Tribal Message

Tribal Message

11” x 14”

acrylic on canvas

Sometimes on a weekend, I find I can either make art or blog about art. Since I didn’t post yesterday, guess what I did?

I’m working on some experimental books. Since my last book sewing class is this week, I’d like to try something and show it around and get feedback. What’s unusual is that I’m making the pages ahead of time and then will sew them to the cover binding (leather? fabric? canvas?). There are so many options, I’m not sure I’ll finish in time!

So, here’s a painting from a few weeks ago. It might be done. It might want more.

Small Art

Wondering

4" x 6"

acrylic, toner transfer on paper

Any time is good time for Small Art, don't you think?

I’ve sent a challenge to art friends around the country to make some Small Art. Using envelopes from last year’s wall calendar, I encouraged five others to create small pieces and send the creativity on. Pieces could range from an Artist Trading Card (ATC) size to 9" x12" and involve any substrate with any media.

Since the New Year, I’ve been working in my studio, cleaning, clearing, sorting, tossing, and organizing. I’ve had a bad habit of tossing finished acrylic paintings, whether they worked or not, into a large box sharing space with gelatin prints and handmade papers. It was quite a mess and mish-mash! So, I separated pieces that could fit into two binders--letter-size or 12” x 12”—and placed two pieces each into plastic sleeves. Now, I can see what I have and cull pieces ready for recycling into collage or book pages or Small Art.

Some of these pieces were created by cutting down larger works on watercolor paper. Using some of my photos, I tried toner transfers or altered them with Microsoft Word.

Cardinal in Tree
4" x 6"
altered photo on watercolor postcard

Growth

4" x 6"

acrylic, fabric on paper

Celebrating 50 Years

In Another Corner of the Universe...
9" x 12"
acrylic on paper

No big party, no fuss, but the calendar says it’s official—I’m 50 years old today. When we were very young, that seemed like such an ancient age, didn't it? Was it perhaps because people that age were always dressed in suits and dresses with oh-so-old-fashioned attitudes?

Leading up to this half-century mark, I had a very productive week playing with paint. Whether it was because I switched to hot-press watercolor paper or sobered by my approaching ancientness, I noticed mystical and soulful images emerging from my brayer.

Star Nursery

9" x 12"

acrylic on paper

Curious to see if techniques I discovered would translate from paper to stretched canvas, I tried duplicating this piece below.

Exploding Universe
9" x 12"
acrylic on paper

As you can see below, I could not get the same results, at least on my first try. Paper has such versatile qualities canvas cannot duplicate. If only it wasn’t such a pain to cut mats, mount, and frame…hmmm…maybe I’ll start mounting paper works on wood panels or canvases.

Exploding Universe 2
8" x 10"
acrylic on canvas

Thinking about the next 50 years (if I'm so lucky!), I am planning to open an Etsy site. Since January, I've been cleaning my studio, getting organized, culling works to sell, setting aside others for collage, and thinking about what kind of art to sell and materials to order. So far, I'm considering offering paintings on paper (with or without a pre-cut mat and bag), cards and calendars of my paintings, Dream Boxes (see: http://mymindisinablog.blogspot.com/2008/05/dream-boxes.html), and original gelatin prints. If you have any ideas or have an Etsy account yourself, I would love hearing your advice or comments.

Mountain Mirages

9" x 12"

acrylic on paper

Saturday Creations

Reaching Out

acrylic on paper

9" x 12"

With the greening of trees here, I turned to a palette of various yellows and blues this week, making some decidedly green creations.

Yesterday morning, my third book sewing class, we tackled a very ambitious book--two-signatures sewn with two needles holding two different colored threads twisted outside the spine. Whew! I managed to complete it but my spine was a bit wide for the paste paper covers. During this class I find I’m struggling, trying to balance my logical side with my creative side. Since I have to be exact and detail-oriented 5-days a week, I am either befuddled or downright rebellious on an early Saturday morning, having to be precise measuring intricate book spine designs and calculations. This class might be too ambitious for me since I lag behind understanding and that, in turn, bothers me even more.

I’ve wanted to learn about bookmaking since I have read so many books and blogs about making your own book and really wanted hands-on instruction. Last fall, I tried taking a full-semester on bookbinding but it was full. Maybe if I had chosen a very simple class with, say, using the pamphlet stitch with variations, I’d catch on more quickly. Most of my classmates already had taken a book class with this instructor.

In the future, I’d like to translate what I’ve learned into creating my own journals, with paper and size of my own choosing since I’m out-growing spiral watercolor books that only come in cold-press paper. Seeing some wonderful books made with unstretched canvas as covers on Gina Cuff’s blog http://dogberryhill.blogspot.com/ might be the direction I’m heading.

Later in the afternoon, looking for something else in my studio, I came across a set-aside project: some small frames with matching glass. I have wanted to make a necklace with an altered photo of my great-grandmother matched with one of my Irish photos. My sister is the jewelry artist but I'm pleased with this result.

Fighting Paper

Circle of Questions

acrylic on paper

9" x 12"

I struggle with cold or rough watercolor paper. Doing quick brayer paintings, that bumpy, uneven surface repels paint, leaving white dots all over my watercolor block. Texture gets lost as the paper has so much itself. Not what I’m aiming for. But, in an effort to use this paper, I tried working around its short-comings.

Introducing texture of my own--hand-carved stamps, textured fabric, colour shapers, even plastic ends from a roll of calculator tape--created some interesting discoveries.

Crowing Glory
acrylic on paper
9" x 12"

At several junctures, I spritzed sections, laid a paper towel over it, gently lifting some paint. I used a lot of white in this grouping, something relatively new for me. It toned down my usually riotous colors and helped blend them.

Search Light
acrylic on paper
9" x 12"

Thank You One & All

Totems

acrylic on paper

9" x 12"

Thank you all visitors, followers, and commentators of my art blog! Your kind thoughts and suggestions have been most welcome. The wonder of the Art Blog-o-Sphere is how people find each other, how connected you can become, what a caring group it is, and how generous everyone is in sharing techniques and encouragement, pitfalls and warnings.

At first glance, a blog seems all about one person’s vision. But once I learned about reading and responding to the comment section, I saw where mini-conversations can take place.

Blogger now has a feature called “Followers” where other bloggers find you and add your blog to their list. Today, my number has reached 9, a wondrous number for me.

So, thank you one and all; long live the Blogging community!