February 29, 2008

I'm experimenting again....Beeswax collage....using parts of failed watercolors, tissue paper, magazine photos, crayons etc.
If I hadn't taken a photo....I would think I'm going crazy...
I can't find this painting anywhere in the house. I'm starting to think that Ivan ate it. (our dog)
Or it's a true indicator that the studio really does need a good straightening out!

February 24, 2008

"Coates Road Farm"
20 x 15
watercolor


I came across a website that made me laugh out loud numerous times!

http://www.shoeboxblog.com/

Funnies abound!

February 22,2008

"Cades Cove Tennessee"
12 x 21
watercolor

Quote of the day....
"Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool."

February 20, 2008

"Bouquet"
11 x 15
gouache ink resist.... Here's a demo if you are interested....

I thought I'd share my newest artist statement....


I am searching….

experimentation….try it….
what would happen if……
drip….splatter...smear
rub……scrub….squirt
slap…blend…step back…. crop?
hmmmmmmm….no.
what the heck am I trying to say?
smile…play…..laugh…..dream
layer…glaze….push….obscure
oooops…crap!…pout… rip….start over…..
Non-representational?
Pure watercolor?
Value contrasts?
Simplified shapes?
Canvas or paper?
procrastinate….write….draw….sketch…
blog….plan…..make lists…...
drink coffee….maybe tea…..shovel snow…
check email…surf….laundry…
sigh….
fresh paper…clean palette….new colors….
What to do….
What to say….
What to be…..
lather….rinse…..repeat.
searching…..


This is how a transitional period feels to me...sort of a wild and unsettling ride! :)

February 19, 2008

"Sunrise Sunset"

7.5 x 8 inches

Mixed Media

I finished this one quite a while ago...and decided to crop it a bit. I like it better now. I painted with transparent watercolor then with opaque casein after the watercolor dried. Casein is milk paint...a very ancient medium...smells a bit like lestoil...though I don't know what it tastes like.

hehehe

February 18, 2008

brrrrrrr.....One of the very best things about being an artist...is that when it looks like this outside.....you can ignore it and paint this.....

....not quite done yet...but certainly brightened my mood!
Stay warm!

February 17, 2008

"Copper Penny"
22 x 22 inches
Acrylic on paper

I let our dog (Ivan, 100 pound adorable mutt) out this morning and didn't realize that there was freezing rain....Poor thing made it to the snow bank...but certainly didn't want to skate back to the house! My first reaction is to go and save him....so as I'm sliding sideways down the driveway in my tennies, without a coat, ....I'm thinking "I'm going to have to crawl over there, and then what? Lead him crawling back to the garage, on a sheet of ice, in the rain? Isn't that an interesting visual? LOL So I crawled back into the garage....got some fertilizer and sprinkled it onto the ice and went and retreived him....He batted his eye lashes at me and exclaimed "My hero" or something like that.....

February 15, 2008

"Lyle Lyle Crocodile"
26 x 20
Acrylic on Yupo paper

I finished this at the end of last year....I came across it in one of my many piles of very important stuff.... I had forgotten about it!

February 13, 2008

I was cleaning out my computer photos and came across this one....

Last spring we went to Florida to visit with my auntie carol...We were sitting on her patio having an ice cold beer. I glanced up into her neighbors tree and spied this green bearded face! I thought at first they had put a mask into the tree and I was thinking...well, how the heck did they get it up there? But it wasn't a mask...it was completely natural and growing out of the tree! A definite tree sprite...or something.....We left it a sacrifice of our empties...and a few tortilla chips..(just kidding)

It's been a really, really, cold and snowy winter....and this was a nice warm breezy memory to come across in mid February..

February 7, 2008

Experimentation....

This is a new watermedia painting technique for me....I guess 2008 is the year of experimentation in my studio! I used fluid acrylic paint on watercolor paper then covered it with india ink, let it dry and then washed it off. It resembles batik a bit I think. hmmmmm.....velly interesting!

February 6, 2008

"To Ski Or Not To Ski"
11 x 11
gouache ink resist~ Here's a demo if you're interested!


Detail image

February 5, 2008

"Oasis"

8 x 14 inches
gouache ink resist

February 3, 2008

"Cluckity Cluck Cluck"
6 x 4
gouache ink resist

This is the other postcard I'm donating to Anton Art Center's postcard show....

February 2, 2008

"Pick a Little, Scratch a Little"
4 x 6
gouache ink resist postcard

I'm donating a couple of postcards to the Anton Art Center's "mailed and mounted" show in Mount Clemens....Area artists are sending original postcards to the center...they will be mounted and displayed from Feb.22nd through March 20th....Each post card will be available for sale for $20, benefiting the Art Center programs.

January 30, 2008

"I'll Cry if I Want To"
5 x 7
gouache ink resist....

January 28, 2008

"Spring Break Out"
15 x 11.25
Gouache ink resist technique once more...hope you aren't getting sick of these....because I'm not! :)

Quote of the day....
"All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to Criticism."

January 27, 2008

"Mom's Poppies"

Mixed media with a fabric pieced mat

"Mom's Poppies" will be at Starkweather Arts and Culteral Center in Romeo from Feb. 1-22nd.

What I've learned.....

I’ve learned that I need to wear my stronger reading glasses when I cook….especially when I’m going from a recipe. The cookies I made were unusually anemic looking….but had lovely lightly browned edges and a rich taste….After closer examination I saw I had used 8 ounces of cream cheese rather than the 3 ounces that the recipe asked for. I am an accidentally creative cook.

January 24, 2008

"Sanctuary" (sold)
4 x 4 inches (teenie tiny)
gouache ink resist

I played with a reference image from the library at WetCanvas.com. (they have a copy-write free reference image library that's fun to browse through) I can’t give credit to the photographer because they didn’t give their name. :(…thanks whoever you are!

“Sanctuary” is a tiny intimate piece..It just calmed me to paint it….and it calms me to look at it. This is a scene that I’ll re-paint I think….in a larger format.

January 23, 2008

It's cold here in Oxford, Michigan! (this image never fails to make me laugh)

January 21, 2008

"Good Night Jim Bob"
4 x 4
gouache ink resist

January 17, 2008

"Reaching Out"
5 x 5
gouache ink resist

I used some copper ink along with blue ink on theis one...It has sparklies in it that make it hard to photograph. It really developed some interesting textures.

January 12, 2008

"Gail's Tomato"
5 x 7
mixed media

Gail's Tomato lives north of Toronto....with Gail.

January 11, 2008

"White Berries"
5 x 7
collage

This is an older collage...It lives in Tennessee now :)

January 10, 2008

"Tree Family"
11 x 11
Gouache ink resist

I'm still experimenting with the gouache resist technique....I think the simple shapes work pretty well with this process....it sure is fun!

January 9, 2008

"Snow Snack"
10 x 10
Gouache ink resist
more information

My dog, Ivan, posed for me here....I made the girl up :)

January 2, 2008

New Year's Resolutions.....who isn't tempted to make on....or at least contemplate goals for the new year.... I keep changing mine.

Dec 15, 2007

"Showing Restraint"
mixed media collage
30 x 22
More information on this painting

A new one in a series of non-objective paintings....I have about 5 of these in various stages of completion...