Saturday, January 31, 2015

More collages just for fun

Played with the collage thing a little bit just to get more of my 30 paintings included.
Here they are:


Learning New Stuff!

Today is the day after the last day of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge.  The host of the challenge, Leslie Saeta, showed us how to create a collage.

Here's mine:

Friday, January 30, 2015

Last Day of the 30 Day Challenge! I did it! 30 posts!

Going back to my original plan of painting 30 nuns for no good reason other than to do it, I painted one more nun today.  She's a little too sassy and cattywompus to be a serious nun but she's done!

Here she is:
I liked doing this challenge.  Thank you Leslie Saeta for hosting it.  I had lots of fun, the best was seeing all the different art everybody posted and getting ideas and inspiration from it.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

The penultimate day. 29/30. Lots of brush work, no paint on this one.

This collage piece was started 2 years ago!  My great nephews cut up magazines for me, nice 1 inch squares sorted into baggies by color and I went wild at first with it, then got busy with other things and finally today I pulled it out and worked on it until there is collage over the whole canvas.  It may get some tweaking in the NEAR future, but it is close if not done.

Here's day 29 of 30's painting.  I'm calling him (her?) "Speak to Me"


I love each little square of magazine print, some of them are perfect abstracts.


That's it for Penultimate day.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Painting 28 of 30 is a complete background now - I think...

My lily white table tops got another coat of primer and are just as lovely as they were yesterday and you still don't get a picture of white for my painting of the day.

I added some more textures and scribbles and shapes to the giant canvas I have been snippeting for my daily paintings lately.  Today you get the whole darn canvas.  I will find an owl or six in it somewhere and bring them out.  This canvas is 4 feet by 5 feet big.  I love painting on this size canvas. I either have to turn it around or use a step stool to reach the top when I am painting it because I AM SO TALL!

Here is the whole thing and tonight's favorite snippets:




Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Day 26 of 30! 68 degrees outside, so I painted outside.

I spent a good part of the day clearing of the workbench in the garage so I could sand and prime two more tabletops because I'm thinking that painting on coffee tables is my next addiction.  It was almost hot outside!  It's January 26th!  Crazy.  My two stark white primed table tops are lovely, but hardly worth calling a painting for this challenge.  Tonight I did some more layering on a giant canvas as well as added some tree branches to my painting from the 9th and 24th days.  I like sections of the giant canvas that got painted tonight so that is what I am using as my painting of the day.

Here's painting 26/30:
Who knows what it will end up looking like - I like it the way it is now.  I don't know if I am brave enough to cut up a 4 foot by 5 foot canvas to weave it back together...  but it is a fun thought.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Day 26 of 30! Painted furniture is painting... right?

Two years ago I painted an aluminum butterfly sculpture/statue for the local Rotary Club's auction to raise funds for Art Education in Colorado Springs.  The butterfly was clear coated by Status Symbol Auto Body shop as the final step in production.  I loved what the automotive quality paint/enamel finish did to the butterfly, it made the paint just shine and sparkle and it gave it a depth that I liked.  Here's a shot of the butterfly while I was painting it.  It is big and I was impressed to see 20 of these big butterflies in the spray booth at the auto body shop, it was really a pretty sight.  Anyway, the butterfly project and the clear coat finish has been on my mind since then.




So on day 9 of this challenge I finished painting the top of an IKEA Lack coffee table, here's the painted table top:

Today, I picked up my tabletop from Status Symbol Auto Body Shop complete with automotive clear coat finish.  It was 65 degrees outside so I got to ride my bike and have my husband meet me there in the car to pick it up (followed by a lunch date for Pho).  I put the legs on it tonight and am calling it my painting of the day!




Ipad photos at night of a shiny surface are not my speciality, but I love this table!  The clear coat will make it hardy, they actually bake it on at the shop.  The legs just screw on/off and the top is lightweight so I could put a wire on it and hang it from the wall, a nice thick piece of art, no frame needed. I'm still having fun with this challenge!

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Day 25 Playing with Day 24 painting on the computer

I think I will hide him in some branches so I'm painting them in on the computer first.
I'm still glad this challenge is making me post something every day, I have to do SOMETHING related to painting because of it.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Day 24 of 30. I actually used a paintbrush today!

After a wonderful day of necklace making I came home and PAINTED!  I don't think this one is finished but he is on his way...
I'm playing with iridescent paints, the crop chopped out the moon but it is iridescent blue and kind of fun in a gaudy way, which I like tonight.  Don't know what I will think tomorrow.

Friday, January 23, 2015

Day 23 of 30. Yesterday was new and different, today is back to old favorites.

I collaged the stars on this guy a little bit today so he is my painting of the day for Day 23.


It was a gorgeous sunny day here in Colorado Springs so not much indoor painting activity for me.  That's not an excuse, just the facts.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Day 22 something new and different

This is a mock up on a layered up canvas.  The canvas is painted with the textures but the yoga guys are only digital today.  Maybe tomorrow they will get painted....

Here's 22 of 30:
This challenge is the best because it makes me get SOMETHING done every day, even if it is just to sit and play on the computer.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Day 21, Painting 21 another snippet

I'm still painting layers on a big canvas so here's a section of it that I painted today.  I played with it in photoshop for fun too.

