Simple Little Work of Art for Someone Who Means the World to Me

My week has been a little trying and I haven't had a ton of time in the studio. I also haven't had the time I would want to read some of my favorite blogs. So if you haven't heard from me, I apologize. Life gets in the way sometimes. Regardless, I wanted to post a mini-project that I did last week.  It was fun, quick and a delightful gift to give to my bestie.

I took this pic...well, I actually stole this pic off of my friend's Facebook page. He posted it a few weeks ago with a caption that read:  Happy Dog.  This is my best friend's Maltese, Missy chilling out at their beach house in Florida.  The overall feel and soft tones in the photo made me want to use it.

I popped it into Picasa and played around with some of the settings and then reduced the photo into a pencil sketch.

After printing the pencil sketch version out on a piece of 8 1/2 X 12 watercolor paper, I washed the different areas of the images with gouache.

As I worked with the medium, I made subtle changes to the image, changing the lines and direction in the foreground, creating a little more drama in the atmosphere and intensifying the depth of the ocean color.  This was a fun, relaxing project and I had a blast delivering it to him at his new art gallery that is under construction as this time.

It's fun to create something for someone you love.  There is a certain nervousness that is involved in such an endeavor, even with something as simple at this little piece of art.  In the end, I think he loved it. After all, it has his sweet Missy in the image.  Who wouldn't like something like that?!  

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Paint Party Friday

Artist Dates and Small Works Make for More Than Just Paint

As an artist, I have come to realize how important it is to be connected to a community of creative people.  I love all my friends, whether they are creative or not.  They all play a different role in my circle of friendship. Heck!  My husband isn't a creative and I think he is pretty darn cool himself! But my artist friends understand me at a level that is only possible if you are crazy, weird, nuts sewn together in way that creative thinkers are knitted.

After reading through the first half of Julie Cameron's The Artist Way, I decided to take the initiative to champion a Artist Studio Date once a month with two of my favorite creative friends.  We get together once a month with a sketchbook and limited supplies to create small works of art, but more importantly to connect and talk and share.  The idea is to come with a loose idea of what we might paint on the page.  We paint, chat and stop for lunch. We sip Prosecco and laugh about our lives, our men and bounce ideas off of each other. These ideas are both about our studio work and about our lives.  We are three months into our dates and I wanted to share with you the three pages that I have completed.  

In my bag of tricks I pack drawing materials, a limited supply of brushes and tubes of gouache.  Here are the results of each month's date.

Pic from the first Artist Date

In the above small painting, I came with the goal to just paint something without thinking.  I brought a few brushes, pencils and gouache.  (For those of you who don't know what gouache is, it's a watercolor paint that has nice qualities that allow if needed for a more opaque result than most standard watercolor paints.)  I just did without thinking, laying down a layer of bright yellow and then just adding the elements.  I have glue relief stamps that I made and tossed in the bag that I used to create the square and rectangular shapes.  During the afternoon, one of my friends said, "You can't be erased."  It wasn't a direct comment at me, but an overall pronouncement.  It stuck with me, so I used it in the piece on the bottom right corner.



On our second Artist Date, I brought with me a copy of a photograph that my daughter took of herself to use as inspiration.  Here is the photocopy. It's a somewhat somber image.  She captures herself in many different moods.  I thought this image would be interesting to tackle both thematically and structurally.

Below is the small painting I did based on this photograph.

I decided on a brighter color palette and put down a basic background sketch using pencil.   I made the decision at one point to open her eye because I thought the downward gaze would help me illustrate the mood of the image. We, as a family, have been through a lot in the last few months.  I wanted to document this moment.

This past week, we met in MY studio for the first time. Boy was I excited to host the day.  We all three have come to look forward to getting together to share our work and our lives.  We can say anything and the other person doesn't judge.  We 'get' each other implicitly. Weirdos like other weirdos. Hee hee.

Gypsy the Studio cat!

For this week in addition to the Artist Date, I was attempting to also participate in an online community linky party sponsored by Inspiration Avenue.  Maggie picks a theme each week and all the participants create something based on that theme.  I rarely participate in these parties because my work is my work and I find it hard to paint something that doesn't apply.  The theme this week was "Retro Art 1950s and 60s."  I had the hair brained idea that I would create my Artist Date page based on the work of the 1950s and 60s artist Mark Rothko.  I love his work and thought it would be fun to explore this idea.

It turned out to be not the best idea.  I am not Mark. Will never be Mark. I hated the painting. It didn't feel like me. The rectangles were all off or something.  Couldn't put my finger on it.  Maybe it was that I drank too much Prosecco? (wink)

In the end, I was so unhappy with the painting that I added this random tree.  Why not?  It is what it is for sure.  One of my friends said that the painting reminded her of Jasper Johns, another painter from that time period. So hey, it's my Retro Art. Ha!

An artist's life can be very isolating.  I think it is important to get out with other creative people.  We feed each other.  We validate each other.  Sometimes...we just need to 'be' together, if nothing more than to realize that there are other weird people out there just like us!  It's worth the effort. I promise.

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Paint Party Friday

Inspiration Avenue

Pouting, Painting and Pondering

This week I am in the studio doing small works on paper.  I needed a break from my larger work after my husband left a door open on my studio allowing a gust of wind to turn the painting I blogged about last week into a sail which resulted in a large rip in the canvas.  I could try and repair the rip and continue, but the painting wasn't really working anyway.  I just don't feel like investing the time into something that is already damaged.

I was disappointed. Yes.  I did take most of the day to pout, bitch and complain.  I behaved horribly, which I felt obligated to do. (wink)  Sometimes...ya just gotta stomp your feet and get it all out!

Perhaps he did me a favor.  The event forced me to change course and start on something fresh and new.  My other studio work can wait for a little bit while I explore this avenue.  I am having fun with it.  I showed this one painting to my friends on Facebook yesterday and I have gotten nice feedback.

Gouache and pencil on paper. 6 inch X 6 inch. 

My husband called it whimsical.  Another friend called it bubbly delicious!  I haven't called it anything yet. Which is kinda strange because I usually name every last thing I paint.  Anybody out there care to help a girl out?!  Wanna take a stab at a name?  Who knows....perhaps I will use it.

So, I could have remained stuck in that rip-in-my-canvas moment.  I could have used it as an excuse to impede the momentum that I am attempting to build in my studio work.  To many...including my critical self, that would have been understandable...even justified.

But why?  What was I to gain from remaining in that negative place? What benefit or growth can be achieve if we allow ourselves to be tied down?  There might have been something to gain in that place. I think there is something to learn from in every circumstance.  But I chose to let it go and move on. I chose to untie from that entrapment and explore what a new freedom might offer.

In order to feel good about not languishing in that place, I had to completely switch it up and work in a different manner. My husband knew what was good for him, so he helped me rearrange and clean up my studio space over the weekend. I set up the tables in a different configuration that is more conducive to working on a paper. It's amazing what a little clean up and switch up can do for perspective!  Fresh path.

Who knows to what this path might lead. I think it is worth traveling.  I think that this matters.  I think letting go of what ties us down matters.  It allows us to move on...

“You will find that it is necessary to let things go; simply for the reason that they are heavy. So let them go, let go of them. I tie no weights to my ankles.” 

― C. JoyBell C.

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Paint Party Friday