One more time

and still not as I am seeing the finish so I will try again but for now this is it.  Tomorrow something totally different to get myself out of this., I hope.

Today’s Daily

This one was going to be a mixed media collage but I think I’ll try again, with a shorter mahl stick.  This one may just be what it is right now, a monotype.  It’s a little messy but the cherubs are cute. 

Don’t forget to pop over to Leslie’s blog to see what others are doing.

Tomorrow I have my grandson so it’s probably going to be late before I get anything done.  It’s also time for another weekend drawing event over at wetcanvas.com so I may do one of those images instead of re-doing the cherubs. 

Today’s Daily Will Be Collage Paper

Today I was playing with my gelli plates.  The intent was to do a monoprint as my daily.  What I ended up with is a lot of collage paper.  With a little more work one of these may become an abstract but the rest…. great collage papers.  Some days are like that.

This is the one that has some potential I think….

Here are some of the others….

 

And just because it was a beautiful winter day, here’s an old one that lives here in our home because it’s a favorite of mine…

Tomorrow is going to be a better art day.

Day 27 Is In My Sketchbook

And I should have taken a bigger sketchbook, my subject didn’t fit the page and I didn’t want to do it any smaller. We sketched at the Historical Museum today.   I’m not a medical person and I was on my way to a different display when this object in the medical display stopped me. I was attracted to the color and shape, not the object itself 

However, for those of you who are interested, it’s a hand operated carbolic sprayer.  Joseph Lister is considered the father of modern day sterilization according the what card next to this said.  He chose carbolic acid as a way to kill germs in operating rooms and introduced the hand operated carbolic sprayer in 1870.  His contemporaries considered him a quack;  however, in 1871 he used in when operating on Queen Victoria successfully and it became accepted.

Next week we’re going back to the museum; perhaps I’ll make it to the exhibit I had planned to get to.

Still Doing The Dailies

I missed a couple of days, life got in the way.  This is day 24, a hobbit house which I think would make a nice fairy garden in a clay saucer.  Something to think about.  This one is in New Zeeland, I got the image from the wetcanvas site again.

Day 25 isn’t finished yet. The image is from the weekend drawing event over on wetcanvas.  The artist who posted the photos also issued a challenge -- paint something in Gustav Klimts style.  I decided to give it a try using this photo.  It’s been fun but it’s taking way longer than I usually spend on these.

And as a result, today’s is a real quickie…. done with some oil pastels that a neighbor was getting rid of… tonight’s dinner.

On the days I didn’t get paintings done I did finish another pojagi piece, still working on cutting straight.

Tomorrow I’m painting with my Tuesday morning group so I should be able to get one done.  And I hope to do more on the Klimts piece.

A Few More Dailies

I missed day 16, this is day 17, another  favorite subject.  And today is day 21 so where have I been you might ask.  Well, we’ve been skiing and away from a computer so I couldn’t post;  however, I did take the sketch book with me.  Here is Day 18, another door into what I think is a garden…

Moving away from doors, another thing I am attracted to is old shacks.  All but one of these images are from the wetcanvas image library.  I do love that there are so many to choose from.  This is Day 19…

Day 20…

And finally, up to date with Day 21 and this one is from one of my photos….

I found another garden that may be tomorrow’s but this is it for now.

Don’t forget to check out the other entries over on Leslie’s blog

Day 15 of 30 in 30

Day 15 of Leslie’s challenge, halfway home.  This time another garden gate.  Ed and I love walled gardens, it’s not that we’re anti-social, well maybe a little, it’s just a look we enjoy.  In the summer we often eat at a favorite spot in Saugatuck because outdoor dinning is inside a walled garden area.  We like the food too.

This is another one from the image library at wetcanvas and I am intrigued by the arch because both sides seem to be facing out, perhaps the wall is actually thicker than I think.  Doesn’t matter, the photo had three things I like, walled garden, old stone walls and a blue door…. good enough reasons to paint it.

Number 14 for 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Another one from wetcanvas, this time from the Reference Image Library.  This is in the sketchbook I talked about yesterday.  I may do it larger for my son’s classroom or office, he teaches Automotive Technology.  Check out what some of the others have done over on Leslie’s blog. 

You should also check the blogs of two of my wetcanvas buddies who are participating in this challenge.  Joan Tavolott  does some wonderful plein air work.  Sharron "Shez" Marshall is another who does some beautiful work.  Check both of them out.

Short and Sweet, a daily

Today my painting group was back at the library.  They have a village set up on one of the shelves, these are two of the miniature buildings,  I’m not real happy with the result but it was fun trying to make them seem real.  There’s always tomorrow.

Check out what the others did over on Leslie’s blog

The Red Door, The Daily Done Tonight

This is another one from one of my British friends over on wetcanvas. It’s mixed media, a combination of crayon and watercolor.   Awhile back I made several small sketchbooks.  Actually, they’re signatures that might eventually become a larger sketchbook but my thought was they are thin enough to put in my purse and I won’t have to carry a larger sketchbook all the time.

I do have a sketchbook in my purse at all times, never know when one may have to wait, like today at the eye doctor.  My mother and my aunt always had knitting with them, I once did too but I don’t knit as much as I once did so the sketchbook has replaced knitting needles.  Besides, I can sit at a table in a restaurant with a sketchbook and not many know that I’m sketching, knitting would be more obvious.

So this is the first that I’ve used one of the signature/sketchbooks that I made and the door is the cover.  Tomorrows may or may not be in this one because  it’s a day I paint with my Tuesday painting group and I have a sketchbook that is dedicated to that; however, after that, I think the dailies will be in this one.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the dailies on Leslie’s blog.

