Arting was short and sweet...

 ...as the week flew by like rocket.  With family in town (happy dancing ensued for four days!), there was little time for anything but quick photos of interesting patterns,

a card for a friend who is leaving her job at the gym in order to work at a winery for the summer, 

a start on cutting a larger scribble Typar stencil

which will be used on this 3' x 4' wood panel.

I've been promising myself for three years to get to work on it so I'm hoping you'll hold me accountable!  It's all gessoed and ready to go, so I have no excuse!!

And I printed some favourite quotes to add to a stash of tags - these will eventually go to the library for their ongoing efforts of fund-raising.  I turn to these small projects when my mind is boggled, and they come together so quickly that it helps to start the creative juices flowing again.

What was your creative week like?  Do you have a gazillion things on the go as well?  Here's to arting everywhere!  

It's been a fabric week...

...for splashing paint, 

admiring,

finding serendipitous sleepy hearts,

using the finished star stencil,

embroidering on

and sighing at the amount of mending and repair yet to come on my favourite paint shirt.

Painting time in the studio has been limited as I prep for a family visit - can you see me doing a vigorous happy dance from where you are?  I'm sure you can!!

May your week have been filled with creative fun, no matter what that may be.  See you next week!

It's been a week...

...and that's all I'm going to say.  Thank goodness for studio time which does much to help restore my sanity.  I managed to finish the first crackle piece, and can enjoy that feeling of done and dusted.

'Squaring the Circle VI', mixed media on canvas, 2023 © Win Dinn

I did some further work on the garden piece, and have gone waaaaaaaay overboard, I'd say.  It amuses me that even with this much on the go, I kept trying to up the contrast and volume.  I'm obviously right around the bend.

There are parts of it that really make me happy, like the sketchiness of the pen work around the blue here.

The little windows of layers beneath really pull me in.

Each 'flower' has a totally different feel due to the 17,563 layers (😉 )  that comprise the piece. 

This style of leaf pattern is a favourite of Tracy Verdugo's, and I've become quite enamoured of it.

This area makes me laugh, as I can't decide whether it's the yellow/orange part that's the flower, or if the petals are all the bits between.

Because this is definitely an exploratory piece, there may be more to come.  In the meantime, I'm going to set it aside and move on to something new.

I also managed to get further along on a Typar stencil I'm cutting; I've been wanting to do this one for ages and finally found the 'Round Tuit' I'd misplaced in the wash.

All in all, it's been a good studio week, and I hope yours was too.  May your Easter have been filled with love and laughter, family and friends.  See you next week!  xo

Where did it go?

This week, I mean.  I know it had the same number of days in it that every other week has held, but it went gangbusters, and I feel like little was accomplished in the studio.

I know I compulsively watched the Kroma Crackle dry on the first background, eyes crossed and patience waning.  It's taking a very long time.

I added some crackle (a new one I'm testing) to the second companion background, and can already see that it will dry much more quickly.  

I suspect that by tomorrow, I'll be layering again like a painter gone mad.

I've added more layers in the upper left quadrant of the 'garden', and will work some more this coming week to create additional floral forms.

And I did take time out on Monday to do the April prompt.  The technique I drew was 'scribble', and that's exactly what I did.  Utilizing a background, I scribbled like mad and then added glazes of colour to the segregated areas.  It was a LOT of mindless fun and a great way to practice some painterly strokes.

How about you - did your week go as quickly?  What did you get up to?  Please feel free to add a link in your comments!  In the meantime, I'm wishing you a lovely springtime Easter.  May yours be filled with family, friends, renewed light, and a good deal of decadent chocolate!  

Having friends in the studio...

...is a great treat!  Louise Olinger is a long-time friend who was visiting in the Creston Valley this week, so we got to play together a couple of times.

She was working on a couple of bookmarks while in the studio,

and I know her little grandson, Nolan, is going to be delighted with his (on the left).  Wonder who's going to be the recipient of the one on the right - Louise was keeping pretty mum about that!

Meantime, one of my 'red' canvasses was sporting a thick layer of Kroma Crackle - it's going to take another couple of weeks to dry so I can add some more colour (because it's obviously much too quiet right now).

I had a blast taking this screeching collaged piece a step or six further, and can hardly wait to see where it goes from here.

Another piece got some more layers as well, including some alcohol ink pens that bled, and bled and bled. Goodness knows whether it's salvageable.  Lesson learned (perhaps, although I know I've done this before.  Mom always used to say that 'repetition aids comprehension', although in my case, I'm not sure that's the case).

And last week's 'dog's breakfast' is turning into a garden, so that should be interesting as it runs for the finish line.  Goodness knows where or when that may be.

Here's to making the world a more colourful place, bit by bit!