Morning Flowers and Tuesdays

I do enjoy doing these quick flowers in the morning after doing my morning journal.  Sitting on the patio listening to the birds and our gurgling fountain is a great way to start my day. Here are a few

 

 

As you can see, quick doesn't always mean good.  It really doesn't matter to me because these aren't going anywhere.  I was sending aome of my quick ones to my cousin but we lost her recently so these will stay here unless I figure out something else to do with them.

The Tuesday Painters are still painting and this summer the group decided to do some churches.  This is the one we did this week.  It's always fun to see how each painting is.  Maybe next week I can take a photo of all of them so you can see how different we all are.

That's it for now.  I have clutter and paintings in process to deal with.

 

 

Already on Day 16 of #thehundreddayproject.

And I’ve been good about doing a small painting every day but --- I’m feeling like I need to change things up a bit.  The small paintings have been more like sketches and they are great fun to do so I’ll be doing more of them.  Here are a couple of them --

 

I’ve also done a couple non-representational pieces – collage and painted --

 

 And yesterday while working on one of the Art Tribe collaborative pieces I played a bit with paper and fabric which lead me to my stash of fabric scraps and today I think I’ll do a stitched collage. I know I want to do more of the florals.  Some turned out well, some not so good.  Practice –

 

But there are other things I want to do as well.  Last week I saw a video Roben-Marie Smith did making a small journal using an old book.  She used the cover, cut it up into three small journals.  I’m a collector of old stuff – I have old books and as I moved from my laptop into the studio there on a shelf was an old book cover ready to do something with.  I did –

I didn’t consider this part of my 100 Day Project but I have a drawer full of similar journals that I’ve made to be used as Art Journals that never got used as such. I'm not a bookmaker but I enjoy making books.  This is one that's been in the drawer for a couple years. 

 

I think I'm going to add Art Journaling to my project.  And stitching.  For a long time I've done a quick graphite sketch every morning, something that took 5 minutes or less. For this project I want to do something everyday, something that takes a little more time and effort that gets my creative juices flowing.  So my theme has changed -- but not too much.

 

 

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.

Weeding

 

"Gardening has reminded me to be ruthless. Weeds must be pulled for the other plants to live."

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer 

And weeding reminds me that it's necessary to part with some things in the studio that haven't been used in years. I keep telling myself that I will get around to that one of these days but it's time to get realistic, I'm going to have to live to be a 120 to finish the things I want to finish let alone all of the things I may do one of these days. And much of that extra stuff is in the way of getting anything done.  

Clutter in closets, clutter in the garage, clutter in the junk drawer -- well those are pretty well sorted and kept clear here but not my studio so a lot of stuff is going away to give me room to work on something I want to work on.

Which brought me the poppies above, I did the drawing over a year ago I think.  Finally last week I added some paint and this morning a bit of gesso for texture.  I have no idea where the piece is going but so far I'm liking it. This is the first floral I've tried using acrylics.  I once did watercolor florals but that was a long time ago. And since I've recently been trying non-representational mixed media and now am experimenting with a more representational mixed media piece, why not try watercolor non-representational?  Well it started that way but ended up becoming a landscape and I kind of like it.

So why not try the same watercolor spatter paint method and flowers.  I like that too though I don't think I'd like them larger, these are about 5 x7".

Both of these were fun to play with.  The poppies have been fun too -- so far.  I'm going slow with that one because I don't want to mess it up.  Then again, why not -- I can always sand it back and start over.  That is part of what I like about working on wood.  And I may do more experimenting with non-representational watercolors.  Stay tuned.

Having Fun With Flowers

 I've been playing with just splashing paint on a small piece of watercolor paper to do a flower as I continue with my #The100DayProject.

I'm also experimenting with a variety of brushes. I like all of them, some more than others but it's great fun.  Here are a few more,..

