Ipad Watercolors On the Road

Here are a few 'watercolors' I did recently on the ipad using the 'Paper by 53 app." As it turns out, painting on the ipad with this app is really fun, and has nice results. I did some of these sketches while in the car. This is a great way to do sketching on the go!

You can read more about my adventure with ipad sketching in this earlier post and see more of my digital sketching if you are interested. Happy New Year to my Paint Party Friday visitors! Thanks so much for stopping by.

Peace and Healing Art Journal Page

 This post could be subtitled, "The Real Reason I Haven't Finished Baking Christmas Cookies." Yes, I am prone to procrastination, even in the busiest of times (or perhaps especially in the busiest of times) and today was no exception. The kitchen was a mess, presents were waiting to be wrapped, and cards waiting to be written, yet I was calmly making a journal page. I guess I could blame it on my friend for sharing such a great quote on Facebook, because it really is so wonderful. I could also blame it on Jennibellie's latest tutorial on making a journal page in 15 minutes, which I also decided to watch today. But I think it was a little voice inside me telling me that it really is OK, and maybe even necessary to give ourselves permission to sit down, relax, breathe, and contemplate during this busy, and let's face it, sometimes stressful time of year.

The idea came to me to use this quote which I'd seen earlier and wanted to remember. In this time of so much violence and heartache in our country, and in our world, I found these words so reassuring and inspiring -- healing words to live by and remember now and throughout the coming year.

Thank you to all who have visited my blog this year and commented with such kindess. Best wishes to all of you for a wonderful holiday season and a very happy new year.

Draw Your Own Sun: Art Journal Page

I was out at the coast over the weekend for two gloriously relaxing days. I love being there any time of year in any kind of weather. It's always breathtaking, even (and maybe especially) on the blustery days. One cloudy morning, I got out my sketchbook and did some doodling.

I only had a few basic supplies with me but I had already collaged and painted a background on the pages to use up extra scraps and paint from another project. After doodling and dabbling with my pencils and paints for awhile, the words came to me.

On a cloudy day, draw your own sun.

And while you're at it, relax!

It was fun just giving myself time to play around. In this second page, I really like the way the caran d'ache works together with the collage elements and acrylic background. I just used what I could find -- items cut from the newspaper and a tea bag (do you see it?). If you've never tried tea bags in your collages, I highly recommend it. They're stained in delicate earth tones and are beautifully transparent. They also add a subtle texture that absorbs paint very nicely. 

Thank you for visiting my blog! I always appreciate your comments so much.

Art Journal Page: Thankful

It's Thanksgiving today, a time for gratitude and reflection, not to mention delicious food and family fun. There is so much I am thankful for. As I turned to this journal page I'd started earlier and began to write about my gratitude, I realized that I am more thankful for family and friends than anything else.

Here is the page before I started working on it today. The tape is homemade washi tape I made after watching one of Jennibellie's fabulous tutorials. I certainly am thankful for the generosity  and support of artists I've met online.

My Thanksgiving today ended up being very quiet and peaceful with just my immediate family. I wasn't feeling well, so we had to cancel our plans to join a larger family gathering. We all enjoyed our quiet day at home after a hectic few weeks. Fortunately, I wasn't too sick to sketch and paint a little.

Thank you, for visiting my blog! Your comments are always very much appreciated. I will be gone for part of the weekend, but I will be sure to visit your blogs over the next week.

Art Journal Pages: Fall is Here

Lately I've been making an art journal out of a mail order catalog because I can't seem to resist any new idea that comes along and this one looked like fun. It's actually turned out to be quite an undertaking!

 At the same time, I've been reading Pam Carriker's book, Art at the Speed of Life. What I love about her book are the practical strategies for making art a part of  everyday life. One of the projects of the book is a 7-day journal project, which breaks the process of making a mixed media journal page down into steps. I am more of an all or nothing gal who hates to stop a project once it's started, but it's been nice to try a more methodical approach and learn some new techniques at the same time.

