Day 26 - 29 Inspiration Days

I spent I wonderful time visiting my daughter and her husband in Portland. I was able to see the latest exhibit "The Body Beautiful in Anchient Greece" at the PAM.

My favorite piece

Saw this in the Contemporary Art wing....

 

Loved this...it is huge and very impactive!

Had tea and a cookie after the museum.

I bought an early buyer pass for the Palmer Wirfs Antique show. They let you in when the vendors are setting up. Total chaos but lots of buying as they are unpacking. I thought this guy was stuffed until he barked at me!

These guys really were stuffed....

As was this unfortunate bunny!

What antique show is completed without a Victorian viewing casket.

I bought a lot of fun inspirational stuff which I will share in my next post. All together a wonderful time and I am ready to get back to work in the studio.

Day 21 - 25 The business of Art

Well, the last few days I have not posted because I am busy with the "business of art." I have been framing, stringing wire, varnishing, working on the computer and getting reading for a class coming up. All these things are necessary to keep this ship afloat. It is an "art" in its own right. The next few days I will be using as inspiration trips for my art. I am going to the Portland Art Museum and the Palmer Wirfs Antique Show the largest antique show around. All of these things are part of being an artist. Take the time to absorb what is around you and let it influence what you create. Be Present!

Day 20

"Paint Sketching" today. This is one I finished:

I am on to a new way to get at the end results, painterly - not so "finished." I am in love with this face.

Day 17 and 18

I had some fun playing with faces using all types of media yesterday.

This is a conte crayon. I love the color.

Another pencil face....

Pencil and a little color pencils added.

It got a bit cold last night and we had our first fire in the fireplace.  The dogs knew just were to go!

Today was a day out of the studio. My hubby, the dogs and myself took a drive on the Scenic Byway along the Rogue-Umpqua River to Crater Lake. 

Fall was in full glory and it was a perfect sunny day.

Toktee Lake

Beautiful Max

Toketee Falls, much better in person!

Crater Lake on a perfect day. Tomorrow it is back to the studio...

Day 16

Goofing off today...a creative break. I usually do this after I finish a larger project. Played with pencils and watercolor..

This is my favorite for the day...

Watercolor with a really big brush...
Now off to Yoga!

Day 15 and 16

I spent some time yesterday noodling on what I will be teaching in 2013 and contemplating my painting. I made some adjustments and came back full force today... I think it is done.

A strange thing happened at the end...this little "pixie" appeared in the far right corner. Go figure, who am I to deny a pixie!

Here is the close up...

Pretty freaky, but it does make a "folktale." I am taking comments on the title. Let me know what you think.

Day 14

 It is a glorious fall day here. We had our first rain last night in about 85 days! Decided to play with some gold leaf inspired by the leaves starting to change. Also got another small face done waiting for the gold leaf glue to dry...

This face was so bad when I started that I could not even bear to show it. I collaged over the bad parts and repainted it, added the gold leaf. Not sure if it is hair or back lighting, but it is pretty and really hard to photograph...I love how the text I used showed through enough to see the words "what I see" The painting just named itself!

Day 11 and 12

Yesterday....what happened with yesterday? I had a friend come over and take photos of some of my latest paintings. This provided great distraction (excuse!) for not doing much art...I was having fun with the visit.
I did a couple "mini" paintings....

Today I had a great art day with a good friend Mel in her new awesome studio.  We visited, shared and did a tiny bit of art. I worked a little on a journal page...

It has a way to go, but at least it is a start. 

Time for me to "batten down the hatches!" We have a potential rain storm on the way and my easel is outside....

Day 10

Whoo hoo! Actually posting today's work today. This is part of a bigger project, which I will share next month. In the meantime....

Inspired by the young girl Malala Yousoufazi who was shot in Pakistan for promoting education  for girls. It is titled "We all wear masks."

Day 9

Honestly, not much time for art yesterday.  Finished some faces in my sketchbook in between errands.

Day 7 and 8 (30 day art challenge)

Wow, I make art pretty much every day but I am only at day 8 and am having more difficulty with the documenting of my progress, than the actual doing. One thing is for sure, I do more each day than I think I do!
Here is the progress of my current painting. It is not done. I need to sit on it and work on something else....

Day 7 and most of today. The background needs help!

At the last moment when I was cleaning up I got rid of the flower in the right upper corner. 

Getting close, I will see what it looks like in the daylight.

Day 6 (yesterday)

Taught a collage class with 5 lovely women in attendance. This did not leave a lot of time for art but I managed to "finish" my classroom samples....

They are just loose journal style pieces on red rosin paper, but I feel good finishing them...

Day 5

I am getting ready to teach a collage class tomorrow, so my art for today was getting ready with samples and partially finished pieces for demo:

Work in stages

Creating a collage "charachter

Gel transfer (work in progress...!)

Day 4

A good day painting today. This piece went through a lot of versions...from this:

to this:

to my stopping point today...before I mess it up! Let's see what I think of it tomorrow....

Day 3 (yesterday)

added more green, time to carve something out of this mess!

Day 2

Busy day getting the studio ready for a class this weekend. I managed to "make a mess" on top of a painting that was not working for me. I noticed it did not have any green in it, so I added green ink and paint. I am trying to get the distracting figures to go away, they are just not right. So it went from this:

to this....

I basically flipped it upside down. The photo is not great. I can still see the figures, but there are some really pretty areas I will keep... 

and I see something else to work with, hopefully tomorrow it will still call me. 

This is how it goes with my paintings sometimes. On the other hand I finished a small painting:

I am thinking I need to do this one BIG...I love the face.

Day 1

I decided to participate in Traci Bunker's "30 Days Get Your Art On." Of course today was crazy busy so I decided to play with some mini canvas I had laying around. A little ink and some paint....

I must say...a bit addicting. Here are some close ups of the 2 I finished: 

Hopefully tomorrow I can work bigger. At least I did some art...that is the point isn't it.