Living With Art

Today one of my art-filled studio walls is featured in Seth Apter's weekly Living With Art series on his blog, The Altered Page.

So I thought I'd post the other images I sent Seth, for him to choose from.

This is the east wall of the north studio.

This is the south wall of the north studio.

This is the south wall of the south studio.

This is the north wall of the north studio.  The small mounted quilt at top left is one that I sold last weekend.

And here, again, is a link to Seth's blog, The Altered Page.

Great Weekend

Acrylics and vintage papers on canvas panel, 11x14"

I had a great weekend.  I was in Redway (in southern Humboldt) on Saturday at the 7th Annual Artists of the Emerald Coast show.  It was a fun afternoon/evening, I sold two art quilts, reconnected with some old friends, a few of whom I hadn't seen in 15 years or more, met several new artists, and was home again by 9pm.  I was also approached to do a couple other shows or exhibits down there later this year.

Yesterday I did this painting, my last for Layer Love 2.0.  I also did some yard work and several other things around the house, then watched the last two episodes of The Bridge Season 1.  That was a great program ~ can't wait until Netflix gets the second season.

It's finally really spring here on the North Coast ~ at least this week anyway.

I'm a happy camper.  Life is sweet.  Hope you, too, have a great week.  xx

Y-E-S

Art Journal collage, March 2015

On Tuesday, my wireless modem/router started to fail.  On Wednesday I ordered a new one from AT&T, it arrived late yesterday, and I was back online in less than 30 minutes.  That was the least painful tech upgrade I've ever experienced.

Earlier this year I debated whether or not to drop at-home wireless internet, because, of course, the cost keeps going up (as does everything else).  But I've decided against dropping it.  It is my lifeline to the world after all as well as being my one-and-only telecom expense.

I haven't yet but am still planning to do a second painting for the last lesson of Layer Love 2.0.  The background is finished, I've just had other things going on this week.

Yesterday I read a great spy novel, A Foreign Country by Charles Cumming.  I loved it.  I'll read all of his other books now.  I love finding new-to-me authors on the New Arrivals shelves at the library.  The last bunch I picked out were all great books ~ including The Night of the Comet by George Bishop, which I read just before the Cumming book.  Next to read is Naomi Klein's non-fiction This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate. 

I've got that art show in Redway tomorrow, then nothing on my agenda until my next trip into Eureka on Tuesday, May 5.  I've finally got it down to where I only have to go into town once a month.  I'm just stocking up on basic grocery items monthly, and buying organic produce at Safeway in Fortuna.  Interestingly, Safeway's organic produce is cheaper and better than the produce I used to buy at Eureka Natural Foods.  Although I still go to ENF monthly for stuff I can't get at Winco or Costco.  Although I've also been buying some non-perishables from Amazon.com, because they're cheaper, there's no shipping cost, and they're delivered to my door.  So there's everything you probably didn't need to know about my food shopping habits.

