Dynamic Dots

Dynamic Dots

Continuing on my theme this summer of resolving paintings and drawings that have been languishing for quite some time. This one was started in a class that explored all kinds of experiments with golden proportions – according to the scrawled notes on the back, dynamic rectangles in a square in this case.
Fun colors and scribbles and when the white dots made an appearance I decided to declare it resolved.
The #100dayproject did its job

The #100dayproject did its job

Instagram hooked me again back in February, and I’ve just completed another 100 day project challenge.
Did I cheat?  Kind of.  My goal was a 5″x5″ piece every day, taking no more than 25 minutes.
I didn’t create every day, but I caught up, so I made 100 pieces in 100 days
I didn’t work more than 25 minutes, but I often took less
I used watercolor, I sketched in pencil and pen, I used collage, I used gouache, I used acrylic
These two pieces aren’t part of the work I created but they are the reason I decided to do the project.  Consistent practice helps me loosen up.  It helps me remember how I did things in pieces I like, how to avoid effects I don’t like, and how to fix things that go wrong.
So, when I decided that I wanted something to change out the two hallway picture frame images before the weekend, these two pieces came quickly.  They aren’t perfect.  They could be worked on some more, for sure.  But that’s always true.  The 100 day project reminded me that it’s just paper and paint, and I can let it go, because there will be another chance to create tomorrow.
Oops, October!

Oops, October!

October passed me by too quickly to get this post out and included in my month-end summary email. It’s important to me, marking the passage of time even if no one else ever read it.

October is a long month, but it felt short.  I met my own challenge of resolving or at least renovating a stack of mixed media paintings that had been sitting around for quite some time – the photo is one of my “after” shots.  Now, some of them seem worthy of matting or at least storing in osme way that they don’t curl up and resist all future efforts to flatten them out.

This October was one of the prettiest I remember in quite some time – lots of warm days, lots of crisp but not cold days, and the nicest leaf colors I’ve seen in a while, even along the interstate on my way from Chicago to Michigan for a quick family visit.

My boyfriend was on the road quite a bit too, so I had some alone time at home, something quite rare over the years that I always enjoy, knowing he will be back.  We always give each other plenty of space, and our physical space makes that easy to do, but there is something different when your time is untethered.  I always ask myself, whether it is coming back from vacation or time alone at home, what is it I do differently?  Is there any reason I couldn’t do that every day anyway?  Usually the answer is no.

Plenty of together time going forward, though.  We will be leaving, a week earlier than usual, for a long stay down in the Florida Panhandle.  My wish list for what I will accomplish is way to ambitious, even for this extended five week stay, but I feel certain that at the minimum I will successfully get my toes in the sand on pretty much a daily basis.

Transformation or Resolution?

Transformation or Resolution?

I’m carrying on with revisiting some old mixed media paintings – some I knew were unfinished, some I thought might be unfinished.  It’s really fun to reword these.  This one is an example of a piece I thought might be finished some time ago, but either I was wrong or I have changed since then, because it just demanded to be reworked.  It’s always a surprise to see what form that takes – in this case it was clearly more than just a few tweaks.  Is it better now, or just different?  Am I better now, or just different?  More to come.

Before and After #1

Before and After #1

Moving on from collage to mixed media painting.  I have a stash of unfinished pieces that need some resolution.  Love working in layers, but boy if you get interrupted it can sit there for a while in a pretty unattractive place.  Sometimes I just lose the thread altogether and reinvent.  I can see traces of the collage series here in using the big bold shapes on top to frame the rest of the action.  This was fun and faster than I expected, more to come!