Crackle...

...I'm in love with it.  Kroma Crackle is such a wonderful creativity tool, I'm seriously considering buying it by the case.

I was introduced to it by Meg Nicks, co-owner of the Sunny Raven Gallery in Canmore, and she's got me hooked.  This particular piece is partway dry (the dark splotch in the top middle is Kroma Crackle still wet from the bottle over top of black gesso), and it has me mesmerized already.  It's on a lamp base I scored at Gleaners for $ .50 - John has replaced the fittings and I'm playing decorator.

I've used this crackle  in several pieces, and love the width of the crackle lines, which clearly show the colour underneath.

'Confluence' detail 

'Confluence' mixed media on cradled wood panel 10" x 8"  © Win Dinn

The dried crackle, once fixed with liquid medium, readily accepts drybrush, Inka Gold, and other juicy colour.

'Treasure Box' detail  (Full view here)

When heated during the drying process, it provides additional gnarly texture.  In fact, the only drawback to this tool is the comparatively slow drying time (the top piece is in its second day of drying), and for the results garnered, even I'm patient enough to wait!

'Islands in the Sun' mixed media on cradled wood panel  © Win Dinn

I am wondering, however, if it's quite sane to be salivating at the way it looks...is that a 'normal' artist thing?  What's your current favourite toolbox necessity?  Comment below, and let's take a look!

Done and dusted...

I can finally say it's finished.  After fifteen months, I've got it all together (the book, that is). Actually, it should technically be called 'Gellitude', since so many of the backgrounds are Gelli-printed. However, it's a visual journal of gratitude from an artist's viewpoint, now heading towards a show at Sunny Raven Gallery in Canmore, AB, along with Not So Mellow.

'A for Alphabet'

'B for Books'

'C for colour, circles, crystalline paper'

'D for dryer sheets, drywall compound, doodling'

'E for the Earth'

'F for flowers (and a sneaky foto-bombing fly'

'G for Gelli prints'

'H for heart(s)'

'I for ideas'

'J for jazz'

'K for keys'

'L for line, life, lace'

'M for music, Mozart, munchies'

'N for numbers'

'O for orange, ovals, oranges'

'P for patterns, prints, precision'

'Q for quatrefoil, quartered'

'R for Red'

'S for stamps, shapes, stencils, stars, spades'

'T for texture'

'U for umbrellas'

'V for vegetation'

'W for Words'

'X for xylophone, and X marks the spot'

'Y for yellow'

'Z for Zentangle ®'

Back Cover

I think 'M' should also be for miracles, since I consider it one to have this completed in time for the show.  It's thirty paintings, each 9" x 6", covers and table of contents.  Three inches in depth, it is a visual record of what makes me tick as an artist,  and an alphabetical testimony to my love of colour and appreciation for artistic play.  My lack of experience with bindings led to some laughable moments, and the rule of 'measure once, cut twice' rule meant the binding is not the one initially planned (luckily, I like this one better).

And I'm oh so grateful to call it done.

A friend in the studio...

...is always welcome, and the recent visit of Meg and Paul from Canmore was no exception. Meg and I spent Monday painting together while the other halves did an antiquing tour south of the border.

I love having other artists in the studio (or working in theirs) because it's so educational to see the way they create.  Meg showed me a trick to iron skins on to a painting (involving the use of release paper - we found that palette paper does not work as well!).

I got a sense of her process for creating one of her beautiful organic pieces from early on in the work.

I watched her experiment with Derwent Graphitint pencils on a new range of vellum she was testing for the Sunny Raven Gallery art supply section.

Meg's artwork  is richly organic, invariably including images or subtle iconography related to Mother Nature.

And while our circadian rhythms are vastly different (here's Meg working well into the evening),

we know that any chance we can get to play together will be a wonderful time.  Thanks for taking the time from your schedule to play here in Creston, Meg and Paul!