Day 12- Kitty's Picture Window

Kitty's Picture Window

Alcohol Ink, Acrylic, Stamping and Pen on Yupo

I ended up using a studio full of media for this little 5.5 X 4 painting. The background started out as an alcohol ink which I've been playing with to see what it does. I thought it looked like trees in the distance then decided to make a kitty looking out of a window. She needed something to look at so then came the tree and the little bird stamp. To define the window sill I used black Sharpie, and to make the kitty opaque I ended up using white acrylic and Sharpie outline. I'm learning a lot by painting and experimenting every day.

Day 11- Messages

Messages

Collage 10 X 10

This collage is made mostly from altered magazine pages with the exception of the paper with script on it. I love putting script in my collages, it's unreadable up still recognizable for what it is. It lends a human touch to an otherwise abstract piece. It is all coated with gloss acrylic medium before being adhered by heat to the paper underneath. Acrylic is added to the torn edges and there are touches of red from an Inktense pencil. If you look closely you can see some dragonflies which were added last. 

Close up of dragonflies

Day 10, Gulf Sunset

Gulf Sunset

Acrylic Ink on Yupo, 5.5 X 7

Day 10! We're 1/3 through the month already. Amazing. I love sunsets. I love painting sunsets. Sunsets down here in SW Florida are wonderful, always changing, never dull, and can be a whole variety of colors. I think it's the humid atmosphere that must make them so beautiful. I really like the way the ink moved on this piece. I'd like to say that it wasn't an accident, that it was my skill but I cannot. I don't think I could duplicate this if I tried. 

I really appreciate the comments, they are very encouraging. 

Day 9, Georgia On My Mind

Georgia On My Mind

Alcohol Ink on Yupo, 7 X 5.5

Some artists are following as theme as Leslie suggested, I am not, obviously. I guess it's because of my random personality type, I get bored easily if I do the same thing every day. This is a rather experimental alcohol ink piece. I'm trying to get the stuff to flow before it dries, which seems to happen in about 6 seconds. I put down a layer of blending solution, then the ink and got some movement. This reminds me of the close up flowers that were painted by Georgia O'Keeffe, hence the title. More experimenting with this medium ahead.

Day 8 What Cats Think 2

What Cats Think 2

Acrylic on paper 9 X 11

My cats all spent a lot of time watching birds outside so I think they must think about birds. This is a companion to the one I did for yesterday's post. It has the same colors and similar stamping in the background. It was fun getting off the serious track and painting a couple of whimsical things, I think I'll have to try some more along that line.

Day 7 -What Cats Think 1

What Cats Think 1

Acrylic on 3003 paper

9 X 11

Of course I have no idea what cats think but this may be what they think, especially when they hear the can opener. We are one week into the Challenge; I'm already having a struggle trying to think out of the box and do something different that I don't usually do. Painting on this paper was so different and difficult compared to the Yupo. Yupo was so much easier to lift paint since it lays on the surface and doesn't sink in. Even with layers of acrylic it seemed like it was sinking into the paper, drying too fast and hard to get down to the layers underneath. So, it was a good lesson for me and fun to do something whimsical.

Day 6, 30 in 30 Challenge, Bright Future

 

Bright Future

Acrylic on Yupo, 9 X 11

This gal sees a bright future ahead, she's optomistic and ready for whatever life brings her way. It's painted in the same way as yesterday's painting with acrylic over alcohol ink on Yupo. These two paintings came together pretty easily for me. The one for tomorrow is giving me some difficulty but I will be like this painting and think positively. 

Thanks to all who have made comments, I really appreciate it. 

JOY! 30 in 30 Challenge, Day 5

JOY!

Acrylic and Alcohol Ink on Yupo

9 X 10

One of my goals for this year was to put more figures in my paintings. I had to let go of the need for perfect proportion, face my fears and just do it. Letting go brings joy, fun returns to the process. I think I had more fun with this than I have had with painting for a long time. It started as an early attempt at alcohol ink on yupo that I cut in two and started layering acrylic on top. I stamped and removed paint so that the colors underneath peeked through. I put in a figure shape and painted around it. I used a stencil for the rays and for the pattern on the skirt. 

