Happy Thanksgiving

"One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries." A.A. Milne.  

The work in process is finished.  And on the way to looking for something else I found a couple projects that I had forgotten about which reminded me of the Milne quote.

I stitch.  At one time I was an avid knitter but I stopped because my fingers didn't like what I was doing.  I still do embroidery and I crochet.  They are both good evening projects, relaxing and not reqiuiring a lot of thought.

Recently the crochet projects are what I found while looking for something else.  I wonder why I hadn't finished them but no matter, it's not too late.  This is part of a scarf that I finished today.  The color seemed to me to be appropriate for fall and Thanksgiving.  

And I am ever so grateful to still be able to stitch and do all of the many things I do.  I'm also grateful for a healthy family, good friends and to live in this small town in the great state of Michigan.  I am blessed.

A Work In Process

 

This piece has taken on a life of its own.  It started many layers ago, so many that I have to guess at the number.  My best guess is 12.  I put it aside 3 layers ago. Here is what it was before this layer. 

The colors weren't working for me so I covered it all up with Titan Buff which is the layer between these two. Then I decided on two colors that I wanted to try and started to put some paint down.  Soon the painting decided which way it wanted to go so I went there.  But soon my own ego got involved.

When I realized that was happening I stopped.  Now it's going to be set aside again for awhile.  This layer may be the final.  But when it comes out again I may decide it needs more.  

I do want to finish this and move on to a new piece so I'll get it out next week.  In the meantime if you have any thoughts on this let me know.

Another Challenge

Well, not really because I do try to do at least one small piece every day.  Art Every Day Month over on Facebook posted a challenge for November.  I joined but haven't posted over there.  I was thinking that might prompt me to post on my blog -- not daily but every week.  So here is the first week in November.

They're all small, the largest is 9 x 12 inches.

And after I finished this little 6x6" this morning I didn't feel inspired to do anything else.  When all else fails what do you do?  I sometimes watch videos done by other artists hoping something inspires.  This morning I watched Robyn McClendon do some mark making with blocks of wood and rubber bands.  Then I remembered doing this a long time ago and thought -- why not.  So I made some collage papers.  And that prompted me to get out some other mark making tools.  The papers aren't done but here is a sample of what I've got so far, and the tools I used to do it.

Turned out to be a very productive day.   Oh and one more thing.  I have joined Daily Paint Works and have a blog on the site.  Since I do try to get something small done every day I decided to give it a try.  So far I have posted the daily pieces I've done and a couple that I had done earlier. I may expand the site and add other works for sale.  Go over and take a look, here's a link.  I'd love to know what you think.

What do Art, History and Swimming Have in Common?

 

Did you have a favorite teacher in school?  I had three: Miss Dewey for 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th grade Art, Mr. Garber for U.S. History my senior year of high school, and Miss Campbell was my high school gym teacher.  The pumpkin is one of my 4^th grade drawings for Halloween.  Seems appropriate to post here today.

I was one of those right-brain learners back when schools thought the only way to teach was the way left brain individuals thought and learned. Miss Dewey understood my right brain way of thinking and it worked well for me.  Unfortunately she was only in my class for an hour one day a week. She always gave me an A and sometimes an A+. I didn’t get another A+ until I was in college.

Art is also the reason Mr. Garber is a favorite. He too understood we aren’t all left-brain learners.  He gave us an option at the end of the semester, a term paper or a project of our choice that depicted something we had studied during that year.  I choose to do an oil painting of a plantation with hard to see slave quarters behind it, visible only if one looked closely. I got an A and he asked to keep the painting.  Of course I let him. Now I’m sorry I didn’t get a photo of it but that was 1957, I was more interested in a grade than keeping track of the painting.

Miss Campbell had nothing to do with art so why was she a favorite?  My other love was water, being in it or on it. It still is but that’s an aside. Swimming was part of gym in high school and Miss Campbell was one of the teachers.  She selected a few of us for Synchronized Swimming.  We were good! We demonstrated at a major university. Unfortunately we got no recognition from our school, girls didn’t do sports.  But it didn’t matter, to me. I was in the water and loving every minute of it.

