It's a Funny Art World

                                   Ebb Tide, Mixed media on paper, 15x22


I posted this painting several weeks ago as an abstract seascape. However, it was originally posted with the blue band on the top instead of the bottom. In the meantime I took it to the frame shop for a frame. When I got it home the framer had put the wire on it to hang this way. Since I had signed it vertically they couldn't have known by the signature which way I intended it to hang. I decided that as an abstract it could hang either way and entered it in our art leagues nautical themed show. I was awarded an honorable mention and I had a great time at the reception explaining to people that it was hanging upside down. The show judge saw rather ethereal masts and sails of ships in the painting. What do you see?

Sunset Finish 11X15 watercolor

Our local Art League has a show in the spring with a nautical theme. One of the sailing clubs in the area chooses a painting from the show for their T shirt for the regatta they have in the fall. This year my painting, Sunset Finish, was chosen. I understand that I will be invited with spouse to the regatta and all the festivities. It sounds like quite an honor, indeed. 

                  Abstract Seascape 15X22 Acrylic, mixed media on paper


Is anyone else confused by this new blogger "interface"? I guess I don't like change; maybe it's my age. 

This painting is similar to the painting called "What Lies Beneath". The difference is that it's painted on paper and the other was on canvas. This one has little bits of egg shells pressed into the molding paste for added texture. I've enhanced some of these with colored paint. The disadvantage of doing a painting on paper is that it has to be matted and framed with a spacer so that the glass doesn't touch the raised areas. It does look very nice with a rounded white frame, though, and I'm already to enter it in a show. 

My photo got grey on the edges and I gather from reading another blog that it's a function of the camera to "average the whites". My camera is just a point and shoot so I don't know if I can turn off that function or not. Has anyone else had a fix for this?

Tangled

                                    Tangled acrylic on canvas, 16x20

This painting was made by using spider webbing stretched over the canvas. The webbing is a material available usually at Halloween and is stretched about to look like spider webs. It takes very little of it to pull and stretch over the canvas and I fastened it down with push pins into the back frame of the canvas. The acrylic is thinned with polymer gloss medium and water so that it can be poured and absorbed by the webbing. Spraying with water also helps to make the paint run. It makes an interesting abstract pattern. After it had dried I used a thinned gesso to veil some areas, I thought I would do more but fellow artists said it was "done". Since I didn't know what else to do with it, I took their advice and signed it.

Photobooks

Folded Photo book 6x6 watercolor and printed papers.

I learned how to make folded photo books last summer. I have been using the pretty double sided scrapbook papers that you can buy in craft stores. Then I got the bright idea to make the fronts and backs of the books with some of the watercolor paintings that I have. Many of them are paintings that were done in a workshop so they are not eligible to be put in a competition or they are not quite the quality for framing but they have some nice areas. I laid the painting outside and gave them a good coating of Krylon matte finish so the watercolors wouldn't be damaged. Then I chose areas in the painting that would make a nice cover and papers that would be compatible with the painting. The books are tied shut with a ribbon. The light was fading when I took the pictures out on my deck but I wanted to get a shot of it before taking it to the gallery tomorrow. The top picture is the closed book, the bottom is the opened book which looks a little like origami. I think they make very nice gifts.

What Lies Beneath

    What Lies Beneath, Acrylic with mixed media 20X20 wrapped canvas

It's been way too long since I posted a blog. I just don't know where the time goes. I started playing around with this technique after a workshop taught by Shirley Mancino. Modeling paste is applied in a swirly manner on a section of canvas or paper. Some of the paste, along with glass bead medium, is dragged down the painting. After it dries you can paint it however you choose and encourage the paint to run down the canvas. After the paint was dry I added tiny seashells with gel medium. It made me think of what was underneath the white caps if you could see a cross-section of a wave; the seashells tumbling and the seaweed hanging. I love the texture of the modeling paste and the glass bead medium and I plan to use it again. As a watercolorist it was also interesting to use acrylic in such an aqueous manner.

Zentangle?

Cup and Saucer Zentangle 4 1/2 X 6 Sharpie on paper

At our annual Art League spring luncheon we were all introduced to Zentangle and given the opportunity to try one ourselves. Of course we didn't get formal instruction, just a piece of paper, some pens, and some examples that were passed around. All of us in attendance make art in some form or another so it was interesting to see all the different things that were drawn in about a 10-15 minute time frame. When I got home I checked out Zentangle on the web and found that it is a bit more sophisticated than our playful doodles. They have actual instructors and formal names for the designs that fill the space. I looked to me like they are mostly done in black pencil. It was fun to do and another interesting art form to learn about. I would love to get comments from anyone who has some information about Zentangle.