LOW ENERGY EFFORTS

Life Flower No. 1

Watercolor on TerraSkin stone paper
28 x 9.5 inches


I changed the colors just a bit on this one - the first and best.  Then made 2 others that are kind of ugly.  

Oh, well.  Just playing with colors and since these are on TerraSkin (stone) paper, they can be washed back to white or layered over with other things or whatever.

I used to stand and paint for an hour or more at a time.  Now I don't seem to have much energy.  No migraines, just low energy.  I keep telling myself I'm not that old yet but maybe I am kidding myself.


Here are the ugly ones...

Obviously, no planning - the tops are too close to the edge and the thorns are a bit too big.

This one is 28 x 8.5 inches

It's okay to just play with colors, though, and maybe rework them if I want them to be anything I keep - or wash it all off and start again.

And this one is 30 x 5.5 inches so very skinny.




Happy November
Where did the summer and fall go???

FROGGY WENT COURTIN'

Sweetie bought a kit to dress up our pumpkin.  We bought a small one that's very green on one side.  Added the bits.  And here is Froggy Pumpkin.  It should be the only one like this in the neighborhood when the Halloween beasties come out.


Happy Halloween!

LIFE HAS THORNS BUT...

A long, thin painting (watercolor) on TerraSkin paper. 

Love the way the color separates, granulates, changes as it dries on this stuff.  


This is:  Life as a Flower


(Life begins so green and fresh, so clean and new...then changes and sometimes there are thorns but look at the end result:  hopefully it's beautiful!).

I got up at 7:30 this morning, went downstairs and painted this.  Are the migraines over?  So far, so good - almost one week without and I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel and hope it's not an oncoming train! ha ha


Closer view so you can see the colors and how they flow.


Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

AUTUMN CARDS AND MIGRAINES

September was a horrid month of migraines which laid me low for days at a time - weeks at a time, really.  October = 6 so far and that's good news!  Had an MRI and it showed "normal" which is all the report I got about it - 35 minutes in a tube with and without dye injected into me and I get "normal" a one word report??  So asked for a copy of the report the doctor got!  Maybe I don't want to know...but that just isn't me.  I want to know even if I have to look up the medical terms.  I know it irritates some doctors who just want you to agree and move on - take this pill and you'll be fine - or whatever.

Anyway, enough whining.  I am painting nothing but small cards so here they are...


Pumpkins are everywhere these days - wonder what they do with all those leftover ones in the boxes at the grocery?  Have you seen the ones people are carving like our presidential candidates?  Scary! ha ha

Some seed pods.  

These cards are homemade from 5 x 7 bits of Arches or Fabriano 140# coldpress paper.  Which means I'll have to find some envelopes for them.

CARDS

Just a few paintings on cards = collaged pieces (the mermaid was painted on Tyvek + and bee is glued onto gold gessoed paper that was painted around using a honeycomb stencil).

MAGRITTE SKY

The other day I looked out my window and saw a sky that could have been painted by Rene Magritte.  I looked for the large green apple but didn't see one :)

Magritte seemed to love painting skies - and then putting something surreal into the painting, making us think about what, exactly, he was trying to say or do.

Many of us are familiar with one of his most famous painting, Son of Man, whether we know the name of it, or not.  

I'm not sure surrealists want you to figure out what they are saying - if anything.  Magritte said he covered the man's face so we think about how we always want to see something behind what we actually see.  The bowler, which he wore, could be a self-portrait aspect or not.  The sea, the stormy sky, who knows??







Hoping your day is NOT surreal.  And hoping all along the eastern coast of the US can rebuild and gather their lives back together after Hurricane Matthew.  So sad to see the news reports from Haiti where almost 300 died turn into 800+ recorded dead there.    

BLUE TREE YELLOW SKY

Just another quick one done on TerraSkin paper using watercolors and watercolor ink.  Trying to keep my brushes wet in between migraines...




