Sunset

"It is almost impossible to watch a sunset and not dream." -- Bern Williams

Filling The Well

I've been in somewhat of an art slump lately so I've had to head out and search for inspiration to fill the well. 

Recently, hubby and I went for a walk at one of the local parks. He suggested I take a few photos. I decided to use the Noir app (because I'm just in that kind of mood)!   ;-) I loved this gate at the entrance (could be useful for a future art piece...).

Then we were off to the trails:

We climbed way up the ridge that overlooked the creek. Nice! Found a little foot bridge and had to decide which trail to take... 

We kept going deeper into the woods. Found this guy... I mean this huge tree trunk:

I think it looks like a large, imposing figure of some sort. PERFECT for the Noir filter! Definitely thinking of using this shape in a future art piece... 

Later we ended our walk in an old cemetery and I couldn't resist this shot. No, I'm not a photographer. But I tried to get a good shot of her:

Mission accomplished. A nice little hike through the woods and a few inspirational ideas for some art. I'm starting to fill the will just a little bit. Have a great weekend everybody!

hAPPy Sketching

I've been spending a lot of time in my sketchbook lately.

Lots of faces popping up but that's nothing new.  ;-)

I'm taking Mindy Lacefield's class, Paint Your Story. 

Lots of Fun! I always wondered how she painted those faces!

We create our own little characters. Right up my alley...

Of course, eventually I'll have to give them bodies. *sigh*

Notice my ever-present helper at my feet!

So, while sketching I get distracted. 

I started playing with my new phone. And apps...

Camera apps!

Cartoon apps sounded like fun.

And another shot of the room...

Then a sketch app... 

Ha! a sketch of a sketch...  ;-)

Maybe one of my helper?

Enough of this. Time for a break. Here's one of my little sketch area...

Now it's time to get back to real sketching and some painting. 

It's been a silly Saturday...

Now my friend would like to say goodbye.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Shape and Motion

This painting was inspired by a beautiful poem that I came across this week:

Shape and Motion One

by Martin Carter

I was wondering if I could shape this passion 

just as I wanted in solid fire.

I was wondering if the strange combustion

of my days

the tension of the world inside of me

and the strength of my heart were enough.

I was wondering if I could stand as tall

while the tide of the sea rose and fell.

If the sky would recede as I went

or the earth would emerge as I came

to the door of the morning locked against 

the sun.

I was wondering if I could make myself

nothing but fire, pure and incorruptible.

If the wound of the wind on my face

would be healed by the work of my life

or the growth of the pain in my sleep

would be stopped in the strife of my days.

I was wondering if the agony of years

could be traced to the seed of an hour.

If the roots that spread out in the swamp

ran too deep for the issuing flower.

I was wondering if I could find myself

all that I am in all I could be.

If all the population of stars 

would be less than the things I could utter

And the challenge of space in my soul

be filled by the shape I become.

I'm a little late but I'm sharing this with Paint Party Friday.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Hide and Seek

It was the day we laughed so hard

we made the irises bloom

I was five

it was cool

we were running like cats

a game of hide and seek

happiness all balled up in our hands

shooting out of us in shrieks and bellows

I'm a tiger

she declared

and I decided I was too

a fearless tiger

with nothing to do 

but chase the wind

they say it whips you in the face

but this isn't how it works

if you run hard enough

the wind bores right into you

I don't remember anything else

except the smell of the ocean

sweet as ice cream

the wind carried the rest away.

Instapoem by bentlilly.

I have two versions of this painting. The original is posted below. I like this version (with a digital filter added) better. It's still a work in progress. I've started this painting and gesso'd over it three times now so it may end up back in the gesso pile. ;-) Here it is in the raw state (no filters):

Meh...

The poem was my inspiration, though. If you've been following my site at all you know how much poetry and music inspire my art. I stumbled upon the bentlily site through Susannah Conway's website. She's awesome in her own right as inspiration through her photography, courses, etc.  She mentioned the bentlily site on one of her posts so I had to check it out. You create your own instant poems by filling in some prompts. This was the poem from the introductory prompts. Check out the site; it's pretty cool. I've also signed up to receive the daily poem. ;-) 

I'm offering this for Paint Party Friday. Have a great weekend everybody! 

Hold On

This is a journal page I worked on today. So many things going on right now that I wanted to take a minute, take a deep breath and regroup. Funny how things happen...

I subscribe to Trendland (love it). One of the features they send in their daily posts is usually a music clip. Yesterday (or thereabouts) they sent a free download for music by this group, Alabama Shakes. I've been playing this song and their entire CD, Boys & Girls, on my iPod ever since. LOVE this group! This song, Hold On, inspired the journal page. This woman can sing!



So, just when I needed something to help me hold on... this song comes to me. How cool is that? ;-) Have a great week everybody!

