Thinking Small with Rock Piles

Rock Pile #1~ Balance~ 6x6 ~ mixed media
(pardon the silly watermarks... sign of the times, sadly)

Rock Pile #4 ~ 6x6~ mixed media

I am happy to have these two paintings juried  into Lawrence Street Gallery's "Think Small" show. The opening is tomorrow night. (Dec. 6, 6-9 pm) It's always an interesting exhibit... all works must be less than one square foot in size...easy for holiday gift giving...  ho ho ho! :)

Light the Night

watercolor... to be used as "thank-yous" 

My husband and I are participating in the "Light the Night" walk tonight to benefit the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. I'll print out this image to use as thank-yous for the donations we receive. My mom died from Acute Myelogenous Leukemia...a nasty disease. I'd love to see the cure within my lifetime.
 http://pages.lightthenight.org/mi/DetroitL13/LFinn

En-route to Northport

# 112 En-route to Northport  6.25 H x 18 W ~ Acrylic on paper

Got back home yesterday, after spending 2 weeks up in northern lower peninsula, Michigan. One of the weeks was spent with a group of very talented artists at Camp Edee... (Edee Joppich organizes us) The other week near Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. So very inspiring.

character studies 1 and 2

110~ character study 1~ the blues

111~ character study 2 ~ small smile

"i am feeling blue...because my belt doesn't match my shoes...and i have a tooth that's loose..."

Just cracking myself up. Yes... VERY easily amused. Plugging away at my challenge... working on larger works at the same time. Sort of difficult for me to switch gears, but it is doable. :-)

pig daydreams....

#109 Pig Daydreams ~ 5x7 mixed media

I was doodling while watching tv... and this is what happened. The pig is standing in the sunshine, daydreaming, and oinking in his sleep. :-)

magnolias... three more times

#106 Magnolia 5 ~ 5x7 Acrylic

#108 Midnight Magnolia ~ 5x7 Acrylic

#107 Magnolia 4 ~ 5x7 Acrylic and Oil pastel

Well, this is the last of the Magnolias... at least in this size. I like doing this type of repetition... They are all very different, but have the same theme. Not production line... but fast and loose because there's always the next one to paint.

magnolias again and again

#105~  Magnolia 3~ 5 x 7 ~ Acrylic and oil pastel

#104~ Magnolia 2 ~ 5 x 7 ~ Acrylic

#103 ~ Magnolia 1 ~ 5x7 ~ Acrylic

There are quite a few Magnolia's in our new 'hood. Instant inspiration. 

pink rockets and a balloon

#95 Pink Rockets and a Balloon ~ 6x6 ~ acrylic on panel

I have no idea where this comes from... I make a mess... and then cover it up. :-)

Rock Pile

Rock Pile 1 through 6 delivered to Synchronicity Gallery in Glen Arbor, MI

Here are numbers 89 through 94 in my challenge (6 paintings a week for a year) I'm making it a lot easier for people to find Petoskey Stones.... I'm always trying to help. :-)

sailor's delight

#89  Sailor's Delight ~ 6x6 ~ acrylic, collage and texture medium

I've been painting rocks... You'll be seeing a flurry of these over the next few days. A rock pile! hehehe

I've always been a rock hound. Can't leave them lay...always feel the need to adopt them into my collection. I have rocks from Ireland, Africa, France, California... any time we visit a place, my souvenir is a rock. I'm a cheap date.

support

#86 "Support" 6x6 Acrylic on canvas panel

We all need it. :-)

mack-in-ations

#84  "Mack-in-ations" 6x6 ~ acrylic on canvas panel

A study in neutrals... and made up stuff. Remember the game Mouse Trap?  Can you tell I was thinking about it while I was painting?  hehehe

major

#81~ "Major" ~ ipad drawing using Art Rage

My husband got a new ipad for work... and I nabbed his old one. I drew this on it, while watching Michigan Sate win their basketball game. (yea!)  It's my first ipad drawing...and certainly not my last.
Major is obviously not a big NCAA tournament fan. Suited me, because he stayed still. :-)

engineered

#80 ~ "Engineered" 7x5 Mixed Media on Paper....

