Miles to Go

12" x 12" Mixed Media on Wood 

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep."

  -- Robert Frost

Fabric of Life

The Fabric of Life

by Kay Ryan

It is very stretchy.

We know that, even if

many details remain

sketchy. It is complexly

woven. That much too

has pretty well been 

proven. We are loath

to continue our lessons,

which consist of slaps

as sharp and dispersed 

as bee stings from

a smashed nest,

when any strand snaps --

hurts working far past

the locus of rupture,

attacking threads 

far beyond anything

we would have said

connects.

This was an exercise I did for Misty Mawn's class. It was abstract week; something I really enjoyed. Every week we add poetry (either found, by a favorite poet or written by us) to our work if we wish. Again, something I LOVE. No expectations when I sat down this morning. That's always the most fun. This is the result. Happy weekend everybody!

Aftershock

Deferred Silence

  by Kay Ryan

There is a

deferred silence

which only follows

a deferred sound.

As when an oak falls

when no one is around.

The violence waits

for someone to approach

to have just stopped.

There is that ozone

freshness to the aftershock.

This painting has been through so many stages I forget what it started as. That's what I love about acrylics. If you don't like it, you can always paint over it. I don't usually paint this big but I'm stretching my wings. ;) It's a 24" x 36" canvas. I like that size for abstracts!

I'm taking some great courses online right now. One that I was really wanting to get caught up on is called Soul Restoration offered through the Brave Girls Club. It has been such a help to me. There will be a Soul Restoration 2 starting in June. You can read more about it at their site. I'm bad about signing up for too many courses at once. Then I panic when I realize I'm behind in them all and they will soon be ending. But this one is really great. Even though the official course is over this week, they give you another four weeks to complete all of the material, watch the videos, etc.  

I said that I would show a photo of my easel. Here it is with my painting on it:

I know I said the art room is de-cluttered. And it is...but when I paint I have to put down the canvas tarp (under the easel) to catch all those fun drippies! ;) And you have to excuse the stuff to the side...that's my heat gun, vent fan, etc. for my encaustic station set up just off camera to the right.  

So now that I've started to work off some of my aggression on this painting maybe I can work on something a little more pleasant. ;) We'll see what develops. At least I've broken in the easel. Now there's some paint smeared on it!

Far Away

For S.

This is a painting I did for a friend in Ohio. At this time of year I realize how much I miss all of my friends. I'm so happy that I am going to get another visit to Columbus before my surgery! I am lucky enough to be able to see the ol' gang again the second week of December. I plan on remembering every single minute of it. Sometimes I feel like I am just so far away from everyone, but really I'm not. I'll trade a four hour drive for a week of bliss anytime! ;)

I think I'm finally caught up on my painting class now. I have a few other personal projects that I've taken on that I'm very excited about so I'm keeping busy behind the scenes. It looks like I'll probably not be making the trip home for Christmas, though. Surgery will be a few days before... but that's okay. That time of year I would just like to spend some quiet time here for a change. 

So things are slowly moving along. There are some other works that I hope to be able to post soon! :)

A Different Realm

"I seem to stand outside the realm of God's mercy." 
-- John Cheever

I can so relate! This quote has stayed with me for decades. I have a bookcase devoted to writers and poets, along with their journals and notebooks. I love reading their journals and seeing inside their heads. Those journals fascinate me. It surprises me sometimes to see that these favorite writers and poets that I admired so much struggled with a lot of the same pain and insecurities that I do. Sometimes when I come across a line that stays with me I'll write it down in a notebook I keep. From time to time I'll look it over and it gives me ideas for my art or it will give me my own starting points to write about.  

I woke up this morning and just had to paint. Had to. I haven't felt this strong an urge to get to the canvas in a long time. I tossed and turned last night with so many thoughts in my head. So I was surprised I was driven to the studio so early. Cheever's quote kept coming to me all night and I dreamed strange dreams intertwined with that theme. Dreams about childhood and all the crap that was hammered in my head. Without going into gory details, suffice it to say that my Dad has always made it quite clear that no matter what I do I am never going to measure up to his expectations. So I feel quite at home with Cheever on his thoughts.

On my Dad's last visit we had another terrible argument. We've always had an antagonistic relationship ever since I was a teen. I think it's the Taurus in me. ;) Mom used to always act as the buffer. Since she's been gone, I've tried to make more of an effort to be, I don't know, more civil. So I was trying to point out some of the good things I've done: being the only one of five children to graduate from a university, made it on my own without ever asking him for a dime, done pretty darn well for myself, etc.  

