Stacked

Taking a break from portraits to work on still-life paintings.

Quick sketch - textured gesso - 20x20 oil painting on stretched canvas 

Building up color

Finished work

 

It Must Have Been the Avocado!

This happened when I painted with no real plan while listening to “Night On Bald Mountain” by Mussorgsky and “Cello Concerto No. 1” by Shostakovich - I had my work apron on and still managed to get paint all over myself.  I finally had to stop.  

I ate an avocado for lunch…maybe it was messing with the right side of my brain!  If you look closely, you can see that I actually painted over an existing work of mine.

202x20 stretched canvas - oil paints

Finished work - need a title...

Nature Maid - Rebirth

“Nature Maid - Rebirth” art doll created using Hurricane Ian debris and some found objects.  

Acorn caps make neat little breasts and a hat!  Apoxy Sculpt stamped with REBIRTH - adhered to the forearms.

Piece together found twigs - tape and paper clay are used to keep twigs together

Paper Clay "skirt" - Apoxy Sculpt to create head, face, neck, hands, and forearms

 Stain added to accentuate the features

 Wrapped yarn around figure - adhered with Liquitex Matte Medium

Handmade Book

A friend asked me to make a journal as a gift for her husband's upcoming 70th birthday.  We discussed a few ideas. The paper had to be cut to size.  Almost every journal I have made for myself or as a gift was something I just created on the fly.  A commission was a whole new experience.  I have never glued separate sheets of paper to create a book block.  I used the double fan perfect spine technique.  I made two.  One was for practice; the other was the "real" thing!

I'm not sure why I felt the need to build my own book press, but I did it anyway. Trip to the hardware store for carriage bolts, washers, and drillbit; another stop at a craft store for 2 12x12 boards.  Drilling the holes was a challenge since I recently had carpal tunnel surgery and was not to lift anything weighty with my right hand.  I taped the boards together so the holes would match - trouble with that was the drillbit kept getting stuck in the wood - royal frustration!  (I can just picture my brothers laughing their heads off.)

Tada!

My friend's husband has a small guitar that he likes - obviously, he loves music...a couple song titles brought tears to my friend's eyes so, of course, these elements had to be included in the overall design of the book cover.  I also added his initials to the design.  I worked it out in Photoshop.

This is the finished book - she's happy. I'm happy.  Now let's just hope he's happy!

Somewhere in Croatia

I finished this work this afternoon.  You can see the progression below.  I had difficulty deciding how to add the script to the sign over the door.  It's not perfect - but after all, it's not a photograph, it's a painting!

Finished work

 

The Blue Door

In 2009 I took my husband on a tour of Croatia to celebrate his 75th birthday.  At that time, I was still using a "real" camera.  (A few years later, I purchased an iPhone - tossed my digital camera, and never looked back!)  

I remember taking architecture photos - we were on a walking tour - I took pictures of the architecture of every bit that "fit" my criteria!  I'm not exactly sure where we were, but I know I took this photo somewhere in Croatia!

I've wanted to paint this particular scene for quite some time.  I tend to not want to buy new supplies but make do with what I have.  Thus, a rectangular photo had to be drawn on a square canvas. The challenge begins!

charcoal sketch on canvas painted with acrylic background

Tomorrow I plan to take brush in hand and have a go - wish me luck!