Posts

Showing posts from July, 2013

A card for Alice

Image
I wanted to make something for my gorgeous daughter's 16th birthday, naturally. I've made books, scrapbooks, a light switch plate, door hanger and written her dozens of letters. So this year I decided to make a card, which I don't often do since my husband, Jim , is the resident greeting card guru, king, champ. He has been illustrating greeting cards for Oatmeal Studios for more than 25 years and a few of his designs remain best sellers. I digress. This post is more about the need for creative flexibility, knowing when a project is done, and, well, finishing what I've started.  My track record for completion, especially when it comes to online workshops, isn't great but I think I've made peace with that. I do feel a bit guilty though I've paid the fee and nobody can see me not finish! I may not follow through but I've realized that I take away quite a number of elements that I can use in my own work. So, in addition to celebrating m

More fun with photos

Image
Working in a watercolor book - rather than starting on another canvas - has been one of the most liberating creative experiences ever. I don't have a lot of room in my studio and I'm currently not making any efforts to show or sell so the watercolor book is also far more economical.   Working in an open book also enhances my willingness to art more often and experiment more than ever. The biggest issue I'll have is that I may have to cut the pages out and re-bind them due to the dimensional aspect. I'm only seven pages in and the book won't exactly close.  The enlarged close-up shot of an old bottle top isn't quite as interesting a focal point as some, but in keeping with the old black & white photo theme, I had hours of fun: coloring, staining, grunging, embossing, using pan pastels, reinkers, oil pastels and acrylics to stamp and paint over texture and trim, wallpaper and old book pages. Cutting up an old screen, scrap cardboard, a piece of wood

Variety is the spice

Image
Working on a series of pieces incorporating black and white prints from the archives has kindled a deep sense of satisfaction.  I haven't worked in the darkroom for nearly twenty years and I didn't start experimenting with acrylics until 2007;  tying then and now together on watercolor paper, I realized that while the medium might be different I have always had the need to see what's around the next corner, behind that weathered door.  My primary reason for using the watercolor book was because I don't need another dozen canvases loitering in the studio. I found it quite liberating, not nearly as serious as prepping a 12x12 board with gesso.  A lifelong writer, I've had trouble getting art journaling to make sense; they've always been separate disciplines. Then I realized it's just about playing, experimenting and I opened the watercolor book and the fun began.  If I had a dollar for every word I've written I'd be having lunch with Bill Gate

Recycling passions can be too much fun!

Image
Back in the old days, BC as I call them (before children), I spent hundreds of hours with a medium format camera, black and white film and abundant curiosity. Along with, of course, a fearless approach to people, property and situations with which I had no familiarity. An avid darkroom junkie, those sessions were a lot like the ones I now spend in the studio - great music at the right (loud) volume and totally in the zone - sans the chemicals that are fairly toxic when pregnant or mothering small kids. In the early-90s Photoshop was around but the world wasn't totally digital. I preferred the pursuit, capture and printing of images - test-strip prints, dodging and burning often ten or more prints before achieving the results I'd envisioned. A month or so ago, I began thinking about incorporating my black & white prints and art. The first photo I chose was of an old truck (loved the rust, even then!) with the word "farm" scrawled on the door. It sat on the back