Day 13 Red Reflections

Red Reflections

Watercolor 9 X 12

For day 13 of the 30 in 30 Day Challenge I did another watercolor. It was the reflections on the water that captured my attention when I looked at this red sailboat. Red is like that isn't it? It demands to be noticed. I was at a marina outside of a restaurant where we were having lunch. The line in the background is the bridge over the Caloosahatchi which connects Ft Myers, FL and Cape Coral. It's a very scenic spot to have lunch looking at the boats on the river which flows into the Gulf of Mexico. This time of year the traffic is pretty sparse but in the winter it's very busy with visitors and snow birds. 

I used masking fluid to protect the white on the sailboats, dock and water, something I don't usually do but there's no other way to get around the light areas of railing and deck top. For the clouds, I dampen the paper and just paint around them, that way some of the edges are soft. We are almost to the halfway point in the Challenge, I hope I make it to the end.

Day 12 A Watercolor Day!

 Rainy Season

Watercolor 7 X 10

One neat thing about doing a painting a day for 30 days is that you can try things that you've always wanted to try but haven't. I've wanted to try to paint rain for a long time. Summer time is the rainy season in Florida, we see a lot of rain storms, usually in the afternoon. The wind will blow, there will be thunder and lightening and the rain will come down in buckets for 10 minutes to an hour. Then, it's done. 

For this little painting I painted the palms first and let them dry, then I made a big puddle of gray-blue paint and painted over the palm trees with a big brush with one swipe so that I didn't move the palm paint too much. Then I spattered and spritzed clear water to make the dots and drips. After that dried I enhanced the drips and drops with white and blue paint.

Day 11 One of My Favorite Subjects

Paris In The Fall

Collage, 10 X 10

Yes, I admit it, I'm one of those people who loves Paris. Something draws us back to that city again and again. I can stay a few days and I'm satisfied, although I often wonder what it would be like to be able to stay for a month and really be able to explore in a leisurely fashion. Our first trip to Paris was billed as a Christmas shopping trip, three days in Paris, three in London in November. We just got a taste and knew we had to go back even though we had a tiny hotel room, it was expensive, confusing, cold and rainy. We since have been back spring, summer and fall, each time to a different neighborhood. It's a wonderful city to explore, there seems to be no end to the interesting new place you can find each time. 

This collage is made with stamped and painted tissue, altered magazine pages, printed pages and acrylic paint. 

Day 10 One Third of the Way!

Lariats

Collage 10 X 10

This collage was made from altered magazine pages, hand painted paper and tissue, printed paper and acrylic paint. It has lots of texture that can't be appreciated in a photo. When you get into making collages you start to save interesting papers. The red in this piece was from an envelope of unusual paper that was sent from India. The hand made papers often hold memories of when and where they were made and who was there creating with you. Making a collage, like painting a painting, carries a piece of the artist in it. 

Day 9 Getting Bigger

Petroglyph

Collage 10 X 10

I've been saving this one because I wanted to show the smaller ones first. This whole piece is done with pages from the National Geographic that were altered with the Citrasolv. The organic quality of the pages lend themselves to a landscape format and with the layers I thought it looked like the side of a cliff. I found this giraffe transfer in my stash that just seemed to be waiting to be put on this piece. Is that serendipity or what? 

For those who are kind enough to leave comments, I'm sorry that I've had to reinstate the comment puzzle thing. I found that I had hundreds of spam comments in my spam box which I was unaware of until I stumbled upon it while looking for something else. I do love the comments and appreciate the time it takes for you to leave them. 

Day Eight, Before and After

Landscape, Day 8

Heron Lake, Day 8-revised

Collage, 4.5 X 6.5 in 8 X 10 mat

As I looked at this collage I felt that it needed something. So, I looked through my images for image transfer and thought the heron was just the thing. The size and scale was right and it fit the feel of the piece. To transfer an image I coated the printed image with several coats of gloss or gel medium and allowed it to dry. I cut it as close to the image as I could, placed it face down on my artwork and fused it with the iron. Then I rubbed the excess paper off with a small, damp cloth. What is left is the printed image on the layer of medium minus the paper. I first learned about the process in a Golden Paints workshop, I think they have tutorials on line if you want to know more. Just search "acrylic transfers".

