The 100 Day Project Continues

 But in some new directions.  I've been going through a pile of works on paper that I pulled out of my flat file.  These are works that weren't going anywhere like the pile of cradles I've been working on but some papers called for making sketchbooks.  This one is from a printmaking class I took from an artist whose name I can't recall.  The print was a mess but not bad for a sketchbook.

While going through the drawer I also found a small pad of good watercolor paper with one painting done last year.  I had forgotten it but as soon as I saw it I remembered when I did it and how happy I was with the result.  I've had it framed and tomorrow will deliver it to be included in the Lakeland Artists June show.

I'm also pleased that the two pieces I entered in the Saugatuck Douglas Art Club exhibt sold.  It's been a good month.

100 Day Project Delayed

 It's hard to keep up with it when the project is to clear clutter from the studio and you're on a two week trip.  I'm back and decided it didn't matter if the actual project is over, I can pick up where I left off which is what I've done.  This is one of the 5 do overs I've been doing since I've gotten home.

The stack of cradles is getting smaller and I've got new work to show.  I've also gotten rid of more of the other clutter.  Still a long way from done but progress is being made.  

The 100 Day Project Continues

 I've continued the sorting and purging that I set out to do and now have a few new paintings to go to the Gallery.  I haven't done angels for awhile because I'm really getting into the sorting and with a couple commissions due soon time is going way to quickly.

I thought you might like to see a WIP of the do-overs I've been having fun with.  In this instance I've covered whatever was under it with a cream color which I will either sand back some, scrape or add too. The lower left image is one that I haven't done anything with yet and not sure what it will end up being. It's one of the worse messes I've unearthed so far.

I'm Still Loving My Angels

"I have refused to live locked in the orderly house of reasons and proofs.  The world I live in and believe in is wider than that. And anyway, what’s wrong with Maybe?

You wouldn’t believe what once or twice I have seen. I’ll just tell you this: only if there are angels in your head will you ever, possibly, see one."

 

 From Felicity by Mary Oliver

I am a believer and a collector so doing these sketches fits I think.  I do a five minute graphite sketch every morning and another quick ink and watercolor in the afternoon.  I started following a workshop by Sue Kemnitz then started working from magazine poses.   Here's one of each, the afternoon angel is from a Land's End models pose.

 

"You might see an angel anytime and anywhere."

Mary Oliver continues ...

"Of course you have to open your eyes to a kind of  second level, but it’s not really hard."  The poem is from The Cottage By The Sea and I love the last stanza:  "I'll just leave you with this.  I don't care how many angels dance on the head of a pin.  It's enough to know that for some people they exist, and that they dance."

Maybe not exactly dancing but certainly having fun. Today's 10 minute angel is based on something Sue Kemnitz did that I wanted to try.  I see I have her left foot wrong but that doesn't bother me.  I'll try this again another time.  I usually start with an energy line but Sue started with her bloomers so I decided to give that a try.  I may have to try this again but not right away.  

My Land's End catalog came and while I'm not buying anything I did go through to look for poses to try.  We shall see what happens.

 

One More Angel

 This pose is based on a photo of my great aunt Juliet, one of my grandmother's siblings.  She was stylish and sketching her was fun.  I also spent an evening sketching heads.  Two pages worth and this is one of them.

I circled the hair I like best.  Do you agree?

Still Playing with Angel Sketches

 And I think this one needs some color.  What do you think?

My 5 Minute Sketches

 I do a 5 minute sketch every morning and recently they have been angels.  I like the loose style of the women Sue Kemintz does and a recent blog post suggested copying a style you like at least 6 times or until you make it your own.  I'm not copying exactly but starting as she does with a line -- horizontal (arms) or vertical (body) and go from there.  I'll have to do a lot more than 6 but I've got a good start. Here are mornings 3 thru 6.

 

I have a couple ideas that may make a difference.  A few more mornings may help.

Time to Start Christmas Decorating

 So today was spent doing just that.  First the two trees, one that is the big tree the gifts go under, the other is a smaller tree that stands on our landing.  Then the Santas came out -- well two Santas and a Sinterklaas.  We have several more but these are my three favorites. One made of a discarded Pendelton shirt of my husband's, this one even has a patch on his back that Ed's mother did for him.

Another is from one of my dad's discarded sweaters.

And the third one, Sinterklaas because my spouse is Dutch,

I don't know how much more decorating will get done before we celebrate with our son and grandson next weekend but we are ready enough just in case.

Giving Thanks

 We did that yesterday with Ed's family and we got this lovely floral arrangement for our kitchen table from his brother.

A bonus, the best part is always getting together with family.  I'm sorry we weren't able to join my side as well but living on opposite sides of the state makes it difficult.  Maybe Christmas.  I'm grateful that we are still able to travel to see everyone.

And speaking of Christmas -- that's on my list for next week. I start bringing Christmas into the house the week after Thanksgiving, a little bit at a time so it's all ready for the day.  The Christmas season is my favorite time of the year.  I love seeing all the decorations, both mine and those of friends, neighbors and in the shops.  And we have snow which makes it perfect.

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving.

The Gallery Uptown is Ready for Holiday Shoppers

 The official kick off to the Holiday Season is this Friday.  I'll be there, hope you can join me for 

 

There will be lots of holiday decorations and many gift items to choose from.

Small Works

Today I delivered 5 small pieces to the Holland Arts Council for its Holiday Art Show: Small Works.  These are a couple of the pieces that will be part of the show. Each is 4"x4".

