Morning Practice

I have been trying to get a little painting in when I first get up in the morning. I enjoy painting florals and later adding some ink.

The painting, above right, I almost abandoned. It took me a few days to get it finished, and I am still not happy with it. I decided I should keep it and learn from my mistakes. Perhaps I can cut it up and incorporate it into a collage.

This angled brush came in a set that I purchased last month. It's called a shading brush, but I had fun creating flowers with it.
While the painting continues, making pots is still happening. Last week we glazed, loaded, and fired the kiln. We were moving slowly due to the heat. We fell behind schedule, but we got it done and didn't suffer heat stroke! Jeff and I took a break on Independence Day. It felt good to hang with friends, grill some burgers, and generally eat too much. Now it's back to the making cycle.

Gouache is Hard!

I have wanted to explore painting with gouache for quite some time, despite not knowing a whole lot about it. Upon research, I learned that it is often used by illustrators and it's properties fall somewhere in between watercolor and acrylic. After swatching my paints, I dove right in. I decided to start with a familiar pattern, ginkgo leaves. In the past I have painted them in both watercolor and acrylics. This should be easy, right? Ugh. Epic fail. I took a break and watched a few youtube videos and came to the realization that my ginkgo leaves probably cannot be saved. To fix them, I will have to add too many layers of paint. Since gouache is chalky, it may crack off the paper. Better to start over. I will save this hideous piece, and perhaps come back to it later. OR... since it looks like Christmas ginkgo leaves, I can finish the background and turn it into a holiday card! Better yet, I could sacrifice it the next time we need to burn brush in the yard.
That's probably the best idea.
This weekend I put the gouache paints away and went back to watercolors. I am trying to not be discouraged. Perhaps one night this week I will give it another go.

Kicking it up a notch

I have been using affordably priced watercolor paper. Not the cheapest, but pretty darn close. I have two pads, one is Strathmore, the other Canson (which I prefer). I recently watched a video comparing the results of the less expensive paper and Arches 100% cotton paper. The difference was rather dramatic. I decided I needed to give it a try. I ordered a pad to start with. It's also sold in blocks that are a little more spendy. If I like this perhaps a block is in my future. My other splurge last month was some better brushes. They weren't too expensive and were recommended by a few different "youtubers". While I have tried out the brushes and love them... I haven't given the paper a go yet.
Maybe tonight.
Stay tuned for a review.

Give Me Some Color!

My kitchen peninsula is my painting work station. Since I have to walk by it multiple times a day, I find myself stopping for a "minute" to tweak whatever I have in progress. I have to be careful because that minute  can easily stretch to an hour!

Alcohol Ink on Yupo Paper

Still a little more work to do on this tile

Last night I finally got around to experimenting with alcohol ink on ceramic tile. It's definitely a little different than the yupo paper. The inks really shine on the tile, although it is hard to tell in the photo. We have a tile attachment for our extruder and last month Jeff extruded a bunch of tiles. I applied white slip to a few and then glazed them in our translucent glaze. I applied the slip so that the tiles would be a bright white instead of the gray color of the stoneware we use. Commercial tiles from the big box store would be an affordable and easy option, but I sort of liked the idea of all of the components being done by hand. The tiles will need to be sprayed with Kamar museum quality varnish to protect the surface. You can use the same coating on yupo paper, but if you are framing under glass there really isn't a need for it. If you want to use them as coasters they can be coated with resin. The cost of resin is crazy and I am not sure I want to get into that... yet. :-)

"Decadent Pies"

I have been a little "under the weather" for a few days. For the first time in many years I have a head cold. Jeff came down with it first and then it was my turn. This morning I am feeling a little more human again. 

I was very excited to order new watercolor paints last week. I have had them in my Amazon wish list since February. Thanks to my bank card rewards, I received an Amazon gift card and decided it was time to put them in my cart and checkout. Of course the day they arrived I felt like crap and definitely didn't feel up to painting. But I was able to admire the packaging... and the names are wonderful. 

Watercolor Confections - Decadent Pies

Starry Colors

The day after they arrived I had to give them a go, even if I wasn't feeling great. I love the color palette of the "Decadent Pies". The colors are very harmonious and many have a beautiful shimmer to them.

The "Starry Colors" are a Japanese set of metallic watercolors. Great for accents and splatters, because who doesn't want a little more bling?!
I had a lot of fun with these small practice paintings. Watercolor paper is more affordable than Yupo so I am a little freer with it. But I still try not to waste anything. I will cut practice work up and turn it into greeting cards. I rarely buy a card anymore and I think that most people appreciate a handmade one.

