...finished the mermaid...and CED #79... ...ordered new business cards from www.moo.com (thanks, Jess!)... ...I am so excited about my new cards!!!.... ...and lastly...Scooter doesn't like to wear hats. Do not try this at home, folks. Or headbands. Or barrettes. Or anything like that. But I am happy that I found this headband today. ...gonna embellish it a bit to create a retro-inspired cocktail hat/headband/creation for this weekend...got a themed event to attend...
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TV time with Johnny...and some artin' Per usual...its almost 11pm and I am posting my CED for the day...number 78 is finished. It appears there is a black cat on the loose. He got into the birdcage. He ate the poor raven. Poor, poor raven. Sigh. Guess my swirly haired gals will be hanging out with a black cat. ...getting excited for the next ANE show! Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered (the ending of my spring break), weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore (ummmm...we were watching Breaking Bad), While I nodded, nearly napping (yeah, a little sleepy, it's kind of late), suddenly there came a tapping, As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. " 'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door; Only this, and nothing more." ...and I could try to be cute and keep going with my own commentary on the Raven meets the Black Cat...but it's late...and I have school tomorrow...and Spring Break 2012...is now, nevermore.
So...I think I can at least say I spent my last day of my spring break exactly like I wanted to...slept in, went to Zumba, a little TV time, lunch with the husband, nap/coma after lunch...after I woke up...figured I might as well soak up those last few rays...so I headed to the pool... I worked on the random mermaid that I started yesterday...I did think for a second about going to the beach again this morning...then I fell back asleep. I am positive I made the right decision. ...and there it was- the last sunset of my Spring Break. By that time I was working on my CED #78 while I was waiting for the watercolor background to dry on my mermaid. I was going to post a digitally enhanced version of #77 for today's CED...but my friend Jess is sick so I will have to wait...she has the software and the awesome computer...so that can wait. Plus, I need her expertise...me and Photoshop...we are strangers. I might post again later tonight...might not. Gotta make myself go to bed early so I will be ready to teach tomorrow. I miss you already, Spring Break!
...so I packed a bag, drove to the beach and set up my chair to sit and draw a mermaid. Not that I needed to be at the beach...but I do think it helped to hear the waves and to smell the saltwater. Might have to do that again tomorrow.... Drawing board, check. Bristol pad, check. Pencil, check. Erykah Badu in my ears, check. Inspiration, check. ...it's not finished...but it's a start. Big-eyed mermaid, looking in surprise and awe at her underwater world...to be continued... Oh, and CED #17 is finished and posted. Figured I would go ahead and post. ...for obvious reasons (to me at least) I didn't post my CED for 3-15-12...but here it is (right) along with the #76 from today. I have been referencing some images from Byzantine Iconography, I think I pinned one on my Pinterest the other day and sure enough, some of the elements are showing up in my work. Mainly the mandala and use of gold. Today was kind of a unique day for me...I spent the last day of my spring break...at school. Not my school- I visited my friend Jessie's school today as her 'guest artist' and it was an awesome day. I don't get a chance to visit other art teachers, especially not when they are teaching, so this was a opportunity for me to get new ideas for organization, lessons and just see how someone else teaches/manages in my specific area. I sat up front, talked to her students, worked on my art all day, helped take up extra credit assignments and basically hung out with my good friend and I am really glad I went, even if it meant having to get up early. I am however very thankful that I will get to sleep in tomorrow. Jessie Prugh with one of her fab pieces. I posted in my CED Blog that I have started to work on #77 already...I am hoping to scan the image and have Jess , who is an amazing graphic designer, show me some cool stuff in Photoshop and then just...play. I have no idea even what is possible. I think I have a good base image started so we will see what happens. I do need to finish up that commission, hopefully I can drop it off on my way down South for St. Patrick's Day festivities. I feel like the face is basically finished, some minor details, maybe deepen some of the values...I just need to work on the hair. Right now I am thinking wet-in-wet watercolor wash with salt texture and then doing the outlining with Microns. My Spring Break is slowly winding down... Today would have been John's mother's birthday. She would have been 56 today. I am always looking for you Lucy, everywhere I go.
