Day 5 (30 in 30 for 30)

"Fire Dog" 8x10 acrylic on canvas

Today's painting was inspired by the field trip T-man and I went on today.  I'm sure you've already guessed, but just in case you haven't - it was a visit to a local fire hall.  We had lots of fun learning about fire safety and T was thrilled to be able to climb in and around the fire trucks.

It was dark by the time I finished it, so I ended up using the old scanner... the colors are a little off, but not too too bad.  Bob is continuing to help calibrate my new equipment (he has been so patient with me). It's turning out to be more work than the painting itself!  He assures me that once we have the settings down, future scanning and printing will be much easier...  I'm excited for that! 

Don't forget to take your own virtual field trip to the Creative Every Day blog to see what treasures Day 5 has to offer!

Day 4 (30 in 30 for 30)

"A Pair of Pears" 8x10 mixed media on wood

Today's painting was inspired by 3 beautiful pears that were perched on my kitchen counter.  It was a wonderfully relaxing morning of painting at the breakfast table while T munched on cinnamon scones and the third pear.

I wish you could see the texture of this in person.  It is just so... yummy!  I used a textured piece of wood (I'm not sure what it's called) that I coated with black gesso.  Then I drew the pears and began playing with paint and watercolor crayons.  I finished the whole thing off with a coat of beeswax which gave it a very dreamy feel.

This pear painting took me back to my college days - not just because it is a still life (though I painted my fair share of those)... Painting pears reminded me of the college obsession I had with how women are perceived and stereotyped in society.  A lot of my artwork at that time focused specifically on body image and labels.  I drew, painted, and sculpted many variations of the female form and it's relation to apples and pears.  Below is a relief print I created in a college printmaking class:

Thank you for indulging my little trip down memory lane...

Be sure to check out Day 5 over at the Creative Every Day blog!  And, since it's Thursday lots of other artists will be sharing what they've been up to in their creative spaces!

Day 3 (30 in 30 for 30)

"Ewe-nique" 8x10 mixed media on canvas

Well, some days things work, and some days... not so much.

For today's painting I adhered an old sheet of newspaper to an 8x10 canvas using matte medium, then added a thin layer of gesso.  (I kept the gesso slightly thicker along the edge so I could scratch the border squares in.)  Then I drew in the sheep (ewe) and started playing with paint, prismacolors, graphite, and a little more gesso.  I finished it off with a coat of beeswax.

Unfortunately, the finished product contains some pretty distracting unfixable bubbles.  As a result I will not be selling this painting in my etsy shop.  (Which will be opening as soon as I iron out the scanning/photographing/listing kinks.)  But never fear, I will be creating another painting to replace this one in my 30 in 30 for 30 collection!

In more Art Every Day news, I just received the most wonderful email from my sister-in-law Debbie... It turns out that my very imaginative 11 year old niece, Lauren, has been inspired to create a piece of artwork every day for the month of November too.  Wow... so cool.  Lauren is a very talented artist and I am so excited to see what she's been up to!

(Don't forget to stop by the Creative Every Day blog to see what other artists created for Day 3.)

Day 2 (30 in 30 for 30)

"Spent" 8x10 mixed media on wood

Did you know that a snail can sleep for 3 years?!?

I figured you would have to be pretty tired, exhausted, pooped, wiped out... "spent" to sleep that long!

(Spent also happens to be this week's Illustration Friday theme)

I had so much fun creating today's painting (and after yesterday's struggles I definitely needed it)!  I started by wood burning my snail image, then added some gesso.  While the gesso was still wet I scratched some details then let it dry.  To add color I played with watercolor crayons and pencils (and some liquid acrylics too).  It felt so good to just let loose and let the materials guide me.

In technical news, the scanner and printer arrived but now they need to be calibrated...  For now I took a photo of today's painting (the colors aren't perfect, but they're closer than yesterday's scan).  This part of the art making process is definitely a learning experience for me - I am determined to open my etsy shop this week!

