Re-Imagining

I am having fun "re-imagining" old artwork and playing with new concepts. Here is another before and after:

This is a piece I did back in 2011. The face is pretty bizarre...even for my standards. I loved the body, eyes and the 2 birds on the head, so it was tricky to work around the painting. I added a book page to cover up the bottom part of the face to make it easier to paint, then added a new figure's face who worked better with the winged body. At one point I painted over the turquoise with orange, hated it, painted a warm grey over it and sanded it back a bit so the orange showed through.
Here it is a few stages past that...already dramatically different. The pigtails on the main figure came about because of the odd line at the top of the head. I had to keep it if I wanted to keep the birds!

I painted over the other bird - it was distracting me. I did not like the nose and went a bit crazy trying to fix it. Somehow the turquoise crept back into the face....

I move the nose over a bit....Here is the final piece:

At least I think so....I am going to let it sit a bit, before I varnish it.

My take away from this exercise:

Each painting has something new to teach me.

Keep at it until you love it again.

Many layers make for a much richer background.

Love turquoise, orange and gray together.

When you can't make it work, cover it up with collage or paint!

When things are drying, I try to work on journal pages. I am still getting used to the handmade paper in the leather journal I picked up. It is becoming clear that I need to just relax and not try to control the surface. I have sketchbooks for drawing. This is becoming my "get loose" book.

Here are a couple of pages:

Watercolor and collage

Medium resist and watercolor

Playing with which watercolor set I like best ended up being  really fun.

The Ultimate in RE-IMAGINING

Stay Curious!

January Flying By

January is almost over and it feels like I have not been doing much in the way of studio work. I decided to take a look at what I have actually done this month .....

I finished four teddy bears and sent one to a new home in Canada. 

I started 2 online courses - Carla Sonheim's Year of the FairyTale

I am drawing frogs and looking for my inner princess

I have also been participating in Misty Mawn's Full Circle course and finished one piece last week. The prompt was to make a mandala. I started off with that in mind and found it a bit tricky to work in a circle. Especially since I always end up adding a figure....

I was really glad I did this on a panel instead of paper! I am, of course falling behind, but I know the prompts are there when I need some inspiration. 

I have written and submitted an article for Somerset Studio's May issue - look for it in the Melange section. 

I submitted some drawings for the Art-Is-You - Coloring Book Project

After the holiday break from painting, I find it difficult to get back into my groove, so I paint over old paintings. This is one of my favorite January projects.  I figure there is nothing to loose and I already have some elements that I like so this is what happened with 2 of my paintings:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

You can see I kept what I liked and got rid of what I did not like. I really recommend trying to re-invent some of your older pieces. It is quick and very gratifying. I have one more in progress and will share when I am done. 

This month I also applied to teach at several retreats, one art show and cleaned, painted and re-arranged my studio (photos are coming - it is a bit of a mess right now!)

The point of this entry is that my perception of what I had completed was way off. We rarely give ourselves credit for what we accomplish - maybe not even realizing all that we have done. Take a moment and really look at the small things you do over time. I may not have completed a large painting, but all the small things add up and are "practice" and inspiration for the larger works.

Stay Curious, and Breathe!

Nesting, Wrapping up 2013

After lots of teaching and travel, I felt the need for some quiet time. This involved cleaning the studio, moving furniture (actual and intellectual) getting rid of stuff  I no longer use and above all, staying off the computer!! I have been nesting, playing, enjoying family. The holiday season is when I begin my reflections on what was accomplished this year and planning my goals for next year.

During my "quiet time" I had an awesome weekend in San Francisco for window shopping and trying out my new camera.

I  have plugged in my sewing machine and been making a few dolls and teddy bears. It is so fun to work with fabric again, I forgot how much I loved it!

 

I finished my last painting for the year. It was done on a piece of a closet door we recycled into a canvas for me! It started out as lots of collage and texture and evolved into this "moth" like girl. It is all about transformation...how will I transform in 2014?

 

I have been preparing class proposals for 2014. I am so excited about the class I will be teaching at Art-Is-You Petaluma in September. 2 days of painting my favorite subjects - Folk and Fairy tales! Click the link under Pages on the right for more information. Registration goes live January 1.

 



 

I treated myself to a special journal to work in this year. It is handcrafted with a soft leather cover and handmade watercolor paper. I am anxious to dive in, trying to get over the "what if I ruin a page" stage, so I did a test drive on the last page!..... If you are interested, here is the link to Iona's website.

 

 

 

Lastly....I have been published in Lesley Riley's new book "Quotes Illustrated." An inspiring and magical collection of quotes illustrated by many artists in many mediums. A great book to own and give as a gift to a creative friend!

 

 

Wishing you a happy New Year, full of curiosity and creativity!

Hugs from the studio!

Karen

 

 



 

 





 

 

 

Happenings in the studio

I just received my copy of "Incite, Dreams Realized: The Best of Mixed Media".

 

What an inspiring collection of Mixed Media art. I am honored to be featured on page 109!

 

 

 

I am in high gear preparation for Art-Is-You 2013.

Here are some teaser photos from my classes:

 

Character Creation

 

Inky Folk

 

Paint with Abandon

 

I am also working on my classes for next years Art-Is-You,...more to come!

 

 

 

 

Where did the summer go?

It is clear that summer, for me is for "filling my well," not sitting at my computer. So much has occurred since my last post. Here is the short photo version of what I have been up to....

Saw an awesome concert by Rodrigo y Gabriella at the Jacksonville, OR Britt Festival



Had a month long visit from my granddaughter which involved lots of shopping!

and art making (all these she made...)

Found inspiration in Portland...



Saw an outdoor production of "Midsummer Nights Dream" at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

 

Made more art with my granddaughter. These are "gallbladders" to replace the one my daughter had removed this summer!

Taught kids art classes for the Grants Pass Art Museum

Took a tour of Fire Mountain Gems (located in my town!). This is detail of a piece in the lobby, all done with seed beads.

Worried and endured the smoke from the brush fires in Southern Oregon....

Visited the San Diego Zoo!

Learned (relative term..) how to row my hubbies new drift boat.

Spent 5 days painting with Jesse Reno....

 

Visited the Grotto in Portland, Or

 

 

 

 

 

 

Worked on my Japanese style garden taking shape outside my studio...a work in progress.

 

Won 3rd place in the Southern Oregon Art Show at the Firehouse Gallery in Grants Pass, OR

 

 

The school busses are out on the road and the temperatures are cooling down. Fall is coming....my favorite season!