Stacks and Piles - Day 2

Greetings -
Yesterday's 30 -minutes of sorting resulted in toss two inches worth of old paper filings, putting other papers in proper places, and finding a a framed piece of art from 2011 that was hiding under the pile!

Now there is Empty Space (at least a little) on top of one filing case. Air instead of stuff. Yes, a tiny baby step, but one in the right direction. Some empty space is good. It rests the eye, it increases the view, it offers an option in case space is needed. From our earlier Challenge of ridding house of 30 things every day for 30 days we have empty spaces in some of our bookcases. This is amazing as often books were double stacked and hard to find. I want more ease in finding!!!

29 1/2 hours to go - on to the next hour. Yes, it does bite into the time to work on art and other obligations, but I think that this project will SAVE time in the future.

Lesson: a seemingly "small" stack can suck up time amazingly quickly. Start Small and appreciate any progress.

Back to the stacks! On to empty spaces!
Best of Luck to you with any Challenge.

Sue

Another 30 Day Challenge - Stacks & Piles

Yup. June 18, 2012 -
 With the head still chiming and Summer quickly sliding gliding by, it is time to focus on Something Else.
Art fair season is upon us, and a bit of creativity is creeping back, but almost 20 years of racks and stacks and files and piles are crying for a bit of attention, too.
So - the next 30 Day Challenge will consist of 30 Hours in the month of sorting, deciding, and re-organizing. Matting art good work found in stacks will count, as will time walking things from one level of the house to another.

There's no time to waste - on to it!

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

Options

Greetings - on a most sunny blue calm Farther's Day. Today's topic: Options. We prepared ten Masonite panels - all around 9" x 8". Having a number of pieces to play with all at the same time takes the pressure off of making one "perfect' picture. And I am still trying to use up acrylic paint, so almost any color is legal to use. Six pieces are in progress - four faces and two bodies. It's hard to fight being "serious." Play! Play! Play!, I SAY. (Though it's often hard to take one's own good advise....)

 
Options:
1) Stick with one image till completed or spread the paint around a variety of panels.
2) Experiment with new ways of applying  paint - knives, stencil brushes, pinkies.
3) Use a bottle or two of those texturing helps to add more dimension to the surface.
4) Play with expressions - these are not real bears!!!
5) When in doubt refer to reference materials - or not.
6) Ask folks for aesthetic opinions ( a college-days ritual) - take their advise - or not.
7) Work wetter or dryer.
8) Consider "finished" pieces as studies or Finished Pieces.
9) If you usually work quickly - go more slowly.
10) Stop often or rush through. (Remember how well "Nine Blue Thomas" turned out)

Make a list of your own options - and then try them. There CAN be two, or more, good sides to every decision.

I don't know how these two will turn out - there are still more options concerning their fates. On to the deciding!

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

Blue Bruce

Greetings - 

Sometimes a bear comes out of all those tubes of paint and 

just appears as a completely realized personality - 

independent of the artist who made him.

This blue bear happened over about three sessions of

playing with paint.

He's not finished - but he's as finished as he'll ever be.

He is done being finished.

He is who he is.

We took him north to Duluth's Blue Lake Gallery.

"What's his name?, " the gallery crew asked.

"I don't know," I said.

We knew he was blue.

And Bruce from the gallery agreed to go along

with naming this guy "Blue Bruce."

Titles can come easy and titles can come hard.

Now this "Bruce" has been befriended by some other new bears -

visit Blue Lake & see the likes of "Laura" & "Penny" & "Todd" & "GreenTyler."

And say "Hi" to some of the great human sorts working there who make visiting 

a gallery fun & educational & a time filled with joy. 

And then go stick a toe, or ten, in Lake Superior.

Fare-thee-well, Sue

Patience With Pen and Paint

This duo has been patiently waiting for a variety of things. Particularly, to be rescued from a large stack of experiments from the piles that accumulate when scribbling comes easy but presentation comes hard. This is a cropped image of two sitting bears, done on watercolor paper - about 11" by 14". I've never been one for many rules when it comes to "seeing what happens" - so this is what happened. I don't remember why these words came, and I don't know if Mother ever saw their side.

They just wanted to venture into blog-land, and so here they are. All scribbly and messy and probably doubtful - like so many of us.

I like using pen and ink with watercolor, but haven't messed around with it for a few years. Time flies when there are so many techniques and supplies to try. And then if an artist becomes known for a particular way of working, well, argh, what to do, what to do? This is what to do - DO SOMETHING ELSE!!! This doesn't mean you have to completely ignore the styles/mediums in which you are comfortable - it just means play around with something new.

Yes, this can lead to trouble - I recently took an altered-book workshop. IT WAS FUN. I LEARNED NEW SKILLS. But right now It's Back To Work time, and the unfinished book sits there sulking. I have planned it as a gardening journal - so it  won't be ignored, but I don't know when it will be "finished," and it WANTS to be finished. As do so many other pieces haunting the nooks and crannies around the studio and downstairs filing cabinets. Sigh, is all I can say. And "Patience."

Have patience with your own work, but do egg yourself on to not dally too long before using a new tool, creating a new image, or writing some new words. On to the Grand Adventure!

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

Playing with Paint

Sometimes it's fun to head into the semi-unknown. Here we have some lovely Masonite boards starting to be covered in acrylic paint. Working in a series helps  the possibility of having at least one successful piece come from all this paint spreading. I wanted to stay with the bear theme, yet play with shapes and emotions. On to it!

With so many works in progress I am not focusing too long on each panel yet. Just pulling paint tubes and experimenting. We'll see if the cute stay cute and/or the concerned stay concerned. I'm also going to try and use only the paints and modeling compounds we have on hand. There are parts of each character I already like. Once the bears have personalities they want to have both back-story and some kind of future. That's the fun and responsibility of being an artist. Creating something that might deserve to stay in existence. (Yes, there are bears in the basement on which judgement keeps being put off. That's the not-fun part of being an artist.)

So, we will return to these five soon and see what happens. Dare to fling some paint yourself!

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

Fuzzy Fun and Fluffy Fun

These three were the result of Scribbles by Sue at a  local assisted care center. We loved them as soon as they came out of the marker! I  don't know what kinds of birdies they are - other than confident, patient, and bewildered. Shapes first, eyes and beaks second.

Draw some feathered friends - young or old. This trio made us all laugh and smile. Your birds will do what birds do. Some instill fear. Some inspire. Some make us hungry. Some make us laugh.

A bird on the page is worth two in the mind?

Egging you on!

Sue