Entries Tagged as: play

Red at Night

November 28th, 2010, Comments (32)

For day 28 of Art Every Day Month, I was back in my studio and feeling like playing. I worked with fluid acrylics on wet watercolor paper, sprinkled on some salt, and then let it dry. I looked for an image in it after, and then painted and drew in the figure, moon, and stars. It's about 7"x9."

Circle Bird

November 21st, 2010, Comments (20)

I had to wait a long time to post my art for day 21 of Art Every Day Month because it took forever to dry! I decided to experiment with some glass bead gel over collage and acrylic paint. It wasn't a complete success, because something smudged and I couldn't see it until after it dried. But what I learned (and loved) is that gold paint over collage with glass bead gel looks really cool! And also, this stuff is hard to photograph! Ah well. Sometimes, you need to play and make some mistakes to move on to the next thing! This little guy is about 4"x4" on panel.

Pink Mermaid

November 3rd, 2010, Comments (24)

After a busy start to the day, I created day 3's art in the late afternoon.This one was fun to do. I simply wet a piece of watercolor paper, then dripped pink, blue, and turquoise inks onto it to create shapes. I also added some water to create some drips. Then I propped it up while it dried, so it was in my view, and I occasionally looked at it as I worked on the computer. Eventually I saw part of the shape of a mermaid and I used more ink to bring it out. She's about 11"x14".

Experimenting and Off to the Lake

September 15th, 2010, Comments (10)

I'm playing around with some medium on a new little piece. I've got some ideas of where it will go, but the fun in experimenting is that I'm not sure exactly how it will work out! In the meantime, all that medium is going to take some time to dry. I plan to play with it more when I return. I know it doesn't look all that water related yet, but just wait! :-)

Today, I head off with the beautiful Jenn to Squam to get my art on. I'm so excited to play with other creative folks and to be by the lake (perfect for the water theme!)

I hope you all have a beautiful week, filled with inspiration!

Playing with Fire

August 20th, 2010, Comments (14)

With the fire theme in mind, I had the inspiration to play with some red yarn on paper. I really didn't have a plan in mind, just wanted to play. I used some matte medium to hold the swirls and curls in place. After it dried, I thought I saw a few different images in it, which I brought out in paint until this tree emerged. Fun!

I enjoyed doing it although, I did not like the way the yarn felt on my fingers when coated in matte medium. Ick!

Hope you all have a magnificent weekend!

Body Shadows In Progress

January 7th, 2010, Comments (12)

So, yesterday I shared a video of me using body shadows to trace shapes on a piece of paper and today I began playing with paint and gel medium in those shapes. I had to stop at one point when I managed to splatter purple paint all over myself. Doh! I've been letting it sit like this and noticing what I see in it now. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a whale shape at one point. But when I turned it around, that same shape looked just like a bird's head.

Where's this going? I don't know! It might go nowhere at all. But I enjoy playing in this way, letting things happen, and then looking to see what comes up as I work. It's a fun, intuitive process that leads to interesting things that I wouldn't necessarily come up with if I planned it all out. I'll keep you updated as it progresses.

And be sure to check in tomorrow for an interview with the fantabulous Jamie Ridler about creativity and the body!

Chairs in a Row

November 29th, 2009, Comments (24)

I traced the silhouette of this woman onto rice paper last night, but today I came back to it and traced a series of chairs, which got me all excited. Again, I collaged and painted on a 6"x6" clayboard surface, using bits from my collection, things I intuitively grabbed that seemed right in the moment. One scrap looked like it was the shape in the house, so I played with that. I had a piece of rice paper cut in the shape of a eucalyptus that I'd written on months ago, but not used in anything. It seemed like the right time to use it here. Stamps and stamped images of ferns came into play as well. Then I lay the rice paper image over it, using a soft gel medium to bring it together. I love the translucent quality of the rice paper and the way the drawings sit on top of it. I've always been a fan of layers, the way it mimics how layered things are in real life.

I'm so enjoying the rice paper at the moment. I love when a material thrills me and I know I'll be playing with it for awhile until the next medium makes me giddy. It's a good place to be, feeling the joy of materials, feeling in the flow.

I was feeling a big sluggish the last week, although I kept plodding through. Flow in creativity comes in cycles for me and I've come to accept that. Sometimes a down period means I do other things like reading or research, re-stocking the well as Julia Cameron puts it in The Artist's Way. And other times, like during Art Every Day Month, I keep plodding through, knowing that the spark will fire again, if I just keep patiently putting mark to paper. Often times, I don't think the spark has returned to me, until I've already begun, like last night, which makes me glad for those times when I kept plodding through. But other times, a break feels necessary. Neither way is wrong or right. Knowing that both ways of returning to my work can be fruitful helps me come back without judging myself in the process.

What helps you come back to your creativity after a slow period? Are there any sparks happening right now for you?

Poppy Rain

November 28th, 2009, Comments (16)

The funny thing is, I didn't feel much like making art when I got home. I was tired from a full day of traveling and from a very long week, but once again, I'm so glad I did sit down to create.

I had so much fun and things were just flowing as I played intuitively with collage, rice paper, ink, colored pencil, and paint on this 6"x6" mixed-media piece. I used a piece of clayboard as my surface (which is great for collage) and began with scraps I had handy. I randomly had the idea to trace a silhouette of a woman from an Anthropologie catalog onto rice paper along with some circles and then collage them over the collage I'd started on the clayboard. I moved things about, creating this image I was pleased with. Then I came back to it later and created the clouds with Inktense water soluble colored pencils.

I love the way it came together and how it fits my mood although I couldn't explain to you why. I think it says it visually and that's enough for me at the moment.

So glad to be home. So much to catch up on!

Inkblots: Blue-haired Sisters

November 27th, 2009, Comments (7)

Just got back from an afternoon in Manhattan. So inspiring! More to share when I get home, but for now, my art of the day, a playful inkblot.

Hope you all have a fabulously creative weekend!

Traveling Inkblots

November 26th, 2009, Comments (8)

Super busy here in New York, so I brought along a sketchbook with some inkblots in it to play with for my Art Every Day while I'm away. Here's what I did today. Love how portable these are! I'm going to keep trying to post while I'm away, but I don't have much access to the internet, so I may have to share what I've been up to each day in batches. We shall see.

If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you've all had a wonderful holiday. I'm stuffed and happy to be with family. Thank you again for all your sweet words about my Grandma. Your support was so helpful.