hearts and needles

ladies - 100, or so.

So, this is a little project I want to share with y'all.  I was at Michael's a few weeks ago, and they were having a sale in their dollar section.  I found some awesome blank books (they were actually $2.00, but on sale for 40% off) that I had to buy.  Usually, their notebooks have lined paper, but these were blank and the paper was brown kraft paper - my fav.  So, I bought four of them, though I already regret not getting them all.  The covers left a lot to be desired, though.  They came with Victorian fairy themes, but not really cute.  Sort of cheesy.  I decided to re-cover one, and I'm so glad I did!  I love the way it looks.  I used craft paint, scrapbook paper, and some fabric scraps, and some vintage paper and made it more "me". 

I was hoping to use it as a sketchbook thingie that I could paint in.  I really like painting on kraft paper - the texture is great, and it takes paint really well, and I like the non-shiny finish.  I also wanted the painting aspect to be stress free and fun with very little thought or analysis or judgement.  Fun + stress free = the best.

Thus, "100, or so, ladies" was born.  The book has 100 pages, so my goal is to fill it up with paintings of ladies.  That one above is probably my favorite, so far.  But what about this one:

Are you scared?  She remind me a bit of Carol Channing.

Does anybody else have a little project like this?  One that keeps you motivated to make stuff, but is just for fun, with no "is this good enough" type of judging? I'd love to hear about it.

 

I will post ladies from time to time - if one if particularly funny or interesting.  But if you want to keep up with the ladies, I've created a flickr set of them.

 

tomorrow: illustration friday.  does anyone else participate?  i'm starting now!

Sketchbook Wednesday? Oh, yeah!

Here is my newest sketchbook.  It is completely empty inside, but soon will be, I hope, crazy with color.  On Memorial Day, my friend Peg came over and we spent the afternoon tearing pages, cutting covers, and gluing endpapers.  We each made a book.  Hers looks a little different, but they are the same size, with lots of the same paper (though not all), and the same binding.  Our goal: to trade back and forth as collaborative art journals where we'll experiment with mixed media techniques that we've been wanting to try, etc.  My goal is to have fun, try new techniques, and use it as a dialogue.  We have agreed that we can add to pages the other has started, if we want.  There is no theme, which is good. I am excited to start this, as I already have a running list of things I want to try......  The first assignment is to do a little work in our own books and then we will trade next week!  I think we'll trade back and forth every couple of weeks until they are full.

I love making books.  I have a surge of bookbinding every year.  I have since I was 19, I think!  I learned some basics when I was in college and I got seriously hooked.  I bought Pauline Johnson's awesome book Creative Bookbinding and there was no looking back.  I used to be super uptight about everything being square and plumb and all that and I think making books got a little too precious to me.  But then I started working at a bookstore, and discovered Keith Smith's amazing books.  Uh, wow?  Yeah.  His books totally rule.  Some folks don't like diagrams, but I love how pared down and technical his books are.  He gives so many options because his books are not full of fluffy full color photos (which I also love, but..) Man, you can use his diagrams for infinite variety.  I also kind of love his text - it's sort of odd, but cool.  Anyhow, it isn't that he encourages you to be all uneven and sloppy - quite the contrary! - but he introduced me to the world of non-adhesive binding.  Glue was my sticking point (ha!), and it just irritated me that I had to glue so much to make a book.  But his bindings made it possible for me to make books that had a minimal amount of glue. Which allowed me to make more books... Books that I can put stuff in - which is way more exciting to me than a blank, perfectly precise book.  Ahhh.

 

Next up: a fun project I've been working on. It has to do with ladies.  100, or so, of them.

Bunny-time

I've been so busy this spring, but it's finally letting up.  Still not an excuse for my lack of updating, but there you have it.

 

The little bunny above is a small spot illustration for a big ol' job I was working on for a couple of weeks.  Still doing a few corrections, etc., but man!  It was my first real illustration job and it was: fun, hard, stressful, a lucky break, and a total learning experience - in a good way.  I can only hope for more. 

I'll be posting more from the job in the next few posts.  It was such a cool experience because of the nature of the project - more details on that, too.

I'm in a time of stuff wrapping up, and have lots of pictures and tales.  The large mural painting project I was working on at a local elementary school is almost totally wrapped up, my teaching for the semester is over and I love the projects my students produced! It was a very busy spring, sometimes in a bad way.  I felt, at times, that I was just running around like a crazy person, doing all the weird stuff I have to do as a freelance art teacher.  Mix up the paper mache paste, get plywood cut, buy chicken wire, and on and on....