Hope you have a great weekend.  See you on Monday.  xx

Art on Walls

Acrylics & vintage papers on canvas panel, 11x14 inches

This is my first piece for Lesson 11 ~ 11 x 14 inches on canvas panel.  Quite a bit different from the two I did for the prior lesson.  Chris and Julie have distinct methods of applying and working with paint, and I'm glad to be learning varying styles.

~~~~~

Recently I've been noticing some really wonderful abstract contemporary art on the walls in TV programs I follow.  Many of those programs are European, but nice art on walls doesn't exclude American shows.  In a few cases I've wished the character would move out of the way so I could get a better view of the art.

I'm guessing either the art is a function of something like product placement, where advertisers wordlessly but meaningfully place their products on or in TV programs and movies.  Or perhaps the art is created expressly to be positioned in programs.  Whatever the case, I find this quite interesting, and the contemporary art I've seen on TV has been really great.

Little by Little

Acrylics and vintage papers on canvas panel, 12x12 inches

This is the second piece I did for Lesson 10.  This week I'll work on Lesson 11, and that'll be it for this class.  I'll be starting another one of Julie Pritchard's classes (8 Great Paintings) right after this one.

I've read a lot of books recently ~ another in the Lynley series, another of John Harvey's, another of Joseph Finders.  The standout book was The Years by Nicholas Delbanco.  I read that one over the weekend and was really moved by it.

Even though I have no idea when I will be making that "final" move, and even though it might be a couple years or more, I have begun to tidy up things around the house.  Little by little I've been taking down decorative stuff, cleaning it up really well (because everything in my home is horribly dusty), and packing it away.  I'm liking having less stuff around me, although I've hardly made a dent.  It's refreshing to see white spaces on the walls.

And little by little I am loosening my hold on artworks I made years ago, especially art quilts.  I've had my quilts somewhat organized by category ~ a) okay to sell/donate; b) sell/donate later; c) definite keepers.  I've very slowly been selling off pieces from the first category over the last couple years, as well as donating work annually to my favorite local animal welfare organizations.    Recently I've moved into the second category. 

I was invited to participate in the 7th annual Artists of the Emerald Coast this coming Saturday in southern Humboldt (an afternoon-evening art, wine, hors d'oeuvres and music affair), and mostly I'll be taking art quilts from my "sell/donate later" category.  Later is now.

Have a good week.  xx

One of Two

Acrylics and vintage papers on canvas panel, 12x12 inches

This is my first of two paintings for Lesson 10, which was to create a painting over papers collaged onto the substrate.

Otherwise, I'm quiet this morning, without anything to say.  Hope you have a great weekend.  xx

Wordless Wednesday

Art Journal Collage, March 2015

A Real Stretch

Acrylics and cheesecloth on canvas panel, 11x14 inches

This is my second piece for Lesson 9, another exercise in embedding onto canvas.  What I embedded here was cheesecloth.  I was anxious to try something with a lot of texture, something like fabric.  Turns out I didn't care for painting over the cheesecloth after all.  It did add a lot of nice texture, but it presented its own set of limitations on the canvas.  The thing for me is that I tried it.

Now we're on to two lessons working with flat collage materials on the substrate.  I'm looking forward to getting into these.

Hope you have a great week.  xx

Comfort Zones

Acrylics and rusted washers on panel, 6x6 inches

This small (6 x 6") piece was my second for Lesson 8.  Other than being another exercise in embedding objects on a painting, I wanted to experiment with a faux wax finish.

I didn't have any beeswax to use for a wax finish, and soy wax, which I did have, isn't hard enough to use for this purpose.  So I made a wax-like finish with a combination of matte and gloss gel mediums and a drop each of a couple iridescent fluid acrylics.  Worked like a charm to give a waxy-looking finish.  Although next time I do this, I'd definitely add a smidge of open medium so the finish stays wet long enough to carve into it.

Anyway, about comfort zones in art making...the painting I showed the other day (the abalone piece) and especially the one I'm working on now, are outside my comfort zone.  Guess that's what's so cool about Layer Love 2.0, the opportunity to try a bunch of different techniques to find out which ones speak to me and which ones to leave behind after the class.

And about comfort zones in other senses ~ I've been thinking about travel in general, and the fact that I have no desire to do any traveling at all anymore.  This absence of wanderlust has been driven home for me over the last few years since I began reading mysteries that take place in international locales, primarily Scandinavia, Italy and Great Britain.  All places I've been to, interestingly.  Any romantic notions I once entertained about how cool it would be to hang out in these places at sometime in the future have been trounced by my awakening to the fact that life in these "exotic" places has become just as crime-ridden as it is here in the States.  Add to that the realities of far too many people existing on this small planet, especially in lovely, art-filled cities and inspiring out-of-the-way spots, the vicissitudes of traveling which become more trying every year, the ever-increasing costs of everything, and the fact that you don't have anything to show for travel once you're back home, except for stuff and memories...and my mind is clear about the whole "not traveling" thing.