Slowing down and only doing one or two steps a day has helped me to relax a bit, rather than feeling I have to frantically get something done while I have a chance. One day I did background painting, then on another day I added some image transfer and collage elements, and on a third day I added texture, and so on. It feels good to have a specific plan for how to work. Taking a break in between steps also gives me time think a little more about what I'm doing and come up with new ideas. I've also been using this idea  with various other in-progress projects as a way to hopefully get some fresh inspiration, move past my mental blocks and finish them.

I didn't really start the journal with a theme, but the change of season and beautiful leaves starting to turn are taking center stage. The lovely words here are from Emily Dickinson. If you're interested, you can read more about this page along with the complete poem in my earlier post.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I always appreciate your comments.

Reeling, Through Endless Summer Days

Is it really September already? Where has the summer gone? August flew by in a blur and now, the kids are back in school, which means some peace and quiet and time to paint!

This piece is a combination of collage, image transfer (the sunflowers) and acrylic. The pattern in the lower part of the painting comes from a gel printed piece of sewing pattern tissue that originally looked like this:

The beautiful pattern in the print is from a crocheted doily. It was fun, and challenging to try and get the abstract and representational elements to work together in this composition. While I painted, I focused on layers of glazing to add depth and texture and I actually ended up painting over the flowers quite a bit to enhance the color.

 I started this piece, I'd been thinking about these words from Emily Dickinson's poem "A Liquor Never Brewed":

 Inebriate of air am I, 
And debauchee of dew, 
 Reeling, through endless summer days, 
 From inns of molten blue. 


 Lovely, don't you think?

I'd also like to remember my grandmother who passed away at the end of August, at the age of 102, quite an amazing woman! One of my fondest childhood memories is of her taking us to see the wild crocuses blooming in the spring. We lived pretty far north, so often the crocuses would be poking up through the snow! For her 101st birthday last summer, I made her this mixed media collage (blogged about here) to thank her for the beautiful memory.

I miss her, but I'm so glad she had such a long and healthy life, and that I could have her in my life for so many years.

Thanks for stopping by! Your comments are always very much appreciated.

Summertime Fun: Outdoor Encaustic Studio

Summer can be a long time time coming in the Pacific Northwest, but when it finally arrives, it's nothing short of magical. Last week was especially lovely, so I decided to move my encaustic "studio" outdoors. I hadn't had the time to work on my encaustics in awhile and it felt so great. (If you haven't done encaustics before, you can see that the "palette" is actually a griddle.)

I had started this piece earlier in the year and wasn't happy with it at the time, so I decided to work on it more. I collaged some hand-printed tissue paper toward the top and then added some branch-like lines. I'm calling it "Dancing Under the Moons."

And here are two more pieces I did that also incorporate some hand-printed tissue paper. Tissue paper is a great collage element in encaustic because of its light weight and transparency.

All in all, a productive day! Thanks so much for stopping by. I'm linking this post to Paint Party Friday. Check out all of the wonderful artists who participate and join the fun!

A Difficult Subject and a Happy Ending

These past few weeks I've been busy doing a lot of small collages, using bits of painted papers (read more about this process here) and other elements. Here is one I'm calling "A Difficult Subject."

I used some charcoal in the background, then used clear gesso, followed by the collage elements, and finally, some watercolor. (really not so difficult, and definitely a whole lot of fun)

While we're on the subject of fun, this past year has been one of creative frenzy for me as I've rediscovered my love of creating and making art. One thing I've become very good at is starting a lot of paintings. Sometimes my work just flows and comes together easily into a finished piece, and others, well...let's just say I've got quite a few of those! I can't make myself throw them out, though. I put them away for awhile, hoping that I'll figure out how to finish them someday. Here is one of those paintings. I can't even remember how I started this one. I think I was probably using up paint that I'd put out and didn't want to waste. I know I worked on it at several different times. The other day, I took it out again and decided I kind of like it, just as it is. So, here is my newly finished painting of the week, "Sunscape". 

