It's good to be getting back into the studio...

...and playing with colour.

I had a chance to 'finish' (do we ever really finish anything??) the half dozen 4" x 3" collages,

and I'm really enjoying these colours.

I was gifted a pile of threads recently (thanks, Eileen!), so turned them into a collagraph.  And yes, I know you thought I was crazy for asking for them. 😉

It  looks really lovely turned into a gel print, though...what a luscious background this will make!

I've continued to work on Chloe's birthday painting - it's coming up much too quickly.

Of course, the leftover paint has been made to enhance a dryer sheet, and that, too, will be utilized elsewhere.  No doubt you're relaxing into this quiet colour.  😄

We've had a mixed week of sunshine and rain, so our irises are looking rather lovely!

This past long weekend was our Blossom Fest (the 83rd, I believe).  Although John was too ill with a cold/flu and unable to enjoy the huge number of events, we did happen upon the setup for the Childrens' Parade on Monday.  I really loved this costume on one of the volunteers.  It cracked me up when she told me 'my mom made it for me'.  

Between the costumes on the volunteers and the childrens' enthusiasm, I've no doubt the parade was outstanding!

I'm hoping your week was colourful, fun and just as playful to boot!  See you on the other side...

What's happening...

...in the studio this week?  Mostly colour playtime, I'd say, with little putting-together-of-things-to-make-new-things actually accomplished.

Because I have so little paper in my stash (can you see me laughing hysterically?) I felt obliged to make more.  It seems I just can't get enough painted paper in my life. 

Of course there was some paint left over to colour some dryer sheets.

Painting paper is fascinating, and excellent training in both patience and letting go.  The papers take overnight to dry (at a minimum), and one just cannot predict what will materialize.

Depending on the amount of paint and water applied,  you can find bold and brassy 

or somewhat subdued.  This one is much quieter than I expected.

I also tore into the alcohol inks on white-on-white wallpaper...the current heat wave has me blasting colour like a furnace.

The wallpaper below was meant to be a cover for a new book style I'm trying out, but an errant chemical reaction of the red stamp pad ink with the (totally) dried alcohol made the ink impossible to dry.  I wiped off what I could, reapplied red paint, and still have some moisture continuing to show.  Not sure about step # 4, but if I find a solution, I'll keep you posted.

The signatures linger impatiently while the mad scientist experiments.

And just so I don't leave you with that boring white photo above, I thought you might appreciate this purple glory houseplant.  It's an oxalis triangularis, but I think purple glory describes it much better.

I hope your week has been wonderful wherever you are in the world, and that colour rules your days!  

 

The mini-book frenzy continues...

and I may have to start more in addition to the 17 I have in progress.  Every time I use painted dryer sheets I fall in love with them all over again, and this little book-in-the-making will be no exception:

The texture just has me salivating - how about you?

And of course, I am also working on the other ones in progress...some day these will all come together - just like families after Covid is done.

With a first-birthday coming up for granddaughter, Chloe, a painting has also been in the works.  Lucky her parents don't read this or I'd have to wait until June to show it to you.  Chloe is just as whimsical as the painting...she's a delightful sprite.

And I have to show you this lovely leaf I discovered while out walking.

Isn't Mother Nature the absolute best artist ever?!!!

We've had some lifting of the restrictions this week, which means that Ruth and I will be able to resume working on paintings for her upcoming show in November - that's welcome news.  The pressure has been on to find ways to fulfil her commitment and this is a most positive step.

I hope the news in your area is just as good, and that we can all move forward to a kinder, gentler world together.  

When it's cool in the studio...

 ...one is always tempted to add some heat, and that's what happened with this piece.  

Flotsam & Jetsam© Win Dinn 12" x 6"
on cradled wood panel

Intended for the en suite bathroom and painted in three or four shades of blue, this piece had me yawning in boredom until I set it down next to a pile of chopped up painted dryer sheets, leftovers from the snowflake-cutting frenzy earlier in the month.  What synchronicity!

It was only a work of a few moments to slather on some medium and secure some of them to the wood panel next to the sea glass and shells already in place.

I'm loving the joyous results,

and can see this kind of  'happy accident' happening again.

