Getting Ready to Hang A Show

It’s a pop up art show curated by Maggie Bandstra and it will be at Loutit Library tomorrow evening.  A Window At Lavender Hill Farm is one of the pieces that I will have in the show…

It’s one of the pieces I worked on when I was up north.  Two more of those pieces are also going to be in the show, Conch Cottage #2

and The Garden Gate

All three are 8”x8” and 1 3/4” deep so they can either hang or stand.  The price of each is $95. 

I’ll also have 6 of my 4x4 pieces in the exhibit.  And, if you can make it to the show do come because there are 9 other outstanding artists in the exhibit.

Still More Of Last Week’s Work

This time more of my Little Gems Series.

 

The Little Gems are 4x4’', all non-representational.  I’m learning to just let go and let God.  One idea leads to another as the series continues.  This one is similar in color and pattern to the earliest gems.  As the progression continues you can see it evolving…

I also finished three more 8 x 8’'” pieces…

and finally this last one… I have no idea where she came from but I do like her…

You can see, it was a productive week.  And it was a fun week!   Now to get everything mounted and ready to sell.

An interesting artist and some new work in process and a bit of other stuff

I’m at Spider Lake for the week, it’s an annual thing, an art retreat with my friend and fellow artist Terry Hart Brancheau.  Yesterday we went in to town, Traverse City, for lunch with friends and a stop at the Dennos Museum to see the current exhibit.  We were blown away!

Seungmo Park is a Korean artist who works in metal.  This is one of the images that is several layers of wire mesh, each layer carefully clipped so the end result is what you see here….

And it’s huge, almost floor to ceiling.  You can see more of his wire mesh art here.  It’s worth a look, his work is amazing.  The following photo is Terry standing behind one of his landscapes.

There was also a Warhol exhibit and when Terry and I wandered into the children’s play area we found a fun motion detector that showed on a huge screen.  Here are a couple examples of us playing….

We’ve also been making art.  On the first day I worked on more Little Gems, still not finished but progress.

And yesterday I did several more starts and collage papers….this is the the mess that is the first stage of most of my work these days.

And here are a few monoprints; the next step will be to add collage, my fake Chine-collé. 

 

 

The buildings are wetcanvas images which artist have permission to use.  The two on the right are from Lisilk who always has photos I am drawn to.  You can see more of her work here. The two women, Sis and Sis, my mother and her sister and that’s what they always called each other.

What is Chine-collé you ask.  It’s  is a special technique in printmaking, in which the image is transferred to a surface that is bonded to a heavier support in the printing process.  It requires a press which I don’t have so I do the monoprint and then add collage. I have done it with a press, when my friend Annie still had her press.  This is a real Chine-collé

Okay, it’s time for me to get back to making art.  I’ll post again at the end of the week.

Progress on some tiny gems and other stuff

This is one I’m calling done…. for now anyway.  Family issues got in the way of studio time this past week, some good, some not.  However, I did get a little time in there so more progress. 

This one is at the “what the hell have I done now’' stage.

We’ll see where it ends up.  Moving on, I finished three postcards and have three that need a bit more work.

Another one in process and more starts using up the paint that was left on the palette.

And finally, after cropping a couple of pieces, leftover pieces find their way to note cards and I made a couple pair of earrings.

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I like the note cards, I think I’ll do more of those.  I do end up with lots of pieces when I crop.

Lesson learned, Little Gems and Some New Things

 

First, the lesson learned…. don’t wait, scan or photograph and download every day.  I haven’t done it since I returned from up north and it took me all morning to get images ready to post.

Now, Little Gems.  I’ve been looking at everything I did up north and trying to decide where to go next.  I had some I think I like but not sure and some that I knew I didn’t like but wasn’t sure where to go with them.  I finally decided all I could do was do something, anything, just start so here they are at a stage I’m happier with but still not sure they’re done.

I’ll have to look at them for awhile before I decide.

Meanwhile, I have been doing other things.  Do you believe your guardian angel puts things in your path?  I do.  When I was in Petoskey with my friend Terry, we were in a bookstore, not to buy, we just love being around books.  I happened upon something colorful, opened it up and discovered something I’ve been playing with ever since.  The book (which I bought) is Zenspirations.  Here is one of my first attempts…..