I love to organize...sometimes as much as I love to make art. Maybe in another life I would have been a professional organizer, but on a budget, one that would come in and help you organize using mostly what you already have. Sigh. Yes, in another life. I love order. I like to create calm among the chaos...and I have alot of stuff so it can get a little crazy. I like to organize by size, shape, color....even the color value. I love to organize my jewelry and accessories, my classroom, my own art studio space at home...which was my task yesterday. So...I put together a some images below that show my love for organizing. Today I am on to the next thing...going through some random stuff that I need to file away or trash...and some art time, of course! I put the images of the start of my CED piece #74, the initial drawing, a close-up and the final piece below. It didn't take me all day to create, I started this morning, then didn't work on it all day until a little while ago when John and I sat down to watch tv (favorite thing ever, watching tv with the husband sitting in the corner of the couch with my small folding art table and an assortment of supplies on hand)...anyway, this one is done. I may bring the hair line down a little tomorrow...and still trying to decide whether or not to add a bird...for now...just gonna let it sleep. Literally. Or myself at least.
(front/back) Just a thought about my current sketchbook...well, so here is my thing with sketchbooks in general. I love'em. But I hate them at the same time, for this reason- I want to fill the up, then I get stressed when I don't, I have an inner battle with each page...do I tear it out, do I leave it intact? But wait, I need to fill up every page first! (taking a deep breath...) Flashback to, I don't know- about 25+ years ago. (gulp...that was depressing) Anyway, I loved coloring books. I would color every page, front to back, carrying around my crayons in an old Country Crock butter tub. So what does this have to do with my sketchbooks? Everything. I think from a young age I felt the satisfaction of completing something, a book of my coloring. (and for the record I did like to stay in the lines) It was my own book at that point. And since those days, sketchbooks have come and gone. In college I went through a phase of buying the black bound sketchbooks, somewhere deciding that it would also be good to have a separate one for each course/medium. The result, a row of sketchbooks, lining my shelf...with only the first quarter of the book used. In hindsight, maybe I should have merged all of my ideas into on sketchbook... Somewhere along the way my friend Jason Basden gave me a handmade sketchbook which I loved. I immediately filled the front cover and first page with a collage showing self-empowerment and inspiration...and then that book was stolen out of my car along with this awesome leopard bag I had just bought. Such is life. Then I got into Moleskin sketch books, graduate school I think it was. I like these, they are light weight and they have a little bit off an off-white page color. This is what I took with me to Japan in the summer of 2009, using mostly black colored pencil and some watercolor to draw...but still not filling up the book. Sigh. Another one that I made not too long ago was one for a workshop I did at the Salvador Dali Museum in Spring of 2010. Creating a sketchbook cover was a part of the workshop, we did this prior to arriving. I really had fun creating this piece that I felt showed who I am. I added collaged photos (my own), as well as transferred text and I painted details on top of everything with acrylic paint. The sketchbook was originally white, I painted it to look like leopard print. I wrote down all of my notes from the workshop and also some sketches from the Dali museum. Still have pages to fill in that one... I may post some of the old sketchbooks, just for fun. Will wait til I have some daylight, and also some are in my classroom. That would be neat, for me at least. So now, here I sit. More productive at this point than I think I have ever been...having the same battle with my current sketchbook. I can't remember when I bought this newest one, maybe around January? About the time that I started to do the Creative Every Day Challenge. The majority of the pages that are in the book now are from just msc. figurative work I did in January, not anything to do with the shoes I was making that month. I have been starting my CEDs for this month in this sketchbook, then ripping them out to turn them into mixed media pieces, all the while seeing the thickness of the book slowly disappear, and not sure I want it all to go away and just be left with a spiral binding when its all said and done. So I purchased a new sketchbook with the intent of ripping the pages out as I go and committing to not feeling bad about taking the pages out but trying to use every one. Every page. As for the sparkly sketchbook that has helped me start this new year off right...I will leave the pages intact. Unless, of course, I rip out one of those figures to gift to someone, which I do often. But I will leave the remaining pages for jotting down notes to myself, quick sketches, quotes...anything that I need to keep me inspired. Ummmm...so...that is what has been on my mind about my sketchbook. Let me say very publically...I love spring break. I love being able to sleep in (which for me, 7:30 is still 'sleeping in')...but I love to have all this day time to myself. Love it. So this morning...I decided to 'wake and draw'. Instead of staying inside, I headed poolside to enjoy a spot in the sun before it gets too hot. I started working on my CED #74, so far just have the figure drawn in, going with closed eyes and head down for this one. Drawing the figure is the easy part...figuring out what to do next...that is the hard part...especially now that I am trying to branch out into some mixed media work...which I am loving...but I still think I need to push more. I did notice a change in the works I created once I stumbled upon that Somerset Apprentice magazine (Spring 2012). So I am anxious to see where this will go. I am hoping to bring in some small shadow boxes and work within that space on at least a few of the pieces later this month. The last piece, #73, was so much fun. I found this cool bird cage pendant that I took apart a little...add feathers, gems, and layers of paper...my bird figures look like showgirls. Which, of course, I love... |
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