growth spurt......

Something occurred to me as I was working this weekend. Something felt different. I was working like I always do. Doing the usual process of, "um, that's pretty good, um, not so much." Working on one piece, setting it aside while I waited for it to offer me a way to continue - picking up another piece and finding my way in - layers, scraping, painting, things appearing, things disappearing - all usual except one thing - I felt different - more relaxed, easier with the work - not so frenetic - more thoughtful - still pushing, but feeling at home while I did. Have I finally grown into myself and my process? I know this has been a gradual thing - this change has been happening on a level I wasn't aware of until this weekend - when I really knew - the work is still hard and I welcome the challenge, but now it's tempered with an inner knowledge that I have grown into. That's good. The photos below are of two pieces I finished this weekend.

mixed media on board, 12x12, 'She Couldn't Balance'



mixed media on board, 12x12, 'She Saw the Flash'

I have my roller skates on again this week!! Fast forward!

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a connection.....

Another busy busy week and very little time to paint - the sketchbook was my friend this week for sure - the photos below show a painting that has taught me much about myself and how important it is for me to be true to myself with my work. The first photo is a piece that I worked on last week. It took several days of painting to get to a point that satisfied me and that's what you see below. I like the colors, the forms and the collage pieces I added.



BUT! it didn't feel like me - I had no feeling for it when I looked at it - a piece has to tell me something when I look at it and it just sort of sat there with a bunch of stuff I liked asking the question, "ya, so I have some good elements, but so what?". I got to work for a few hours today and I intended to work on a very large piece but instead I grabbed this little guy and started working.......I have learned that my work is more interesting to ME when it is more subtle - a bit more mysterious and not so much up front - now this little piece feels more honest - I have a connection to it now.....so important for me......

this is mixed media on board 12x12....

I realize as I'm typing this that this is the first day of summer and it actually feels like it here today - warm, warm, warm outside and even a bit sticky in my workspace - I love that - we are almost midway through this week already and I'm still running as fast as I can to stay ahead - later.....

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under construction.....

It's been a rough couple of weeks in the painting department for sure - while all the ugly stuff was happening, I was also working on some collage pieces with mixed media - like many of you, I have a tonnage of paper scraps - and like many of you, I save them - one kind of paper that piles up in my space is deli waxed paper - I use it to remove paint from work - sometimes when I pull it off, it leaves really interesting marks and designs - I have been collaging with them in the past week and finding it very stimulating work - I'm using cold wax, collage papers and oil paint on board - before I get into this very busy week, I thought I would show you one of them......



I like where these are going - I plan on doing a series of them over the summer...I'm sure they will evolve as I do more of them....hope you are all deep into your week - will be back in a few days to show you some other things going on......

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well, UGH!

Sometimes things just go south and that's the way it is..........Ask me what was the last thing I wanted to do today .....not walk the seven steps out to my workspace and work, that's for sure - I would much rather have arranged myself on my bed and streamed a movie off my ipad! but I didn't - I put one heavy foot in front of the other and went to work - the painting I showed you in my last post took a turn for the worst after it dried for a couple of days - that happens sometimes - colors fade and lose their way, so I decided to work on it today - I looked up two hours later - that was the good part - I had fallen into that 'zone' and just disappeared for awhile - the painting? well, not so much - a photo of it below - there are still things I want to work on - it's just not there yet - the painting went south, but I'm so glad I made the effort to push myself up and out the door - will tackle it again tomorrow and the next day and the next day until we become friends again - can't believe the weekend is here - see you all next week....


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treasure

I found a little treasure buried under a pile of months of work - a piece of mat board I used for at least a year to prep work on paper - it was totally covered in random splotches and drips and marks - how cool to find a surface already with the bones laid down - treasure!! - the photo below is the mat board before I started work on it a few days ago - cool isn't it!




and then the completed painting below - mixed media 28x24 - "She Refused"

working on other stuff also - some collage work and sketchbook stuff - will catch up with you later in the week with more.......

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it's just been that kind of week.....

There are a few things I know for sure and one of them is, just when you think you have a few days with nothing but painting ahead (because you've been diligent and done the days of a thousand errands), bam!, you don't! It's just been that kind of week - every day I thought I would be in the studio working, I was obliged to be somewhere else doing anything but painting - sigh - thus my trusty sketchbook keeping me a bit balanced with a few minutes on those days when it was just imperative that I needed to escape into my own world - just choosing a clean surface and sitting quietly making a few marks is so life saving........the photos below show a few of the pages I escaped to......nothing earth shattering, just me, talking my language and setting myself right for that day......







my love of textiles is really been pushing itself to the forefront in the past months - I've finally decided to give over to it and work with some new materials in the next couple of months....we'll see - see you all next week!

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