Where did it go?

The week, I mean.  I've no idea what happened this week, apart from the laze-in-the-studio days flying by.  I did get started on  the inside of the stitched book, although progress is slower than expected.  (Me, not the work itself.)

I got a ton of bookmark and tag blanks out, fully intending to do something with them in order to reduce the size of the exploding box of papers.  For some reason, they refused to make themselves, and my Round-Tuit had already expired for the month.  

My two journals in the works languished in the same manner, and goodness knows when they'll get done.  

And Ruth's last two paintings await her presence, which may take a good while, given that the Covid stats have risen alarmingly in town.  We're back to full restrictions for the foreseeable future in British Columbia, and there are rumblings (unfounded I sincerely hope) about a lockdown.

In spite of that, there is a feeling of neighbourliness everywhere

and we are taking every advantage of the now-stellar outdoor weather.  The smoke from forest fires around us has lifted due to the rain, the skies are blue, and sunshine sparkles and brightens each day.  The flora has taken on some fall colours, and we glory in them.

Hopefully your home area is safe and beautiful as well.  Happy week, my friends!

I'm in here...

...somewhere, although it's hard to find anything (or anyone) in the studio right now.  How did it get so messy?

From completed journal pages (Gelli prints used to the max),

to some that are barely started (that's a fabulous card I received from Laura Leeder there on the right),

to journals being made from Gelli prints,

miniature bottles being crackled,

and bottles and glasses getting their first coat of colour, it's riotous inside.

I've been experimenting with printing on Gelli prints and I like this reminder about how to keep centered. Perhaps it will even work if I take the advice.

I'm in the throes of creating a new colouring book for adults, so there are mandala designs everywhere.  I can't quite figure out where the 3,000 copies of the first book went - did you take them?!

By now you've probably got the picture, and if not, here's the definitive one.  Has anything changed since the last time you saw a full studio shot from here?  Don't you think it's a good thing that I rarely teach in my home studio any more?  Fitting four students in here without using a crowbar would be a miracle.

Why not send me a link in the comments below so I can see your studio madness?  I'd love to know I'm not alone.

Back in the studio...

...after an illicit runaway day on Mother's Day, I'm inspired to play once again.  

Right now I'm drawn to those delicious metallic colours of Inka Gold, and can't seem to get enough of them.  

'Changing Landscape' 5" x 7" mixed media on gallery wrap canvas  © Win Dinn

Well, of course John thinks I've got enough of them, but he obviously can't be trusted with the real skinny, so let's not tell him, right?

They come in so many lustrous colours that I find myself putting them on nearly everything I do these days - sometimes over the whole of a piece,

sometimes in tiny accents that go almost unnoticed,

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

and sometimes from the background to the foreground and everywhere in between.

'Midnight Garden II' 8" x 6" mixed media on cradled wood panel © Win Dinn

And of course, the studio looks its usual wild self, with projects lined by by the score.

Looking at this post, you'd think that someone had taken a full 32 oz. jar of black gesso, and exploded it in the room.

Come to think of it....

The usual madness...

...is running deep in the studio this week, with texture everywhere.

There are bottles in the works

in various stages of completion,

and the same holds true for goblets.

Partially finished paintings are lurking in every corner, with embellishments auditioning for their part,

and the studio is its usual shambles.

One would hope that something will eventually get completed, since there are three shows (you can read about one of them entitled On the Wall-Off the Wall here) to prepare for this summer, and the deadlines are fast approaching.

Wish me luck, and the arrival of the 'Everything-is-all-done-and-ready-to-go' Fairies, as we head into late spring and deadline mania.

It's time to get it clean...

...don't you think?  The studio is chockablock full of projects on the go, and with Bill and Alice arriving here on Wednesday for a visit, it's time to get at it.

There are projects in process everywhere.  A stack of partially completed panels and canvasses sits on a chair beside the students' tables,

 a nearly done dryer sheet for a video demo waits on its own sheet of butcher paper,

 an alcohol-spritzed palette paper is itching to be transferred to a canvas,

and a house-wrap stencil lies partially sketched (when will that get done, I wonder?).

There's a stack of Gelli prints available for use at a moment's notice (I'm eyeing that top one for a pear painting that's 'gelling' in the back of my mind)

and some other Gelli plate experiments using watercolour paint wait near by (so far unsuccessful, but I'll keep at it, Laura!),

 while a mat board painting from the Victorian series awaits another layer of paint.

This Gelli print is getting some additional colour with gel pens during spare moments when I need a break from standing,

and a 3" x 3" mini canvas hangs around on the easel in hopes of some paper additions.  The lovely variegated paper is actually a sheet of clean-up paper from the last of a Gelli session...gorgeous, no?

My texture box for Gelli printing works as a support for a Gelli printed hand mandala...lots of work to go on that,

and a folded book start glares at me, figuratively tapping its toes as it kills time. ' When will the folding part happen?', it asks.

Even my gratitude journal is pending, as the full-on summer chores of garden produce care, deck-crew feeding (that's right - we have a new one in progress) and summer basking takes precedence.

May your summer be as full of colour and anticipation as is ours.  We have fabulous weather, wonderful produce and paint, paint, paint.  What more could I need?

The studio...

this past week has been the best place to be.  With the snowfall outside making streets treacherous, I can happily mix paints, paints skins, and putter to my heart's content.

I'm in finish mode, and have been knocking back one after the other (all in an attempt to avoid doing the books and taxes, of course).  This piece, another from the Victorian phase, was started in the Kimberley workshop.

'A Victorian Sewing Room III'  Mixed Media on Mat Board  10" x 6"  © Win Dinn

This one below has been 'in the works' since late fall, slowly building, layer upon layer.  I've often wondered what the natural world does when we humans are sleeping, and suspect that it's all dancing and partying when we're not looking.

'Midnight Tree Dance'  Mixed Media on Mat Board  6" x 9"  © Win Dinn

Time is a recurring theme in my creative life, likely due to the little amount available for creativity when I was working full time and parenting.

'It's Time'  Mixed Media  on Mat Board  7" x 9"  © Win Dinn

I've been wondering what to do with my mother's collection of pins, carefully saved since she died a few years ago, and it seems appropriate that they turn up in a piece of artwork;  that is certainly how she lived her life.

'Mining Her Life'  Mixed Media on Board    8" x 6"  © Win Dinn

Back to the aforementioned taxes...this piece was started in the Fernie workshop, showing a torn paper technique (a tax form package provided compliments of Canada Revenue Agency), and using one of my lovely Victorian ladies.  This shows just how preparing for tax time and completing those forms makes me feel, and yes, I am sometimes a sick and twisted woman!

'Death by Taxes'  Mixed Media on Mat Board  11" x 7"  © Win Dinn

Taxes are obviously on my mind - don't you think that the painting above and the meme below would make great wall decor for an accountant's office?

'Death & Taxes'  Wingding  © Win Dinn

 Looking back at this post, I see that three of the five paintings are blue - indicative of the unending winter, do you think, or sheer coincidence?!  I hope your days are sunny and warm, wherever you are.