I wanted to continue swimming in college so I signed up for a class.  After the initial swim where the teacher put us through the paces the instructor told me I couldn’t take the class. Maybe I wasn’t as good as I thought I was, I had to ask anyway.  Her answer, “I can’t teach you anything.”  What a bummer, I guess Miss Campbell was a better teacher than she was given credit for.  However, not being selected to be in the synchronized swim class prompted me to take Senior Life Saving and Water Safety Instruction. They gave me more time in the pool and prepared me for a job as a lifeguard during summer break. Good choices.

And another of my 4th grade drawings....

I Never Thought I'd Be An Abstract Artist

Over the years I’ve traveled down many artistic paths.  Watercolors, oils, textiles, graphite, printmaking, jewelry and clay were steps along the way.  I've even done some china painting. Here are some versions of past works:

Recently I've settled on abstract painting and collage.

 

Looking back at pieces that got the most attention through the years, Abstraction and Collage seems to have always worked their way in to some of my work.

I like old. Papers worn and cherished by someone before they found their way to me.  Objects that show signs of wear, peeling paint and other well worn surfaces get my attention.  Those elements show up in most of my work.  Here is a sketch done after a day taking photos at a pile of old dock parts.

Parts of this may find the way into an abstract piece. I have boxes of sketchbooks full of scenes and subjects that caught my attention over the years.  My newer sketchbooks tend to have more examples of marks, shapes and textures that get my attention.

 

Rearranging Always Reveals Something

Clutter clearing again.  And this is one of my finds.

I found it on a floppy disc so you know it was awhile back. I don't remember doing abstracts back then but I must have been thinking about it.  

For several years the office just off my studio hasn't been used as an office.  Our house is old and a wireless connection just doesn't go everywhere.  Before wireless my computer was on the desk on one wall and the printer was on a small table on a different wall.  Enter wireless -- it reached the printer but not the computer.

So I got a laptop and moved it to the desk in our den and the office became a place to put stuff that I didn't want to deal with at the time.  Well time finally came this week.  I got tired of walking back and forth between the den and my studio office.  My printer was on its last legs and I had recently been researching wireless boosters. I bought a booster and a new printer.

The booster is wonderful, I can get a signal anywhere in the house, even on our patio.  Hooray! But now it's time to make room for the laptop on the desk where my computer was still sitting.  That never went away though I only used it for one thing -- my painting inventory.  That is the inventory up until the time I went wireless.  The program I had didn't get upgraded to work on the newer versions of Windows so I disconnected the computer from the internet and left it working.  Someday I may take the time to move all of that information to the laptop -- maybe.  

I'm not done sorting but I've found all sorts of old photos and other things I've saved.  So far I've spent 3 days sorting and pitching.  Hopefully I will be able to finish this weekend and get back to making art on Monday.  And be able to do my scanning and computer work in this office just off my studio.  Life is good!

My Usual Morning Ritual In The Studio

It didn't happen today but I'll get to that in a bit.  Usually I start my studio day with a little collage like these two.

I have boxes and baskets of little papers, I'm trying to use them up.  These are small, the largest is 4x5 inches.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with them yet but that hasn't stopped me from making them.  It's the doing that's important.

But something else is important -- feeding my soul.  And that's why this morning instead of going into my studio I went in to our garage and blew up my new inflatable kayak.  This is a replacement.  The first one leaked but that didn't keep me from liking it.  Instead of just sending it back I asked and got a replacement.

When my paintings were realism they were usually boats. I especially love old boats; rowboats and oars had been an ongoing theme.

I love being on or in the water, it feeds my soul.  We sailed for many years but that was a long time ago.  My husband doesn't have the same need for being on the water that I do so for the past several years I've gone on an art retreat at Spider Lake where I get my water fix and do a lot of painting.  

This year that wasn't enough, I needed more time on the water.  I took skulling lessons which had been on my bucket list for more years than I care to admit.  Loved it but -- I don't have a place to keep a skull on the water and haven't seen an inflatable sooooo I bought the kayak.  

While my husband doesn't need the water, he does enjoy being out on it so this afternoon we are headed out to try this new one.  He'll rent, I'll use my own.  He enjoyed it the last time we did it, who knows, he may decide he likes it enough to get one too.