creative question marks

I am not at all sure where this one is heading...I'm sorting through ideas of multi-pieced compositions- and a sense of a game board, or pieces that fit together but aren't assembled yet. I've got celebratory bunting and circus-themes on my mind, bright colors and springtime fun- but am not clear on how to bring them all together.  I'm trying to work in a lighter style- maybe not as much buildup of paint- but I'm still a girl who loves to layer, so I've got washes of paint with lots of overlaying colored pencil and oil pastel for texture. Part of me wonders if this could be framed up in a shadow-box and called finished, or if it's basically a study for something that will keep developing. Well, actually- if it were done, I'd know it was done. So I guess it's not.

I guess I'm just letting myself experiment....I feel a new body of work coming on, and am curious to see what it will be. I've decided that I basically have enough pieces ready for my show in June- so the pressure's off there. Summer vacation is right around the corner, and since my June show hangs until September, I'm going to give myself a kind of break in the studio. I'll see if I can just let creativity flow, without a goal or a deadline to shoot for. My next commitment is a small booth in a weekend show in October. For that I think I'm going to focus on figuring out how to get prints made of some of the collage pieces I've already finished, and get some product ready for a second project that I'll tell you more about later.

So I'm predicting more posts about sketches and explorations, instead of finished pieces. Comments from you always make my day, but feedback on any of these creative question marks will be especially appreciated!

this post never got a title

Hello! Sorry for the long break between posts...I feel like I've been really struggling in the studio lately- so I haven't been sure what to put here. I think everyone goes through this- but I seem to be 'stuck' right now. I have some goals and deadlines I'm working toward, and I've become so fixated on the need for an end result, that just can't make things loosen up enough to flow.

So I decided to not think about all of that for a bit, and I ended up making the above piece before I even realized what was happening. I think it's called Home...though I wish I were more clever with titles. I was thinking about that comfortable, gauzy feeling you get when you realize you're really home, and you're truly safe and well. I'm lucky enough to have that feeling quite often, and this is how it looks to me.

The work I'm stuck on is the next piece of my set of twelve little pieces representing each month of the year. In the meantime, here's the beginning of what I was working on for September, which I was also hoping might end up being appropriate for Cathy Nichols' April Found Art Friday challenge (a doubling up of expectations! No wonder I'm stuck!). If anyone has any idea what belongs in that blue field, I'd love to hear it- because that's the exact piece of the puzzle that's been evading me...

Well, it'll all work out. I'm happy to note that the longer I keep my work a regular part of my life, the more I see a pattern of finding myself somehow over these seemingly insurmountable hurdles and on to a new body of work. It's comforting to know that, while my current struggle is frustrating, I know I'll come out of it with something new to show. And when I do, I'll get it up here right away!

spring sparkle

Happy belated Easter. I love this holiday for the way it helps us focus on new life, spring beauty and the next turn on the wheel of life. And for the decorating of cookies and eating of jellybeans. I hope you had a lovely weekend, and that signs of spring are taking hold in your neck of the wood like they are around here. It's spring break, and I have high hopes of laid back hikes and poking around in the garden. Maybe a little studio time, but if not I'll be re-charged and ready to work when the kids get back to school next week.

april and august (again)

I finished April, called Gaining Ground, which I am loving for its earthy, loamy colors- and for the fact that it evolved quickly and surely, thus rescuing me from a very strong, neurotic fear that all of my good ideas were used up and nothing good was ever going to come from my studio again:

I also made a few changes to August, which I posted in my last post, but didn't feel was completely resolved yet. I worked it a little more and am much happier. I was thinking of those really hot, lazy, windy days that come at the end of summer around here, so it's called Flying Kites.

So, not much time to post here lately...Lots of other bits of life are vying for my attention. My mind and heart have been divided many ways in the past weeks: Some of me is in Chicago with my grandmother, who is recovering from a major surgery; some of me is right here with a sick (again) kid on the couch, who just can't seem to steer clear of all the little viruses being passed around his classroom. Some of me is looking toward the end of the week, when the first of two weekends-worth of family are making the trip to visit from far away (that part of me is trying to figure out when to clean the sheets and stock the fridge and plan fun stuff!), while some of me is looking further down the line to the show I'm trying to be ready for in June. And some of me is still mired in house-projects and paint colors for the walls, spring cleaning and garden-digging, etc. etc. A small, small bit of me is trying to get some exercise and be healthy. Also, a persistant, but largely ignored, part of me just wants a nap. Ah well- that's life!

