Back to Stones and other things

 I’ve been keeping a schedule which was one of my goals for this year.  Not perfect yet but a start. Another start is getting back to a sketch every day and stones.  Here are two small, 4x4 in, stone pieces finished. 

 

As promised, here are the two small ones from that free collage workshop I wrote about last week. These are also 4x4 in.  I didn’t realize it until I looked at the photo but the vintage paper on the right will be 100 years old on the 27^th of this month.

One concept she was teaching was pick papers you love for your collage based on what we had done in the class. Since I had picked colors that aren’t part of what I normally gravitate toward I wasn’t in love with any of them, vintage excluded, but I did like some way better than some others and I think that’s close enough and a good rule to follow. There are a couple shows coming up so I need to get busy doing more of these.

What else, daily sketching, so far I'm sticking to it..  I finally realized the for me, an art journal is part art and part journaling with the journaling being primary.  So, I’m back to doing some morning sketches and sometimes a bit of collage paper in the journal to separate out spaces to write.  At the end of a studio day I sit with that journal and write about what I did or did not do that day.  The hats are one subject.  That started with the one I posted last week.  Here are a couple more…  

  

The one on the left was very colorful.  I may do it again and take some time to add color.

Finding the Spark

 

Creativity often consists of merely turning up what is already there

We’ve all heard that inside each of us, is our own unique creative spark. I believe it – sometimes.  The trick is giving ourselves the time to explore it. Exploring is something I hadn’t been doing.  I get so caught up in thinking about what I should do that I forget to take time for exploring – just explore with no thought about making a good piece of art -- and not worrying about the clutter in my studio.

So I've just been playing with whatever I felt the urge to do and am having fun in the studio again.  Haven't produced much that's good but some not so bad and I'm paying attention to what is fun for me.

I do enjoy finding the stones in my meditative pebbles series. I also enjoy the morning warmups.  Both are watercolor.  This is the most recent warmup.

And I've been playing with making sketchbooks from old papers, some that were watercolors or collage that were either going in the trash or becoming a sketchbook/art journal.

I've been playing with art journaling for a long time but never really liked anything I did.  I know, that's the point.  It's supposed to help you find your way.  All it showed me was that my way was a mess.  Well we already knew I was messy.  Didn't need an art journal to tell me that. 

One night while I had a couple of these new collage sketchbooks on the table while I was watching the news and I started playing in one of them -- a couple flowers.  You can see one on the cover of one in the top photo. I know I like flowers so may explore them more in different media.

That was fun so last night I took the a different one into the den while we watched a movie.  For whatever reason I have no clue -- I played with part of a face. I do remember a grunge journal I worked in a few years back where I drew faces.  

I may have to play with that idea a bit more but for now I'll continue to just play with whatever moves me at the moment.  I think my muse is back and pushing me to just play.

Some New Directions

 As we get older it's harder to part with things -- not because things are important as "things" but because they represent a life -- mine.  This week I started doing a morning drawing and today I decided to add one of the "things" that I can't part with. The pear was done a couple days ago.

Here is a photo of it in real life sitting on top of our Hoosier Cabinet.  It was dropped and broken by someone, either a child or a cleaning person, but it was put back together and most of the mistakes are on the back.  It was my grandmother's, given to her by Uncle John.  He was experimenting with crystal glazes and this one was a reject.  I think of both of them when I look at it.

He did perfect the glaze and according to a book about him, his recipes are at the DIA.  I've seen current artists who say they developed the glaze and I'm not doubting them.  But it isn't new.  As I said, this was my grandmothers, she died in 1958, that's when I got it.

Recently I've been working on brushstrokes and have been watching Jean Haines videos.  She's the one who got me started on the stones which I can't seem to stop doing but that aside.  Another video showed up that caught my attention, Shirley Trevena.  She does very interesting still lifes.  I'm not thinking mine will look like hers but I think adding some of my "things" may work in one or two.  The brushwork practice has been good so it's time to think about some serious painting.

Meanwhile I still have a few mixed media and collage works in process.  That will be another post.

The Art Tribe Exhibit Is Open

Finally, it's up and a very interesting show at the Gallery Uptown.  Seven of us did collaborative pieces for the show.  This is mine...

Each of us started one and then it went around to the rest of the tribe, Margaret Benefiel, Carol Cousineau, Bette DelVecchio, Barb Fugazzotto, Sandy Meyer and Annie Morgan.  Each piece is different and interesting. Putting the last minute touches on the opening kept me busy which is why I haven't posted in a couple weeks.  It was worth the time it took. If you are able, go see it.  

I still managed to do my 100 flowers, not in 100 days but I got them done.  The last bunch were done in my morning journal.  Here are a few of those --

And yesterday I met my dear friend Terry in Portland where we meet to sketch and catch up with what's going on in our lives.  She lives on the other side of the state.  This is the sketch I did, love the flowers, the stone wall -- not so much.

 

And now looking forward to another of my friend Karen's Remission Picnics.  I'm not sure what number this is but I'm guessing at least 20.

Reviving An Old Practice And More Poppies

 

With warmer weather and some flowers, I revived an old practice of doing a quick watercolor and ink sketch on top of my morning journaling. Here are a couple more.

Another sketch -- poppies.  My Tuesday Painters group went to Fennville to sketch the Poppy Field this week.  What a beautiful site and a loving tribute to the son of the people who own the field.  His grave is in the cemetery next to the field.  Here is my sketch and an image of the field.

Now I'm off to a gathering of Art Tribe members to talk about our upcoming exhibit at the Gallery Uptown in July.  More on that in another post.

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.