I am heading back into the studio today. There are pots that need to be slip trailed and mugs to be thrown. Painting adventures will have to happen in the evening.

Clearing Space

My kitchen peninsula has been a mess since I started using it at as my painting space. Yesterday I decided it needed to be cleared off. It's often our lunch space and lately there has been no room for eating there.

It looks so much better!

Except that now it's all on the dining room table...

We rarely eat in there so I have a little more time to get organized. It won't happen today.
The clay is calling and there are piggy banks that need assembling.

Funky Sunflowers

I finished another alcohol ink painting. I have been calling this one "Funky Sunflowers". It also was embellished using a Sakura Microperm pen - 01, like the last "flower" painting. It's interesting that most alcohol based pens (Sharpie or Bic) will smear over the inks. The Micron pens also smeared. I am a lefty so it's really important for me not to have pens that smear easily. The Microperm didn't smear while I was working and it doesn't rub off after a few hours either. Other pens, 24 hours later, could still rub off. I learned this tip from CeeCee Creations on youtube. She has a lot of great painting tutorials, both alcohol ink and watercolor. Even though she said the other pens would rub off, I did some testing myself. Sure enough, she was correct!

It took me a few days to do this one, even though it is small (5"x 7"). I did the background one evening and the flowers the next day. Stems and leaves were added on the third. I had to work out the "doodles" on a separate practice sheet. I finally committed to a plan and completed the work last night. I am pretty happy with this one and I think I will mat and frame it.

Putting brush to paper

I mentioned in the last post that I have also broken out the watercolor paints. So far this is the only one I have been willing to share publicly... and it too could use some work.

I have really become obsessed with youtube tutorials. The downfall is the supplies list that accompany them! I can't believe all the different watercolor sets that are now available. The colors are amazing... and you don't have to mix them. The cost, on the other hand, is out of my reach right now. You should see what my Amazon "wish list" is looking like.

I am still exploring the alcohol inks. This is crazy abstract flowers, finished with doodly, alcohol ink pen enhancements. Not sure how I feel about it, but I love the colors.

Today I finished this tree.I had a lot of fun with it. It also is embellished with an alcohol based ink pen.

One of the things that I have found helpful is to photograph my paintings with my phone, and then view them there. It gives me a different perspective and allows me to see areas that need work that I couldn't see from direct viewing. Jeff has also given some good critiques. He rarely paints anymore but is very good at it. If anyone has more painting experience than me, I am happy to receive critiques and advice. Feel free to comment.

The Adventure Conitnues...

This week I discovered this pack of alcohol inks made by Jacquard. This pack of nine is like getting three free. I think it rounds out the colors I was looking for and I shouldn't have to purchase any more... at least for a while yet!

This week I worked on a another landscape. I am not crazy about all the trees on the right. The perspective on the rocks is a little off. I had a lot of fun creating the "purple mountain majesties".

This morning I felt inspired to create an old world street scene. I quickly realized that it was beyond my experience and decided to remove what I had done. Yupo paper is expensive, but you can sort of clean it up with alcohol. It isn't perfect, but the paper is salvageable enough to use for an abstract.

Last week I had what I thought was a great idea. Head to the store I really hate to give my business to, Hobby Lobby, and buy a pack of Yupo and use their 40% off coupon.  I was dismayed to find the the Yupo with this sticker on it:

Hobby Lobby makes it appear that the paper is on sale for $11.99, therefore you can't use the coupon. The coupon is only good for regularly priced items. This is a total joke because I have never seen this size pack for more than $11.99 anywhere else! I will order it online the next time.

I have been watching tutorials on youtube for both alcohol ink and watercolor painting. I have been experimenting with those as well. I was feeling a little discouraged the other day. I want to paint masterpieces and I have created a lot stuff I haven't been happy with. I soon came to the realization that when I first started to make pots, I made a lot of clunkers. You have to practice to get good at things. Like Jeff always says, you don't pick up an instrument and play a song, you have to practice scales.

So it's back to practicing scales for me. Maybe I will share some of my watercolors in the next post.

And by the way, there is still some pottery work getting done around here...