Which leads me to a question. How should I frame small pieces such as these? Some are standard size, and others are not. The small collage is actually on mat board. How do you all do it? Do you know of sources for economical (but nice) frames? Do you make your own? Thanks in advance for your advice! 

Rhapsody in Blue: Experimenting with Acrylics

Over the years, I've had a love/hate relationship with acrylics. Well, to be honest, probably more hate than love. I first experimented with them long before I ever tried oils and really wanted to love the medium. The easy cleanup was a huge bonus for me. But the paint always dried so fast and my end result never seemed to look the way I wanted it to. Along the way, I did try oils, and then watercolor, which stole my heart. There is just something about the way the water flows on paper that keeps me coming back for more. But about a year ago, as I began experimenting with mixed media techniques, I kept hearing about the new fluid acrylics, so I finally decided I should give them a try. So here I am, once again experimenting with acrylic painting.

When I started out with these two paintings, I wasn't sure if I would use the painting as background for collage or just paint. I ended up liking the colors and shapes enough that I decided to just paint and see what happened. This is also part of my ongoing challenge to learn how to do abstract compositions.

I doubt that acrylics will ever become my primary medium, but they have some useful qualities for mixed media art. Their colors are more intense than watercolor, and the fact that they dry fast and are permanent is very nice for working with layers. The fluid acrylics also lend themselves to some interesting paint effects that I love in watercolor. So, I'm sure I will continue to experiment with them and use them to a certain extent in my artwork.

I recently discovered the Creative Color Challenge  on Flickr and posted my paintings there for the March color theme of tranquil blues.

Thanks so much for visiting! I really appreciate your comments.

Encuastic Image Transfer Fun

I am sure loving my encaustic class. This week we learned how to do image transfers into the wax. It's quite easy and I love the effect! First you place a photocopied image into warm(not molten)wax. Then you dampen the paper to gently rub away the paper and the ink magically stays behind in the wax. Of the image transfer techniques I've tried, this definitely ranks up there in ease and speed. Of course by now there is a very good chance you're scratching your head and thinking image transfer? What image? Well, in this case, I transferred some text for some visual texture. I'm secretly amused that it comes from a handout that I used in my day job as a teacher. Perhaps on some level this bridges the gap between the competing interests in my life. I also used stencils for the leaf design and for the circle (my first, and possibly my last, homemade stencil).

Thanks for visiting! Happy Paint Party Friday!!

Watercolor Floral

One of the things I'm trying to be more consistent with is practicing my drawing. I recently joined The Sketchbook Challenge. I love all of the different online challenges and find they can really be motivating. It's always so interesting to see what other artists are doing. The February theme was closeup, and my goal here was to practice a closeup sketch. I did a lot of drawing first and then did color washes. Normally I would just jump right into painting, but I'm quite happy with the result here.

Start More, Finish More!

I'm getting used to having many pieces in progress at a time. What I like about it is that I'm doing more art than I ever did before. If I get stuck on one piece, I can move to another, or start another one. The danger, of course, is having a lot of pieces started without ever finishing anything, and that is something I am very good at! Today I'm showing two pieces that I've worked on here and there and let them slowly evolve.

I loved this fern image from a catalog, so I collaged it into the background. Then I played around wth some paint effects, using sprayed soapy dishwater. Doesn't it create some great paint effects?

But after that, I was stuck until one day, I decided to add an image transfer of a flower, followed by more painting and this is what happened:

Is it finished? I'm not sure. I want to add more detail in the flower and there's an edge from the collage that I don't like so it will probably take some more work to be complete. We shall see!

Here is an encaustic piece I started before Christmas.

I was pretty happy with it, but didn't like the top part around the butterfly. The beauty of encaustic painting is that if you don't like something, you can just scrape it off, so that's exactly what I did in my encaustic class yesterday. I also added a some line elements by drawing on tissue paper then collaging that into the piece.

