Hanging On

Daily Scrap

Art Journal

Feels like

some kind 

of ride

but it's turning

out to be

life

going absolutely

perfectly.

Brian Andreas

I am hanging on with both hands. With Memorial Day weekend behind us and the onset of summer just around the corner, I've been trying to pick away at all the small and a few large projects I have to complete before our 18 yo graduates next week in preparation for her open house. I've had to put most of my art projects on hold. That said, one of the projects I DO intend to get done and an idea that I have wanted to tackle for awhile now, is the painting of the steps and walls going down to my art room. 

I am creating a mural on one wall and the steps will be different colors with one of my favorite quotes written on them.

This was going to be a project for the summer but decided over the weekend that I would get it done with a deadline hanging over my head and the open house is that deadline. So I have to get it done by June 14th. Wish me luck. 

Here is how it looks like right now. The view from the top.

xxxoooxxx

Standing Quietly

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Paint.

standing quietly 

in silence

she listens

for the 

heartbeat

of the 

world.

I've been working on this painting for years. It has undergone numerous changes. It is an 18" by 24" canvas which I started about 6 years ago. At the time I was experimenting with texture mediums and pretty much used all that I had at the time.

Crackle. Extra heavy modeling paste. Course and extra course modeling paste. Garnet, sand, and fiber gel mediums. I know there are more but I can't remember them all. It is a physically heavy canvas. I put down a layer of gesso over all it and set it aside. My art took a different turn and the canvas went ignored for about a year. So I went back at it, determined to finish it. I put down layers and layers of collage and began to paint the background; I still had no real idea of where it was going to go. Again I set it aside and it went ignored for almost 2 years before I pulled it out again. 

At the time I sketched a bird cage over the background so at least it had more direction but I never got beyond that until about 3 weeks ago when I unearthed it yet again. I pulled it out because I was cleaning and I had intended to toss it in the trash. Instead I painted it. I wish I had kept a visual record of all the changes but I never thought it would undergo so many different transformations and I never was happy with any of them so I chose not to take photos. It had become in my mind, an albatross around my neck; an ugly duckling that refused to turn into a swan and I wanted it gone. Partly because every time I faced this canvas I felt like a failure. How can I call myself an artist if I can't even complete one canvas? My inner critic had risen to it's full and threatening height and was beating me me up with it and a war had been waged. So last weekend I painted it and I took a few photos of it's progress. This is how it looked last week.

It was painted with the reckless abandon of a child as inspired by my participation in Mindy Lacefield's on-line class; Paint Your Story which has been a sweetly delightful experience. I highly recommend it.

More layers were added and it looked like this.

I've also been taking Juliette Crane's class; How to paint an Owl at the same time, which I also enjoyed thoroughly and to my surprise Mindy's and Juliette's two completely different approaches melded seamlessly together for me to create this owl; a loose sketch and some paint became this. 

She took more shape here.

I am still tweaking the background but this time it won't be painted over.

This time it's for keeps.

xxxooxxx

  

A Boy. A Boat. The Sea.

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Paint play.

Art journal page.

A boy and his boat. 

He shares his secrets with the sea

and wonders where the waves will take him. 

He began this way.

Might have been an alien at this stage.

Then a few hours later he looked like this.

Ideas began to form.

And a week later, this...

Finished. 

Broke a bottle of champagne over his bow 

and he is headed off into the sunset. 

there came a moment 

in the middle of the ocean

 when he suddenly felt every heartbeat 

 of the sea and after that

 he never forgot he was

 part of something much bigger.

Brian Andreas

Life is getting back to normal for all of about one week.

Recitals are done for the season.

Now it's on to graduation party planning; our own for our oldest, Brittany and a bazillion grad parties to attend. YIKES!!!!
The next few weeks are going to be just as full as the last half a dozen or so, but on the upside I don't have to be anywhere but home so I won't loose as many hours to driving hither and yon. Looking forward to maybe, a few more hours of creative bliss (that would be wishful thinking on my part) and to getting a ton of work done here at home in roughly 6 weeks for preparations for her grad party on Friday June 15th. Until then you can find me here burnin' the midnight oil.

Listening With Her Whole Heart

Daily Scrap

Paint play.

She is listening

to the whispers

of her soul with her

whole heart.

I love this little Storypeople poem by Brian Andreas.

I've always liked the time before dawn

 because there's no one around 

to remind me who I'm supposed to be, 

so it's easier to remember who I am.

Remember who you are.

Cherished and treasured

Beautiful and wise

Full of light and love and

remember to listen

to the whispers 

of your soul.

xxxoooxxx

Quiet Moment

A Quiet Place

Daily Scrap

Journal page

Where has the week gone?
Last time I looked it was Monday.

This happens every year and I should be used to it.

Mid April through early May; 

too many places to be and not 

enough of me to go around. 

It becomes a challenge to find a quiet place 

and just lean into it and allow the tension that 

comes with trying to be everywhere 

at once, drain away. 

Sweet release, 

even if just for a few minutes. 

 To ride out the pace 

until things go back to normal

and of course, it always does.

Wishing you all a beautiful 

and quiet week-end.

xxxxoooxxx