Complete Triptych, Day 4 of 30/30 Challenge

Triptych 1

Triptych 2

Triptych 3

Each Collage 4 X 6

The Triptych series is now complete. It is matted and framed at 25 X 9. I did all three at the same time so that the colors and compositions would be compatible. Each one has a visual element evoking the sea. The two on the ends with seashells, the center one with a fish. I think it was a challenging learning experience to make them similar enough but not copy cats. I'm pleased with how they turned out and I will try to do more of these in collage and in painting, too.

Triptych, #2. Day 3, 30 in 30 Challenge

Triptych 2

Collage, 4 X 6

The second collage in the Triptych. These collages are made from various papers, a gold tissue paper, hand painted tissue, altered magazine pages, ink jet copies of an acrylic paint palette and copyright free art papers. When you begin doing collage you start to save everything. It's amazing the things you see that you might want to incorporate into a collage; packaging material, single earrings, fortunes from fortune cookies, candy wrappers, old book and music pages, bags from boutiques, and even paint palettes. Everything is altered in some way by being painted or stamped. 

I loved the range of colors on a piece of palette paper from a painting I had been doing so I let it dry and now I make copies of it on my printer to use in collage. See the bottom section on this collage. 

Triptych 1-30 in 30 Challenge Day 2

Triptych 1

Collage 4 X 6

There's nothing like a challenge to get the juices going. I enjoyed an afternoon in the studio today working on several things. No sense doing just one when you have the paints and brushes out. This series of three has been in the works for quite awhile and waiting for the final touches. The three collages will be in a vertical frame with three openings in the mat. I'll be posting one a day, adding one each day so by Sunday there will be all three. I'll post a link to the blog that has the challenge as well. It's fun to see the several hundred artist's works that are posted.

A Bright Beginning- 30 Day Challenge #1

Poppies

Alcohol Ink on Yupo 8.5 X 10

I wasn't going to take on the 30 Day Challenge again because of the loaded calendar coming up this month but if I don't do the Challenge I won't paint at all. Even if I don't paint and post every day I will still do more than if I didn't participate at all. The hard part is getting the digital copy ready to put on line. 

This is the largest alcohol ink painting that I have attempted. I started it before Christmas and finished it today (I think). Some fellow artists gave me some positive feedback on it which gave me courage to continue to develop it. The light centers are metallic gold which doesn't show up in the photo but it does seem to add a bit of sparkle to the original. 

Out With the Old

 Butterfly Card

Bird Card

I'm back from our Christmas trip to visit family in Arizona and wanted to finish up the year with a blog post. These are two more alcohol ink experiments on which I stamped. I found that it will take some practice to get the stamp done correctly on these. Since they didn't turn out too clearly I outlined them with silver pen. I think it helped but I'm not sure. Perhaps black would have been better. 

Some bloggers that I follow; Myrna Wacknov and Karen Knutson, both wonderful artists, are setting about to have goals for the new year. It got me thinking that perhaps, for growth, some goals would be a good thing. Myrna says they are not goals unless you write them down. So, with that in mind I'm going to venture forth and commit to some goals of my own. Here I will just state my artistic goals, personal goals will be a more private thing, but I will write them down, which is goal #1.

#2 is to explore of placing a figure or face in my abstract works.

#3 is to work in a larger format, beyond 12 X 12. This for me is very ambitious. I like the instant gratification of small collages and paintings.

#4 is to join and participate in the local Fine Craft Association, something I've said I would do for the last 2 years but haven't done. 

I think 3 art goals are enough for a beginner in writing down goals. Kind of scary for my personality type. 

I signed up for the 30 day Challenge again. What was I thinking?? My January is going to be crazy but if I don't challenge myself, I won't be creating my art. 

Blessings in the new year to all! May your goals all be accomplished and dreams realized.

