasn't paying much attention to the vehicle.

I turned the car off, hopped out, ran across the garage, and clicked a couple pics while dodging traffic exiting the parking lot.

The photo below shows an uncropped version of the photo - you can see a tiny bit of the car in the lower right corner; the upper edge of the wall is at the top of the photo.

Darn cool, if I do say so myself.

Smoosh - Day 18

So I took Leah's advice over at Creative Every Day, and tried making inkblots. Yes, this is just like you used to do when you were a kid -  pour a bunch of paint on some paper, fold it over, press hard (smoosh), and open it up to see what happened.

Great fun!

First Attempt:

I started with a piece of watercolor paper that I'd poured acrylic paint on several weeks ago. The paper is ungessoed, so the paint soaked in and made a soft puddle. I took alcohol inks and drizzled them on the right side of the page, folded it over, and pressed.

Hm. Lesson #1: alcohol inks dry soak into paper and dry almost instantly. They don't hang around long enough to do much blotting. (See the tiny green and purple dots on the left side.)

 

Since the blotting business didn't work, I drizzled more ink on the paper wherever I felt like it.

Second Attempt:

Fresh sheet of blank watercolor paper. I poured fluid acrylic paint - transparent red iron oxide and interference oxide green - in random shapes. Folded the paper over, a little smooshing, and here we are!

 

 

Third Attempt:

Again, another piece of plain blank watercolor paper. This time, dioxazine purple and interference orange. Fold, smoosh, open. Cool, but tough to see the interference orange; it's almost transparent and adds just a sheen in areas - nice but not enough. So I added a few drops of vivid lime green. Refold and resmoosh. Oh, now we're talking!

Some paint held onto some of its body, creating lovely veining that looks organic, like bare trees or the veins in leaves. I can't wait to see what they look like when they're dry.

Just Can't Leave It Alone - Day 15

I just can't leave it alone. This collage needs something - I tried adding some new elements, but decided against it for the moment. The new element felt distracting wherever I put it.

Instead, I'm making some darks darker and lights lighter. As usual, my photo taken late at night stinks.  

I'll take more photos when I'm closer to being done and can find some daylight.

Belated Days 13 and 14

Saturday and Sunday won't get their own posts, and this one is coming in late. I took a quick road trip with the fam this weekend to go visit my aunt for her 80th birthday. A lot of driving in 2 days.

It was fun - I haven't taken a road trip in a long while and had nearly forgotten how much I enjoy them. A beautiful day, an easy road, some unexpected stops and a detour - love it.

In the few spare moments to myself, I did a little sketching. This little green spiral, plus some other thumbnail ideas in my journal. Nothing major, just enough to keep my commitment to art every day. And enough to keep the ideas flowing.

Enjoying Art, Take 2 - Day 12

Today started out with the best of intentions of creating art, maybe making progress on something that's in the works.

Well, instead it ended up with another attempt at enjoying art. I found out that an artist friend of mine, who I haven't seen since college, was going to be at the Cleveland Museum of Art today for a few hours.What luck!

So with a quick change of plans and a few phone calls to rearrange some other activities, I dashed off to the museum. We had a short visit, 30-40 minutes, but it was great! 

It started with the "tell me everything you've done in the past 2 decades. In 30 seconds. Go!" game. After that, we got down to discussing art. Good conversation. 

I took a few minutes afterward to wander the galleries and check in with some of my favorite pieces.

Made my day.

Sketch - Day 11

24 hours late, but here's a quick sketch I did last night. Wasn't much in the way of art, but that's all I could do.

Wrapped and Ready to Ship - Day 10

Ta Da! The paintings for Art-o-mat are done - finished, labeled, wrapped in cellophane! All shiny and ready for shipping. Nothing left to do but seal the box and slap on an address.

And put my feet up for a few minutes. Ah-h-h!

Enjoying Art - Day 9

Art isn't only about the act of creation; it's also about the act of enjoying it. For me, and I think many artists, we have a need to show someone else what we've done and get their reactions. (I got a really awesome comment on my Day 1 post...check it out and see what I mean.)

I also think it's important to refill the well, recharge the batteries, you know. I can't go go go constantly; I need to stop to see (and hear) what others are doing. My art grows in response to other art.

So in the spirit of art appreciation, I'm off to a performance tonight. I'm going to hear the State Symphony Capella Chorus of Russia at E.J. Thomas Hall in Akron. Based on the description, it should be a fantastic performance, and probably unlike anything I've heard before.

http://www.ejthomashall.com/eventsearch/event_detail.php?id=1003

What kinds of art do you enjoy? Have you taken time to appreciate any art lately?

---

Update: So much for good intentions. I met my friend (who'd invited me to the concert) for dinner beforehand. During dinner, she got a call from her son's wife saying she was taking him to the emergency room. The hospital was right down the street from the restaurant, so we quick paid our checks and met them at the ER. We sat there for a couple hours with him, waiting.

No news on his condition, but we're optimistic that he will be fine.

Labels - Day 8

To continue with yesterday's theme, I worked more on my Art-o-mat paintings and glued the labels on the back. They're one step closer to being done.

Finishing - Day 7

Here we are at the end of week 1 of Art Every Day Month. In all honesty, I felt a little scattered this week. I jumped in determined to do something wonderful outstanding brilliant every day and then jumped from one thing to another.

Well.

In reality, I've finished a few things that I'd started a while ago and started a few new ones. I've resolved to explore new things - media, sizes, colors, styles - and see where they lead.

I've done some journaling every day, which is crucial for me. Journaling for me is like sweeping: it clears away the dust and cobwebs so I can see what's really underneath.

I've decided to look at this month as a journey, not a race.

So today I finished my newsletter for my art group - it's all stamped and sealed and ready to go to the post office.

I baked cupcakes, just because.

I worked on labeling and wrapping my Art-o-mat paintings. I want them done and in the mail by the end of the week.

All in all, a fine week.

New Starts - Day 6

 

 

 

Day 6 was a mixture of stuff. I started a few new paintings. They're 12 x 12 inches on watercolor paper. I gessoed the paper the night before, then brushed in puddles of soft colors. My colors are usually really bright so I wanted something softer.

At the moment I'm envisioning line drawings on top but we'll see how that works out.

In between waiting for the colors to dry, I wrote the newsletter for my art group and ran to the copy shop to have it printed. Day 7 will be spent folding, stuffing, stamping, and mailing.

Squashed Collage - Day 2 Update

The collage that I made the other day from campaign literature was feeling a little rough and wrinkly, so off it went to relax with a bottle of wine - or a few. It's in between the boards there, being weighted down by everything heavy I could find in the house. Good thing wine is a multipurpose beverage.

After a few days high-pressure days, the collage is looking much better.

I have one more element that I'm thinking of adding, so I'm playing with the placement. Here's option 1:

And here's option 2:

Any preferences? Can you see the difference? Does it help at all or should I leave it out?

More Little Drawings - Day 5

I'm a little late with my Day 5 posting. I did these drawings yesterday. Day 6 to follow later today.

Bunch of Drawings - Day 4

Day 4 - finished my ACEO-sized series of alphabet letters! These last few drawings have been waiting a long time for some time and attention, and tonight they got it. Plus I wrapped up the evening with a silly little paisley drawing. Just for fun.