Where did it go?

This week, I mean.  I know it had the same number of days in it that every other week has held, but it went gangbusters, and I feel like little was accomplished in the studio.

I know I compulsively watched the Kroma Crackle dry on the first background, eyes crossed and patience waning.  It's taking a very long time.

I added some crackle (a new one I'm testing) to the second companion background, and can already see that it will dry much more quickly.  

I suspect that by tomorrow, I'll be layering again like a painter gone mad.

I've added more layers in the upper left quadrant of the 'garden', and will work some more this coming week to create additional floral forms.

And I did take time out on Monday to do the April prompt.  The technique I drew was 'scribble', and that's exactly what I did.  Utilizing a background, I scribbled like mad and then added glazes of colour to the segregated areas.  It was a LOT of mindless fun and a great way to practice some painterly strokes.

How about you - did your week go as quickly?  What did you get up to?  Please feel free to add a link in your comments!  In the meantime, I'm wishing you a lovely springtime Easter.  May yours be filled with family, friends, renewed light, and a good deal of decadent chocolate!  

Having friends in the studio...

...is a great treat!  Louise Olinger is a long-time friend who was visiting in the Creston Valley this week, so we got to play together a couple of times.

She was working on a couple of bookmarks while in the studio,

and I know her little grandson, Nolan, is going to be delighted with his (on the left).  Wonder who's going to be the recipient of the one on the right - Louise was keeping pretty mum about that!

Meantime, one of my 'red' canvasses was sporting a thick layer of Kroma Crackle - it's going to take another couple of weeks to dry so I can add some more colour (because it's obviously much too quiet right now).

I had a blast taking this screeching collaged piece a step or six further, and can hardly wait to see where it goes from here.

Another piece got some more layers as well, including some alcohol ink pens that bled, and bled and bled. Goodness knows whether it's salvageable.  Lesson learned (perhaps, although I know I've done this before.  Mom always used to say that 'repetition aids comprehension', although in my case, I'm not sure that's the case).

And last week's 'dog's breakfast' is turning into a garden, so that should be interesting as it runs for the finish line.  Goodness knows where or when that may be.

Here's to making the world a more colourful place, bit by bit!

It's wild in the studio...

 ...and a wee bit earthy (or at least as earthy as I ever get), with the latest lesson in Tracy Verdugo's Abstract Mojo.  The assignment was to create a raft of organic-looking marks on both white printer paper and kraft paper using bits and pieces of things gathered from the outside.  Naturally, the day I was doing this, it snowed.  I improvised by using some of my dried greenery for mark-making, some of my hand-crafted stencils, and a great deal of imagination.  It was, of course, near-impossible to stop, 'cause you know how much I love to make paper!  

Step two was to paint a background for the papers on a sheet of watercolour paper, another fun playtime.

In the demo, Tracy then collaged the papers over the entire piece before cutting into three pieces.  I did the reverse, and either way is fine.

I lay the torn bits of paper out before applying liquid medium to stick 'em down.

I did some additional mark-making in both the background and on the torn pieces to create some push-pull.

Although well out of my normal colour comfort zone (I am in major experimental model with both colour and technique), I think they make interesting strata pieces.

And during some play with the camera, I found this 'Noir' mode, which I like as well.  

I will play with these some more, adding more layers, and no doubt pushing them well beyond acceptability - what could be more fun?!

Hope you've had a lot of creative dance in your week - tell me what you're doing in the comments below, please?!!!

The out-of-my-comfort-zone...

...continues as I explore the world of abstract madness.  The studio tables are piled high with works, mostly in progress.

While this week's session was supposedly about archetypal symbols, a couple of the pieces were called to a halt before any symbols were added since I liked them as they were.

Others are still (and may be forever) in progress, which is the best part about working with acrylics and mixed media.

I enjoyed the exploration of symbols (did you know there are hundreds of them online from every culture around the world???) and the process of starting a sketchbook library of the ones that spoke to me.  I suspect there will be many added to the ones that are already part of my visual vocabulary.  And I enjoyed the flash-in-the-pan intuitive way of working with them that had me slapping colour combinations together that wouldn't be any part of my painting process normally.

Here's to creative play in the studio - may your week have been just as much fun as mine!

My paint shirt...

 ...blew another gasket this week, on the left elbow this time.