I'm totally grateful that I get to do all that as my job, and I can honestly say that of all the jobs I have ever had, I have *never* been bored with this one.  Frustrated, tired, frayed, hoarse (yes), covered with paint and paste: yes.  Bored? Never.  Which I can't say for any of my other jobs, ever.  Isn't that sad?  I think about all the years I sat at a desk dreaming of the day I could do what I'm doing.  Thank god for the internet.  Don't judge me, I'm not ashamed.

But even with this illustration job - which had me sitting at my desk a whole lot - I still had fun.  Yay!  Do what you love - it's worth it!

 

The next few weeks before summer art camps start up are pretty free.  I have a few plans, one of which is finally setting up my fancy printer.  I want to sell prints in my etsy shop, so that is a priority.  And I'm working on some fun stuff - I have a bunch of sketchbooks going, which I'll share.  And a friend and I are starting up a collaborative art journal thing where we'll trade off and practice techniques, etc...  We are binding our books on Monday, and the camera will in heavy use(if I can find it?)!

And there is always more......

Sketchbook Wednesday

Getting back to my collage sketchbook.  I'm loving paint right now, but sometimes the simplicity and boldness of collage is just what I need.  Also, I've been neglecting this book, and have lots of loose stuff to paste in before I move on to new compositions.  People need arms and feet and stuff like that!

It has been so long since I've put any new collages in there that I'm excited to see how my style is changing up a bit - maybe a looser and less planned out.  Maybe there will be proof next Wednesday right here on this little old blog.

In other news, I'm hoping to get prints in my etsy shop soon.  Gotta figure out my fancy printer and then there will be no stopping me!  I have lots of ideas - prints, paper dolls, cards......

 

Also: been loving the Parisian travels of awesome book maker and all around art fiend Mary Ann Moss!

Who is inspiring you?

springtime, oh yeah!

 

I'm so loving this early springiness.  Spring in Virginia is so beautiful, and this is the first spring in our new house.  I'm discovering all sorts of blooming stuff, and am pretty thrilled that we will have lots of spring flowers to cut.  Right now: tons of forsythia and Japanese flowering quince (the pink flowers in the picture).  Our flowering quince is enormous, and it is something I've always wanted to have in my yard.  I've been cutting giant bundles of them and stuffing them into vases.  Next up, we'll have dogwood and azaleas. We were so lucky to find this little dream bungalow with such well established and giant flowering things - I'm grateful for it every day.

This is where I am with my 4th week of Get Your Paint On.  I'm still planning to finish this painting at least.  The 5th assignment is pretty free-form, so I'm not sure if I'll do it, or not.  Anyhow, the painting above has been really fun to work on but I've had a lack of time lately.  I've been teaching a ton and doing a lot of class prep.  But!  I am going to keep on with this one because I still want to add some acrylic transfers, and a few more details, etc...and then I am planning to hang it up in our house!

 

While I was painting it, I kept laughing a little to myself and saying "put a bird on it"!  Ha!

 

What do you love about spring?

p.s. new listing on etsy

 

 

Get Your Paint On Wrap-up & Momentum!

Get Your Paint On ended this past week, and it was pretty wonderful.  The class was low pressure, but the more I put into it - the actual painting, participating in the facebook, flickr, and blog - the more I got out of it!  I also just loved the (low) pressure of getting assignments done.  I’m still working on my week 4 and need to do week 5, but it will happen.
I loved reading the different struggles my fellow students were having - some had *never* painted before and did not know basic stuff, and some students were struggling with adding more meaningful content to the textured backgrounds they loved painting, and a lot of more experienced folks were trying new things out of their comfort zone.  Regardless of each individual issue or fear, they all made the most expressive and lovely paintings!  And everyone was so kind to each other when giving feedback and praise.  I know my heart swelled with pride when I read the supportive, sweet, and funny comments folks made about my paintings.  I made my husband listen to me read them out loud!

Mati & Lisa did a really great job.  Despite Lisa breaking her arm, and Mati moving her studio and other deadlines they mentioned going on behind the scenes, I never felt like they disappeared from the community.  I also thought their videos were endearing and sweet (as well as educational!).  The artist interviews and inspiration each week was downright amazing, and it really did inspire me to try new things and think about my paintings differently.  

More than anything, for me, it helped me put my stuff out there.  I paint and collage all the time, but taking pictures, updating my blog, and even finally listing something on etsy seems overwhelming at times.  Having a weekly goal to post a painting on flickr made it easier to write a blog post about it, and that just got my momentum swirling...