These are all small, about 3" x 3".  I'm having way too much fun to stop doing them '

Just Playing With Watercolor

 The last few florals done for #my100dayproject have been just putting paint down and seeing what happens.  

Some I like.  I don't start with a plan other than my color choices.

And sometimes even that changes.  The lilacs started out pink but morphed into this --

I do a rough sketch of a pot first but don't decide the color of it until I'm done with the flowers.

These are all 5x7" which makes it easier to watch paints mix.  These have been fun and I have a few more 5x7" pieces so may try a few more.

Another Sunflower

 And I do like this one better

Actually, when I started this I planned on doing Daylilys.  There was a photo of several on the weekend drawing event over on wetcanvas.com last weekend.  I finally decided I didn't like where the Daylilys drawing was going and I already had the paper covered with some yellows so -- why not try another Sunflower. I'm much happier with this one.

This week my Tuesday Painters group went to Herrick Library in Holland to see the quilts on exhibit.  This is national quilt month and all the libraries in our area are showcasing quilts made by women in the area.  The quilts were fun to see but I wasn't inspired to sketch a bunch of books on shelves or any of the quilts so I opted to do some pencil sketches of people, two sketchers and one librarian shelving books.  Then some playing with lettering.

That was fun, I may do more of that -- both the people sketching and the lettering.  Since the pandemic we no longer eat out much and that was when I did most of my people sketching.  I do want to get back to doing it.

And speaking of quilts, I've been talking with a friend who has painted a few quilts that she has made.  I love her work and want to introduce you to her.  I'll be working on that introduction for an upcoming blog post.

What else, more in my art journal and I've read a couple books.  My grandson has a fractured hip and can't walk here from school so I pick him up.  A book helps kill the time waiting in the parking lot.  It also means I need to keep reading at other times so I can try and figure out who done it.  

Spring is coming -- I think I'll paint some daffodils.

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 

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.

The Art Tribe Is Back

 Art is a solo sport, sort of like playing solitaire. It’s just you and your art supplies. Like many of my artist friends, I thrive in the “aloneness” which is why the pandemic didn't bother me.  However, there are times when we need to be with friends, other artist friends -- the Art Tribe.

Memebers of my tribe are showing our latest creations at the Gallery Uptown in Grand Haven.  The opening reception is Friday, July1 from 5:30 to 7.

We recently lost one of the tribe members, Carol Brauer Schmidt, so we have dedicated the exhibit to her memory.  This is one of three florals that I did for the exhibit.  It wasn't until I did the 3rd one that I realized what paper I was using and most likely why I was using it for this exhibit.

The day I learned that we lost Carol I went to one of those Wine and Paint workshops with a friend.  It's not my thing but the friend wanted to go so I went.  We were painting sunflowers and mine were nothing to write home about.  But the paper that had been covering the table had some wonderful paint on it and so did my palette.  I went to work spreading paint all over that paper and took it home.  The pots holding the Flowers for Carol are cut out of that paper.

I believe an angel was with me in my studio as I worked on these.  As Mary Oliver wrote: "Only if there are angels in your head will you ever possibly see one."   Do come and see the exhibit if you're in the area.  The rest of the tribe: Margaret Benefiel, Carol Cousineau, Bette DelVecchio, Barbara Fugazzotto, GG Havens, Sandy Meyer and Annie Morgan. 

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.

A visit to a delightful garden

I sketch with a group of friends/artists on Tuesday mornings.  In warm weather we are outside, sometimes even when it rains.  This week we had an opportunity to visit another friend’s beautiful gardens. 

Fortunately she has a porch with a view because rain it did and hard.  Here are a few shots I took before the rain started…. She had a variety of cone flowers, different colors in different beds…

And there were several spots to sit and enjoy a cuppa, or journal, or sketch.  This is just one of many.

A variety of sculpture, varied and scattered.  I only got this one before the rains started.

Possible still life material….

And finally, my view from her porch….

We have been invited back and will certainly take advantage of the invite, hopefully on a sunny day.