I am not a fast mender by any means and with embroidery involved, it'll be a while before I can wear this again.

I was amused to see that the tear area hit some of the same colour tones as did the abstract piece I'm working on right now, and with the same feeling of delight - HA!  Never mind, by the time it's mended it will be a lot more colourful.

Learning new methods is a true challenge, and my painting skills are beyond rusty and well into the realm of 'What-in Heaven's-Name-is-She-Doing?'.  I'd love to be channeling dear Alice Saltiel these days, whose facility with a paint brush knew no bounds.

As it is, I'm finding bits and pieces of this painting that have potential down the road.

Notes to self while brushing up on painting skills:

• it may help to use open acrylics for their longer drying time
• wet, sloppy washes to start are great fun
• no matter what, it's all play, AND
• I can always paint over it all.  😉

Hope you've had a playful week, with a good mix of exciting exploration and that feeling of being extraordinarily capable.  Catch me up in your comments!

It's so hard to stop...

 ...playing with colour.  I picked up a new Flame Red ink this week to use for the Abstract Mojo class I'm taking, and, of course, had to play with it a bit  a lot to see who it's best friends were going to be.

I've long been a fan of Manganese Blue and Hansa Yellow together, given that they make the most luscious green.  Turns out the addition of the Flame Red was a happy one, and I can see the three of them happily running off to the playground together pretty much every day for the next while.

The depth of the indigo instead of manganese made me think of the playground bully.  A little goes a long, long way.  😉

I tried several combinations of Teal, turquoise, the red ink and  hansa yellow, and found them somewhat subdued for my liking.  It's clear I have a preference for very noisy play indeed.

Surprisingly, I had a good deal of fun with the smooshing of leftover paints, finding one or two interesting compositions and combinations with my handy-dandy view finder.

I did manage to get one lesson done in the Abstract Mojo course - an interesting one painting emotions (quickly or slowly/deliberately) to music.  I did the frenzied style, and plan on doing the latter  another time.  It was an interesting exercise, as I found myself using colours and tones not normally in my painting vocabulary.

As always when painting, I found myself using leftovers for continued work on tags, and that's a good thing in my world.

Hope you've had a mouth-watering and colourful week.  Do please let me know in the comments what you've been up to!

Got the January doldrums?

 Then I hope you've got an artist friend who knows your love of colour.  This stunning card arrived in the mail this past week from Meg Nicks, just when I needed a rush of colour pick-me-up.

Isn't that just the juiciest?  

Purging is enough to give anyone the doldrums, I'd say.  I've been on a tear in the studio going through my supplies as I just knew there were a number of things I'd not used in a long time.  I've already got a couple of small boxes, and I'm barely started.  If I've not used it in two years, it's heading out the door.

That means that I've gotten a little less done in the studio than what is normal.  This 30-second abstract came from a prompt card requiring something transparent, something opaque, and something scribbled, which really had me giggling.  Right up my alley as to the quick and dirty.  I've set myself a goal this year to use a prompt card once a month (as if I don't have enough ideas of things to do)...I can see it's going to be really entertaining.

And I'm still working on the Abstract Mojo lesson two, cutting the painted watercolour into eight pieces,

rearranging them, 

and now working back into them.  I've barely started on the first three and have waaaaay too many ideas.

And I'm supposed to be moving onto lesson three this week - yikes.  Hope you've been creativity excited and are free of the doldrums this week.  I'll be popping by to say hello and check it out...happy January.   

Here we are...

 ...already into the second week of the new year.  I've managed to nail down my word for 2023 - how about you?

I've noticed as I move well and truly into my seventies that I am less inclined in this direction, and that's a no go for me.  

It's time to stop avoiding doing things because there may some risk involved.

I've no wish to curl up into a ball and wither away,

so fearless is my word for the year.

By the time I finish all these reminders, they'll be plastered from one end of the house to the other,

and I'll be unable to do anything but get out of my comfort zone.  

That's a darn good thing, too, because I've signed up for Tracy Verdugo's Abstract Mojo class.  I've done the first lesson on line and colour  in unit one 

and started on the second.  It may look like a dog's brekkie right now, but the playtime is fabulous!

So catch me up on what's happening in your corner of the artworld.  Do you have a word for the year yet?  Are you in the throes of new beginnings?  I'm excited to hear!