Keeping Cool in the Studio

We lost power for almost five days due to the big storm that ripped through Ohio and on to the east coast last Friday.  The hardest part for me was not being able to wake up and head into the studio as I’d been doing since my son finished school at the beginning of June.  I was really enjoying getting in there every day and making progress on things.

I have been painting a lot since taking the class with Carla Sonheim in April.

Today I finally got back upstairs.  And I was lost as to where to begin.

So I cut circles.

Of course I left my little Fiskars in the bag I packed to take with us to the church where we had shelter during the power outage, so I had to use these scissors.  That meant I couldn’t cut out the centers yet.

I kind of like how they look piled up here waiting for me to finish the cutting.  Nothing like cool blues and greens on a hot hot summer day (we’re looking at temps near 100F for the next several days).  It helps that the air conditioner blows at my art table too.

I’ve been taking every July for the past several years to work on personal projects.  This year July has sure gotten off to a weird start.

What have y’all been doing to stay cool?

Challah Collaboration

 

I am working in collaboration with our local Hillel and PassionWorks artists, on some Challah covers for show and sale May 5th.  Students worked with PassionWorks artists to create colorful, unique challah covers, and then they were turned over to me to enhance with stitching and to finish up.  Each piece is one of a kind.  They all measure approximately 22” x 22”, so they can cover a lot of challah.

Here is the first one that I’ve finished.

You can see how pretty the colors are.  Each piece is different, but all are colorful and fun.  I stitched the outlines using Kreinik gold machine embroidery thread.

You can see the detail here.  Once this was done, I had to figure out how to finish the edges of the burlap.

Here is a picture of  basting stitches I put in as a sewing guide for the stay stitch and decorative cording.

I zigzagged over the basting stitch to keep the burlap from unravelling.

Then I zigzagged some Kreinik #16 braid over the zigzags, to add extra sparkle.  You can see where I also did that on the edge of the painting.

Here’s the finished piece.  I’m really happy with how it turned out.

Now to do this at least 28 more times!

Red Bird in the Morning

Redbird in the Morning 2004  Hand embroidery on twill, patchwork, machine quilted.

Birds are some of my favorite subjects.  Here’s one I made inspired by the techniques in the book  Painting with Stitches by Sue Dove.  You can see more of my birds at my website.

Welcome to everyone clicking from The Brave Girls’ Club newsletter!

Left Handed Complement

Lately I’ve been trying to shake up my art making habits.  I’ve not been letting myself go to my default time-killers, like knitting or mindless beadwork (as opposed to beaded imagery).  It’s been really difficult.  Some days I don’t do anything at all because I’m “not allowed” to go to those default activities.  I just feel that right now I really want to concentrate on one or two forms.  And I really miss drawing.  It’s my original voice, and it’s gotten buried underneath all the other layers of forms I’ve been visiting.

Last night I watched the Grammys, and as I watched, I decided to do something a little different.  I allowed myself to draw with my non-dominant hand.  In this case, my left hand.  I had fun and wasn’t worried about the outcome or making it perfect.  And as I drew I could feel the delight coming back.

This guy kind of reminds me of Max from Where the Wild Things Are. 

I think this is my favorite.  I had lots of fun drawing the suckers on the tentacles, and the little fish remind me of the submarines I drew for the Sketchbook Project two years ago.  I think I will be revisiting this image again.

By the third drawing I was starting to think about subject matter.  I thought this was going to be a bee, but she kind of morphed into someone sleeping in their cocoon.  I’m not sure what the dream is about.  I added the jar because it represents the container for her dreams.

This was drawn near the end of the show, when they were announcing the Song and Album of the Year.  I didn’t want to fill the whole sky with flowers and that is why I drew the big marquee.  It reminds me of the ending credits of the old Bullwinkle show.  You can see how tired the little bird is by the circles under his eyes.  It was a long night of fun.

Drawing this way really helped me loosen up and just enjoy the process.  I highly recommend it!

Now for Something Completely Different

I have been working on a few different things, mostly involving painted paper or paint on canvas or sometimes a little of both.  Ironically some of these experiments were to get away from the fiddliness of working with patchwork.  Gluing is still a lot faster than sewing. :) 

Summer Carnival, painted paper on canvas.  I use Golden gel medium to attach the paper cutouts to the canvas.

Detail.  Here you can see the different mark making tools I use to make the painted paper.  These include Print Gocco (the fish), linoleum prints (the red dots in the upper left area are a frog), and carved stamps (the white star-like forms and the white stars).

Autumn Lotus

This is one of those things where I got a crazy idea to cut a bunch of lotus stencils out of a sheet of painted paper.  I am unsure whether this is in process or it is complete.

Koi Spring

This technique was so cool that I decided to try it on a larger scale.  My fingers weren’t too happy with me, but it was worth the effort.

Detail, you can see the dots from the sequin waste I used as a stencil and the detail of the red koi shapes I painted onto the original paper.   This piece is definitely still in process.  Stay tuned for updates.

Into the Void  Acrylic on canvas with graphite drawings added.  I am unsure whether this is complete or whether I want to go back into it with some india ink or liquid acrylic to emphasize the lines.

A detail showing the graphite drawing in more detail.  I like the way the paint washes blur the lines of the drawing.

The texture in this piece comes from some rice paper that I had initially adhered to the canvas, again using the Golden gel medium.

And today, after a several week hiatus due to mom duties (hockey and school), I was able to get back into the studio and begin a new painting.

In the Between, acrylic on canvas, and still very much in process, though it was nice to get back into the studio and just play with paint and color.

30 Days of Drawing: Day Fifteen

I have this wonderful Fabriano journal filled with colored paper.  It’s around 8” x 6” and is perfect for quick studies like this one.

I also worked on this large piece from my 14” x 17” Canson XL Mixed Media pad.

I’m really enjoying blending the colors on these pieces.

It’s nice to have such a large space to work in, and since I am doing these to play I am not stressing over how realistic the finished image is.  It’s letting me explore different ways of laying down the color and apply the layers. 

There’s still time if you want to join us!

30 Days of Drawing: Day Fourteen

I just love the handles on these old kitchen utensils.  From the top: potato masher, spatula and sieve.  Or as I call them , Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear.  Image size 12” x 15”

Detail.  I used mostly Prismacolor pencils, with a few Derwent Inktense and Graphitint pencils for the details.  The background is Grumbacher Acrylic in Payne’s Gray and Martha Stewart craft paint in Cloud, satin finish.

I promised a peek at the really big drawing. 

This is on Strathmore 400 series drawing paper, and measures approximately 60” x 36”.  I have to stand on a stool to reach the top of the drawing.  I’m using graphite sticks in 3B and 6B.  It started with just random marks but has evolved into this image.  The working title is “Eclipse”.

See you tomorrow!