18 x 8.5 inches on TerraSkin paper




Blue Tree, Yellow Sky





Hope your month is going well - for me, the weather has turned to cool mornings and nights, misty daybreaks, dew on the grass, the crows have returned and are calling, some weekend hours spent watching the grandkids play soccer, long-sleeved shirts and jackets coming out of the closet, leaves just beginning to tease us with changing colors.  I love autumn.   

WATERCOLOR AND WATERCOLOR INKS ON TERRASKIN PAPER

15 x 5 inches, watercolor and 
watercolor ink on TerraSkin paper








Bee World

MIGRAINE

For the entire month of September, I was fighting migraines - 8 total, which means 16 days in pain.  Not plesant.  During this month, I learned that I am not capable of dealing with chronic pain without becoming a wimpy woman who cries when she sees puppies, little piglets, sad dogs and cats, kittens, even while watching a program about a wonderful woman who quilted 100 original (no pattern, free style) quilts in her life who was a sharecropper's wife.  Yep, made me cry.  So my emotions have been put into some kind of blender and are just raw - because of the pain.  

In between migraines, I painted this.  15 x 5 inches, watercolor and watercolor ink on TerraSkin paper.


Migraines September 2016


I am hoping October is a better month.  Until then...

PESTICIDE KILLERS

Another in the Bee Series paintings.  Haven't used the painted rice paper yet but thinking about how to incorporate that into another painting...

For this one, I copied some materials I got through the mail and then collaged the copied paper onto the watercolor paper around the painted bee. 

Not sure what to name it - so the working title is just Pesticides Kill.


If I am going to have a show using these, I need to start making some in other sizes.  Right now, the majority of paintings are fourth sheet (11 x 15 inches).  Maybe next one will be a full sheet or half sheet again.


I haven't had a migraine in 4 days.  For every day of migraine, the next day is also bad - I feel drugged (whether I took anything for the migraine or not) and achy from the tense muscles.  So 14 days so far this month and I am hoping October is better.

BEE QUILT

Added some rice paper (white) to the edges of the "quilt" pieces and then added white gouache to that to make it stand out more.  A bit of texture to add interest. All done.


Fourth sheet (11 x 15") Fabriano coldpress watercolor paper.  




Bee Quilt

I stained some of the white rice paper with Quinacridone Gold to use in the next painting...

Not sure how it's going to be used, but I like the organic look of it...we'll see...

BEE SERIES: BEE QUILT

Started another in the Bee Series paintings.  This one, called Bee Quilt and I haven't decided yet what to add to it within the "squares" but I'll come up with some collage or something...perhaps add some texture with string?  Ideas will be percolating for a while.  


I haven't been painting much at all this month - migraines coming 1-2 times a week have kept me off kilter.  Because of that, I'm limiting my time on the computer down to just a couple times a week for short periods of time.  

I'm trying many things to help get rid of these blue meanie migraines, and hoping they go away soon.


Hope you all are enjoying your September, and are being creative this month.

BLUES

I've got the blues...

What colors do you have 
and love?

I have begun a new painting in the Bee Series.  
Will share it later.

BIRDS

Hawks are coming to are area.  I have a lot of feeders so I have a lot of birds - cardinals, bluejays, nuthatches, goldfinches, house finches, chicadees, mourning doves, etc.  It's a buffet for a strong predator.  Everyone has to eat.  

Aren't they gorgeous creatures?

This Cooper's Hawk was taking a cooling dip in the water standing on the swimming pool cover (we put mosquito dunks in there so the neighbors don't burn us at the stake about breeding mosquitoes; tablets tossed in once a month gets rid of the larvae).  It is being drained today since we are going to have more rain this evening.  Anyway...

When I glance outside and see no birds at the feeders, or hear the bluejays squawking, I know a hawk is close by.  This one was right on the deck railing, turning his/her head to stare at me when I looked out.  Big Red-shouldered hawk. 

 Notice the different back feather patterns and the difference in the color of the eyes to help distinguish between the hawks that come to our area = Red-Tailed, Red-Shouldered, Cooper's, etc.

Going from big to small...