Home is where my zone of comfort is.  All that vagabonding I did back in the day, all that moving from one location and situation and relationship to the next, playing with different personae in an effort to find the real me, made me realize that the only way I am able to be comfortable in life is to be in one place.  And to live my life from there (or here).  A staging area or landing zone...both, actually. 

I simply don't want to go anywhere.  I'm not comfortable sleeping anywhere but my own bed.  I want to be with BeeGee every day.  I like my routines.  I'm happy with the food I make for myself.  I don't want to go through the anxieties of planning trips, the hassles of getting there, the costs of being there, the "stranger in a strange land" I inevitably feel when I leave home.  If there's anything I feel I absolutely need to see, I'll find it online, or rent the DVD.

No bucket list, no wanderlust, no "have-to's-before-I-die."  Just peace, contentment, quietude, and inner satisfaction.

Have a great weekend. xx

Abalone Aficionado

Acrylics and abalone on canvas panel, 12x12 inches

This painting is my first for Lesson 9, another embed exercise.  This lesson was hosted by Chris Cozen whereas Lesson 8 was Julie Pritchard's take on embedding.  I love that in this class we learn from both artists, who have different approaches to painting.

I've been doing a couple of paintings for each lesson, really using this class as an opportunity to experiment and try different things ~ rather than feeling as though I need to power through the lessons to get to the end.  Saturday I'll post the second piece for Lesson 8; today I'll be working on the second piece for Lesson 9.

I awoke this morning to a renewed burst of creative energy.  Yes I've been painting recently, but it seemed that I'd lost the drive to do much else creatively.  I'm feeling a bit more oomph today, though, and I'm glad for it.

I've always loved abalone shells ~ who doesn't?  The pieces embedded here have been in my collection for at least 15 years, since I made beaded jewelry.  One of my favorite things to do back then was to create abalone brooches by beading around the chunks.  Occasionally I made abalone earrings as well.  And then there were the several times I created a palette of abalone colors to dye silk fiber with, and subsequently spin into yarn.

Honestly Speaking...

This is my first painting for the next lesson (Lesson 8), which was to embed objects into the piece.  This is a 10 x 10 inch cradled wood panel with foreign (non-U.S.) coins embedded.

I've been thinking about honesty lately, actually about how honestly explaining myself has gotten me into more messes in my life than had I been able to tell little white lies that didn't hurt anyone.  I never got that gene.  I've always operated under the "honesty is the best policy" advice.

The world, however, doesn't turn on honesty.  Most people are far more interested in themselves than they are in you (or me) telling the truth about ourselves.  It's taken me this long to realize that it's usually just better to make something up than to tell the whole truth.  The truth, most times, is probably too much information, and everybody is on information overload these days.

I think it was Winston Churchill who said, "Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip."  Diplomacy has never been one of my strong suits.

There is another side to this, though, and that's the aspect of living one's values.  Some of my values, especially when I worked, are and were to have integrity, to be just, to try to make a difference, and to aspire to being part of the solution rather than part of the problem.  In numerous instances I found myself, because of nature of my role in an organization, to be caught between a rock and a hard place.  Opting to uphold those values always got me in trouble, i.e. hated, ostracized, fired.

I couldn't not speak my truth.  And not much has changed since then.  At the end of day, it always seems that choosing personal integrity over lying is the way for me to go.

Have a good week.  xo 

Grunge

Acrylics on canvas panel, 12x12 inches

Lesson 7 was to create a grunged up painting that looks old and weather-beaten.  That diagonal shadow near the bottom is a lighting glitch, not part of the painting. 

I've been reading novels by Lisa Unger, an author I haven't read for close to ten years.  Recently I finished Fragile and Darkness, My Old Friend.  Enjoyed them both.

Started John Harvey's Charlie Resnick series, with Lonely Hearts.  I like the character as well as the author's writing style, so I'll continue with the series.

I'm now reading What Came Before He Shot Her, the next for me in the Inspector Lynley series, although Lynley isn't in the book.  I just found out that Elizabeth George has a brand new book in the series, A Banquet of Consequences, due to be published in October of this year.

Via Netflix, I've recently seen Get On Up, a biopic of James Brown that I enjoyed a lot.  Also, The Theory of Everything (excellent; Eddie Redmayne deserved every bit of his Oscar and Golden Globe awards for his role), and Kings of Pastry, a documentary about French pastry chefs ~ also enjoyable. 

When the post office is doing what they should be doing, I can get two DVDs a week from Netflix, one at a time.  That hasn't been the case lately, though.  It can take 3 or 4 days for them to get my movies back in the mail, even though I send them back the day after I receive them.  Wonder what's going on with the postal service in these parts...  I'd still rather not pay more money to get two movies at a time, because most nights I'd rather read than watch something.  At this rate, though, it'll take me three years to get through my queue at Netflix...and that's if I don't add anything else.