Pain

Here is a quick look at last week. I had a toothache. Can you see it? I certainly felt it and the week's work reflects it. One piece was so painful to look at that the scanner refused to record it. I decided that I didn't need to post all the paintings, especially if they are stinky. This piece is hot stinky, but it is representative of my toothache. The painting was too large for the scanner; therefore, much of the red border does not show. Thank goodness the pain has subsided.

Perky

I had such fun putting this together. I started the collage with coffee filters. I wanted to see what kind of texture would be created and what could be done with cones. This is the largest piece I've done as it is 18 x 24. I finally had the courage to put paint on the canvas that came with the retirement gift. The complete painting was too large for the scanner, so this shows a central portion of the whole piece. I think I'm ready to take on larger supports.

Enlightened

I couldn't decide between calling this Enlightened or Epiphany. Since I really made no great self-realization, I settled for Enlightened. I do like the bright points of light that surfaced as I played with some of my new colors. I do see a face on the left side. Do you?

Pillars of Light

AARGH. This piece is so bad that Blogger refused the first attempt. I was practicing shading techniques. I give myself a D. The composition sucks; I forgot to add shadows; and the shading of the tall candle didn't work. I do have some nice flowers and a rectangular shape that looks like one. I really like the lavendar wall paper. I was also much happier with my paintings before I tried to learn something about painting. Ignorance IS bliss.

Party Time

The balloons just floated off the paint brush. When I ordered my last set of supplies, I had them toss in a Sampler Tablet of various types of canvas materials. Each sheet is 6 x 8 and the pad includes two pieces of five different canvas surfaces. I never knew about such a variety of "canvases". The canvas used in the tarp for the boat is not the same as any of my samples. This piece of canvas is linen and not cotton duck. The boat tarp is neither. I also learned this week that the Mona Lisa is painted on a piece of wood. Who knew.

The Hunt

A small rabbit hides in this painting. He is also near an egg shape. I wonder if he is the Easter Bunny. Mr. Bunny was not an intended outcome; he simply showed up as I played with a variety of canvases. The description claimed the sheet was primed, but as I worked with it, I wish I had started with a fresh layer of gesso. The wet canvas curled up on every edge. I found the rabbit as I worked to flatten the canvas.

Out of Shape

In January many folks consider themselves out of shape and vow to make improvements. Well, I'm definitely out of shape, but I have no plans to get in shape. I guess I'l stay out of sorts as well. My toothache was really bothering me during the paint session.... and it shows.

Smashing

Finally, my long awaited new painting supplies have arrived. I have several varieties of canvas supports and eight new colors to play with. I also got some new very wide brushes, but I did not use a brush as I sampled the new colors. I squirted dabs of each new color right from the tube onto the canvas. As usual, the dabs took varied shapes. Since I'd used a pallette knife to mix the first sampler, I knew I needed a new tool. Thus, I took a paper plate and smushed the paint dabs. Not only did each dab take a new form, but every time I moved the plate to smash a diffeent area, the colors moved to create some interesting blends. The paper plate also created varied textures. I had no plans to create any image in particular, but I can spot some very colorful flowers in the finished piece. Isn't that just smashing? What do you see?

River Styx

Welcome to Hades. At least that's what I think I created by using a pallette knife to test my newest color additions to my pallette. As I blended the colors, the canvas got muddier and muddier. What a gunky mess. The texture here is interesting with lines and globs here and there. As I looked at the finished piece, I did spot some creatures of the deep. Can you see the dolphin rising? I try to ignore those things that slither, but I suspect they are native to the River Styx. (Can you guess who might have been reading a novel set in 40 BC Rome? Anthony and Cleopatra by Colleen McGollough was a good, informative read.)

Roses

I much prefer yellow roses to red roses, but I have to confess that it's easier to paint red roses. I also want to note that I enjoy summer time to winter time. I don't think I could paint a snow scene. The pansies at the top are colder weather plants that provide an example of my problems keeping the paint brush steady and under control. The dark centers each took on a life of its own. Can I blame my shakes on the cold weather?

The Valley

Come walk with me through the valley. The mountains may be tackled later, but now is the time to rest and picnic in the bright meadow. This painting is a test of my newest paint colors as well as a practice of my use of washes, shading and glazing. A wash requires using paint thinned with water. Here I washed over wet canvas. Shading requires pushing colors around. I shaded varied values of color over wet washes. Glazing requires using a wash to paint over areas that have been painted previously. I glazed the surface after the wash dried. A glaze could be put over a wet wash. This step done over a wash on wet a canvas causes an unstretched canvas to curl up. I curled up for naps as I waited for the canvas to dry. Don't you think taking rests in the valley is a good plan?

Sunset

Summer camping trips featured many colorful sunsets. As the sun fills the sky with colors, I filled the page with colorful washes. My focus was on shading. I like the clouds, but am not sure I could recreate them. Can you smell the fresh air? Can you feel the light breeze. Go any marshmallows we could roast?

A Wash

That's all this is--a practice piece for washing. The shading happened naturally. I didn't do anything but paint the stripes on a wet canvas. The paint slid wherever it wanted to go. This hints at what happened as I played with washes. I ended up with boring landscapes. This was NOT to be a landscape. Oh Well. What else could it be? Does it have to BE anything?

Blue Hillsl

This marks a return to painting with washes and glazes. Wow, aren't you impressed by my new vocabulary. The purple hills were a glazed wash, but I thought they looked muddy. I used full strength paint which added the shimmer. I also practiced shading techniques but some of them got covered up by the purple paint. Do you think these hills might be alive with music?

Pinks

More flower play. I "took" myself off to free art lessons via web videos. Then I tried to practice what I saw demonstrated. I earned an F as my painting is a failure and is nowhere close to what the instructor was trying to show. But even if I did mess up my flowers, I like the results and will practice shading and highlighting some more. I will also attend remedial free web video lessons.

Oh Happy Day

Do you see all the folks celebrating a happy day? I painted this with abandon. I just let myself go and have fun. This is a reminder of why I'm painting. The joyfulness of getting to play restores my spirit and adds a sparkle to each day I get to play. The finished painting may be such a nothing, but the joy of creating it is such a something.

FanFare

This string painting began as a pair of snowflake prints. But as with several other snowflake projects, it failed. The snowflake flops provided a white background for the pink, red, and purple strings that I pulled between the two sheets of plastic. I was quite frustrated when pulled the pink string because of the problems I had had earlier with the snow flakes. The pink pull was a disaster. The red strings added some interest, but the purple strings added a point of interest. I almost didn't add the purple and was going to call the pair "Loverly". I like Fanfare much better. Can you hear the trumpets?

Inferno

Did you know I have a temper? The texture here has been created by a snowflake, which was to be more than simple texture. But as my plans quickly went awry, my temper flared. The light pinks soon turned in to warmer reds covered by thick textured swipes of purple. I hate it when a plan does not come together.

Happy 2009

I wanted to do a series of pieces with snow flakes. Those plans fell to pieces as none of the trials really worked very well. Here the "master" snowflake is glued to a green background. The white snow over the collage is my favorite part. I don't even like the snowflake, most of which has been covered by the purple. It was fun splattering on the white, so the whole experience wasn't a total bummer.

Forest Lawn

This is the last painting from 2008. It started with a nice orange wash over a rough texture (paper towels), but as I added the browns, the towels soaked up the new layer of paint and spread wherever and however it wanted to. The texture remains, but most of the orange vanished. I got slap happy as I dashed on the green and then merrily dotted in the pink. Who knows if pink flowers grow in a dark forest. But here they do. I doubt I'll be using much umber or sienna for a while