We have a family (or two) of hummingbirds.  I've seen two males, one (or two) females, and a couple of smaller young ones, all coming and feeding at the two sugar water feeders I've put out.  Set out two if you see them fighting over a single feeder and make sure the second feeder is out of sight of the first = on the opposite side of the deck = cuts down on the territorial behavior and everyone gets to eat.  

BEES ARE SMARTER THAN HUMANS

Saw a disheartening article in USA Today online just a few days ago:  A town in South Carolina sprayed for Zika, killing thousands (if not millions) of honeybees in the process!  The beekeepers were sharing the photos of the bees lying dead on the ground, at the entrance to the hives, etc.  The insecticide is toxic and they are spraying it all over from planes without warning people to bring in their pets or children, and from large trucks that arrive in the middle of the night (like they did here locally).  And, of course, the insecticide kills things other than mosquitoes - like honeybees, butterflies, etc.  

Are humans really so stupid?

I know this is a real worry to a lot of people right now - and we have had reports of people with Zika here (who have come home with it from outside the US).  I know it's in the Miami region and will move up and around.  But can we not think, research and get good information before county or city bigwigs say, "Spray it all now"???



So this has made me want to return to my bee series paintings...which I am doing.  



So sad...

Used Daniel Smith Walnut Ink on parts of the bees in the final version.  Used a stick because the dip pens just didn't work for me.  

Would there be walnuts...and walnut ink if there were no bees?

READING ABOUT COLOR COLOR COLOR

I have some new books (2) and an older book (the one called Colour) so I'm going to be reading about colors = fun. 

Interesting for an artist.  

WATER IS GREAT EXCEPT...

Water is great for those of us who work in watermedia of all kinds.  But it's not so great when it's being pushed towards our homes by a hurricane.


I am wishing and hoping that all in the southeast are staying safe from this Hermine coming your way.  And hoping the same for Hawaii because there are 2 hurricanes out there in your area.  

Stay safe and go to high ground, if needed.  

Be careful out there!!

STONE PAPER?

Several years ago I heard of paper made from stone.  I think Jeanette Jobson was working on it, or had tried it.  Now you can easily find it in the art supply catalogs.  It's called Terraskin paper. 

I bought some sheets many months ago and played with it using acrylic inks.  Now I'm just using watercolor on it.  

These pieces are cut down from a full sheet (a full sheet is larger than 22 x 30 inches but I cut the large sheets down to that size so I can pin it to my Gatorboard) - the excess pieces are long so I cut them in half, giving me 2 pieces that are 7.5 x 14 inches.  A nice size to play with.

Little landscapes without drawing (you don't have to draw because you can lift back to white if you want.  I like the way the granulating colors work on this stuff (which is like Yupo but not as slick and thin) - you can see dots of granulation where the pigment separates.

I like to let the color dry a bit and then run my finger over areas, creating some texture and lines.  You can add colored watercolor pencils to the piece, too.  I imagine you could do anything on this "paper" that works on regular watercolor paper - but drawing on it with a sharp pencil will cause indents in the TerraSkin and that's not a good thing.  

I think you would probably be wise to spray seal the paintings once you are happy with them, just to protect them from rewetting and smearing.

In order to get darks, you have to stop lifting and fiddling with the color, but sometimes you get some nice shapes and edges by just rubbing the drying pigment with your fingers.  


I bought my paper from Amazon (which, I think, gets it directly from the manufacturer here 
but you can order smaller sheets (10 in all, each sheet 20-28 I think) from DickBlick.com now.  Check out here if you're interested.


My only question?  Why not call it TerraStone instead of TerraSkin?  


And that 22 x 30" sheet is still pinned to a block of Gatorboard, waiting for me to do something interesting with it...

SOMETIMES THE WHITE OF THE PAPER...

There is a medical condition called White Coat Syndrome that is very real.  You go in to see your doctor for a rountine check-up and your blood pressure goes up.  Your blood pressure at home is fine, but every time you see your doctor, it's high.  That's White Coat Syndrome.  Your blood pressure is effected by the stress of just seeing your doctor!!  

We artists have White Paper Syndrome.  You all know what I am talking about here. You see something that inspires you, you get your paper and materials together.  Then you just stand there stopped dead in your tracks.  Stuck.  That's where I'm at right now.  

