Day 51 and I R Nuts

This poor tag has so many layers on it...

I received an email a few days ago from Donna Downey Studios. I have taken a ton of classes from Donna, and enjoy her as an instructor. In the past few years, she veered into oil paints and I did not. I used oils in school, and am now sensitive to odors. Just like the water clean-up of acrylics. But Donna was offering a free (uh huh) Webinair yesterday at 2 different times, on how to paint a face.

Dang. Can't pass that up.

The catch came at the end. She has a new workshop painting 100 faces. Am I obsessed with the number 100? Beginning to sound like it. Because "we" watched the live web stream, "we" were offered a discount. A hefty discount. You guessed it. Out came the credit card. The hook was that we can use either oils or acrylics, although she is working in oils. I just watched the supply video. This will work!

Why am I nuts? I just signed up for another 6 weeks with Ardith Goodwin on Expressionism Abstracts. That starts Saturday. THIS coming Saturday. I now have the first 10 faces from Donna, and the remaining 90 will be added as she does them. But for real, there are going to be 100 faces. We are half way through The 100 Days Project. Almost done with the 26 affirmations, but I'm not.....need to do those.

But. But.....I want to learn more on how to paint faces. I want to learn how to do abstracts that grab the viewer and make them say, WOW. The only way to do that is to paint. To listen to those who know how to paint, and to paint. Over and over again.

This, my friends, is retirement!
Linda

Day 32

I love the colors on this tag

Whimsical lettering

This is from an old Donna Downey class, and I don't remember which one

Let us out. Then we can come back in. Then we can go back out.

The lesson for today's tag is just let it go. If it's grief or pain or sorrow, holding onto those feelings will not heal you. More and more I am able to release whatever is bothering me at that moment in my art journal or one of these tags. Cheaper than therapy, better than drugs.

A neighbor sent me a text last night about the canvas above. She did one on a wooden plaque a few years ago from this technique, and wanted to make another one for Mother's Day. She couldn't remember the steps. This is a fun project. You put wall joint compound on a canvas, not thick, then a piece of muslin cut slightly larger than the canvas, and a little more compound on top of the material. Using your hands, smoosh it all around to arrange the fabric in small folds. Then let it dry for days. Takes a long time, especially in humidity. Once dry, a light coat of clear gesso or matte medium to seal it, and the canvas is ready for a glaze of raw umber or any color you want to add in the folds. I need to do this again, on a sunny day so I can put it outside to dry.

The dogs are in spring mode, which means "we must go out and bark at thin air to drive you nuts". Good times.
Linda

Finally!!!

Wall in my computer room

My legs are the middle hump

Don't move Mom. Ever.

I am a procrastinator. Of the highest order. I never used to be like this, but as I have grown older (old) I figure, what the hell? Why do today what you really don't have to do.

I completed the 10 10 by 10 canvases class online with Donna Downey weeks ago. If you are curious, you can check it out here.  I learned a great deal in this class, on using different products, how to manipulate the paint to your liking, and the use of color. Of the 10 canvases, I love 6 of them, and kind of like the remaining 4. These are meant to be hung in a grouping, so yesterday I chose my favorites and put them against the living room wall, which is a dark tan. Nope. Switched to the off white walls in the computer room, and instant happiness. Now I think I need to paint the living room, with a cathedral ceiling. Uh huh.

The last 4 canvases will be hung in the hallway, or my bedroom. The other two photos are the brats. Need I say more? Thanks for stopping by.
Linda

I Can't Seem to Stop!

12 x 12 inch canvas with the collage base

10 x 10 inch finished

10 x 10 close-up

12 x 12 finished.

I have four more videos to watch in the Donna Downey 10 in 10 online class. Trying so hard not to gallop through these, because each one is a treasure. I am learning so much. A few days ago, I received another shipment of canvases from Dick Blick, this time in the 12 by 12 inch size, and decided to experiment on my own.

I am drawn to the vintage, grungy look that represents antiques, old papers and an unspoken past. In the first photo, the main paper that is yellow with age is from a very old book I picked up at a flea market. The original owner had made notes in the margins with a #2 pencil, and I wanted that to show in my collage. The other book paper is also old but the ephemera are reproductions. I have stacks of this stuff from the craze that existed a few years back in scrapbooking. After the papers had been added to the canvas, I decided I wanted a point of texture. Using Golden's light modeling paste and a numbers stencil, I added an area in the upper left hand corner. It is there in the first photo, but you really have to look. Once you paint over the dried modeling paste and add some Raw Umber, it really pops.

I have no idea if every artist is like this, but I am in love with the top half of this larger canvas, not so much with the bottom blue part. This may be finished, it may not. None of this series are yet sealed. To me that means I can always add and change something. Letting this one sit on the table and percolate is the ticket. This is normal for me, how my brain works.