All Buttoned Down

All Buttoned Down

Collage on gallery wrap canvas

8 X 8

This is my first attempt at making a collage on gallery wrapped canvas. It was formerly an acrylic painting that didn't make the grade so I covered it with gesso and tissue paper. There it sat for awhile until I decided to try to collage on it. I saved an envelope with the button closure because of the button and the plaid interior (see the upper right corner). Then I went looking for compatible papers and finally a similar button to the top one so that the string would have a place to go. It seemed sort of masculine in color and design to me so I used the words "because I know best" and the picture of a man on the lower right from a piece of art paper. Everything is coated with gloss medium and fused together with heat. When it's finished I coat it with UV varnish and paint the edges of the canvas.

It seems I have more time to create art than I do to post it on my blog. This time of year seems to accelerate everything and before I know it a week or more has gone by. I don't think time will slow just for me so until next time, enjoy the season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Alcohol Ink Cards

 Card 1, Moon Flower

4 X 5.5 on card stock

Card 2, Moon Flower

4 X 5.5 on card stock

Yesterday was my second class for alcohol inks. Instead of tiles we used it on Yupo, a non porous plastic "paper" and also tried a few other non porous surfaces. It was emphasized that we should try to stick to no more than 2 or 3 colors in order to avoid muddy colors especially if we were working on small surfaces. For these two cards I used slate, black and silver. There was so much silver on the first card that I made mono prints on two more cards. The slate and the black reacted to the blending medium and alcohol and separated into lovely blues and greens with black edges. I was really pleased with the results and mounted them on a light aqua card stock. I will post my other cards in a day or two.

Three Tiles

Three Tiles

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted a blog. Time has a way of getting away from me this time of year. I had an opportunity on Friday to take a class using alcohol inks. We put the inks on glossy white porcelain tiles, played around with the colors, the medium and alcohol until we had a tile that we liked. Then we allowed them to dry and coated them with epoxy. It was lots of fun to just play and discover what could be done with the inks. On Monday we will continue the class and perhaps do some larger tiles. I'm not sure what I will do with them but they are fun to look at; they can be displayed on a stand or a ring can be fastened to the back so they can be hung on the wall. 

Making Collage Art Again

Memories

Collage 3 X 5

Heart

Collage 3 X 5

Dream

Collage 3 X 5

I have a long narrow frame with a mat with 3 openings in which I thought 3 collages would work well. My problem was that I didn't measure the openings before I made the collages. I needed 4 X 6 and, as you can see, I made 3 X 5's. I'll just have to consider them practice and start over. But, I do like the way they turned out so I may be able to find a frame and mat that they will fit into. They are made with printed papers, altered magazine pages, hand painted papers, and acrylic gloss medium on watercolor paper.

Watercolor on Yupo

Monet's Pond on Yupo

Watercolor 9.5 X 12.5

I painted the same scene as before but this time on Yupo. Yupo is a synthetic paper that is a slick plastic. Because it's nonporous, the watercolor sits on the surface instead of sinking into the paper. The result is a much brighter painting. The paint is hard to control if you get too much water and the colors will bleed into one another. The trick is to do an area, allow it to dry and then do another area. The fun part is to take away or add color with a damp brush after the painting is dry. With a little practice it's quite a lot of fun to work on, especially with a landscape painting. 

Inspired by Monet

Monet's Pond

Watercolor 11 X 15

If you are an artist, travel to France and go to Giverny to see Monet's Garden it seems like you are almost required to paint the pond and the famous bridge. It's such a complex scene that you can easily get caught up in the details. Photos seem to capture every one and it can be confusing. I tried to keep it simple and not too busy. I am pleased with my first attempt now that I am finished. I'm ready to try another one of a different view of the same pond.

Beach Time

Watercolor 4 X 6

I'm slowly getting back to normal and over the jet lag and other maladies that come with travel and long flights. I went to class and started a painting of Monet's garden which is not yet finished. While waiting for the first washes to dry I did a little watercolor from a photo I took at the beach. I love the bright yellow umbrellas against the blue of the water.