From the Art Table

I've been spending a little time painting these days, working on pet portraits, mostly. Rick says I should hang out my shingle and I'm thinking about it. I've done pet commissions before and sometimes they make me anxious because every pet has its own personality and it's not always easy to grab it. It's pretty easy when it's your own animal!

Molly's long loved dog, Rogan, moved on a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't get out to get a card and she was such a wonderful animal and good friend to Molly for so many years.

So, I thought I'd paint her. I was pretty happy with the result.

Here's Kate's Zeke. I call him Lizzie's intended. (Though they've yet to meet and knowing them, it's not likely!)

So, I had to do Zeke. I think one of his eyes is a little wonky and I need to do it over.

And just a butterfly. I'm not sure it's quite right but it's cheery! (It's actually a larger painting but I cropped it to the good part.

I've been working on the Covid-19 journal too. This has been a fun project and I hope we'll find it illuminating to review it in years to come.

It captures the little things of live during the pandemic. Somethings are just day-to-day life...

...some are special days, like our Mother's Day walk.

It wouldn't be a journal without a walk to the Ditch!

Groceries? Sure!

 

And the never ending saga of my garden. If you can call it that.

 

So there you have it. At least it keeps me off the streets!

Creativity In Quarantine

With all the stress of Staying Home, anxiety about contracting Covid-19 and both collected grief for the changes in our world and individual grief for the loss of those close, finding ways to reduce that stress is critical. It may be reading, cooking, gardening or finding calm in creativity.

Two articles I recently discovered are well worth one's time: "The Therapeutic Power of Making Art" and "Finding Inspiration During Quarantine."

I've been doing both. For me, painting both calms and puts me in a Zen zone and also brings back a few memories, like visiting Martha's Vineyard and the charming cottages at the Oak Bluff's Campground.

Sometimes it reminds me of my walks at the Ditch.

Or it may recall memories of a fun visit several years ago to Rick's brother and sister-in-law in Massachusetts, where this barred owl took up residence in the tree for hours.

And other times, it puts onto paper experiences that our Toddler Twosome have enjoyed, even if I wasn't there to enjoy it with them.

If you want Zen, you can't beat the repetitive action of needle felting! I have done a fair amount of lambs this year.

But I also had fun with my French bear! He took forever. I'm not sure I can sell him!

The bigger part of my creative outlets has been my Quarantine Journal. It begins with my time in Canada just as things were breaking out and tightening up. The sketches are relatively quick ones and it's a change from my larger and more labored watercolors. I'm using a 90# Hahnemuhle sketch book, about 6x8.

I log the things that have been part of these many weeks, things like the numerous closings...

...the nervousness of going into the doctor's office...

...celebrating Easter (an unfinished spread)...

...my lifelines, the phone and the computer....

...the frustration of cold weather and yes, snow...

... the frustrations of online grocery shopping and the pleasures in cooking.

I've chronicled the events we see on the never-ending news and the fun of Zooming with friends.

And finally, a few honest thoughts about what this new life is.

There are more pages to come -- I have a feeling I'll be working on this journal for a very long time.

Art Journal Check-In

It's been awhile since I actually picked up my art journal and worked within that format. I've been having such fun with the pet-painting class and the Southern Exposure workshops that my own journal has been buried under a larger pile of art supplies being used for other projects!So, I thought I'd catch you up on a few things -- some of which you may have seen here before and some that are new.First up, the title page! NO RULES!

Here's a look at that series of the same image I kept doing over and over. I'm ready to tackle it one more time, this time not in gouache as these are but in pan watercolors and on a different paper, just to see how it plays.

Here are two images on watercolor postcards from the lake.

This one was done last summer from a vintage postcard. The perspective is a bit wonky. There's also a lot of pen and ink on the it.

This version is from a photo.

I still don't have the color and movement right. I've done this one twice so far (postcard above and larger) and just can't get the color right but I'll keep trying. Next time I'll try a cold press paper.

Here's a fun and fanciful one!

I haven't played with my linoleum blocks for too long! But here are the first two things I've done -- the cat (which I showed here when we were printing) and the Christmas card.

I'm not very good at birds -- have to work on this one some more! It's from last summer.

And then there are "places." I love painting from places I've been -- these are all from photos. The first is from Kinderdijk in the Netherlands. The painting can't begin to match the wonderful day spent with my blog friend Tara and her husband David. It will be a memory for a lifetime.

Of course, I had to tackle one of my favorite images from the Shaker Village!

The fascinating Montmartre area (postcard).

And this one needs no explanation! (Also postcard.)

Lately I've felt in creative overdrive -- wanting to paint, glue, stick things together, try new techniques and write (I'm working on family history, too!) Coming up in May, a friend and I are hosting our next make-and-take tea. Here's a sneak preview of the project. These are silk scarves. I did the top two and my friend Barb the one on the bottom.

For more on the technique of these, please visit Bleubeard and Elizabeth. This link and this one too will direct you directly to the process but be sure to check out her other tutorials if you're interested! It's tremendously fun!

Creating with Kristen Robinson, Part Two: The Journal

Yes, I know. I need another journal like a hole in the head. But the journal being taught by Kristen Robinson was different from others I'd done -- and besides, it was Kristen's class, which meant it would be tons of fun!



Kristen's upcycled journal will be featured on her upcoming DVD so don't look for instructions here, but ideas. And the big concept was to use what you have to build something beautiful. Trust me, for every step, she had a rapt audience!

We started with cereal bags. Yup. Empty cereal bags! After the crumbs were removed we arranged items of our story -- whatever that may be -- on one half of the bag, folded it over and press it to seal the bag into a page signature.

This was WAY easier said than done for me!



You need to be careful that elements don't slip out of place when you are pressing it and turning it over (or else you will have, say, a tea bag paper covering Greg's face! above left -- oops!)



But the technique is pretty cool and a great way to see elements yet protect them.

Kristen's kits had everything we needed to make the project -- papers, music, the cereal bag (of course), charms, fabirc, music and printed pages. But of course, we all brought things -- photos and fabric and paint and embellishments!

She demonstrated and gave us art to create a gel medium photo transfer...



...and showed us how to burn felt for an aged, vintage technique.

We incorporated paper bags...

And sewed muslin to paper to make pockets filled with journal cards.

The idea of the journal was to leave room to write. I decided to use mine for family connections, so I had pages with my parents (I can journal on the painted parts or on the journaling cards)...

And places and people I loved.

I finished mine a bit more when I returned home, adding some embellishments I hadn't brought to class and fleshing things out a bit. Here are a couple more pages.

I'm probably not going to make another journal -- not that I didn't like making this one. I did. A lot. But I'm a bit overjournaled and don't put nearly what I should in them.

 

That said, I learned a lot of techniques I will definitely use again -- the transfer, felt burning, the cloth flowers in the photo above, right, and the idea of fusing the papers together. All of these will come in very handy in the future.

I leave you with a technique Kristen shared with us -- painting a surface and then using a tool (end of your paintbrush works fine!) to inscribe the piece. This one was by Amy -- I wish I could take credit for it, because it is a wonderful page and wonderful words.

Words to remember, no matter what the case -- a blank page or canvas. Or, a new step forward in life.