It's done...

...and set in stone.  Well, it's set in concrete, really.  The table top is not only finished and polished to a lovely gloss, it's installed in the Puffin Design studio where I can use it to the max.  The best part? It's near twice the size of the table in my home studio, so I'm seriously thinking of moving in permanently.  Is it illegal to live in a gallery?

.

Here's some fun facts for you about creating a concrete table top:

A finished top this size weighs about 150 pounds and will ultimately carry more than that, I suspect.  You can see I've already got a good start on loading it up.

Before it could be used, Bart peeled the plastic off - it was there to assist the chemical process which hardens the concrete.  Here you can see the water condensation as it evaporates from the concrete.

Bart removed the forms from the edges of the drying table top and

we flipped it over (well, I felt like I was helping) to find this stormy scene.

It takes many polishes, starting (in this case) with 100 grip sandpaper, then 200, etc.

It takes 28 days for the concrete to cure before it can be sealed.  I suspect that I'll have it sealed with gel medium long before that time is up.

The sanded top is a study in texture and pattern.

I wonder how I will learn to tear my eyes away from the top and actually get to work!  If you're in town, please stop in and have a look - 137 15 Ave. N, Creston, BC.  I promise I'll stop ogling it long enough to say hello.

I can see...

...the tables in the studio.  It hasn't been this clean in days months years.

The back deck is astounded at the sight, and the cherry trees in the orchard next door are so agog they can't quit peeking in the windows.

I wonder why on earth.......you might want to stay tuned to find out.

I have been working...

...honestly.  Although the studio has been torn apart from stem to stern for a deep cleaning, I've managed to finish a few small things:

'Recs & Circles; Amother Colour'  6 x 9" mixed media on paper © Win Dinn

'The Hole Story'  7 x 5" mixed media on mat board © Win Dinn

'Chasing the Blues' 8 x 8" mixed media on canvas  © Win Dinn

Really, when you consider that my studio looked like this a couple of days ago,

while I scrubbed the floors to a faretheewell (mostly on my hands and knees),

there aren't enough adequately descriptive words to tell you how happy I am to have a spanking clean space again.

So here's to some more creative time during this gorgeous fall weather.  Happy days!

It's a little damp...

in Creston right now.  Some  heavy snowfall (for our area) followed by much warmer weather has created 'just a little' flooding in our yard.

 While I am fascinated by the patterns created by the water itself,

 as well as by the reflections therein,

the resultant flood in the garage is less to my liking.  As most of the water-logged boxes belong to our daughter, Rochelle, she'll be even less enthusiastic.  Her CD covers sit drying on the studio floor,

the workshop tables are piled with her books, interspersed with paper towels to soak up the moisture,

and boxes are securely tucked under the tables until we can relocate them to a safer space.

Meanwhile, Opal the Studio Cat toasts her warm, dry body beside the gas furnace, staying well away from all that excess of water, perhaps dreaming of the sunshine we all crave.

How's your creative week going?  I do hope it's dryer than ours!

In and out...

The studio today is an amazing series of contrasts compared to the great outdoors.  There are stacks of paintings in progress lined up near and on the window sill,

 and a pile of tests and 'what if's' to follow on the easel.

There's a book cover painting that I thought was done and had tucked in an obscure place to do the 'catch me unawares' trick, and I see it's nowhere near finished.

A pile of leftover cut snowflakes are scattered across a stencil binder, next to another near-finished painting.

Some zentangles await spray gluing and photocopying for another 'what if' possibility,

and some journal pages cozy up to another 'Victoria womanhood' start from the recent workshop.

On one of the play tables sits a styrofoam head - thanks Andrea Revoy! - waiting for inspiration, time and colour,

next to a pile of papers and a roll of sari silk Andrea also donated to the mixed media cause.

Yet this morning at 6:30, the snow storm was blowing gusts against the windows, 

 and the view outdoors is a study in black and white, most unusual for this valley.

Is it any wonder that I'm addicted to my studio?  I HAVE to go where the colour sings, don't you? 

I'm back...

...in the studio, that is.

With a summer of canning generated by a huge excess of tomatoes and other garden produce, this week is the first I've been in the studio since June.

Happy?  Oh.  My.  Yes!