Still playing catch-up with my challenge... (6 artworks a week for a year)... I've put progress images on my Facebook page here if you are interested to see how I got to this result. Happy Monday peeps!

Playing Catch-up

#76~ "B is For Ball"  5x7 Mixed Media

#77 "Chutes and Ladders" 5x7 Mixed Media

#78 "Parade Route" 7x5 Mixed Media

#79 "Pick Up Sticks" 5x7 Mixed Media

Got behind on my challenge...(6 paintings a week for a year) So having fun playing catch-up. :-)

Moving On

#75 Moving On  ~  Acrylic on canvas

I've survived a computer crash.... and lived to tell about it. This isn't the first time...but it's the first time with Carbonite as a backup system.... phew. Nothing lost.
So today... I painted.
Thank you geek squad and Carbonite. :-)

Going in Circles

#73 Going in Circles ~ 20x17 Mixed Media on Board

This one started as a trash painting...and I mean that literally.

At the Mary Todd Beam workshop last October, Mary had us collect collage material from the trash can for use on a painting. Under the paint is plastic paper towel packaging, bits of doily, classmates failed paintings, foil and other trashy treasures adhered with matte medium. Today I wanted to clean my palette so I used what was left on there..to play around on the highly textured surface... I guess you could say that I used trash paint too. hehehe.

#73 Going in  Circles 20x20 Mixed media (c) 2013

Not sure if it's completely done... I've cropped it a bit on the right side (with Photoshop, not actually) And I might try to make it work as a square composition, my favorite. I'll look at it again tomorrow.


Worked some more and ended up here... (on the left) Calling it finished. :-)

living and learning

#72 Big Poppies~ 28x18~ Acrylic on Collage
(c) 2013 L. Everett Finn

Now that I've completed this larger piece... (with the wrinkled paper applied to watercolor paper... then painted with watery acrylic...) I think the process lends itself better to the smaller scale. While an interesting texture... it's not enough texture at this size. Living and learning.

(Big Poppies are going to try to get in a show this week... we'll see if the juror agrees with me... hopefully not.)

Tumbling Beach-balls

#69 Tumbling Beach-balls~ 6x6 ~ Acrylic on canvas panel

I've always liked pencil line scratched into paint. Think I'll play around with that for a bit. :-)

icelandics

#68 Icelandics~ 7x5~ Acrylic on collage

Still pretending it's spring here in the studio. :-)

Kroger Bouquet

# 67 Kroger Bouquet~ 12x9~ acrylic on Yupo

Yesterday, I intended to drive to a local nursery green house to pick up some potted plants to paint... hoping for flowering plants...Freesia, or something inspiring. I only made it as far as the corner Kroger (our local supermarket). I did this quick (20 minute?) painting at the tail end of my painting day from the bouquet I got there....(I worked most of the day on a large poppy painting that I'm more excited about)
The set up would have liked some more dramatic lighting... a spot light would have been nice. This is what it looks like with flat, even, daylight fluorescents. :-)  I sort of like the color combo though... it's different for me.

Poppies Abstracted

#66 Poppies Abstracted ~7x5~ acrylic on collage

I have a larger (24x18 inch) one of these begun...I decided to test out some background colors on a smaller size. (Getting smarter in my old age, right?) This process has no do-overs. Gesso won't help. (Though it would make an incredibly textured surface to do something completely different on.) But these watery pure and transparent effects...it's a one shot deal. Yikes stripes.

poppies squared

#65 ~ Poppies Squared ~ 11x11 ~ acrylic on collaged paper

Another Poppy painting... And I have one more larger one in the works... I'm liking the unpredictability of the crinkly paper and the watery acrylic. It shoots about in somewhat unexpected ways.

