Filed under: Fleeting thoughts..., painting, printmaking, Sewing | Tags: Cy Twombly, fabric, painting, pouch, sewing, watercolor
Yay! Spring is here! Get out the lightweight mittens! Get out the waterproof, yet non-bulky, knee-high boots! Get out the gauzy, cotton scarves!
Just kidding…
It’s in the mid 20’s and I’m bundled up like an Eskimo. Right now, I’m wearing a down coat in the house. My feet feel cold.
Beyond the perpetual climate woes in the Northeast (did I mention that Boston broke its snowfall record this year? Yay/Boo!), I sprained my knee recently, which is beyond annoying. I’m not a good patient, as I avoid seeing the doctor, do internet research, and hope for the best. I have a perfect excuse for laying on the couch all day eating bon-bons with my leg elevated, and yet that seems like a tedious way to spend the day. Instead, I hobble around trying to do stuff, wondering WHY my leg doesn’t feel any better. It’s kind of sad that I’m not even 50, and I’ve already started moaning about my aches and pains. Would you like to discuss the pros/cons between three different types of knee brace? No? Do you think that if I wore all three at once, it would heal faster?
In spite of my aching leg, I’ve managed to play around a bit with sewing, printmaking, and painting. I made a little pouch for my SIL:
It’s cute, right?
Here is one of the annoying things about photography that I struggle with…COLOR CORRECTION. Here is the same pouch in direct sunlight:
Looks pretty different, right? AAAARGH. I hate dealing with trying to reproduce accurate colors. It wouldn’t matter if I wasn’t listing things on Etsy. But because I am, I’m constantly struggling to get accurate color. It’s truly maddening. Well, it’s not as bad as cooking and grocery shopping, but a close second.
I took a 6 hr printmaking class on reduction printing. It was fun, even though I made some serious disaster prints. We just used those cheap styrofoam plates to print with. Here is a tutorial on this kind of printing. I was sort of content with this print:
You can do this kind of printing at home without a press, so give it a try! Do not accidentally lean your elbow on your styrofoam plate because you will:
a. get ink on your elbow
b. make an indentation in your plate which will affect your print.
Unless, of course, you’re into elbow prints. Who am I to judge?
I was also mucking around with watercolors too. In grad school, I took a VERY ANAL RETENTIVE watercolor course. We were doing Beaux Arts watercolors like this:
I know. WHY was I learning this in architecture school, as it’s soooo stodgy and traditional? I wanted to learn how to do this as it was an actual SKILL. Have I used that skill since then? No, but whatever. ANYWAY…I brought this up because this is my only experience with watercolor. Very rigid. So, this week, I started to just play with watercolors…generally making a mess.
I kind of liked doing these! Just blobs of color. Look at the cool effects you get with watercolor:
Neat, right?
I have basically spent the majority of my life trying to be precise and perfect in what I do (except for cooking and cleaning). Now, I’ve realized that this is total B.S., and it’s better to be messy. Notice that my fish print is completely anal retentive, YET AGAIN. Okay, so I fell of the wagon a bit. Clearly, I am still struggling to stop being that way, but I am working on it.
There is a reason that I love Cy Twombly’s work:
THE MAN
I love his work because it is SO free. That may not be the academic interpretation of what he does, but it’s mine. I love how visceral and messy his work is. LOVE IT. As a recovering perfectionist, I yearn for this…
Sigh! (Cy!)
Filed under: painting, printmaking | Tags: abstract, art, artist, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, nature, painting, printmaking, watercolor
So, I finally visited the “8th Biennial International Minature Print Exhibition” at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, CT. Why did I go? BECAUSE…I actually have a print there! Yes! My first juried exhibition…so I had to go and see it. I do not plan on doing that drive regularly, as it was around 3 hours each way. ANYWAY, here is what my print looked like on the wall:
Not bad, right? Notice the little red dot? THAT MEANS THAT SOMEONE BOUGHT ONE! I’m not kidding. My first sale! I’m very excited. Here is my print on the wall with other prints:
I think that mine is the 10th one from the left. Prints that were not “wall worthy” went in these binders in the foreground. So, there were so many amazing prints to look at! Here is another view of one of the rooms of the show:
Not bad, right? I have not entered another competition…so perhaps I should get on that and see what’s available.
My classes are over, so I have no more access to a press for printing. This was one of my last prints:
Hmmm. What do you think???? I was sort of blaise about it…but my printmaking teacher seemed to really like it. Comments?
I’ve also done some random watercolors (actually gouache)…but I think that it just isn’t my thing:
and:
Hmm. Just hmm.
I’m trying to decide on classes for the fall. This is always tough, as everything sounds great…but there is only so much time and money. BTW…I ALMOST have a workspace. The basement renovation is nearing completion! I can’t wait…
Filed under: painting, printmaking | Tags: art, Japan, Linocut, linoleum block, monotype, printmaking, temple, watercolor
Okay, it was 12 degrees this morning. Tonight, it’s supposed to be 6. Seriously. In spite of this cold snap, our lovely igloo that my husband made has melted. Here is what’s left of it:
It was right next to that tree. I took this picture yesterday when my son and I were playing out in the yard. I was frozen, and he was gleefully throwing snow around with a beach shovel. Here’s the winter light in front of our house:
Isn’t it amazing? I love that kind of light.
So, I managed to finish that linoleum block that I was working on! I just tried to hunker down and finish it. I like the prints, more or less, so I think that I may do more…in spite of the fact that I’m still not in love with carving linoleum. I also collaged some interesting Japanese papers into some of the pictures. The solid paper was a success…the patterned paper was a total fail.
Here is just the block print:
Here, I’ve added some red paper:
The red looks much darker in the photo above than it really appears. Detail:
Here it is with the patterned paper…not good:
I like this one, with the ochre paper:
detail:
That turned out pretty well.
I also finished that trace monotype with watercolor. I’m not happy with this. I may try to “help” it in some way. Suggestions?
I kind of like the colors, but the overall effect is blah. It’s kind of flat and boring. Thoughts???
Filed under: Drawing, painting, printmaking | Tags: abstract, art, drawing, image, printmaking, Prints, visual art, watercolor
Yesterday was a fabulously warm day. My son and I took several walks to soak up some sun and work on our vitamin D levels. It felt amazing to be out in the warm air. I was tempted to open all the windows in the house, but then I thought that might be premature.
Everything feels like it’s slow going. Every day, I hope for something I do to be “the thing”. By this I mean, “MY thing”. So far, what I’ve done puts a furrow in my brow. Sigh. Just the reality of where I am, and where I am not in my creative endeavours. I love seeing inspiring works by other people. On the other hand, it often leaves me with a bit of a pit in my stomach…knowing that I couldn’t possibly do what they do. I know. It’s supposed to be that way. I have to do what I do. BUT WHAT IS THAT? I wish that I knew…
Here are some odds and ends from the past week. Any comments?
I know. My search to figure out what to do will be a lifelong one. At the same time, so many people have figured out “what” their art is all about. I’m not there yet. It feels like it’s taking forever to figure out.
slightly wonky 