All I got in response was more of the same disappointment, blah blah blah. So, thinking over all of this, I realize I am never going to please him. And thanks to a very dear, very wise friend (thank you, David!) I am reminded that you can't please other people; only yourself. You do the best you can and you go on.

So, fast forward to this morning. I'm painting away and end up with this painting: I call it A Different Realm. In this realm there is room for mercy. For everyone. ;)

Free Falling

This is how I have been feeling lately: like I'm falling, falling, falling... I have had an inner ear infection for the past week or so and it is really playing havoc with my balance. I'm okay as long as I don't move my head... not so fun.

I've tried to paint without much success. I resorted to sitting in my chair and painting with the canvas on the tabletop. It's not ideal but I did manage to finish the latest class painting from Jared Knight. I am always amazed at how I can follow along with him each step of the painting and use the exact colors he's using yet end up with different hues and a totally different look.

Yes, he is an experienced, wonderful artist! He's painted all his life and I love his work. I'm a newbie. He says that you learn to paint by ... painting! So I stuck it out. First I'll show you his painting. This is what the latest class taught you to paint (or, at least, your version of it):


I love his colors and his knife work! I still struggle with the knife but am working on a few different tips he gave in this class. I love his shades and blue. His is size 18 x 36. Now, here's my version:

First off: there were NO 18 x 36 canvasses at all in town. Aaarrghhh! I tried every store. So I had to use 24 x 36. Maybe it was the dizziness but this one reminds me of outer space, looking out through the window of a spaceship. :) It also makes me dizzy just looking at it so I'm starting the paintover on it today. I thought I would post it now because it's not going to last.

I like the blues in his a lot better but I'll keep some of the deeper blues in this one. I'll show you the paintover when I finish (if it's worth showing). I just know that I can't look at this one without getting dizzy so it has to go.

He says to substitute the colors you like for what he's doing and that may be my strategy. My colors tend to be more toward purples, violets, pinks, etc. (see top photo). So, along those lines maybe something more pleasing to me will emerge. And hopefully I'll be able to stand up and move around while I paint....without free falling to the ground!

Exploring Possibilities

This is one of my favorite sketches so far. I found the model for this one in a fashion mag. I often use fashion models as the base for my sketches. I'm not real good at producing a face completely out of my imagination. I'm still having issues drawing the nose, as you can see. And drawing at an angle gives me fits but I keep practicing. I'm also trying to give them more emotion. I think she looks like she's exploring possibilities.

I'm certainly doing that. I'm enjoying the abstract painting. It really is fun! The whole idea of painting with no image is very freeing. You paint your emotion. Good stuff. I put on some music that reflects my mood for that particular moment and then go with it.

I am finding the artist tube paints very nice to work with. They don't dry out as fast as the Golden fluid paints. And my new best friend is Titanium White. I have gone through three tubes of it so far. Between using it for practicing with my knifework and then using it in my paintings it doesn't last long. I found you can order a gallon of it online and that's what I did. In the long run it will be cheaper. The next painting we will be doing in class will be larger: 18 x 36. That will be a blast! Hopefully Jared will have it up soon!

Another cool thing I learned about was painting with skewers. Who would have thought! My painting buddy, Kimmie, sent me a YouTube video showing how to paint Jackson Pollock style using skewers. You have to have liquid paint, of course, to be able to fling the paint but it looks so cool! You can vary your marks, drips, etc. I'll have to work that into something...maybe just painted backgrounds to scan for digital works.

Like I said, exploring the possibilities...

Inner Storm

This is my first finished painting from Jared Knight's class. It's 11 x 14, Acrylic. This was not the painting that we did along with him in class. I'm still working on those. This one is from inside me. It's funny because I started painting along with him in his class video called Black Ice. For some reason I can't finish the painting like I want. I'm having issues using the palette knife. The best part of that painting is the knife. I have the everything else finished but I don't want to mess it up. So I've been practicing with that knife on everything I can make a mark on. I hope to finish it by tomorrow.

I love this one. I'm hanging it in our living room. Hubby really liked it, too. Of course what else could he say? ;) It's been fun challenging myself to do something I've never done before. What a rush! I had Melissa Etheridge blaring on the stereo today and painted my soul. Lots of paintings in the works so things are moving along. Now it's time for Jared to make a new class video!

Other things I'm working on: I have a bunch of new sketches that I'm playing with. I am in love with one of these. She's so ... not spooky, but I can't find the word. I'm working on giving the portraits more emotion. Looking over the earlier ones they all have the same frozen expression. So, hopefully, you'll notice more emotion in these later ones.

That's it for today. I wanted to post this while I still had the nerve.