Day 7 Abstract Collage

Writing On the Wall

Collage 4.5 X 6.5

I have one week down and three to go! I hope we all make it to the end. This collage is made up of altered magazine pages, stained tissue and printed tissue. All of it has been coated with gloss medium and heat fused, then sealed with gloss medium and UV varnish. I love this process because you can design your collage and fuse it without taking it all apart to glue the individual pieces down. Once you arrange it, it's practically done. I like the limited palette on this one; red, black and gray are always a good combination. Did you know the phrase "The writing on the wall" comes from a story in the Old Testament? You'll find the story in the book of Daniel, chapter 5. It's quite interesting. 

Day 6, Autumn Day Collage

Autumn Day

Collage, 7.5 X 5.5

The next few day's collages are a bit bigger, they fit in an 8 X 10 mat for framing. This one, with the orange and green made me think of the early days of fall when some of the leaves have turned and some have kept their green for just a little longer. The papers are painted tissue, water stained tissue, and an altered magazine page. Acrylic paint is lightly wiped on and wiped off in places to bring the piece together, then it is coated with gloss medium.  

Day 4, 30 In 30 Challenge, Postcard Collages

Caravan

Collage 4 X 5.5

This collage came together when I was looking for a piece of orange to place in my collage. I spotted this orange with camels on the back of some prepared paper  that had not been affected by the Citrasolv. I like to put in something that is objective now an then and people really like to see something recognizable in an otherwise abstract piece. I have gotten a very positive response to this collage and I think that's why. All the rest of the papers in this collage were magazine pages that were altered with Citrasolv and coated with gloss medium, then heat fused.

Day 4 Post Card Landscape 3

Moonscape

Mixed Media Collage

4 X 5.5

Here we are at day 4 and I have another postcard sized collage. The papers are hand painted tissue, jelly printed paper and magazine page with the ink altered with Citrasolv. The circular forms on this paper remind me of photos of the moon with the craters. I hope you are enjoying the 30 Day Challenge as much as I am.

Day 3 Postcard Collage 2

Sunlit 

Postcard Collage

This looks like a sunlit cliff shoreline to me, especially in the photo. You can't tell that the little strip of yellow is the gold acrylic that I put on the torn edges of the paper. That is what makes the cliff look sunlit as well. These are the same kinds of papers that I used yesterday. I'm loving experimenting with these little landscapes. Check in with me tomorrow to see the 3rd in the series.

Day 2- Post Card Landscape

Post Card Landscape A

Collage 4 X 5.5

I decided to make post card sized landscapes for the first part of the month of the 30 day challenge. It gives me a chance to experiment with differing horizon lines, colors and papers without having a large piece to agonize over. They go fairly quickly and leave me time to work on larger pieces which take longer to complete. 

This collage is made up of magazine pages altered with Citrasolv and colored tissue that has been altered with water. Everything is coated with gloss medium and fused together with heat on 140# watercolor paper.

Day 1, 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

I'm going to participate in the 30 Day Challenge again. I plan to do my collage "paintings" as well as some watercolor and mixed media. My theme is "My Neck of the Woods", mostly focusing on Florida scenes but I will be doing a lot of non-objective pieces as well so I'm not being ridged about it. 

Time Span 

Collage 3.5 X 4.5

I've been learning how to make papers with National Geographic magazines and Citrasolv, a natural cleaning product. It dissolves the ink and makes one able to manipulate it into interesting, random patterns. All the papers in this little collage were made this way, coated with gloss medium and heat fused to 140 pound watercolor paper. It was then enhanced with acrylic paint and coated with another layer of medium.