The latest 10 x 10 canvas is complete. In that lesson, we went back to adding some neutral grey paint to the palette, and I do like that. Layers upon layers of paint, added and then sometimes removed with a baby wipe or a piece of clean muslin. This process is relaxing to me, and a constant delight. When you reach the "ah ha" second of discovery, it is so very rewarding. THAT is the point where you stop, step back and decide if it is finished.

This class has made me feel like my creative side has taken another path, found a different direction. My curiosity is growing with each canvas. I can't wait to see what's around the next corner.
Linda

Moving right along....

With bits and pieces attached with Matte Medium

Completed canvas. I think. Not sure. Yes. Well....

First step. The numbers to the right are chipboard pieces

Completed. Yes. Definitely

Forgot to take steps 1,2, and 3 of this canvas. Sue me.

Close up of the grunge. I LOVE the grunge.

I am halfway through the 10 canvases in 10 days workshop. I purchased and started this workshop on November 18th, so really trying to stretch it out. Yesterday I decided once complete, I'm going to go back and do another set just to see what happens.

This is way too much fun. It should be illegal. If you missed the first posts, I enrolled in a Donna Downey online workshop. The name of this class is 10 in 10, and you can see the details here. Because I already had the Golden products on hand that she uses, my investment was minimal. My problem now, as in the last two photos above, is that I get so wrapped up in painting I forget to stop and take some shots of the progress. Sorry about that.

I love the layers. I absolutely love the grunge. And I do have favorites, but will bite the bullet and hang all 10 canvases up in a grouping when done. Yesterday I put 2 up in my bedroom, and they look lonely, incomplete. Ms. Downey is correct. They need to be grouped together, and I also want to hang them in the order they were created.

I am now hungry for more workshops, more challenges. After months of a creative drought, the urge is back. Loving this. Thanks for stopping by.
Linda

Second in series

This is the second canvas in the series of 10 from the Donna Downey class. Looking at the bottom photo makes me realize I should have applied a layer of gesso under the paint. Hmmmm. I didn't take photos of the work in progress, because once I started I didn't stop. Just ripped through this, having fun, enjoying the creative force.

Probably will start a the third canvas today. A rainy, overcast Sunday good for working in the studio, watching a movie, or reading a book. Enjoy.
Linda

This one's for ME!

Applied ephemera with gel medium

Close up of light modeling paste

Before final glazing of Raw Umber

Completed with glazing

I mentioned the other day that I treated myself to a new online class with Donna Downey. The name of the class is 10 in 10, 10 canvases in 10 days. I am not quite that fast for several reasons. I like to think about what I'm doing, and can take weeks to complete a canvas. That is not the case with this project, but the waiting for layers to dry is slowing me down a bit.

I have been on Pinterest since the beginning, and started a board for abstract art months ago. Looking at examples of other's art is inspiring and daunting. The main reason I took this class was to get out of my rut,  and try something new. Donna Downey is a very talented teacher, organized, enthusiastic, and yes, inspiring. I've completed two canvases, starting a third, and having an absolute blast. This is for me. I am not selling these, don't care if anyone else thinks they are crap because they are going on my walls. And I am learning and growing, two things that I love to do.

Thanks for stopping by.
Linda

Mojo is working!

Creativity is a funny thing. Either it is with you or it isn't. For whatever reasons I lost mine last spring, and it was pretty much gone all summer and early fall. I had zero desire to even enter the studio, let alone work in an art journal or on a canvas. No sewing, nothing was going on. The blog was ignored, because I had stopped taking photographs, and didn't feel like I had anything to say.

Any artist, particularly the female artists I follow online, will tell you that when you hit a dry spell you work through it. Force yourself to do something. Nah, didn't want to do that so I let everything slide. Then last month that little itch started up again. Very small at first, I'd dabble for maybe 10 minutes at a time, then walk away. Still unsure, still waiting for lightning to strike. I did a few online classes with Christy Tomlinson, because I had signed on for the year with her Art Society. You receive links to a new project once a month. The fire was still not quite burning bright.

If you like mixed media, if you like abstract art, if you just want to play there is a new class I can't recommend enough: Donna Downey's 10 - 10 in 10 canvas workshop. Check it here. I watched the intro video and first day video yesterday, and started my first canvas. I will share the steps after I finish, had to give it overnight to dry the first layer. Donna makes this so easy, and just encourages you to have fun and play and hey! be happy. This is exactly what I needed. The supplies she uses are all Golden, which are a bit pricey but I had almost everything on hand. But she uses minimal supplies, making the self imposed limit work for us. Love this concept, love her instruction.

More to come. Have a good day!
Linda