 

 

Tuesdays and Christmas

 Another coffee shop with my Tuesday group.  This time Jumpin' Java because it was closing its doors at the end of the week.  We'll miss it but all is not lost, there are two more coffee shops in our downtown.

I'm still working on the 5 minute pieces but the most recent have been Christmas Ornaments. I started some awhile back intending to take them to the Gallery for the holiday exhibit. I didn't get enough done so I took Christmas Trees instead. The trees are similar to these that are around Ed's Sinterklass. I made him several years back for my Dutch husband. The ornaments will go to the Gallery next year.

 

 

Planning for next year has also been a priority but first a review of this year, the good and the bad.  Do you review your year?  I've been recording my thoughts on it in an art journal I recently made trying to improve my coptic stitch bookmaking. I still need to work on the stitching part.

 

My plan is to put a light coat of gesso over the journaling and use the journal this month to do some journaling about what I want to accomplish next year, another coat of gesso and start the new year with the journal actually serving as an art journal.  

Do you set goals and accomplish them?  I set them but don't always accomplish them. Intention matters to the artist—but so is play. The act of creation by nature is intentional. While art can be serendipitous, overall it is not accidental, we go into the studio with the intension to make art! I need to work on avoiding thinking, evaluating, judging or pre-conceiving when I start. I believe spontaneity and playing is an important part of the art process but I tend to miss that part.  Not always but often. 

Tuesday Painters and A New Sketchbook

 This Tuesday there were just two of us at the Aldea Coffee Shop.

We have our granddog here this week so studio time has been limited.  But that didn't mean I didn't do any art making.  While I'm not a bookmaker I do make books every once in awhile and that seemed the perfect thing to do at the kitchen table while the granddog lay between my spouse and me.

Awhile back I had seen Laly Mille's youtube instructions on how to make a coptic stitch art journal without a a cover (it would be added later) and with all stitching on the outside rather than the inside.  Perfect time to try it so I got out paper and began making folios, then the signatures and finally stitching.  And when my spouse took the granddog for a walk I went into the studio to dig for paper to cover the book boards.  

 

This is a paper I made by layering the string between two pieces of tissue paper and applying gel medium.  Once dry I added the color.  Perfect size for what I needed.  So I covered the boards, glued them to the first and last pages of the journal and a leftover piece was perfect to cover the stitches on the spine.  Iset a bunch of books on top to be sure it all dried flat and happily opened it up the next morning.

I've decided to use this small one to review my year and hopefully figure out what I want to concentrate on next year.  Granddog is still here so I've started folding and stitching a larger one.

 

Tuesday Painters and Starting A Review

 This week my Tuesday Group went to the Spring Lake Library.  Libraries are favorites in winter months,winter is starting and we have 3 libraries to choose from.  We also do coffee shops and that's on the docket for next week.  This is what I did this week along with my morning 5 minutes.

And here are a couple of my 5 minutes in the morning pieces.

I'll continue doing the 5 minutes, at least until the end of the year.  And my Tuesday Group will continue and maybe I'll get out even more since some of us have joined Urban Sketchers West Michigan.

Meanwhile, it's time to begin a review of my year.  I read a few blogs,  Nicole Warrington is one of them and she had a list of review your year questions on her blog a couple years ago.  I kept the questions but never used them for my year end review.  This year I'm going to, they're good questions.  Here are a few of them in them:

    What did I discover this year about my art or my creative process?

    When during the week/day did I feel most creative?

    Where did I find support or community for my creative soul and my creative practice?

    What elements of 2022 do I want to bring forward in 2023.

There were several other posts on Nicoles blog that got me thinking about some things I may add to my morning routine.

And I did another feather this morning...

Until next time....

At Odd Sides With Urban Sketchers West Michigan

 Missed painting with my Tuesday Group this week but joined some of them to sketch at Odd Sides here in Grand Haven with #uskwestmichigan.  It was fun meeting new sketchers and at a place the Tuesday group often meets in cold weather.

I had recently tried foreshortening sketching a chair and decided I needed to work on that so I choose this long view.  I really do need to work on foreshortening!  At the last minute everyone behind the front counter moved and I spied the coffee grinder.  This is the type of thing I like to sketch so I did a very quick one.  The elipse is off but I don't care, next time we're there I'll do it again more carefully.

And I'm keeping up with my 5 Minute Challenge, now 82 collages done and 2 and 1/2 eco dyed journals used.  This morning I tried something different, I used stitching to add a piece of bark that I picked up on my walk yesterday. 

Another type of fragment.  This may lead to a whole new series.  Time will tell.

Back to Lake Michigan and a New Gadget

 This week the Tuesday Group went back to our friend Marna's cottage on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan.  It's our go-to spot when the weather turns chilly and the cottage is not yet closed up.

I think I spent more time visiting than sketching but that's part of the enjoyment.  That was Tuesday, I also got a new toy that day but didn't play with it until yesterday.  

A few days ago we had a visitor, she was actually in the yard next door but seemed quite content to stay where she was even while I took the time to put down my coffee cup and pulled my phone out of my pocket.  So what does that have to do with my new toy you ask -- my new toy is Sprocket, a pocket printer that prints 2x3" photos from a phone.  Had to try it.  

I've been doing 5 min something in this little sketchbook, 4x5".  This morning I used it for my 5 minute piece I added the photo.  Part of the fun of these little photos is there is a sticky back if one wants to use it so, of course, I had to try that too.

As long as I'm talking about the 5 minute pieces I'll share a couple of them.  This began as a challenge and I challenged myself to use an eco dyed handmade journal and the scraps that were in a pile on my desk.  It was a 15 day challenge but I had a lot more scraps and a couple more eco dyed handmade journals so I kept going.

I started this challenge in September.  Patting myself on the back for keeping it going.