Somehow this past week...

...has flown by, as our guests departed and the sunshine flew in.  The tomatoes are starting to ripen

and the hanging baskets are in their glory.

The studio tables are covered with yet another array of works in progress (while the 3 x 4 waits for another coat).

There's a gesso party in progress at one end, and believe me, it's the most boring party I've ever attended - no music, no dancing and definitely no wine.  What's with that?!

I sure hope that your creative life is going gangbusters and that your summer (or winter if you're on the opposite end of the planet) is filled with sunny delight!

It's been great fun....

...in the studio this week, with more to come.  Good friend Meg Nicks has been here from Canmore and she's a tearaway with a paintbrush!

She's started half a dozen canvasses, 

stained some papers, 

and started a plastic wrap canvas to boot.  I can hardly wait for her to pull the plastic off as it's one of my favourite techniques and Meg is experimenting with heavy body acrylics on it.

 Meanwhile I did some more work on the 3 x 4 panel,

and it's starting to look much livelier.

We've got two more days together, so I can hardly wait to see what evolves from this whirlwind visit.  It's a pleasure to share the space again, and to watch the master in action!

And the beat goes on...

...with some more layers added to the large panel.  By the weekend things were getting pretty dense.

And the layers were starting to thicken in some areas.

By now the initial quote is starting to disappear.

The edges are getting just as colourful as the front of the panel, and those hand-cut stencils are looking pretty yummy, too.

I've got a massive pile of stencils from which to choose,

and I'm interested to see which ones are calling to me now.

There's a definite organic feel arising.

And another quote from Ram Dass - Be Here Now - has been added to the mix.

I have a sense now of where this panel may be going, but sometimes the muse can play tricks, so we'll just wait and see, shall we?!

The break...

...was fabulous, with some heartful family time, Sunfest and Sculpturewalk in Castlegar, and the highlight of a Burton Cummings concert in Trail.  Just the best musician ever!  Oh, and the eating - goodness my family knows how to cook!!!!!

Of course, being away for much of the week meant there was little playing in the studio.  I did manage some work on the 3' x 4', though, and it's starting to look a little fuller.  It is now at (or strongly approaching) the ugly stage, and is likely to remain there for a week or six.

You can see I'm still sticking to the three original colours of Quinacridone Gold, Turquoise and Flame Red - isn't it amazing how many shades are created from just those three?

I've added some stencil work, 

in three different areas, 

painted some lines and added a wandering row of red crab-like creatures with the side of my hand.  Where did that come from?! 

I also managed to get to the July creativity prompt this week, which was to use only a dark-coloured paint and a light-coloured paint on brown paper, using as many tools as one could find.  So far, I've

used my fingers, a paint brush (both ends), palette knife, a plastic scrubbie, skewer, feather, credit card, eye dropper, paper towel, wax paper and more.  

I doubt that I'm finished yet, and being the rebel I am, I suspect that some white will be added to the mix.  Truly, I needed to use a much bigger paper!  

Hope your week has been outstanding as we head into summer.  Keep me posted in the comments, will you?