Today’s Daily

Same building, a different view.  I am a lover of old buildings and old boats, buildings like these always draw me in and I give thanks to my wetcanvas buddies over in Great Britain for providing images for me. 

and here’s a link to Leslie’s challenge blog to see the other’s who are participating.

An Inn in Great Britian for my daily today

One of my buddies over on wetcanvas.com posted a photo of this old inn as part of the weekend drawing event.  This is just one section of it; I love old buildings like this so I think I’ll do another part of it for tomorrow’s daily.  Here’s a link to Leslie’s 30 in 30 blog so you can see some of the other entries.

Meanwhile, more clearing of clutter is happening in the studio…. FOCUS, you’re doing just fine.  Don’t quit!

The Daily And Some Other Thoughts

This one is from memory.  Out for a walk in the bitter cold I saw the scene but it was too cold to take my glove off to open the camera so it’s far from accurate.  Doesn’t really matter as far as I’m concerned, it was kind of fun doing it.

Today I focused on my word…. FOCUS.  When I woke up this morning my first thought was “if you don’t focus on clearing the clutter in your studio you are not going to be able to focus on making art.”  So that is what I did today and I have cleared two surfaces, one being the center workspace which is the largest and had the biggest stack.  I feel pretty good right now because I did stay focused.  See me patting myself on the back.

While clearing I came across something I wrote some time in 2008.

“Insecurity, she barrels in when you’re not looking and gets a grip on you.  She won’t let go; you have to fight her off, push her aside.  It’s okay to be a bully when it comes to facing her because she fights hard and unfairly.  She knows when you’re vulnerable; that’s when she strikes.  She goes directly for those weak spots – your thoughts.  Don’t let her in.  If she’s there creativity can’t get in.  She puts up an invisible wall that creativity sees as a black wall so she goes away.  Creativity is looking for an open mind, receptive to ideas, thoughts and emotions.  Closed minds don’t invite her in.  But all you need is a crack of light and she’ll be there, creativity that is.  She’ll come in and help you fight; she likes to battle insecurity because she knows how much insecurity can hurt and hold you back.  Fight for it, it’s your life.”

I need to remind myself of that every now and then.

Santa forgot his hat

I’ve started to put Christmas away and it seems Santa forgot something.  I thought it would be a good daily painting.

In addition to painting, I stitched.  I’m learning to do pojagi stitching which I’ve talked about before.  Today I finished my first square.  It’s a lot of scrap fabric which meant I got a lot of practice doing the seam.  Things I’ve learned along the way:

1.  My old trusty Singer is in need of a good cleaning.

2.  I really do need to learn to cut straight in order to do a good pojagi seam. 

3.  Life would be easier with a stitch in the ditch foot so I ordered one for my Viking.  So far haven’t found one that will fit the old Singer.

I do like the quilt look and the fact that it’s a single layer (both sides are finished) so it has many uses.  Originally I said I thought it was like the French seam my mother used; however, the more I look at it I think it’s more like a flat felled seam.  I’m going to have to look that up and compare.  Meanwhile, if the snow clears up I’m off to the fabric store with my machine.

Day 7 of the Dailies and I really do need to be doing this

This is a small one, about 4x4”.  It tells me a whole lot but mainly that I have neglected my painting and drawing.  Stitching has gotten in the way along with a few other things.  I’m not about to quit stitching but I do need to budget my time better, stop wasting it. 

Like last year, instead of a New Year’s Resolution I decided on a word to carry through the year.  It was release and I did release a lot of junk, not enough but a start.  This year my word is focus.  I need to focus on one thing at a time and on budgeting that time.  We’ll see how I do…. Here’s the daily and a link to the Leslie’s challenge so you can see what others are doing.

The Daily and Some Stitching

My Tuesday morning painting group painted at the library today.  Well, two of us townies were there, the rest live out in the country and snow kept them home.

We hadn’t been out painting since a couple weeks before Christmas so it felt good to be back at it.  I wasn’t particularly pleased with what I did but then I often feel that way until I look again a couple days later.  Anyway, here is my daily for today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once back home I was in stitching mode.  I’m working on a small table runner…. this is in process, lots more work to be done on it but it’s coming….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m also trying something called Pojagi. In Korean culture, wrappings, called pojagi, were made in bursts of colorful patchwork or imaginative embroidery.  They use it for gift wrapping and for other utilitarian wrappings.  I like the idea of using something that can be reused so I did a little research.  It seems the pojagi seam is very much like the French seam my mother did on fabrics that tended to fray too much.  So, I decided to try it.  This is a start, the close up is the wrong side.  Stitching isn’t straight but that has more to do with my inability to cut straight.  I need to start using the rotary cutter more.

Day 4 of the Dailies

These first ones are warm-ups, I’m not loosened up and it shows; however, there will be improvement, there always is. 

Here’s day 4, three bottles from my collection of blue bottles.  This is a 7x5 inch watercolor.

Dailies, a start

I’m participating in a challenge, A Painting A Day For Thirty Days over on  Leslie Saeta’s blog.   However, due to a cold, I haven’t posted every day there.  I have done two of the three days, cheated a little and did two yesterday.  And I still have to do todays but it will be later in the day.  Here are the three done so far….

Day 1, candy

Days 2 and 3 both done on day 3

Kayaks from a photo posted as part of the wetcanvas weekend drawing event

and an abstract from another photo, same drawing event. 

I have several things on my plate today but I will get another small painting done so I can post it on Leslie’s blog.