I have been thinking about monotones and greys - all the beautiful greys that can be made.  But the white paper is just sitting there on the table, daring me to do something wonderful with it!


I know it won't happen today.  I seem especially tired, unenergetic, flat, uninspired, sleepy.

I could just make a lot of greys and see which ones I like the best...as a warm-up stage before even touching that paper.  Or I could just take a nap! I think a nice nap gets rid of White Coat Syndrome and White Paper Syndrome, too.

Hope you are inspired and creative today.

ART SHOW IN INDIANA

Sweetie and I both entered work in the Southeastern Indiana Art Guild show which opened with a very nice artist reception Saturday evening.  We weren't rained out, there was a very good crowd, and Sweetie won 2 awards for his photos!  I did not win anything this year (2 year's ago I got a top prize in this show) but that's fine - it was fun to hear his name called out and he got ribbons to put on his photos, a nice check for each, plus he was told that the local library purchases work and may be looking at his - how cool is that?

The show continues through Saturday, September 3:
Open Monday-Friday August 22 - September 2, 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
and Saturday September 3, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm


If you are in the area, stop in and see the show, located at the Art Guild Studios, 2nd and Main Streets, Aurora, IN.

HMMMM...

Well, this is pretty.  
This is okay.  
But this is not what I wanted.  

Perhaps I'm not doing enough thinking prior to putting that paint on the paper.  And I'm mixing too many color inside the palette instead of on the paper.  

So...time for a do over.


Stay tuned.  


(This is a half sheet = 15 x 22 inches).

RETURNING TO MY LOVE OF WATERCOLOR

Nothing is more beautiful than watercolors flowing across the paper.


Build upon your successes.  (That doesn't mean do the same thing over and over.)




So, for this next one, I took this as a start - a small (fourth sheet) painting done over a year ago.  From Florida trip photos, I'm sure.  

Redrawn and done in lighter, cooler colors.  It's also larger = half sheet.





We must learn to just enjoy what we are doing during the creative process.  The joyful act of creating something beautiful or meaningful (or both) means more than an award or getting into a show based on a single judge's opinion.  Create for you and the viewers will come!

FLUID ACRYLIC FAILURE ONE AND TWO

This is NOT a good painting.  
I wanted the splatters/drizzles to happen when you drizzle or splatter on Pebeo Drawing Fluid (a grey-blue masking fluid that makes more organic/not hard edged lines when lightly sprayed with water), but it is OBVIOUSLY not working here for me.  You have to plan those splatters and drizzles to work with the composition of the painting, don't you?

Here it is with the masking fluid off.  All the values look the same except the crow is too dark.  The shoes don't stand out enough...her skin is too golden...UGH!

So...started another that was just as bad and ended it before I got too involved.  Maybe I can return to these messes sometime when I learn more about fluid acrylics.

This is how I set myself up for failure before a major entry/juried show = I begin working on some new or unlearned technique that takes more learning than 2-3 weeks!  So...back to watercolor.  This is crazy.  Just do what you know how to do and continue doing it.  (Me talking to me!)  

Do you ever do this to yourself: Set yourself up to fail and then say, "Well, I can't enter that show; I'm obviously not good enough!"  And the fact that I got in 3 out of 4 times I entered a painting in the juried show (with different judges each time) should mean something...we dwell on our failures and forget our successes - why?

I should be very thankful that I don't have to live off my art earnings because I would have starved a long time ago! 

Okay, enough negative talk/thoughts...
Time to get back to watercolor and something that might bring pleasure when seen...

Take care, all.  Keep those blue meanies away from your work and mind!  And remember, we all feel like failures at times - even those we think are having great success and having a great time in their lives.  So...have a colorful day and hug an artist today (if you see one - they are pretty solitary creatures).

ANOTHER START

Experimenting with drizzles...possible bee series painting, not sure yet.  But I could see these becoming bees flying like an airplane squadron up up and away...







I am feeling the pressure to create something new (and good) for the upcoming juried show I want to enter - have until mid-month...tick tock...tick tock...