The flashy dryer sheet bits are a perfect foil for the heavily textured blues.

I'd love to hear about your fortuitous happenings - got any to share?

It's curtains for me...

....and for you as well.  I've been promising the follow-up on this story for a while, and now is the time.

The curtain project was an ill-conceived thought, the execution was painful, and the results were so haphazard it's a wonder the project was ever finished.

As you can see from the beginning of the story, they were designed to fit a tight-cornered bathroom window and I'm glad to say that they really fit well there above those colourful heels.

'I Should Have Listened to Mom' cafe curtains
 ©  Win Dinn

The range of painted dryer sheets is extensive, running from lemon yellow through several shades of gold and sienna, dancing briefly on a tint of burgundy and accented with so many shades of red, yellow, gold, sienna and orange embroidery floss it's hard to count them (Thank you for that, Alice).

When one gets to the close-ups, you can see why I feel like they may last only a nano-second or two, even with the plain dryer sheets holding them together on the back.  The embroidery helps to tie them somewhat (or at least it would if I had had any idea of means and methods in that regard), and I'm pretty sure the extensive amount of mop-up paint does the same.

I have to admit that I was intrigued by the massive number of YouTube videos on the subject of embroidery stitches - there are literally hundreds of them, and when you consider the combination possibilities of the stitches the variety is endless.

 As always, it is the colour and texture that does it for me.

 When one looks closely, there are worlds within worlds in each dryer sheet.

From raw edges to flawed embroidery to daisies, stamping and endless hours hunched over an embroidery hoop,

I can only be pleased with my lunacy tenacity to see them hanging in the Material Changes show (see the previous post) and know that soon they'll be home again.

While I take a break from the purpose-driven creative activity of the last few months, I'm going to enjoy the feeling of making something that is so totally senseless, and possibly incubate something at least as crazy.  I could turn those pieces of painted cheesecloth into tiny jackets for the hummingbirds I see out the window (they're shivering in the rain right now), or paint a fuschia horse (oh, wait - I already did that!).  I'm sure I can come up with something.

How about you?  What's on your incubation list?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments below.

Playing, testing, experimenting...

is always my favourite thing to do.  I realise that for me, it's all about the process (which means making deadlines for shows is very stressful).  I'm happiest trying new things, creating new techniques, pushing old ones and going nuts with upcycling.  I thought I'd show you some of them this week.

This particular piece is made from painted dryer sheets .

I started with a stack of them, a bottle of Golden GAC-400 (a fabric stiffener), and a toilet paper roll wrapped in plastic and coated with Vaseline.

Soaking each of the painted sheets in the GAC-400, I placed them around the roll, and secured them with elastics.

Once dried, the gauzy stiffened fabric stands up well - all it needs is a small glass insert to make a gorgeous vase (yes, I know - I should have built around one, rather than the toilet roll cardboard, but it was an experiment after all).  Live and learn, right?

I've been playing in one of my journals (I have several on the go), and as I was feeling grateful for the small town in which we live, I got thinking about how challenging it may be for those who are obliged to live in the city. Hence this spread, Sleeping Tight,was born.

The other page completed was one I started some time ago, playing with patterns.

It's so dense with them it really needs a dozen close-ups.

Tell me, what have you been up to in the studio recently?  Are you a process lover, or a product artist? If the latter, will you send me some of your energy?  With another show to work towards in February, the push is on!

I'm feeling a bit bookish...

...these days, and as a consequence, I'm making them.

Squaring the Circle is one I've recently created as a door prize for the Gelli plate demo I did in Claresholm, AB.

It consists of an explanatory page at the beginning,

and a series of eleven different concentric circles.

I've studied, drawn and painted mandalas for years (mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning 'sacred circle'), and am compelled by the beauty of them, in any form.

 These ones are created from a range of papers that have been painted,

 Gelli printed,

cut from book sheets,

 distressed,

 covered in painted dryer sheets,

 and more.  I've used crystalline papers

and law books,

stencils,

 and ink to enhance them.

Although I can't say what it is about circles that draws me in so completely, I do know there will be more of these in my future.

What forms are you drawn to?  What motifs repeat themselves over and over again in your artistic play?