Phew!!

 I think the curtains are finally done (for now). I checked the start date on these and found that April 2019 was the kick-off.  Really????  Could it truly have taken 3 years for this project?  That's abnormal even for me (I say, tongue in cheek, given that I've got paintings in the studio that were started 10 years ago and are still on the go 🤣).

It's been challenging to get a photo of them in situ, given that they are primarily see-through.

These colours are closer than the others,

and the turquoise is closer to true.

Of course that wasn't the whole of this week, as I've started a few 'something new' pieces as well.  I photocopied a zen mandala that I'd done some years ago onto a gel print that was less than a favourite. I sprayed it with some workable fixative, twice, and starting in the top left corner, you can just see some black and white additions to the pattern.

 

This one is going to take a while to complete, given that I'll need to go over all the initial mandala design in several different thicknesses of black pen, as well as add some Inktense pencil work and put that white gel pen to use.

I've also got a bit of a handle on the birthday painting for our granddaughter, so that's in progress on the bottom of the photo.  The heart journal is still on the go, as you can see from the right hand area, and I've got another journal idea for the use of the 2021 word of the year oddments.

I love it that the ideas are never-ending, even when I wind up working in a 12" square piece of the table.  The creative life is such a gift, right?!  What are you up to these days - feel free to add a link in your comments below.  

Happy creative week, my friends, and here's to many more!

Goodness knows...

 ...it was time for a clean up in the studio, but I didn't expect to get wrapped up like this.

It happened when I tore off the badly abused butcher paper protected one of the tables.  I decided to play with it, throwing drips and slabs of pigmented self-levelling gel in red and blue.  The red had dried a good deal, hence the globby look.

I added some foil since I'd not played with that for a while, and then tore into it with Inktense pencils, knowing full well that the polymer of the gel would resist a good deal of it.  The results were truly fascinating, and I can see using these for tag backgrounds.

I got so distracted that I never got to clearing the other table at all, and now it's covered in hearts, journals, Inktense and butcher paper that needs more work.  Does this ever end?  Apparently not.

I've spent a good deal of time this week stitching on those dryer sheet curtains, and the more I do, 

the more there is to be done.  I haven't even started on the loops to hang then yet either.

And cows - did I mention I want to do some cows?  Watch this space, 'cause goodness knows what will happen next!

Experimentation...

...is the name of the game this week, as I play with small abstract pieces.  These two are 5" square, and I'm amused at my colour palette on the first.  Since I'd never willingly make mud when painting, I did it intentionally in the background just to see where I might go with it.  It was great fun.

This was fun as well - I love cheesecloth backgrounds and hadn't used one in a while.  My working space is so messy and crowded that I brushed some paint lid glom to one side.  It hit a pile of paint scraps, grabbing on for dear life.  Refusing to let go, it grew wings and became a bird.  Artist lives are so strange, right?

This next one, 7" x 5", nearly knocked my socks off into the stratosphere when it was done.  Going a little overboard on the pow colour, I'd say.  🤣

Meanwhile the dryer sheet curtains are getting some contrasting colour - finally!

A shot of the back of the curtains shows how much these circles are necessary to tie this all together.  The thin sheets of unpainted dryer sheets need to be tied to the painted ones, and for 'strength', they're all going in different directions (or perhaps that's just my spatial dyslexia going on there 😁).  

I've also been making skins to test for the second star book slip cover,

and continuing heartful play.

All in all, it's been a fun week here, made even more delightful due to the glorious sunshine and blue skies.  I hope your week has been the same on all three counts.  

It's sure ugly in here...

 ...and this time (not always 🤣), it's intentional.

This journal page in my largest journal evolved as I was dealing with the frustration of ongoing plague pandemic restrictions.

The pile of window envelopes was growing apace, hiding the lovely yellow/orange file cabinet top.  It was time to make use of them.  

The layering of envelopes left some intriguing spaces showing from the background, and it reminded me of how so much of our lives has been covered and unavailable in the past two years, with just bits and pieces peeking through.

Here in western Canada it feels as though the sunlight may start showing through.  I hope it's the same for you.

Elsewhere in the creative life, the dryer sheet curtains are coming along, and I'm now anticipating the addition of colours other than blue or green.  That's going to be a great change.

The papers for the second star book are painted and chopped, the beads for the back end are chosen, and assembly can commence.  Enter the band, 'cause the parade's about to start.

I was dumbfounded to find the perfect book I needed in the local library.  I can use both the cover 

and the inside of the written-completely-in-Chinese text (and the illustrations) for the embellishments I need.  Of course, now I want to know what it all means!

I hope your week has been as fruitful (although not necessarily as ugly) as has mine.  May there be sunlight streaming through your windows and restrictions lifting safely left, right and centre.  

Back in the groove...

 ...sure feels like a good thing.  I finished a slipcover for the star book,

and it fits as though they were made for each other.  😉

The papers are well in progress for the second star book,

and I've even gotten back to embroidering dryer sheets, and there's a phrase that I bet not too many people have used.

Once finished, slip stitches removed, they will (finally) grace the ensuite bathroom as curtains.  I'd hate to tell you how many months ago that project got started.

The great thing about being in the creative doldrums is that when one gets out of them it's akin to taking flight.  Here's to the sea change!  I hope that your creative week has been just as exciting.