Warhol: Deconstructed

Here is the second encaustic painting in my Deconstructed series. You can tell by the title of the post who the image is: Andy Warhol, one of my favorite artists! Here is the image I transferred onto fabric and began with:

Then I started the screen printing process. I did so many rounds of screen prints and ended up with a ton of different images on fabric to work with. I had originally planned on making an art quilt with these squares. I have so many to choose from that I may still do that with some that are left over. Here are the fabric squares I've chosen to make encaustic paintings with. I've laid the squares out side by side to show the progression of the screen print as the image deconstructed through the process. So cool!  Yes, I changed fabric through the process. Plus, these are my favorite images through a couple of different runs. ;-)

These are 8" x 8" squares and fit perfectly onto the deep wood panels I have. So far I've only done the two with encaustic but I love the finished look of them. Here is a side view of one of the paintings hanging on the wall:

Once I get each square embedded in encaustic, I'll arrange each wood panel on the wall. They will be arranged similar to the way they are laid out in the above photo but I will probably will have more in each row. I will post a photo when the series is completed and on the wall.

This is my Paint Party Friday entry. Check out what everybody else is up to today. Last I checked there are nearly 70 entries! Should be lots of eye candy waiting.

In Loving Memory

Phyllis C. Storer

April 2, 1940 - April 4, 2004

Happy Birthday, Mom. I miss you so much!

I also would like to send out much love to my baby sis who is recovering from a stroke. Love you, Paula!! 

Deconstructed

"First I'm gonna make it

Then I'm gonna break it

Till it falls apart"

-- Echo & the Bunnymen

This is another encaustic painting that is part of a series I'm working on. I won't reveal too much yet because I want to show the entire series together later. I will say that this is a face and it's been screen printed onto muslin. This muslin square is now set into about five layers of encaustic medium. It's not the first print off the screen. I had the squares piled up in no particular order so I'll have to sort those out later when I hang the finished pieces up. I just picked this square at random because I liked the detail and the color. I'll reveal who the face is and another print on the next post! 

I have had all of these prints laying in a basket for a while now. I really didn't want to sew them together even though that was my original intent when I made them. [Maybe because I'm not a great seamstress!]  ;-)  But in the back of my mind I  knew there may be something else I could do with them. It's on an 8 x 8 encausticbord panel that's 2 1/2 inches thick and it's the exact look I was hoping for. 

When I showed this to hubby I asked him to guess what it was. He thought at first it was a closeup of a piece of wood. Then I revealed the original face and showed him the progression of the squares after they had been run through the screen. Ha! He just shakes his head at my experiments. But he did like this one! Yay! That's good because there will be a bunch of them hanging on the wall when I'm finished. 

This is my entry for Paint Party Friday. It's been a year and we're still going strong! Check it out. The party is bigger and better than ever!

In Bloom

Gorgeous weather here today had me wishing that my flowers were in bloom. So I painted them! I was also able to experiment with more techniques using the encaustics. That made for a fun day all the way around. ;-) I hope it was just as nice where you were! Have a great week everyone!

Solitude

"Highest of heights, I climb this mountain

and feel one with the rock and grit

and solitude echoing back at me."

-- Bradley Chicho

I'm working with encaustics again! The last couple of days have been warm enough to actually open the windows and plug in the equipment and ventilation fan. Today was pushing it, though. It got too cold with the windows open after a few hours so I finally had to shut it down. But I'm excited to be working with the wax again. I've got a lot of pieces started and am anxious to get back to them as the weather warms up. 

This was the first time I had worked with the encausticbords made by Ampersand. I really like them. They are all primed and ready to go; and they are specifically made for encaustics. 

This is also my entry for Paint Party Friday (a day early).  Be sure to check out all the other entries. The party gets bigger every week!  :-)

The Sun

"Have you ever seen

anything

in your life

more wonderful

than the way the sun,

every evening,

relaxed and easy,

floats toward the horizon

and into the clouds or the hills,

or the rumpled sea,

and is gone --

and how it slides again

out of the blackness,

every morning,

on the other side of the world,

like a red flower

streaming upward on it heavenly oils,

say, on a morning in early summer,

at it perfect imperial distance -- "

from The Sun

by Mary Oliver

It was so sunny and unseasonably warm here today, I was inspired to paint this. Spring is definitely near! I'll take these beautiful days when I can get them. :-) Hope you all are having a great week!

I Dream

"And nobody gets out of it, having to

swim through the fires to stay in

this world."

-- from Dream Work by Mary Oliver

This is a watercolor journal page of mine that I experimented with. Thought it had a dream-like look to it after I finished. Working on some other things I hope to show soon. Have a great weekend everyone! 

Where the Light Enters: Journal Page

"The wound is the place were the Light enters you." -- Rumi

I'm back from my trip to Ohio. It was a blast seeing my friend again (and my sister stopped by)! Of course the time went too fast; it always does. But eventually you have to return to reality, I guess.  ;-) 

I did manage to stop by Blick's Art Supply while I was in town and picked up a few goodies I hope to try out soon. My Muse also seems to have taken a vacation but she hasn't returned yet. I expect she'll show up here eventually. In the meantime I've been working in my art journal and finished this page last night. 

This is my entry for Paint Party Friday. Be sure to check them out. Maybe I'll run into my Muse there!  ;-)

Have a great weekend everybody!