The Challenge Continues

 And some turned out quite nice.  This is one and here are a couple more...

And some, not so nice ...  Too many lilacs on such a small piece of paper.  This is about 2"x3". I should have limited the number of branches.

And this one is just way overworked.  I was not having fun and it shows.

These are watercolor.  I'm planning to do a couple more watercolor before moving on to acrylic -- or maybe collage.  

A Floral Challenge

"If an inspiration comes back to you at least 3 times you should take it as a serious

sign from your inner self and consider acting on it."

from The Artist's Quest for Inspiration

Floral has been coming back to me more than three times.  I guess it's time to act on it so that is my 100 Day Project for 2023.  My plan is to try different media, different substrates and different techniques.  I have an assortment of small odd sized papers so those will be the first substrates. Documenting the process is another part of the plan.

The first day I had to clear space on my desk and one of the things left there was a stone my friend Terry brought me from Spain.  She said I was supposed to be able to draw with it so I made a few marks to try it.  It worked and the marks sort of started to look like a flower so what could I do but see where it took me. Ink, gesso, a rock from Spain and lots of fun with brush, pen and fingertips. And I posted it as my first entry in the journal.  

Day 2's piece started by getting the paper wet and adding some yellows along with a bit of Ultramarine Blue and Quin Rose.  I'm happy with the result but it wasn't as much fun as drawing with the stone. And then I ruined it by adding an ink outline.

Today's isn't done.  Once again, watercolor but this time I did the ink drawing first.  Waiting for it to dry before finishing and I have other things that I need to work on so probably won't finish this until late this afternoon.  I am posting my progress on Instagram if you'd like to follow along. Here's a link to my instagram account 

Working on Some Collaborative Pieces

 And one of those pieces is an Exquisite Corpse.  These are two views of my section in process.

There are 7 of us involved in this.  For my portion I'm experimenting with doing some abstract

 combining acrylics and watercolor.

If you aren't familiar with Exquisite Corpse here's a brief description. Each of us adds to a

composition in sequence by being allowed to see only the end of what the previous person

contributed. All I could see when I started this was a row of black and white checks and a bit

of the quin gold.

A bit of history from Wikipedia -- I edited the information.  The technique was invented

by surrealists and is similar to an old parlour game called consequences in which players

write in turn on a sheet of paper, fold it to conceal part of the writing, and then pass it to the

next player for a further contribution. Surrealism principal founder André Breton reported that it

started in fun, but became playful and eventually enriching. Breton said the diversion started

about 1925, but Pierre Reverdy wrote that it started much earlier, at least as early as 1918.

Later the game was adapted to drawing and collage, in a version called picture

consequences, with portions of a person replacing the written sentence fragments of the

original. The person is traditionally drawn in four steps: The head, the torso, the legs and the

feet with the paper folded after each portion so that later participants can't see earlier

portions.The name is derived from a phrase that resulted when Surrealists first played the

game, "Le cadavre exquis boira le vin nouveau." ("The exquisite corpse shall drink the new

 wine.")

My grandson and I play it once in awhile.  When we play we do people; my artist friends and

I are doing whatever we choose.  This one had no original instruction so who knows what the

 end result will be.

And speaking of my art friends, I'm going to introduce them to you over the next few weeks.

Maybe not one a week but I hope to introduce all of them before our 3rd annual Art Tribe Exhibit 

at the Gallery Uptown in July.

Looking At Some Older Work

 In between working on two new pieces (layers need to dry) I'm doing more sorting and realizing that there was a time when I enjoyed playing with florals.

Maybe I need to go back to doing some watercolor florals, at least in my sketchbook.  Another one that is more recognizable yet still very free is a Trillium piece I did in Door County many years back.

Neither of these are available except as notecards.  These two and a huge bunch of geraniums that I did before I photographed them are long gone.  Only a couple notecards and one geranium left and it hangs in our guest bathroom. Yes, it's time to start playing with florals again and see where it takes me.  

Once I get the clutter cleared away I can work on both the mixed media and the watercolors.  Maybe even do some floral mixed media.  Another path to wander down.  I'll see where it takes me.

My Muse Is Back

I've recently started working on new pieces and doing so made me aware -- My creative muse has been missing in action for a very long time. Yes, we need rests, we can't be creative all the time but sometimes we extend those breaks longer than necessary and I'm guilty. I don't know if my daily walks and Art Journal practice have helped get my muse back but it certainly hasn't hurt.