Progress

Time flies and I can't believe we have been working in this space for over two years. It's been difficult to manage getting our studio and gallery to where we want it to be and to continue making work to be able to pay the bills. Over the last six months we have bought new display shelving from IKEA, a little at a time. We would like to purchase two more shelf units and then we will move on to a vessel sink display, utilizing real cabinetry.

It all feels like baby steps!

Jeff and I have also been discussing what to do with the peeling paint on the trim and shutters on the outside of our home and studio. Scraping and painting seems daunting, and a task that has to be done every few years. Never mind the fact that most of it involves ladders and staging. Thankfully most of the house is brick! I am not a fan of plastic, but I am also not a fan of painting... I would love to be able to wrap the trim in vinyl and be done with it!

I think I better start making more piggy banks to pay for it.

Art Therapy

I never made it into the pottery studio on Sunday. The day was spent doing household stuff like pushing the vacuum around and running the washing machine. The bisque kiln was firing away, getting our pots ready to be glazed today.

In the corner of one room, three new canvasses have sat for nearly a year. I bought them to create a triptych of ginkgo leaves for Danielle's birthday. The evening that I came home with the canvas and a few other supplies, the phone rang as soon as I set my bag down.  It was my sister. She was calling with the news of my parents car accident. The accident that began the spiral of events that consumed my winter and ended with my mother's passing in May. I had neither the time nor inclination to start the painting. As time wore on I would move them to vacuum behind them but still couldn't bring my self to peel of the plastic coverings and get to work.

Yesterday I decided it was time. I set up my work space and started to paint.
It felt so good...
So good that the time got away from me. I was listening to music and happily mixing colors and laying down my background. When I looked at the clock it was 10pm and we hadn't eaten dinner yet! Jeff was still in the studio throwing pots. I cleaned up my paints, gave some leftovers a new life, and we enjoyed our late night dinner together.

Watercolor Batik on Rice Paper

Remember the art journal project? We are about to come to the end and I decided for the last journal I wanted to try a new technique. 

Watercolor Batik

I found some tutorials online and the only thing I needed to purchase was rice paper and a new black micron pen. The technique uses hot wax and layers of watercolor so I set up my work area on the waxing table in the studio.
The basic idea is to draw your design with the micron pen on rice paper. Then starting with the lightest value, apply layers of wax and watercolor wash.

When all the shading is done the whole sheet of rice paper is coated with wax and crumpled. Then the paper is smoothed out and darker wash applied all over.

Once it's dried the wax is ironed out between newspapers and your finished design is revealed.
I actually liked it better before the wax was removed!

I was also thinking about creating some batik dyed shirts with the ginkgo design... hmmmm who knows where this will end up.

I figured it was a good first effort. Now to start work on a piece for the journal I have in my possession. The theme is "secrets"... time to get my imagination rolling.

Putting brush to paper

I have been spending a couple of hours in the evenings working on my July art journal. This month's theme is "Rebirth". Since Jeff brought me that nice brush from Seoul, I figured it was about time I got out the watercolors and gave it a go. I like to work on two paintings at a time. That way my impatience of waiting for things to dry doesn't make me turn colors into mud.
The journal this month is small, 8"x 5". I prefer a larger format, but working with what you have is half the challenge. One of these paintings will span two pages and I will still have to trim it down quite a bit. I actually like cutting up paintings when I am done. Creating new angles and paper shapes. Sometimes I am happier with the finished work after hacking it up some!
Occasionally I like to add some pen and ink to watercolor paintings, or even sharpie markers. I haven't decided about these yet. Once my entry is done, I will take some photos of the journal, including entries by the three previous artists.
Last night I dreamed of painting half the night... they were peaceful dreams. The night before I made coasters in my sleep... and I woke up tired! I think I should put brush to paper every evening.

Wishing all an art-filled weekend, filled with peaceful dreams.

Art Journal Finished on June 26th... I am not always a procrastinator

I can't believe it. I have finished my art journal this month with FOUR days to spare! This has to be a record for me. I even remembered to photograph it.

The journal I received this month was potter Lori Buff's. The theme was inspirational places. My greatest inspiration these days comes from the nature that is right outside my studio door.

 Lori's pages reflected on her time spent at Penland and how much this special place inspired her work.

Joanne's page in Lori's journal is a castle and it appears to be her inside of it... no explanation. I am left to ponder it's meaning.

I was feeling so smug about finishing this journal early. I actually had my painting done two weeks ago, and glued it into the book last week. Lo and behold, a few days ago Joanne sent me the July journal... she was a few days ahead of me!
The next theme is "Rebirth".
I will have to think on that one a bit.