Happy Spring! I'm predicting easter cookies for my next post...then I'll get back in the studio.

a new series

Hooray! New work to show you! I've actually had this piece done for several days, but today was the first chance I had to photograph it. I'm thinking of doing a series of twelve pieces, each representing a different month. The piece I did for Found Art Friday sort of kick started the idea...that'd have been June. The above is entitled Road Trip, and it'll be for July. Then comes Flying Kites, for August. (I'm still working on this one a bit...it wasn't feeling quite right, so I brought it to a critique and got some great insight- so I"m hoping to make it a little better- I'll re-post when I do!)

They're each about 8 inches square, and as is my habit lately, involve acrylic paint and various drawing media (mediums?) over lots of bits from vintage gradeschool primers, sewing patterns, report cards, maps, etc. The finished piece is stitched onto a nice piece of heavy printmaking paper, and they'll probably end up in a shadowbox frame. I'm loving the colors, and they're making a nice little collection on the studio wall. It'll be interesting to see how they evolve month by month.

old and old...but new now

I've had this pack of vintage flashcards for a while now...I've used a few in paintings, cut up a few for greeting cards. But my grand plan has been to make a larger piece out of just the cards to hang on a wall somewhere. So I built  a structure and covered it with the cards- wrapped them around the sides and everything, and put it up in our kitchen: voila...revenge against the math drills of my childhood. (My 7-year-old, by the way loves math drills. Crazy kid- he gets that from dad, that's for sure!)

The shelf we found to put it on then had plenty of room for me to display this cross-stitch my mom made when I was 2. (Does that mean it's vintage too? shudder) It's the alphabet, with a food that correlates with each letter, and often a catchy little phrase to describe said food. I will forever chant to myself "vichyssoise, pronounce it if you can" whenever I come across any recipe for that particular soup. Nevermind pronouncing it- try spelling it! Better yet- stitching it, along with 25 other mini-compositions! Want to know what I was doing when my kids were 2? Just trying to stay sane...definitely not making giant, complicated projects! But I'm really glad she did, because it's as awesome in my kitchen now as it was in hers when I was 2.

sanctuary

So, I've been working on a few new pieces this week. Hopefully one or two will be ready to post next week- in the meantime, wanna see what else I've been up to?

I found that being in the middle of several little pieces at once puts me in the middle of a big mess in the studio- I eventually ran out of places to put half-dry, half-resolved things- especially when most of my work surfaces tend to get pretty littered with little bits of paper, and big old books etc. that I'm not ready to put away. Not to mention pallettes, paints, brushes, coffee-cups...you get the picture. I knew that hanging stuff on the walls would be a great solution- out of my way, and up where I could see from a distance what was missing- so they could go from being half-done to all-done.

However-

We moved into this house about 8 months ago- and one of my favorite parts of the place has been that there was a bedroom I was allowed to claim for my studio. It's upstairs- with windows, and a door- not down in the basement tucked in between storage shelves and laundry piles. It's soooooo wonderful- except the walls were painted with a porrly executed 'ragging' technique in a terrible, gross mauve color scheme. I didn't think that swirly gross mauve would be a good neutral background for artwork I'm trying to figure out.

So, despite being midway through stripping wallpaper in our bedroom, not quite finished painting the kitchen, and needing to caulk and paint the trim in the living and dining rooms (this house was great- but ugly- lots of surfaces to deal with before it suits us), I decided to do this:

I'm so excited to have room on one whole wall to hang finished, framed pieces- and on the opposite wall to clip up work in progress. The room feels so bright now- I can't wait to get back to work! Hopefully I'll carve out some time this weekend. No excuses- unless the wallpaper in the bedroom starts calling to me...yuck.