I love the dangles.  While the Zentangle phenomenon is fun, it’s more structured which just isn’t me.  This is structured but only slightly. 

And they are perfect for a new sketchbook I have.  Mike VerDuin of VerDuin’s Printing here in Grand Haven is a family friend, Rather than throw some paper away because they could no longer use it, he made a few sketchbooks and gave me one.  It’s great paper for pen and ink and just a bit of watercolor, perfect for the dangles.  It has become my morning practice.  Today I did one that allows for journaling too.

Now, back to work and I will try to remember to scan or photograph at the end of the day.

More layers and 4 done (maybe)

I’m in Petoskey, been busy with more layers.  These are drying so I can move on to another layer.

These four I think are done.  My opinion on that may change as the week goes on but for now I’m calling them done….

Time for lunch……

Ready to pack for Petoskey

 

Normally I have my grandson on Friday but he isn’t here today so I got a lot more done than I planned.  Good thing probably because I’m working at the Gallery Uptown tomorrow and may not get into the studio except to pack up art supplies.

Sooooooo, today I started with this one….

Then I was sorting stencils and stamps thinking some could go to our garage sale and some to the trash.  On the other hand, some might work nicely with the geli plate.  After I cut some paper to size for my trip north I thought what the heck, you’ve got some time, try some of the stamps.  So I got out the geli plate and here is the rest of what I’m taking to Petoskey for my “Little Gems”…

And now I’m off to have the new hearing aids adjusted.  I probably won’t post again until near the end of next week….

Today’s Start

Today’s start is a long skinny one, wide enough to get at least two 4x4 pieces out of it.

After posting yesterday I did a bit of stitching but no photos of that.  I usually have my grandson on Friday but his mom has tomorrow off so he won’t be here.  I’ll miss him but that means I can get more sewing done. 

Just because I don’t have a picture of my stitching, here’s a picture of the little guy that I’m going to miss seeing tomorrow.  He is fascinated seeing how the colors change when they are mixed.

I’ll be back tomorrow….

Another Start plus this and that….

Here’s my start for today, just color and texture and it’s just past noon.   I still have all day to do more… or go stitch.  I think I’ll stitch.

This and That….

Yesterday I was fitted for hearing aids.  My hearing is not totally gone but between the tinnitus  and a slight hearing loss it was/is difficult to hear people who talk very softly. Besides that I learned that I also don’t always hear numbers correctly.  At the gallery last month when someone told me a price was $45, I heard $35 so undercharged.  Fortunately the price was still in the case when I checked it so it wasn’t a total loss but… that prompted me to make an appointment.

So, I’ve got two months to give them a good try and see if I feel an improvement that is worth the dollars, hearing aids do not come cheap.  So far I haven’t been in situations where I really need them but I have noticed some sounds I hadn’t heard before – like silent light switches – they aren’t silent.  The bell on the microwave is much louder than I thought it was and the phone rings louder so I may hear it sooner.

They are also suppose to block my tinnitus but that hasn’t happened yet, It isn’t any louder but it’s still there.  During this next 60 days they will be making adjustments so I’m not giving up on them based on hearing sounds I didn’t know I was missing.  Though I must admit, the new sounds are sounds I could easily live without ever hearing again

Now off to the sewing machine…...

Starting “Little Gems”

 

I was inspired by Jane Davies four by four project.  She’s doing 400, I’m thinking 40.   Anyway that’s a start, I may add to that.  She calls hers teeny tiny art which is appropriate (they’re 4”x4”) but I didn’t want to copy and thanks to my friends,  Annie Morgan and Catherine McClung, I came up with, no, they came up with…. Little Gems. When both of them said it, I decided that’s got to be it.  I hope that’s what they turn out to be. 

I’m posting it here and I’ve asked the Tri-Cities Historical Museum if it will be my venue for Art Walk this year. I promised the Museum at least 10.  I’m committed.  So, here’s my plan for this month.  Every day this week I’m going to do at least one, hopefully more, starts.

I’m not thinking design yet, just getting some color and texture on the paper using paint and collage elements. 

Here’s June 1 starts…

And today, June 2

5 more days to do starts and I’ll be posting every day. 

Next week, everyday, work on the next layer of these starts, at least one every day.  I have until September; however, if I’m lucky and get 10 good ones this month I may be able to show them at the Gallery Uptown this summer.

Stay turned as I post the progress….