Thanks Mati & Lisa!  You guys rule!

And speaking of momentum, I’ve listed my first item ever in my etsy shop!  Yeah!

George and GYPO update

Meet George Washington.  The father of our country.  The cherry tree guy?  Well, this is my rendition of him.  I meant to put this up on President's Day, but did not.  But I like him, so I wanted to share.  This is part of a mock-up I did for a project I'm working on with a local elementary school.  The kids are painting some plywood murals with historic Virginians, and I am the artist-in-residence for the duration. 

I think my painting of George looks somewhat more fresh faced than we usually see him, so in that sense, I feel I am having a positive role in rewriting history. 

The picture above is my work in progress for this week's GYPO assignment - composition. I am planning to work a lot tomorrow, as I'd like to get it done on time-ish.  Not sure where it's going, but it has been fun to do!

 

Today, Phil and I took a little day trip down to South Hill, Virginia.  We ate at a cool place called The Horseshoe.  The food was tasty - I had a fried green tomato blt with pimiento cheese.  The owner's mom makes the pies, and they were divine.  I had chocolate walnut,  P. had brown sugar pie (i tasted it and it was amazing).  It's fun to get out of the routine sometimes - I'd like to more often.

 

Get Your Paint On - Playing Catch-up!

Okay!  That there painting above is from my week 2 assignment.  I love this lady and had a great time making the painting. 

I have been painting for class, but not exactly updating here.  And, I have not even posted my week 3 painting.  The reason: I had no time to paint until Monday (the start of week 4).  So, instead of feeling defeated and skipping week 3, I painted that one first.  And it is pretty big.  About 15" X 22" on rag paper.  And it is not *quite* done.  However, in the spirit of doing stuff, and moving along, here is is in its nearly done-ness:

She's based on a drawing I did, and guess what?  I love teeth!  I really really love teeth.  So, she's got 'em.  At least two, possibly more, but we'll never know.  The assignment was to find four things in our house/life and mix colors to match them.  I loved this assignment! I pretty much mix all the time - sort of second nature.  The only thing about mixing paint to match something else, is that I used lots more paint.  What did I match?  The black-ish brown of one of my cats, the pink sideboard/buffet in the dining room, the yellow of some tulips, and the red from a crazy painting we have.

 

So, our assignment for this week is composition.....  We'll see what happens.  I am not super confident about composition, but am so willing to work on it!

 

 

More paint and my birthday!

 

I just wanted to show another detail of a book I made for a friend on her 40th birthday.  It was a simply bound book full of collage and painting and drawing and stamping, etc...  Sort of free form and unplanned.  It was pretty fun to make and I think my relaxed approach made it even better than I could have imagined had I meticulously planned it all out.

Taking Get Your Paint On has me thinking about planning v. intuitive making.  I'm finding that I'm definitely happier with the results when I jump in and am not thinking so much.  I am drawn to simple looking art - not just folk art/primitive art (which I love)- but even simpler stuff, like cave paintings and ancient art.  I'm tryiing to have pockets of time where I think critically about why I'm drawn to certain styles/colors/shapes, but let all that go when I start making stuff, and just let it flow. 

My friend Peg came over on Saturday afternoon for some art making, and we ended up sitting at the table, painting and collaging for 7 hours!  Time disappeared, we took snack breaks, but not for long.  It was pretty awesome.  i need more of that!  Here's a little sample of what I was working on:

 

This week in Get Your Paint On, we have to choose an artist we are drawn to and use them as inspiration for this week's painting.  We can take it as literally or not as we want!  I love so may artists, but I have chosen Kathy Ruttenburg - a sculptor I stumbled across one day (online) and completely fell in love.  Her work is sort of spooky to me.  I guess some folks might find it grotesque? But I can't get enough!  Haven't started my painting yet - perhaps today.

 

Speaking of today, it's my birthday!  I'm 39 and still don't feel old/mature/grown-up the way I thought I would at this age - and that is fine with me!

 

 

Gettin' my paint on

This is a sneak peek of my assignment for the very awesome Get Your Paint On class taught by Mati & Lisa.  My sweet husband knows how much I love Mati's artwork, and he offered it up as my birthday present! What he didn't know was how much I love Lisa's art, too!  Perfect, perfect, perfect.

My painting is far from being done, but I've made bits of progress on it each day and it's exciting to see it change....

This is fun!  I can't wait to see everybody else's paintings.

 

And, because this is my self-imposed Sketchbook Wednesday, I will leave you with a picture of one of the pages I made for a dear friend for her 40th birthday.  Hope you like it!