The tree limb project

Last winter when I was visiting Danielle in Connecticut, we visited a gallery in the Yale shopping district that used painted tree limbs throughout the gallery. Theirs were painted light blue, but immediately I thought limbs painted white would look cool hanging from the rafters of our pottery gallery. The rafters are dark and we have white lights strung on them to create some interest and tree limbs would lighten it up even more. 

Last week I finally got around to executing my plan. Jeff did some pruning and saved the limbs for me. They had little berries and pods on them, and I was really happy with how they turned out. On the down side, I bought the cheapest spray paint out there and my fingers were killing me after emptying 6 cans of paint onto those limbs. Of course when I was done, my facebook friends let me know that there is an attachment to put on top of the cans to make it more comfortable. I am definitely going to get one of those gadgets.

Jeff helped me get them into the rafters and trim whatever was looking too crazy. It was hard to photograph, but I think you get the idea...

I didn't waste a thing. I used the clippings to do some funky stick arrangements in vases...

I need to paint a couple more limbs to fill in some bare spots in the rafters, but I think I will wait until my fingers feel better!

the art journal project

Some old time readers may remember that in 2009 I joined a year long art journal project. My good friend Cindy approached me in December of 2008 about joining this group she was coordinating. JZ had recently died, and she thought it would be good for me to get involved. You may be familiar with how this works, but I will explain anyway...
There are twelve members and each person decides on a theme for their journal. The journals can made of anything... store bought, handmade, recycled books, etc. The first month is spent creating a cover and artwork for your own journal.  A list is created with journaler's (I don't think that is really a word!) addresses. At the end of the month you ship your journal to the next name on the list and you receive a journal from the person whose name is before yours. Over the next month you create one or two pages of artwork based on that journal's theme.
The theme I chose was "Loss". When I got my journal back at the end of the project, it was very emotional. Here are few photos of pages in the book...

 The cover is a photo that JZ took of his vintage Esquire. The drawing I did represents him and the things I associate with his being. Some may find it morbid that I represented him as a skeleton shortly after his passing. The skeleton represents not only his death, but also his fascination with skulls. I still have his favorite goat and steer skulls hanging in the log cabin.

This is my friend Cindy's page. Underneath an abstract water color painting, are layers of tissue paper stitched to the page with gold thread. Under each layer are the stories of friends that have died.

 And sometimes loss is GOOD thing! 

 This page is very sweet. A collage of letters and envelopes that a father wrote to his daughter over the span of many years.

 More sweet pages with father daughter memories

Abstract painting, glued into the pages. Sometimes journalers wrote explanatory notes along with their entries, others left you guessing.

Some months I opened my journal package and was immediately inspired. Other times it was a struggle to complete. The project was a catalyst for me to get back to work in the studio and at the same to explore other mediums, and a little art therapy while grieving is a good thing! In the past I shared some photos from the other journals. I may post some more over the next couple of days.

So you may be asking why I am writing about this now...

I am considering getting a new journal group together for 2013. Who better to ask than my blog readers & writers, are any of you interested? If shipping costs concern you, the journals are shipped USPS media mail, which is the least expensive (but slow). I would do my best to have the person that you ship to, live as close as possible to you.

You don't have to be a visual artist to participate. This is very open ended... there was lots of poetry in the journals, collages, photography, stories. I am looking for 10 (Cindy get first refusal) or possibly 11 people to join in. 

If you think you may be interested please comment and ask questions... I have 6 months to pull this thing together!

the week in review...

in between getting the ground hog kiln fired and then unloaded we were shopping for  this:

we decided this summer that we really needed a trailer to do shows and workshops... the school bus isn't practical for long distance travel and you have to make sure there is adequate parking everywhere you go. next week we will load the new trailer up and head to NH where Jeff will teach 3 raku workshops and one throwing workshop. the bus is going up for sale very soon... so if you know anyone looking for a really cool school bus, send them my way!

after the trailer purchase was complete we loaded the gas kiln and fired it yesterday...

while the kiln fired we worked on our canvasses for the Potters Palette fundraiser for the NC Pottery Center...

if i had started painting when i picked up my canvas, i would have done a mermaid... since i got a late start i decided to do the fairy portrait.

Jeff's canvas is an abstract of pots and the ground hog kiln.

Jeff is teaching a workshop today and i have mugs out in the studio that are needing some handles... guess i had better get back to work.