Spirit of the Past, Present and Future, Nov., 2015

This is a new painting, 'Spirit of the Past, Present and Future'.  The concept was thought of by my granddaughter (Seth's daughter) Jacee Marie, 12.  She wanted to do three separate paintings with me, one, 'Spirit of the Past'; one, 'Spirit of the Present'; and one, 'Spirit of the Future'.  She wants us to do them together.  We will do those one day, but until that happens, I could not shake the concept.  So I asked her permission to do one painting of all 3 myself, and she said I could.  I used some of her ideas.  The past is foggy and gray because it is in the past and you can't do anything about what has happened. The present is full of color and joy because all we have is this moment and we can make it wonderful.  The future is unsure, especially when one is young.....there are SO many possibilities, and thinking about those possibilities is fun and exciting.  So I've presented this Spirit piece in a little different form than my usual spirit piece, to hold her concept as I pictured it as she was explaining it to me.  I think it is an amazing concept for a 12 year old.  She has sketches of her own visual for this set of paintings and they will be wonderful when we get together to paint them.  In the mean time, I have this one to remind me of what an amazing granddaughter I have!  Hope you enjoy it!

Mixed media:  acrylic, cut paper, collage, pastel, ink, 12"x24"

Detail of the Past, collaged trees, acrylic and ink.

Detail of Present, collage rock and girl, ink, pastel, acrylic.

Detail of Future, cut paper 'paths' extending out from the canvas.

Here is the new Facebook page for the Art Abandoners:

https://www.facebook.com/ArtAbandonersShowcase  (LINK)

Check it out!  Also look for the link to their website on my blog.  
It is a great organization where artists from around the world 
abandon their art in hospitals, libraries, shops, parks, etc. for 
passersby to take for FREE!  It is a great way to share your
art and it has to be so uplifting for people to find!  Thanks
to Marla for putting up the Facebook site and the website
for all of us!  She is amazing!  :D

Art Abandoners website! Check it out  (LINK)

Fluid Medium--10-14-15

I just tried out the Liquitex Gloss Fluid Medium and it works SO well!!!  I tried it on raw canvas and it allows the raw canvas to accept the acrylic paint like watercolor paper does for watercolors.  It holds the intensity of the colors without fading.  It will be so much fun to experiment with this, trying the wet on wet effect along side the dry brush!  Happy days are here again!!!!  :D

The piece on the left has three rectangular sections that have had the fluid medium applied to the raw canvas.  The rest is dry brush to show how differently the paint reacts in the areas where the fluid medium is.  The small pieces on the right were experiments in applying the paint in different methods, as well as thicker or thinner paint.  

This is a detail of the area that has the fluid medium on the raw canvas and the dry brush beside it.  HUGE difference in how the paint looks with the SAME consistency of paint as well as using the same brush and touch.

 You only need a couple drops of the fluid medium in about a cup of water.  Stir it up well and then apply to areas of the canvas, or the whole raw canvas.  The paint will react just like using the wet on wet technique in watercolor.  You can also apply the medium to the paint and by putting a couple drops of paint into a 1/2-1 cup of water with the medium in it.  I haven't experimented with that technique yet.  So watch for more posts.

ceramics, 10-10-2015

Some new hand built ceramic bowls and a tray for some of the up coming shows.  The large bowls are the thinnest I have made to date.  They are becoming more and more egg shell-like.  They are 12" and 15" across and weigh next to nothing.  Very hard to achieve in ceramics.  Hope you like them.

15" hand built ceramic bowl

12" hand built ceramic bowl

7" hand built ceramic bowl

6" hand built ceramic bowl in red clay with white engobe textured on the outside, no glaze.  

8" leaf tray, stained, no glaze, can be used with dry food.

detail of leaf texture on tray

Walking Stick, cloth wrapped 9-13-15

I am painting the stairs to the basement today so while I was waiting for the paint to dry, I made this walking stick by wrapping it with cloth my mother had from the 1950's.  I have been saving it for over 20 years for something special.  As I don't really sew, I decided that this was a good way to use the fabric.  It is bright and colorful and 'soft'.  This one is for a friend, but I think I will make one for myself, some for the grandchildren, and possibly a couple for sale, if anyone is interested.

Cloth wrapped walking stick

Detail of walking stick.

Cement Table Top Fire Bowls, Aug. 31, 2015

I'm working on a new idea for some up coming craft fairs.....Table Top Fire Bowls!  Some people are unable to have fire pits where they live so how about a miniature fire for your patio table?  Or several of them scattered at the edge of your patio to bring some light and flames while you relax in the evening.  These are just small 'test' pieces to see what works and what doesn't, but I'm liking them....even in their small size.  When I decide what works best, I will make some larger ones to place around the patio when I don't feel like taking time to light a big fire in our fire pit.  I'm really liking this idea.  Hope you do to!  These will be for sale.  Watch for a post in a week or so to see the different sizes, designs and prices.

Plain fire bowl on table top.

Mosaic fire bowl on end table on patio.

Plain and mosaic small fire bowls at edge of steps to patio.

Spirit of the Deep--7-28-15

.I am just at the beginning of a new painting inspired from an incredible root system that was under water at Red Lake in one of the coves last week.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  One little stump, broken off about a foot above water and about the size of my upper arm, had a root system under the water that was about 8-10 feet square!!!!!!!!!  It must have had four or five layers from top to bottom and they all wove in and out of each other up and down and around………….so unusual and incredibly beautiful.  The more I thought about it, the more it seemed that all of our roots of our lives are like this, all interwoven throughout the generations, past and present and future all intertwining and growing outward with each new generation.  So, the beginning of a new painting.  We’ll see where it leads me.  

Remember, it is only a start……MANY layers to go yet.  

Background of 50"x58" raw canvas painting using liquid acrylics on wet canvas in a wet on wet watercolor technique.  There are two layers.  The first layer had three colors of yellows/golds.  I hung it on the line to semi dry and then added my version of burnt sienna, lime and dark green and turquoise in the wet on wet technique.  I hung it on the line to completely dry

When it was completely dry, I drew the details of the roots in white chalk.  I then wet individual sections of the roots with water, colored that section with pastels, then added more water with a soft brush to blend and smooth the pastels.  This also 'sets' the pastel and there will be no powder when it is dry.  Half of the roots are filled in at this point.  

First layer of detailing roots is complete.  

I did not get to work on my painting today as I had to work in my studio on some ceramic commissions I have.  My cat, Tucker, has been on the painting ALL day today.  In fact he was on it when I went to bed last night.  I don't know if he is giving his approval of what I've done so far, or if I'm getting the 'thumb's down' from him!!!!!!!!!!!  What do you think?  :D

Added the under roots in plain pastels, no shading with each of the three layered roots getting thinner and thinner and darker.  

The water surface layer was added on wet canvas in the wet on wet watercolor technique using liquid and watered down acrylics.  This is three layers of dark as I'm being overly cautious of getting it too dark.  I like this and will add, hopefully, only one more layer of a dark color over parts of this.  

At this point, I am thinking of adding the stump coming out of the water with new growth coming out of the top of the stump and the deep shadow of the stump in the water. 

I will continue to post photos as I progress through the layers of this painting.