Collage-o-rama

Going With the Flow 

Collage, 8 X 8

I've been on  quite a collage kick again lately. I'm surely addicted to the medium. I love working with the colors and patterns on the papers, the assembly, and making order out of what seems to be chaos. This was made with hand painted papers, text, stamped, and altered National Geographic papers. Out of my stacks of papers I pick two or three colors I want to work with, decide what kind of composition it will be, then I start tearing and placing papers until I get something I like. I didn't know it needed a fish until it was almost finished. This is stamped from my own hand carved fish stamp with copper acrylic on a thin paper. Next I wipe over the collage with acrylic paint and then wipe it off. This colors all the white edges of the papers and unifies the piece. If you enlarge the picture you should be able to make out fish images in the blue area above the stamped fish behind the net effect. They are all headed the same direction, going with the flow. The final step is to coat it with a UV varnish to preserve the colors. It can then be matted and framed or adhered to a gallery canvas or wood panel.

Lost and Found

Purple Mountains

7 X 10 Watercolor

Have you ever "lost" a painting and then found it years later? I found some magazines from 2001 in the bottom of a drawer, and I began looking through them. In the back of one of them was this painting. Obviously, it was painted during one of my trips west, I'm not sure which one. I thought it was a fun little painting and so typical of the sunset scenes one sees in Arizona,  or New Mexico. Usually I date my pictures that I paint away from home and keep them as a diary of my trips, but this one wasn't dated. The only thing I have to go by is the date on the magazines. 

Sailboat series #2

Red Sun At Night

Watercolor 15 X 11

This is the second in the sailboat series, very much like the first one only larger. I love doing the colorful skies, getting the colors to blend into each other is one of the most fun things to do with watercolor. I must be doing the boat OK because a sailor recognized the type of boat it was before I put the insignia on the sail. That's a good sign. 

Painting Sailboats

Red Sun in the Morning

Watercolor 8 X 11

I'm doing a series of sailboat paintings so that I have some to show at the Regatta in October. This is the first of them painted with watercolor. I wet the sky area being careful not to get the sail wet. Then I started with the orange and allowed the colors to blend into each other.When that dried I used masking on the lines and railing of the boat, then I wet the water area and put in a blend of ultra marine blue, and a touch of permanent magenta. After drying I could add the touch of orange from the sky and the details of the boat. This was my practice piece for a larger painting but it turned out OK so I thought I'd post it. 

A Bird in the Bush

A Bird in the Bush

Collage, 8 X 8

This collage has been patiently waiting for me for weeks to finish it. I'm so glad that it was begun so that I had something in the works one afternoon when the men were working on the kitchen and I had to be on hand for questions on details. Since my art room is right off the kitchen it was the perfect place to be. Over several days it entertained me during the completion of the kitchen project. The collage was begun with hand painted papers on 140# watercolor paper which were heat fused then coated with acrylics and stenciled. Finally it will be sealed a coat of satin acrylic varnish. 

Zentangle Butterfly  

4 1/4 X 3 1/4

With the remodel going on it's so crazy at my house I had to get away one afternoon to do something creative. Starting or finishing a painting was not an option, so I got out my colored pens and did some Zentangle. It's relaxing and absorbing at the same time. It takes your mind off of what is going on in your life and you combine your colors and doodles with abandon. It's small enough to finish in an afternoon and I come away with a sense of accomplishment. This will make a nice "mini" for our art league's sale in February. 

Moon Rise

Moon Rise Over Montana

Gouache on paper 7.5 X 7.5

It's been such a long time since I've posted a painting. I've been doing some summer travel to witness grandchildren graduating from High School. Such a milestone in their young lives! Add remodeling the kitchen and it leaves little time to paint.

This painting was done quite some time ago and I don't know where it's been hiding but it just surfaced and I thought it would be a fun one to post. I did a whole summer's worth of painting with gouache one year and really enjoyed the medium. It's a nice transition to go from watercolor to acrylic because of it's opaque qualities but it's still movable with water after it dries. I do hope I'll be able to get some painting in soon, I miss it when life gets in the way.