The studio is in chaos...

 ...again  always.  I've been working on my larger journal this week, moving from page to page

and utilizing cutouts for fun.

You'll note that my penchant for black is still in force.

Combined with strong colour, it's a favourite.

And one of the side tables holds more inserts to be added - I'm a firm believer in fat, FAT, FAT journals.  

Against one wall is a collection of paintings and supplies for this morning's playtime with Ruth.

Earlier I held my own little gesso party to whiten this 3' x 4' panel

and some smaller ones as well.

Apparently my muse thinks we're going to go to town over the next while...wonder what she's got in mind?

As you may know,

I've been working on a weekly basis with Ruth Bieber, a blind artist here in the Creston Valley.  We started this project pre-Covid and are having a great deal of fun as we find ways to bring her creative ideas into the realm of living, breathing paintings.

The piece that Ruth is holding above, entitled 'Dancing', was for a show that was to be held in late February and early March of this year.  Given the Covid constraints, I believe it was held physically for a very short time before it went online.  Since I was in Mexico at the time I'm a little fuzzy on the details.

We started back working together outdoors on our patio on July 14, and now have a good selection of pieces in various stages of completion.  

And we've even managed to complete three pieces since we started back, two of which are shown below:

Our sessions are always so filled with laughter and a flurry of paint, inks, ideas and supplies that I'm darned if I can remember to take a photo more than occasionally, and rarely when we're actually playing!

My word for 2020 is Expand, and I'm most certainly doing that as we play together.  Ensuring that the work is Ruth's concept and execution is hugely expansive as I find ways to assist her to learn new methods of working with paint, inks and whatever else comes to hand. And ensuring that we work together safely in a time of pandemic is expanding as well; we're both praying that the fine weather will hold until September of 2021 so we can finish enough pieces for the upcoming show.  😎

Do catch me up in the comments below - how has your week been?  What are you up to?  You know I'd love to hear it all!

A studio visitor...

...this past week noticed this painting on paper and queried me about it.  I told him it was one of my Arcturus series, as yet untitled.

His questions made me realize just how many (and strange) pieces I've done over the years with this particular star in mind.

From alien landscapes

to alien portals

to a book sculpture called Expat from Arcturus,

I've done piece after piece.  

The Expat Offspring, while somewhat different from its parent, reared its own head, even as 

an infant.

It puzzles me why this star is such a draw for me,

and I wonder whether you have a recurring pull in your artwork that is as unfathomable as is this one.

Please comment below and let me know I'm not the only crazy one in the bunch!  

We're having...

...our first rainy day after some days of very over-the-top-hot sunshine, so I've been playing in the studio with great glee.  And you know that means some more B & W journal play.

These are not all done by any means, but the bones are all these, and I'm busy rattling them!

How about you - what are you all up to?  I'm looking forward to hearing how your week has been.