Portrait Play

Here is my portrait for today. I feel like I am on to something here - not sure what it is, but I like it.

It is an acrylic background. Lots of scraping, water blotting and accidental transfers with dash of a rubber text stamp. The portrait was done with watercolor pencil, gouache and colored pencils (black and white). I like the unfinished look of it. 

Busy Summer

The heat is finally here in southern Oregon and I am busy in my "cool" studio. I have been working in all sorts of media and a variety of surfaces - basically I am playing and having a blast. I was inspired by an entry on The Sketchbook Challenge about artist  Lynne Hoppe doing watercolors and pencil on old book pages. I have been trying to do a page every day - I just love the look and want to do something BIG....

These are done with watercolor pencils and white gouache...

in contrast I just finished 3 (yes really) paintings. Here is the one I submitted for the 2011 Southern Oregon Art Show at the Firehouse Gallery in Grants Pass, Oregon from August 5-26th.

I call it Equine Dreams. The horses were a happy accident - paint drips that looked like horses heads. This is me trying to be a looser painter. I would love to know what you think.

Summer Fun

This is my 3rd summer in southern Oregon and I think I finally get the rhythm. Once the sun comes out activity ramps up to a fever pitch. There is so much to do here - biking, swimming, hiking, rafting....It is also the time when friends and family come to visit. I have been lucky to teach for the summer Children's Art Program for the Grants Pass Museum of Art. Each year we organize a group of artists ready and willing to teach some aspect of art to kids of all ages. This year one of the classes I taught was "Recycled Book Journal." We had a great time gluing and painting and discussing the latest cuts on "So You Think You Can Dance." It was so much fun we stayed an extra hour playing in our books. I took a lot of photos, but really loved the pictures of  hands, busy creating......

The smiles say it all.

Nothing left to do but clean up!