Shifting Tides

   

Silent Measure

The show runs from November 13 to December 20. There will be an opening reception on November 14 from 5:30 to 7 PM.  I'm planning to be there.  If you're in the area I hope you can too.

Steal Like An Artist

It's a lesson in Louise Fletcher's Find Your Joy 2025 workshop.  She asked us to select two favorites, figure out what it is about their work that we love and rather than copy what they do, steal that bit that you love and use it in your piece.  I have several favorites but settled on 3 for this lesson.  This is the painting,

My 3 for this exercise -- Karen Stamper, Alice Sheridan and Elwira Pioro.  Karen because I can see the influence of boats in her work and if you know me you know I love boats; Alice Sheridan and Elwira Pioro both have very textured calm areas in their work and Elwira adds a bit of line work to her calm backgrounds.

This is one that is done in my sketchbook/art journal because I was not going to make a good painting, just play.  Turned out not too bad I think.  What do you think?

The Coverup and a Selfie

 Last week I posted one that had several layers and I still wasn't liking anything. I covered it with more colors, then some white and I didn't like the brush strokes.  I had a baby wipe in my hand because I was cleaning paint off my fingers,  WHAT IF I smooth things out with it? I discovered it did more than smooth the brush strokes, it brought just a touch of the color underneath to the surface.  I finished one but didn't get it photographed before I took it to Central Park Place for the Gallery Uptown 50th Anniversary show.  This is the second one still waiting to be finished.

And another fun exercise this week -- blind drawing self portrait.  A Creative Restart Workshop exercise and I love how some of them came out.  None a really good likeness but fun anyway.

The one on the left is with a fountain pen, on the right, charcoal. One thing I realized looking at them later, if one has drawn enough faces one can come pretty close to lining eyes, nose and mouth up because one knows the nostril comes down from the corner of the eye and the mouth is just below that.  I have done a lot of faces.  Another advantage I have is a couple wrinkles across the bridge of my nose between my eyes, I can come pretty close to positions. Making them accurate is another story.

Sometimes You Just Have To Cover It Up

 And that is just what I'm doing on this piece.  What you see on the right is what it was and I've done several layers and keep thinking -- surely I can make this work. Well, I had several good compositions and decent finishes but didn't like them so I also did a lot of sanding.  Finally, this morning, I decided it's the color.  I just don't like the green and so I decided to sand again and use totally different colors.  That's started on the left.  Hopefully I can come up with something I'm happy with.  Still a long way to go before it's done.

DeStash Bash Done, Time To Plan For Retreat

 And I'm pleased to report that this piece has gone to a new home.

I was able to sell some good art supplies at a very reasonable price to several artists in need.  It felt good for two reasons -- one, more gone from my studio and two, budding artists got some good supplies at bargain prices.

I will be heading up to my annual art retreat next week. This is the view from my perch at the bar where I do my morning journal.

Since the bash my time has been spent figuring out what I want to work on and deciding on the necessary supplies.  We also spent a few days on Mackinac Island.  Marshall did the Chicago to Mac race again this year and we took his son up so they could spend time on the island.  Didn't turn out as we expected but a good time anyway.  In addition to time with all three of my guys we spent some time with my niece Shannon and her husband who were there staying at the Mackinac Island Yacht Club.  All good.

Still Sorting and Finding Surprises

 I had totally forgotten this one that I had tucked away.  I still like it though it is totally different than anything else I've done.  Women at the Well, it's small, a bit over 4 x 6 inches. No idea what I'll do with it but for now, I'm enjoying looking at it.

Sorting and keeping track of my son as he first did "The Hook" and this weekend "Chicago to Mac" sailboat races.  Moms never stop worrying about their kids do they?

The Art Tribe Is Back at The Gallery Uptown

 

So what's an Art Tribe, in this case a group of artist friends who get together occasionally for lunch or wine and cheese to chat about life and art and sometimes to talk about doing a show together. In the past we've done some collaborative pieces but this year we did something a bit different, our theme is Beauty in the Ordinary. The Tribe members, Carol Cousineau, Bette DelVecchio, Barb Fugazzotto, Sandy Meyer, Annie Morgan and I, each did individual works.  Margaret Benefiel is another Tribe member but couldn’t participate this year.  She’s with us in spirit.

You’ll see paintings and collages along with scarves, table runners and assemblages and some surprise pieces. 

The exhibit is up now and the reception is Friday July 11, 5:30 to 7:30.  Hope you can come see, it's a great show!

Almost at the end of The 100 Day Project

 It's been fun exploring different ideas and I've been good about keeping track of what I've done each day.  I'm feeling fairly confident that I will be able to continue this practice of an hour of play before getting serious about a project.  Here is some of this weeks play -- flowers drawn with non-dominant hand on scraps of paper.

 

I think the last few days of the project will be spent trying to decide what my next series will be.

Redoing Space and Some Paintings.

I am so easily distracted. I keep finding things I had forgotten about or have been ignoring and then start working on the "find" instead of the clutter clearing.  This piece is one that I have been ignoring. I had buried it among a bunch of papers that needed sorting.  I knew why it was buried, it needed something but I had no clue what so I finally just threw more paint at it without giving any thought.

The old horizon line is obvious and my first thought was "sand the whole thing back" but the more I looked at it I began to think maybe this can go somewhere. What do you think?