looking for a challenge? inspiration?

take a class! or at the very least check out the links I've provided!

I signed up for this class on the very last day at the very last minute. mostly because I tend to be a bit of an on-line class junkie and because at times I have been disappointed. but this time I am SO glad I took the plunge! "get your paint on" is taught by mati mcdonough and lisa congdon. two amazing artists that I have been following for awhile. mati's artwork hangs on my inspiration wall and I missed lisa's workshop put on by my good friend angela and so I thought if I could get both of these artist's together and learn from them then I better not let this one slide by.

although the class is not yet complete I thought I would share some of the pieces I have been working on and the inspiration that I have found through taking this class.

this was my first week's painting and it was inspired by gee's bend quilts. the colors were inspired by papaya tissue paper.

second week's painting was inspired by flora bowley. this is the same week I fell and had my arm in a sling so I used my fingers to paint.

and then a second attempt where I played around with colors and a quote both inspired by kelly barton.
third week I was inspired by beatriz milhazes. I am "in love" with her work! beautiful!
I felt like I made a mess of the first one and so attempted a second one. not as crazy, but still bold black graphic that I wanted to have on the piece.
this week I was inspired by olaf hajek. crazy wild art! LOVE IT!

so why post this before the class has ended? because I had an awakening this week. usually when I paint I am using mixed media. this class has challenged me to just use paint. I have learned oodles about "just paint". it has been stressful at times. I have had the "ugly cry" moments, but I kept pushing forward. I learned patience and the quality of time as opposed to quantity of pieces. this week in particular I found myself painting in an almost meditative state. a retreat of sorts with paint. I found quiet and relaxed moments where I lost track of time and to do lists. albeit I cannot possibly do this everyday...or can I?

I have kept up with the schedule of this class unlike so many other on-line classes. I have received incredible support from a new on-line community of artists that I may not have otherwise met. I truly felt like a painter this week. thank you lisa and thank you mati for such a beautiful course filled with amazing inspiration and support!

the ideas for my new studio have been swirling around in my head. SO excited to see it all come together. in a few short months I will be sitting in front of a beautiful big window and I cannot wait to "get my paint on" there!

challenge is good continued...

on one of the days I was kicked out the house for a showing I ended up at value village. I've been admiring all the handmade ceramics on the internet and tried to think of how I could replicate them. I'm always inspired by alisa. she makes beautiful things out of stuff that you would never think of. her creativity blows my mind and so I thought why not try it?

I started with a tiny plate under a dollar!

it was one of those little keepsake plates from ottawa.

I started by coating the front with gesso.

I then tried some soft molding paste and sanded it down. mixed some colors together to give it that off white look.

added the word "fly" with rubber stamps. I actually pushed the rubber stamps into the paint and paste and then smeared some black paint over top so that the word would pop.

I love the way it turned out!

challenge is good...

one of the ways I find to move forward in my art is to challenge myself on a regular basis. I participated in quite a few challenges last year to get my art motor running again. one of the ones that caught my eye was from la wendula.

get a box filled to the brim:

pick out a few items:

create something using those items:

replace with the same number of items you took out:

she is hosting another one, check it out!

Happy LOVE day!

I plan on spreading some love today while running around doing errands and I encourage you to do the same. remember all those extra valentine's I could not stop making? yup! I will be doing a little guerilla art and leaving here there and everywhere. fun!

could it be?

as I looked out my window this morning I noticed a yellow clothed figure on the roof a few doors down. santa? no, he wears red. cupid? no he wears nothing. easter bunny? no, fluffy white ears and tail. then smack it hits me. just another dumb ass who thought it would be a good idea to get up on his roof using his rickety old ladder and try to remove the ice and snow himself. hey dumb ass! not everyone has a law degree. some people actually make a living removing snow from roofs. you should pay THEM to do it.

and then there is the dogs. the little one "joey" thought it would be a good idea to walk across the tundra and get up as high as he could to see if it was santa. the slats are actually part of our fence and yes we have that much snow!

and the other dog "sparky" who I watched tumble down the stairs with I guess aspirations of becoming a gymnast and then slide down the sidewalk to the detached garage door. oh c'mon you would've giggled too! but then he is digging away at the snow bank probably looking for dry land I assumed. well after awhile I decide to brave the icy walk to see what he has found that is so interesting. okay, so another dumb ass left a jar of bird seed outside and it was buried in the snow, but sparky the bloodhound that he is found IT! and then proceeded to inhale as much of it as he could in the time that I was out of sight.

now I somehow hurt my back. be it from shoveling, pushing people out of the snow or running around keeping the house tidy. so I say to sparky "now I love ya, but if you die on my watch your body will remain where it lies until someone can come and pick you up."

house tidy? yes, it is official we are on the market and headed for condo living. in the process of showing the home to potential buyers we have been out looking for appliances. now I am in love with my stove, but have been convinced that all new appliances is the way to go. I just need it to boil, bake and fry. that's it! I do not need it to boil in 90 seconds. I do not need it to free the little cleaners for self cleaning. I do not need a warming drawer. very hard to find a basic stove. so I find one that I am happy with and the damn thing has buttons on it that say "crispy pizza" and "chicken nuggets". WTF?

I can not live my life cooking and looking at buttons that say crispy pizza and chicken nuggets. I say to the salesman "how do you know what size my nuggets are" which ends in roaring laughter. but seriously? so I upgrade to the next one and end up another $300.00 into shiny NEW appliance heaven.

crazy busy around here as both men have abandoned me for warmer climates. doing poop patrol which is so fun! apparently bird seed for dogs is equal to corn for humans. and did I mention that once bird seed is spilled, eaten, pooped and come back to life that it travels? oh yes! it travels into the house. on my boots! fucking bird seed poop boots!

I am one click away from booking my flight. united says I have to use my air miles before the end of march and I hate to disappoint people! seeing as that is probably not going to happen I will just drown myself in percocet.

I did manage to steal away some time in the studio though and completed the challenge for our guild meeting next week. here is a peek:

then for some bizarre reason I started making valentine's. like I am in grade frickin' two or something. anyway, I would cut out a heart and then before throwing away the other part I would stick it on the next one and so on till I used up a whole bunch of little bits. weird! but good therapy!

life...

it's raining outside as I write this. real rain. like april showers rain except that it's january and there is snow on the ground not green grass.

sometimes we say when it rains, it pours or when life gives you lemons you make lemonade. or in my case when three tulip petals fall off in front of you while eating breakfast you make ART.

it all began with this:

and ended up looking like this.

I really tried to challenge myself (as if I have nothing better to do) as far as mediums. I dug out the walnut ink and stained the wood. I kept adding layers till I liked the effect. I sketched in the tulip petal shape and began layering color with acrylic paint, pencil crayons and outlined with a fine tip black pen. I wanted the petals to pop and so I added some dimensional medium.

for some reason I always feel the need to add words to my pieces and this time I chose "life". cause sometimes life throws you things that you need. you learn, you grow and you evolve. I loved the challenge of keeping it to a few products and seeing what developed. it is fun to experiment with what you have and it all started with tulip petals falling in front of me. hmmm...

3 things

dress for the elements

artwork by linda woods

have good coffee on hand to warm you

"in my mind" by nadia

and make some art...