Here's 21 of 30:



Here it is without the photoshop treatment:


Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Day 20 of 30 I'm still painting!

I didn't complete a whole painting today but got parts of several paintings worked on.  So here's a part of a 4 foot x 5 foot canvas that I'm layering with patterns and textures, I like this spot that appeared today, so that's what I'm using as today's painting.

Here it is:

I'm still having fun and enjoy the little push this challenge gives me.




Sunday, January 18, 2015

Day 18 and 19. I missed the self imposed midnight cutoff so 1 past due, 1 earliest submission yet!

More painting on the chopping block for weaving.  Here's what I chose to weave together for day 18:



And here's the result:



For Day 19 I chose these 2 paintings:


And here's what I got:
More tomorrow...

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Day 17 of the 30 day painting challenge

I'm still intrigued by the weaving of painted surfaces so I cut up two more paintings I had done in a workshop.  The class was fun, we painted right out of tubes of paint, no brushes involved.  A kind of tube impasto technique taught by Tom Owens.  Here are the two studies I painted, oriented the way I planned to weave them together, the bottom one is upside down:




Here's what I got:

I turned it sideways because that's how I like it.  Now I want to play with different width strips and paint on the weaving itself!  The never ending journey...

That's it for Day 17!

Friday, January 16, 2015

Day 16. Painting 16. My submerged Iphone takes away from painting time.

This quick study got done because I spent the rest of my day dealing with my iPhone that never learned to swim. My waterproof case is ordered. Done.  End of story.

Here's number 16, I like the simplicity of this hen.


Thursday, January 15, 2015

Day 15 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge.

I spent the day at IKEA where I heard the best line I've heard in awhile.  An toddler was screaming very loud over drill and saw noise from remodeling on a nearby display, and one of two women walking by said sweetly "I didn't know they did exorcisms at IKEA" to her friend.  Kind of summed up that want/need/dread feeling of going to IKEA that I have, sometimes you just got to get those demons out!
The trip to IKEA was half successful, as always, which is fitting for the half-done painting I whipped up tonight for the challenge.  I half like it. That's different from I like half of it, just to be clear.  If I liked half of it I could fix the other half and like the whole thing, but I only half-like the whole thing which makes it a whole thing to fix, so not even half way there!

Here it is for Painting 15 of 30:






Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Day 14 Part of a bigger picture

I finished a small part of a big painting today, I reworked on of four owls on a big canvas.  This little guy was white and now he is purple and I like the whole painting more because of it.

His beak was tiny and now, after his nose job it fits his face a little better.  I used my latest favorite tool, Montana acrylic marker, to get his fluff the way I want it.
Dinner date tonight, I'm posting before midnight!

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Day 13 Not much to look at but here's something...

The sun came out today after several days of clouds and fog, so I played outside and didn't paint much.
I'm still intrigued by the weaving so that's what I'm doing.

Here's what I'm calling my Day 13 painting:

I thought it looked like a landscape but now I think it is just time to get some sleep!

Monday, January 12, 2015

Day 12 Recycled Art and The Buckeyes WIN!

The weaved painting process has a hold on me.  So I took this old painting:
Chopped it in half and cut one half into horizontal strips and the other half into vertical strips.  The strips are 1/2 inch in width.
I turned it over and wove the strips together blank side up (my mind can't handle the distraction of the image not going together perfectly, it is just mechanical motion to do it blank side up) while I watched the Buckeyes beat the Ducks.

I knew the image would not be like the image I started with, I thought the face would be more visible than it is, but I'm pleasantly surprised by the outcome.  I think this woman is resting her head on her own chest! I have a funny feeling a few more paintings are going to meet the paper cutter before I get this out of my system.  This 30 paintings in 30 days challenge is taking me off on some interesting tangents.  I'm so glad I signed up for it!
I added some marker coloring to bring the face out a little bit. You can barely make it out on the left of the weaving in this picture. I was in the light of the TV and when I turned on the real lights I realized I had used metallic marker!  It adds that little surprise color that just makes a painting, right?

I'm having a blast, hope you are too!

Sunday, January 11, 2015

I have totally lost it...

I was browsing the posts of paintings in this 30 paintings in 30 days challenge and I came across woven paintings by Ebba Jahn, http://ebbajahnprojects.blogspot.com .  I was intrigued so I painted two similar Nuns and cut them up to weave together:


 I'm certain I did a weaving project in third grade or sometime in my childhood, but I felt like a 5 year-old trying to get it right but having a joyous time getting it so wrong!  Giggling at my clumsiness I turned it over and wove it upside down, blank side up, with my little numbers on each strip in order.  I played with pulling each strip up, down, left, right and made some crazy faces, none of them really aligned properly!  It was kind of like trying to do a rubix cube (which I have done once by following internet instructions) but much more fun.  I decided that because the images were only similar, not exact duplicates, it would never be perfect. But I love it anyway!  And I love the look on my husband's face when I tell him I'm having so much fun and just fascinated by this process!  Here's how I taped her up, I think she is imperfectly fun.


I printed off two copies of a painting I did a couple days ago and since they were exact duplicates I was able to make them line up better:


Of course I was not happy with that artistically so I played around with it and will probably never stop messing with it, here how I left it for the night:


Yes, I've totally lost "it", whatever "it" is, but I'm sure having fun!

Saturday, January 10, 2015