Surprises and Changes in Direction

Scribbling my way to wherever this painting may take me.

scribbles in progress

(Forever) New Love

New Love

I am telling my hands

not to blossom into roses

I am telling my feet

not to turn into birds

and fly over rooftops

I am putting a hat on my head

so the flaming meteors

in my hair

will hardly show.

                           Eve Merriam

Flaming Meteors
4x5.5" valentine for my Valentine; acrylic and pastel on paper
abstract
2019

A New Playground

A Stillman & Birn Beta Series Premium Sketchbook, softcover edition, suitable for dry and wet media, watercolor, and ink, found its way to me some few months ago.

And now I have rediscovered it and begun to play.

Today: spontaneous, free-flowing, intuitive, engrossing play.

Despite the Ungodly Hour
6x9"; acrylic and pastel on mixed media paper
abstract landscape
2019

Joan of Art

1. I have dubbed both my friend Joan and our painting get-togethers Joan of Art.

2. Did we have fun yesterday, or did we have fun?

3. We had fun.

Calendar posters on lovely cardstock to use as substrates + laughter + shared paints and brushes and whatnot + lunch + partially remembered guidelines for painting flowers + playing loose with brushstrokes = this start for me:

work in progress
11x14"; acrylic and ink on cardstock

Quick & Quixotic 2

Huh.

Maybe this is Maine, and we're looking at wild blueberry fields in autumn now.

When I first began painting I would not have known how to be so messy, how to paint with such a small intention—in this case, to spread a bunch of color and texture in the space below what appears to be a horizon line. I would have struggled to paint without knowing where I'd end up, and struggled to paint with the likelihood that almost all of what I was painting would become an underlayer.

But for this five-or-six-minute romp I … well, I romped!

Painted quickly and with abandon.

work in progress
12x16"; unstretched canvas
working title: Quick and Quixotic 2

Home Away

Cabin C will be home sweet home for a happy week starting August 20.

CAMP!!!

I'll have limited access to wifi and little inclination to avail myself of it.

But … painting at camp in my makeshift cobwebby studio space at the ill-lit back of the musty little Grube Library cabin, overlooking Cass Pond through the trees with morning sunlight filtering through, is so in-the-moment that I hate to think of waiting till after camp to post photos.

Can't tell ya whether I'll post or not.

Camp!!!
6x6"; acrylic on gessobord
2015

Foundation Garments

I am loving the starting-gate phase of my anticipated while-at-camp project, getting the foundations in place. I've savored such delicious relaxation and absorption as I've speed painted four 8x10" sheets of canvas paper.

Mind you, when I say speed painting, I'm not talking about the lightning-speed speed painting required in a lesson from my Jane Davies online class late last summer. These current sheets did not see completion in 20 seconds.

More like 20 minutes.

But still, quick and fuss-free.

painting start #4
for camp

Plans for a Cover-Up Operation

So I'm thinking about what I want to do for my painting exploration when I go to camp. I'm going to think aloud here and see what emerges.

What I want to investigate/practice is painting negative space—covering paint already on paper, leaving bits and pieces of the underlayer visible. I LOVE paintings in which other artists do just that, but I have such a hard time doing it myself!

Before camp:

• speed paint four sheets of 8x10" canvas paper in a (very) loose-grid or random-blobs format
• maybe do some mark making as a next layer
• oh, and maybe add collage
• and maybe do some textural stuff with medium
• spray a fixative on the layers to date
• cut the sheets into sixteen 4x5" pieces

At camp:

• make marks with ink, pencils, china markers, paint pens, and oil pastels
• paint negative space with a limited palette, maybe using just black and white
• add more marks/collage

painting start #3 
for camp

Anticipation

The anticipation of going to camp each August is exquisite.

2017 marks the 37th summer I will have participated in a summer program at Takodah. I was a camper as a child, became a leader and division head during my college years, went to family camp 25 times with Dave, Meg, Scott, and Jay (and eventually on my own as the kids left home and Dave couldn't get away from work in late August), and now I'm heading off to family camp for the third time with Meg, Michael, Caroline, and Emmy.

I painted while at camp the past two summers. This year I want to bring as few supplies as possible, and I want to go in with a loose plan, an inquiry to explore.

I'm painting starts at home first.

Each one I paint heightens that exquisite anticipation while simultaneously anchoring me to the present moment of paper, brush, paint, and summer air on my skin.

painting start #2
for camp

Getting Out my Duffel

Camp in a few weeks.

CAN'T WAIT.

While at camp I hope to explore a creative inquiry with simple controls and variables, and then see what I come home with. So today I painted a start that'll go in my duffel with my bathing suit and 30-year jacket.

Did I tell you I CAN'T WAIT?

painting start #1
for camp

Moo, Schmoo!

DIY business cards—way fun!

I ask you, does moo.com start with a hay-scented heaven? I think not.

I began with some free-form scribbles and a bunch of torn-paper collage. From there I painted and stenciled and added pastel until I was ready to head to the paper trimmer. 

Ta da!

Birthdays!

Not only am I the baby who initiated my dad into fatherhood, but also I had the great good fortune to be born on my dad's birthday on May 13, 1950, when he was 24 years old.