Icelandic Poppies 1

#64 Icelandic Poppies... 7x5 ~ acrylic and collage

Having some fun now!

sweet pea 5

#63 Sweet Pea 5 ~ 15x11~ acrylic and collage on paper

This sheet of paper is the first "real" sheet of watercolor paper I ever bought. It was expensive and because of that...it's 25 years old. Seriously. I have carried this precious sheet around with me for years, afraid to do anything on it. This last studio move had me reconsidering things like that... What the heck was I waiting for?  The poor paper was just sitting in my flat file year after year. (Makes me think of the island of misfit toys.) Finally, last week it came out...was quartered and is now supporting some paint and collage.
"Well, hello beautiful!"

Forsythia

#62 Forsythia ~11x11 ~ acrylic and collage on paper

Went a little bigger today... Wish I had some branches here in the studio... Frustrating to only have reference photos to use.

Forsythia Bunch

#61 Forsythia Bunch ~ 7x5 ~ acrylic, collage and ink

Still playing with this crinkle paper technique. I think it lends itself to flowers really well... and I could use some immersion in flowers about this time. February in Michigan is all I need to say about that.

sweet pea 3 and 4

#60 Sweet Pea 3  ~ 7x5

#59 Sweet Pea 4 ~ 7x5

Two that are smaller... 7x5. These are harder to do on a smaller scale. Finished Sweet Pea 4 last night and hated it. But this evening, I don't hate it as much. The ink on there gives some structure to the looseness. Hmmmmmm.

sweet pea two

#57 Sweet Pea Two~ 15x11~ acrylic and collage on paper

Here in Michigan, we are dreaming of seeing signs of spring. I have lots of these florals in various stages of completion, all over the studio. If I sniff really hard, I think I'm smelling sweet peas.

sweet pea one

#56 Sweet Pea One ~ 11x7.5 ~ acrylic and collage

Last week, I went out with some of my friends from the old "hood. Jill asked me about one of my challenge paintings that was of sweet peas. I drew a blank at first... then a few moments later thought of the painting she was referring to. I'm pretty sure it was this one. When I painted it, I wasn't thinking of any specific flower, but after she said "sweet pea" I realized, Oh Yeah! I love sweet peas. My sister grows (and fights with them) every spring.

Perfect subject to do this experiment with. I painted (too quickly... i was excited) some sweet pea shapes with watered acrylic onto water color paper. Then I painted more watery acrylic  sweet peas on a crumbled sheet of soft transparent paper. (I have a roll of it from somewhere... maybe my mom's sewing pattern making paper?) Let them both dry then glued the crumpled paper on top of the painting. I love how it veiled the previous painting... and it took the paint really interestingly after it dried and I added a bit more. I love me a new technique.

u b mine?

Acrylic on Yupo... various sizes. 

Lots of valentining going on today...

Frozen Fish

#50 Frozen Fish ~ 14x11 ~ acrylic on Yupo

Love messing around with yupo and acrylic. Obscure then reveal. Push and Pull. Hard to figure out when to stop!

Playing Well With Others

#49 Playing Well With Others  9x9 mixed media

Playing catch-up... some serious catch-up. I guess we're in for some weather here in Michigan, so I'm planning on lots and lots of studio time.

flounder found love

#48  Flounder Found Love.... 5x7  acrylic on paper.

This makes me giggle. Lots of silliness happening in the studio this week. If you look closer, he even looks like he has a bit of a cherry Kool-aid mustache. hehehehe

flounder 1

#47 Flounder 1~ 5x7 Acrylic on paper

Did you know... that flounder lay on the bottom of the ocean floor and have both of their eyes on one side of their bodies? I did not. We don't have flounder in the great lakes. That's my excuse.

balancing act

#46 "Balancing Act" 10x10 collage

Ok... this was fun. Though I need to find my smaller scissors, if I want to do more... which I do.

Circus music

#45 "Circus Music" 5x7  watercolor and acrylic

Welcome to the big top.

Go Around

#44 "Go Around"  5x7 ...Watercolor and gesso on paper.

This his my preferred method of dealing with obstacles. :-)

The Thing About Books

#43 "The Thing About Books"  7x5 mixed media

Late night painting session last night... (I'd spent the day painting book shelves.. not quite a challenge painting, though if I could count it... I would.) :-)  The cute little tank top appeared after I had collaged random things onto the paper... And then I sort of went from there....