Be sure to stop by The Creative Every Day blog to see how other artists spent Day 2!

(If you haven't heard about my 30 in 30 for 30 project you can find out more about it here.)

Day 1 (30 in 30 for 30)

Bee*lieve you can fly  8x10  mixed media on canvas

Day 1: 30 in 30 for 30

(and Art Every Day Month)

"Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway."
- Mary Kay Ash

I knew I wanted to start off this challenge with a bit of inspiration, and this quote (one of my favorites) is what popped into my head.

Today turned out to be a day of painting... then gessoing over what I painted... painting again... gessoing again...

I started putting a lot of pressure on myself to come up with the "perfect start" to this challenge, and for a while I lost sight of the joy I normally feel when I'm painting.  Then Stevie called and she helped me calm down, she told me to relax, stop stressing, and not to worry I'd "find my groove"... Wonderful advice from my beautiful sister who is feeling her own midterm stress.  Thanks Stevie.

Once I stopped worrying so much about the finished product and got down to the business of playing, things started to go more smoothly.  Until...

It came time to photograph/ scan it.  When creating the 30 in 30 for 30 challenge for myself I didn't take into account the fact that I'd probably be finishing up when it was dark outside.  Definitely not optimal conditions for photographing artwork.  So I scanned it - let's just say my scanner isn't the best and as a result the image above probably isn't the best representation of the actual painting.  But...

Luckily I have a brilliant (and very thoughtful) husband who anticipated me needing a better scanner, so he ordered me a new one and it is scheduled to arrive tomorrow!  Yay!  As if that weren't exciting enough, he also bought me a new printer so I can make prints of my work!  Is he amazing, or what?!?

Tomorrow I will photograph and re-scan my painting in the hopes of acquiring a more accurate image so that I can list this in my etsy shop!

Don't forget that November is Art Every Day Month (the inspiration for my 30 in 30 for 30)... So be sure to stop by the Creative Every Day blog to see what other artists created today!

My King of Hearts

Happy Halloween!

The T-man is Ready with a capital R!  He had a trial run with his costume at preschool on Friday, but he is very anxious for some serious trick or treating tonight!

Here is what the front and the back of the costume look like - you may remember the idea from last week's sketch.  Since I am totally intimidated by the thought of sewing (I am always so in awe of all the fabulous fiber artists I see), I had to rely on a pillow case, iron-on adhesive, and good 'ol paint!

I'm sorry to report that I have no sketch to share this week.  Between Halloween and 30 in 30 for 30 preparations, my sketchbook is feeling a little bit neglected... But never fear, my friends always have lots of fun sketches to share over at Sophia's Blue Chair Diary! (I'll definitely have lots of sketches to share next Sunday because the painting starts tomorrow - eek!)

I'm off to Sophia's, then to carve a pumpkin...

Have a safe and fun Halloween!

P.S. This has been a week filled with computer learning (not my forte)... I finally figured out how to set up a facebook page for my art.  If you're on facebook, be sure to stop by!

Halloween Traditions and a Thank You!

As I've said before, I think it's very important to step outside the studio to "recharge the creative battery", so to speak.  This week it meant a visit to one of our favorite Fall haunts: The Pumpkin Farm.  From the time T-man was 3 months old, sitting on the haystacks and taking a family photo has become a Halloween tradition.

2006 (3 months old)

2007 (1 year old)

2008 (2 years old)

2009 (3 years old)

2010 (4 years old)

 

I can't believe how big my little man is getting!

Another Autumn tradition is sending a Halloween care package to my brother Ronnie who is away at college.  Every year I paint a Halloween-inspired box then my mom and I fill it with all sorts of goodies.  Ronnie is super-duper smart and works super-duper hard... he definitely deserves some treats from home!

 

I would like to finish this post with a heartfelt 'thank you' to all of my blog friends who have been so supportive of my 30 in 30 for 30 project - your kind words and encouragement are so motivating!  Seeing my blog button on your sidebars is so amazing, I appreciate it more than you can imagine... Thank you!