Pear #13

Acrylic on canvas board 5x7

This is a monochromatic painting.

One color~

Green gold mixed with titanium white

micaceous iron oxide

acrylic glazing liquid

neocolor II watercolor crayons

interference green

matte gel

and payne's gray.

Lots of blending and dabbing and scrubbing~

quite a few layers~

it has nice depth and texture.

I think it turned out pretty well.

Color!

So for the past week and a half

I've been playing with color

making a color library. 

I'm taking a workshop.

This is probably the best workshop
on color that I've ever taken.
Each color in my stash
mixed with a medium or color
swatches of color
rows and rows
and
2 color wheels
organic and inorganic pigments.
great tools.
It was wonderful-almost therapeutic 
mixing and painting
watching
learning
what happens
when this is mixed with that?


more pears on the way......!!!

Pear #12

Pen & Ink on paper 5x7

I drew this with my non dominant left hand.

I love the quality of line,

so much more interesting 

than perfectly straight lines.

I really enjoy doodling

you lose yourself

totally immersed in a place

where time has no meaning

hours pass

and there you are 

still doodling......

Some of my symbology

has come from doodling

not thinking about it

or planning it

but 

letting it

immerge

on it own.

Pear #11

Acrylic on canvas board 5x7

I decided to abstract the pear

by taking it 

to its very basic geometric shapes.

I also thought primary colors

would be fitting for this experiment.

Pyrrole red, Cobalt Blue and Hansa Yellow

Pear #10

Sumi ink, gum arabic, acrylic paint on Arches Textwove 5x7

Sink art

Start with a piece of Arches Textwove

(a very forgiving paper, takes abuse)

make random marks with gum arabic

let dry completely

repeat with sumi ink

let dry just a couple of minutes

run paper under water

scrub away gum arabic with your finger

The sumi ink does something wonderful

it marbles

right there on your paper!

I tore a piece of the sink art paper

long with a piece of black paper

staggered them to make it look like

the pear is shadowed

a splash of red were added for a bit of punch

the stem and leaves were cut out

using a scissors

mounted on canvas board.

I like the contrast of black and white

with just a smidge of red

cool n'est pas?

We had a glorious week,

temps in the 60's 

the dingy snow piles

melted away

along with my cares

Last night

oh no!  It snowed!

Temps back just below 30

arggh!

It's easy to get spoiled, isn't it?

Pear #9

Casein and wire on canvas board 5x7

Casein painted background, 

dries to a velvety finish.

16 gauge annealed steel wire

fashioned into a pear.

Sewn to the board.

I really like it's simplicity.

~~~

There are signs of Spring...

I saw a Robin yesterday,

 daffodils are peeking through,

 piles of snow are melting,

60 degrees today,

 ice on the pond is disappearing.

I so look forward to this time,

bright green sprigs,

signs of new life.

Renewal!

Do you feel a change in your energy levels?

Is it the amount of light,

the smells,

the new growth?

Whatever it is, 

Welcome Spring !

Pear #8

Acrylic and collage on canvas board 5x7

I started out by painting several small sheets 

in varous shades of green gold.

After they were dry, I tore them into smaller

pieces and collaged them onto a larger

sheet of light weight paper.

Drew a pear shape~

painted around the shape

with purple--

the top part was tinted with white, 

then dry brushed with purple straight from the tube.

The bottom was painted from the tube,

dry brushed with the tint.

I don't think I am particularly good at color,

so giving myself permission to play

and use color combinations

that I would probably not use.

Here I am using 

complimentary colors~

directly across from each other

on the color wheel.

~~~

I sometimes feel so stuck in my head~

as in not moving forward.

I started reading an interesting book-

"Loving What Is" by Byron Katie.

"The Work" is asking yourself

4 questions.

Just after reading the intro

and the 1st chapter

I can begin to challenge

some of the thoughts

I keep grinding away at,

that wake me up

in the middle of the night,

that keep me stuck.

Albert Einstein said,

"Insanity is doing the same things

over and over

expecting different results".

I create so many miseries

between my two ears.

Too many assumptions,

partial truths,

skewed emotions,

fears,

and overwhelmedness

keep me from living

how I want to live.

Today I start Spring Cleaning,

armed with my journal

and pen.

I set out to capture

the negative nellies

that intend to stake their claim.

Get them out on paper,

and challenge them

one 

by

one.

Pear #7

As I have been thinking of various media 

to express different ideas 

of creating the single theme of pears.....

My mind wandered~

way off left

of center.

Suddenly,

without warning

bizzare ideas

began

to 

dance

in 

my 

head.

I invite you

to meet

The Grim Rea-pear

Acrylic on Canvas board  5x7

This week has been bittersweet.

I sold my Dad's truck.

While it needed to be done,

I felt a sadness sweep over me.

That's the last time I'd hear the brakes squeak.

I was losing another piece of him.

I had to remind myself that it is just stuff.

Pear #6

Mixed media on canvas board 5x7

This painting started as a piece of Black Arches Cover Stock.

I drew a pear and several abstract marks with sumi ink,

then let it dry.

Next, Dr. Martin's Bleedproof White was added in the same way.

Gouache was painted in, with a bit of walnut ink.

Bits of drywall patching tape-cut in teeny shapes used as a stencil,

interference gold dry brushed over the tape, then the tape is removed.

The top pear is au natural,

the bottom pear has a coat of encaustic medium

on the surface.

This is by far a favorite technique,

see here, here & here.

la poire #5

aka: flop experiment

Mixed media on canvas board 5x7

This piece began by dry brushing interference gold,

then a drawing with sumi ink

on Nideggan paper...love that paper.

Pastels were rubbed into the paper.

Next, I schmeared a layer of

my super secret acrylic beeswax.

Actually, it's an adapted recipe

from several recipes I found in both

Patti Brady and Nancy Reyner's books.

When the "wax" dried,

the dry brushing was....gone.

It does have nice texture going for it.

Back to the drawing board!

Pear 4

   

Acrylic on canvas board 5x7

It's hard to tell from the picture

I started painting using the grisaille technique.

The underpainting is shades of gray,

then glazed with color.

The pear was glazed with green gold,

the upper background with cobalt,

the table with quin. crimson.

I've spent the weekend busily working away in the studio.

Some of my ideas are not working well,

but it's okay---I'm learning a lot.

I'll post a flop soon.....stay tuned ;)

Pear 3

Shiva Paintstiks on 5x7 Canvas Board

My photography stinks,

the painting is not this dark.

....anyway, the paintstiks are great to work with.

Peel off the skin that forms on the paintstik,

then rub and blend.

They dry very quickly, in 24 hrs.

I started out with just a couple of colors,

now it has turned to madness ;)

Pear 2

Second in the pear series.....

oh, how I wish I had more time to work on these!

I am enjoying working with the same subject,

finding different media in which to work them out.

Several in the works, all at various stages.

Acrylic on canvas board, 5x7

A journal for Peggy's birthday

This journal is the result of LK Ludwig's

 Printed Patterend Painted Journal Class.

This journal has raw canvas covers,

the "tapes" are micro suede,

the pages are cardstock that Peggy and I found at Tuesday Morning,

a whole ream of Crane's cardstock for $10.

It's beautiful stuff to work with....

takes the paint beautifully.

If you want to take an amazing online class,

and want to work from the comfort of your own studio, this is it!

LK shares scads of techniques,

ways to put your personality

into your own journal.