There are piles of new and in-process projects on the tables,

gessoed books ready for altering,

and a new project on the go (ssssshhhh...it's a secret).

I'm as happy as the proverbial pig in petunias to be back playing here.   Hurrah for studio time, paints and the creative flow!

Happy, happy, happy...

Have I told you recently how happy I am these days?  On Mother's Day, I think it's definitely appropriate to do so. Not only do I have the best children in the world (slight bias there), but my husband, extended family children, their spouses and baby girl are totally wonderful too.  Add to that a very sunny day, a lot of play time in the studio, and I'm....well, you guessed it....very happy.

On Friday and Saturday, after recovering from a hectic week, I got to play in the studio - missed the Farmers' Market (sorry, Jen), long walks and all the sun we had, but it was worth it to be back mucking around in our sunny basement, and I've got eight new painting starts on the go (along with three to finish from last month).

Plastic wrap base, packing tape transfer band, overlaid with palette paper transfer

This one looks very pale compared to my usual intense colour so I'm interested to see how it will develop.

Wax paper over wash , over-stamped

 I love the variations created by the plastic wrap technique - they are all so interesting, and each one is unique and uncontrollable (John would say that describes me perfectly!).

Plastic wrap smooshed into wash, dried & lifted

 This is another quiet looking start - want to bet I can ramp up the colour?

Plastic wrap smooshed into wash, partially dried & lifted

 Nothing subtle about this one - in fact, I may have to tone it down to make it usable.

Two layers of  paint washes, both with 99% alcohol dropped in

 This is also something unique for me.  Meg Nicks of Sunny Raven Gallery in Canmore gave me a bottle of  Sludge (not kidding) last weekend when she attended the mixed media workshop in Claresholm.  Sludge is the recycled residue in acrylic paint factories and is very neutral in colour because it's all colours mushed together.  This is a colour I would never use, since I am addicted to clear, vibrant tones.  I can see, though, that it will be working it's way into future paintings, too, as it is such a wonderful background.  Thank you, Meg!

Wax paper squished into heavy body paint and over-stamped

 In my workshops, one of the favourite techniques is the use of cheesecloth to mop up paint.  This start below is a variation of that trick, as the cheese cloth is 'painted' on to the support with a heavy wash of thinned paint, left to dry, and then removed.  The beautiful and 'holey' pattern remains to intrigue the viewer, and one can use the removed cheesecloth in other paintings.

Paper towel pressed base, overlaid by cheesecloth-wash which was dried & removed.
(The cheesecloth is now yummy too, and  can be used elsewhere)

 The two canvases below are waiting to have some colour added, and I can imagine how anxious they feel as they anticipate the application - everything is better with colour.

Doesn't look like much yet, but these two canvases have been painted
 with gloss gel and will be the start of two more techniques

 This past week, there's been an ongoing discussion amongst my artist friends about the tidiness (or not) of their studios as they work.  I thought I'd post a photo here of mine in the throes of all this activity.  If you'd like to share your studio space photo, please send one to me at windinn@shaw.ca before the end of May  - I'd be happy to post them all in a June blog post.

My studio this morning

You'll note the paint shirt in the right hand side of the painting.  After viewing some photos of yours truly taken by Alice Saltiel-Marshall  at the workshop, I was appalled to see how boring my paint shirt was looking.  This week, whenever I had leftover paint on my palette, it went on my paint shirt.  It's actually starting to look quite decent, and I look forward to 'finishing' THAT canvas.

Today I'm wishing you happy days, and a life filled with colour.

Back in town, back to Blogspot, back re-creating a life...

It's been four months since my last posting on Blogger with the Painted Turtle Gallery.  In that time, the gallery has been closed and mostly wound down (I love bookkeeping so much that it may take a while - until tax time at least - to finish that aspect), the house whipped back into shape, minimal gardening completed, a studio created in the basement, and some heavy-duty welcoming of a new grand-niece (born at 8 lb. 13 oz. on September 2/11 to niece Shaina and her husband Lonny).

Maevie Clare Hand

What's driving me now is the scheduling of workshops over the winter, so keep your eye on this space to find out what's happening in this studio and elsewhere.

NW corner of studio