I might do some more work with it as well, but I'll take my time. I have plenty of other WIP's to keep me busy in the meantime!

Encaustic Painting: "Eight"

Aside from getting powdered graphite spilled all over me and my workspace by another student in the class, I had a pretty good day in my encaustic class this week. Fortunately, as it turns out, powdered graphite makes some very interesting effects in wax. After years of working primarily representationally, I'm learning to do abstract compositions. It's fun and scary at the same time. One question I wrestle with is whether there should be deeper meaning or if it's acceptable to work according to what pleases me visually. My approach is very process-based. I start with the visual and as I work, more ideas come to me. In this piece, I used stencils for the shapes. I used 8 because it seemed like it would look good and I used the two leaves to balance the composition. Now I'm toying with the idea of adding something more mysterious about the number 8, maybe something from numerology or an astronomy map, which is based on an 8-point star like this.

If I do, I will try to print it on tissue paper, and then collage it into the piece with wax in next week's class.

Thanks everyone for visiting, especially to Paint Party Friday friends! I so enjoy seeing the work others are doing, and appreciate your comments.

Slowing Down with Encaustic Painting

There's something really soothing about working with encaustics. You need to slow down, wait for the wax to melt, stir the medium, fuse the layers, and be sure not to burn yourself or start any fires! I'm taking an introduction to encaustic painting class over the next two months. Today, in class, we got to play and experiment. I'm pretty happy with how this little piece I did in class turned out.

I used a stencil for the leaf design, along with plenty of incising and oil paint to create other lines.

I am not completely happy with the photos here of my work, though. I haven't figured out how to get rid of the glare from the wax. That's why I have the two pictures here, and yet I'm not completely happy with either one of them. Photography is not my forte! I will need to learn more about this if I continue working with wax in my art.

Every Leaf a Miracle

I love leaves. When I'm on the phone doodling, I'm most likely doodling leaves. When I'm out on a walk, I can't help but gather interesting leaves along the way. Their shapes, colors and lines are always interesting. So it's not surprising that leaves make their appearance in my artwork quite frequently.

I recently made some stamps of, you guessed it. Leaves! Here are two examples of my stamps used in small paintings.

I also love poetry and like to incorporate it in my work. This lovely line from William Wordsworth, "With every leaf a miracle.." summed up my feelings about leaves perfectly.

Happy Paint Party Friday to my PPF friends. If you'd like to know more about this friendly challenge, here is the link: Paint Part Friday Thanks to Kristin and Eva for hosting this fun, friendly weekly challenge!

Wishing You Were Here

Since I've been experimenting with mixed media, I've made a few trips to local thrift and antique stores. One of the stores I visit is well stocked with antique postcards, so I bought some, not sure exactly how I'd be using them. My first experiment using watercolor on one of them didn't work so well, even with a very light touch on the water. Then, I discovered clear gesso and decided to give that a try. Here is my effort painting over the clear gesso. I still used a fairly light touch with the water and paint, but it worked much better. I'm not completely happy with the sand dollar yet -- they're easy to draw, but harder to paint. I want to get the shading right, so you may see an updated version soon.

Happy Paint Party Friday to my PPF friends. Here is the link in case you're interesting in joining this friendly challenge: Paint Party Friday

Snow Daze

We've had a rare week of winter here in the Pacific Northwest and it's been a doozy, complete with ice storm, downed trees (3 in our yard), and kids home from school all week. They've had fun in the snow, though, but now we're ready for the rain to come back and melt all this white wonderland away.

Moving along to painting. I decided to try a larger piece. I began with a 12"X 12" sheet of watercolor paper.

After several layers of paint and collage elements, I decided I wasn't happy with it, so as you can see above, I cut it into 4 smaller pieces and worked more on each one after that.

The sunflower is a gel transfer with pencil sketching. I love the words at the bottom, "Across the heavens, and silent.." Did you hear that, kids?

Happy PPF to my Paint Part Friday friends!