Here's a photo of us a few months after that birthday.

We've made a serious number of revolutions around the sun since that May 13th, but we're hanging out together this May 13th also, with daughters #4 and #5 joining in the fun. 

Although my dad most likely won't be tossing me up in the air as part of the festivities, I'd say we still lift each other up in countless ways : )

Happy birthday to us, Futh!

I took this playboard from April 2,

    

and fiddled around with it till I had a birthday card.

Daddy Tosses Me up in the Air
2.75 x 4"; acrylic, ink, pencil, and collage on paper, mounted on cardstock
abstract
2017
[gift]

Rock, Paper, Wood

Decided to mount Salt of the Earth on a block of 1.5" deep wood to create a piece that can stand by itself rather than be hung on a wall. Bought some house paint to do the honors on the back—love the way the grain makes itself known through the black.

Salt of the Earth
4x5x1.5"; acrylic, collage, and ink on paper, mounted on wood
abstract landscape
2017
[SOLD]
---
The canyon is full
of hush. Self-contained, holy.
I sit in its lap.

Salt of the Earth, detail

Salt of the Earth, detail

MDF Again

Another painting is spiffed up and ready to strut its stuff, this one a favorite of mine that I painted in December 2015. I covered MDF with a medium gloss, soft, buttery, yellow house paint that picks up on highlights in the painting and speaks to the sunlight in the accompanying haiku.

Mighty Darn Fine, if I do say so myself.

Hanging Out Together
5 x 7 x 3/4"; acrylic, ink, collage, and pastels on paper, mounted on panel
landscape
2015
[SOLD]
---
They hold hands under-
ground while, up above, sunlight
kisses their wild hair.

Hanging Out Together, detail

Hanging Out Together, detail

MDF

MDF …

Master Dirt Farmer?

Mother Daughter Friend?

Make Dinner Fast?

Nope. Medium Density Fiberboard, an engineered wood product that artists often use.

And, at the moment, a Major Distraction Factor.

I'm taking another hiatus from my 100layersofpaint challenge to turn my attention to mounting some of my paper paintings on MDF. Went to a local lumber yard to see what the stuff was, brought home a sheet, and had Dave run it through his table saw to my specs (thanks, Dave!). I varnished my painting, painted the sides of the MDF, glued the painting to my panel, wrote a haiku on the back, and now I've got a painting all spiffed up looking for a new home.

Stoned Soul Picnic
7x7"; acrylic, pencil, and collage on paper, mounted on panel
abstract
2017
---
He left the field. Walked
across the limestone beside
the clattering brook.

Stoned Soul Picnic, detail

Stoned Soul Picnic, detail

Stoned Soul Picnic, detail

A Third Something

I am one of five sisters, the oldest.

Marj is one of the same five sisters, the youngest.

We are bookends, each holding a place in a sister lineup that spans twelve years.

Such a sweet time I've had painting up some colors and lines and scribbles and joy to make a card to celebrate my baby sister.

Happy birthday, Marj!

Maybe I Am Just a Kid, Only Older

3x4"; acrylic, ink, and collage on drawing paper, mounted on card stock

abstract

2017

[gift]

A Second Something

The second something from Monday's start, another birthday card:

Maybe Adulthood Is a Myth
3x4"; acrylic, ink, and collage on drawing paper, mounted on card stock
abstract
2017
[gift]

Unexpected Moments

One of the nice things
about marrying the right [person] …
is that you keep
falling in love
all over again
at the most unexpected moments.

—Gail Godwin, Evensong

Congratulations on your marriage, A&A—may you enjoy a lifetime of unexpected moments of falling in love all over again!

wedding card

Unexpected Moments
3x4"; acrylic, ink, pencil, and wax pastels on drawing paper, mounted on card stock
abstract
2017
[gift]

Playboards

Nicholas Wilton encourages artists to make what he refers to as playboards and others might refer to as activating the canvas. The idea is to just put down paint with as little thought as possible as a loosening up exercise before moving into other phases of a painting.

History of the playboard I generated today:

piece of calendar poster
rough brush and gesso
crosshatching with princeton catalyst blade



grease pencil



golden high flow acrylic dripped onto wet surface
tube acrylics, bristle brush, foam brush



acrylic paint pens



gel pen
papermate sharpwriter pencil
oil pastels



scissors
masking fluid (far right)
  


Fun.

Change of Direction

Changed direction today. Grabbed a piece of manila stock that I'd gessoed months ago, sprayed some water on it, pulled out some fluid acrylics that I've barely ever used, and dropped some color onto my 'canvas.' With sunshine and mild temps beckoning, I took the show outdoors to my front steps, loaded up with three or four different kinds of pastels, some pencils, a couple of pens. Back indoors to drip some house paint and use a texture sheet.

Could have stopped way back at simpler, but evidently I didn't.

Even so, this was just a quick spontaneous exploration, and now I have a postcard to send to my dad.

You Scratch My Back, I'll Scratch Yours
4x5"; acrylic, ink, and pastels on manila stock
abstract
2017
[gift]