Today's Walk, Harbor Island's walkway has been cleared.

I came into the studio earlier in the week intending to do something in that art journal but remembered that I needed to take more work to a gallery in Grand Rapids at the end of the week. For the first time in quite a spell I was inspired to do something new.  I have a lot of older work so it wasn't as if I didn't have anything to take but I really wanted to paint. And in the process of starting I realized a truth -- action is better than inaction. As I worked I was enjoying the process of adding texture, marks and collage materials. And I began to think about one of my Art Journal spreads. 

I don't think it's a good idea to force things.  Working on a piece when one doesn't feel inspired is going to result in a piece that just doesn't make it.  But playing in a sketchbook, making collage papers, messing about with some paint just to see what happens -- maybe that will shift ones thinking.

Another confession.  Sometimes I have so much fun making collage papers or playing with paints that I want to keep doing that instead of actually working on a painting.  Maybe best for me to stick to working in the Art Journal for awhile.  Even when I just make a mess like this bunch of experiments on a spread.

I can always cover it up with collage or gesso

More Art Journaling and Feathers

I'm trying a different sketchbook for the feathers.  This one was first sketched with a faux quill pen that I made out of one of my feathers.  I got the idea for making the pen from Robyn McClendon.  She did some gelli printing on her feather to fancy it up.  I just used feathers I had in the condition they were currently in which is stiff with paint.  I sometimes use feathers to move paint around on a substrate, they get messy.  I can't find the tutorial or I'd add a link but here are the two I made.  I think you can easily see what I did with a feather, a bit of really good glue and a couple Speedball pen nibs.

And there is the Art Journal, I worked on another spread doing a little each day.  

Why this

                                    

four days later ended up like this

I have no clue but it was kind of fun not knowing where it was going.

I've also continued my walks and it has helped me to focus on things I am grateful for.  One of those is that I live in this place where there are so many different areas to walk along water.  I do love water, it feeds my soul.

The beach

Our Boardwalk along the Grand River

and a couple different areas on Harbor Island

Including a third Harbor Island spot, Linear Park

And a bonus on one of my beach walks, a Pudding Stone

My husband has wanted a Pudding Stone for a very long time but thought he'd never find one.  I'm always looking for stones when I walk the beach and was surprised when I looked down and saw one right by my foot.  It didn't look like this but it was recognizable so I picked it up and took it to Julie Sanford at JSD Design Studio for polishing.  Ed and I have been married for 46 years, 47 this spring, and together for 4 or 5 years before that.  This is the first present I've given him that he truly wanted and was thrilled to get -- a stone I found on the beach.  I know I won't be able to top it so I'm not even going to try.  But if on a beach walk I happen to find another one this one may get a mate.

 

 

It Was A Covid Christmas And A New Year, New Practice

I had intended to spend the week between Christmas and New Years focusing on what was good about 2022 and where I wanted to go in 2023.  Instead I slept.  Covid invaded our home for the holiday.  Fortunately we celebrated with our kids ahead of the actual day so it was just Ed and me, sleeping and reading.  Yesterday was my first day with people but I did get outside for some walks on the beach.

I feel blessed to live in this little town on the shore of Lake Michigan.  I get to drive by this lake every time I'm out running errands. I'm also blessed to have such a wonderful art community to inspire me.

One of the things I'm going to try to do every day is more experimenting in my art journal.  The celebratory piece at the top of this post is one.  I've done something daily and day 2 became a work in process.  I finished it Friday. Obviously the walks on the beach inspired me.

And yesterday, my first day in the company of others, I joined a group of Urban Sketchers,  #UrbanSketchersWestMichigan, held it's first meet up of 2023.  I've followed my friend Joan Tavolott

and her New York Urban Sketchers for years so was thrilled to find a group here in my area.

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We were supposed to sketch the people in the group but my friend Ruth and I got there early, no people yet, so we started working on the view. After doing the view I did a few people sketches.  It's been a long time since I've done people sketching.  Time to do more of it I think.

Looking forward to getting back to sketching with my Tuesday group next week -- and more beach walks in 2023!

Wishing Everyone a Very Happy New Year!