Studio Space of a Creative

Wow.  What a difference five years makes!  My studio before it went into heavy use and now.

What can I say but that I know where everything in this studio resides? Do you know where everything is in your office or workspace?

You would notice the totally goofy charcoal of a rebellious cat; we had to force feed him for some time and that’s where this came from, haha!  The beardy dude in black and white on canvas is our oldest son.  He and I used to enjoy trying on stupid glasses at places like Walmart and making silly faces at each other. :). You’re going to have to ask about the bowling pins.

In the Art Studio

This was a good portion of today’s work.  After a lot of sketching I finally laid out my new painting, this time on cradled wood, not canvas.  Once I sketched in the entire plan it was time to choose paints. Test, mix, compare, eliminate.  Once done with all this, I make careful notes for posterity as to exact type of paint and medium.  

I wish I could show you more but don’t as a rule when I’m working on a commission.  You’ll see the painting itself soon!

My Art Studio Today

I had to step aside from the work I’d outlined for my painting day because these hyacinths were driving me to distraction!  Their fragrance is divine and I literally carry them from room to room. Finally I prepared a canvas and did some color testing.  Pictured here are the color winners; the color losers were banished back to my paint drawers.  We artists make it our job to make creation look easy, but you can see from this photo that a whole lot of planning and work go into a piece long before brush meets canvas.

Also, sometimes I have a helper come into my studio.  Trust me, when he comes in, I stop and enjoy life for a while.

Creative Process Installment #4

Installment Four to my Creative Process Cat Painting explanation.  Good old thumbnail sketches.  Here are SOME of them.  Get the composition perfect or you might as well give up and go home.  Once I got the composition nailed down I did color testing to hone in on the exact colors I wanted to use to paint the cat himself.  After all these gorgeous blues, I ended up with Payne’s Grey, Carbon Black and Titanium White. The blues didn’t stand out against the background so were a poor color choice. Also, it’s funny to note that I always end up with my hand-scissored paintbrush.  It’s one of my faves because it’s EXACTLY what I want! Hold on for Installment Five, coming up next time! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Amazing things can happen on Thanksgiving break; a clean desk!  Wow! Forgot what it looked like.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.  We have a lot to be thankful for.

Artist’s Flatlay in Studio

I’ve done quite a lot of layouts, always in a single color.  This time I decided to celebrate the color wheel and just lay down those colors (sorry, purple, I owe you one.) Of note, gorgeous ribbons one of my students gave me on a cool gift, my metal embossed seahorse mounted on a box and a colorful swag I recently made which I toss over all kinds of things to brighten things up and celebrate. Oh, and my coolest ever striped purse from Target. And my cheap sunglasses.  (These be no rhinestone shades.)

Abstract Floral for Sale

This one is part of my... bum de da bum... Summer Bargains Program!

Flowers flowers flowers flowers... I can’t get enough of them. I LOVE flowers, and love playing them loose and fast like this. One of the greatest things about watercolors is the bleeds and blossoms you get which I think add to the freshness and joy of the painting.  Available. Message me if interested. This one is watercolor on 12x12” heavy paper.

Those things which are made in joy reflect joy!

Studio Work

Whew!  Well, at least I cleaned the paintbrushes before taking the pic. What are YOU doing this summer?

An Artist’s Desk

An artist can take cleaning her desk to an entirely new level.  Scrape, scrape, scrape.  As an acrylic artist I usually just wipe it away or level it off when I’m done working.  Over time the layers get so thick I can pull them off pretty easily.  If I ever get to a point where I’m really tired or uninspired I’ll clean off some of the layers.  Gives me some productive thinking time. What do you do when you need time to think?

An Artist’s Self Portrait

As an artist, I consider my body another canvas upon which to work, and what I wear often reflects who I am.  A self portrait. Because it’s easy for me to get a little crazy, I sometimes wear black to tame it down a bit. 

Here my leather and pearl necklace remind me of the nice time Noah and I had at the science museum. The crazy leaf scarf came from a great trip Gary and I took to Florida. My Packman earring I got at the Mall of America in St. Paul (biggest mall in the States) and the feather earring connects me to our daughter, who wears its mate. The gold band is from my dad who found it metal detecting - very special. My black bracelet was at a dollar bin at Goodwill, where we love to kick around for good deals. You would notice the many-stoned ring - that’s my paternal grandma’s mother’s ring.  She had NINE kids!! The mother’s ring has may purple and green stones; I got the topaz (the big one) because it has purple and green and blue in it and matches my grandma’s ring so beautifully.  Plus, I love anything big and sparkly.

If you look closely, you will see the big gouge in my left arm - a reminder of my melanoma and how precious life is - a gift from God. I don’t mind the scar as it reminds me of this. One more detail in this self-portrait - I got caught in the rain today, so I cut off the top so you wouldn’t see my frizzy wet hair! 

Does what you wear reflect you?

Oh... and... here’s more of my self portrait - I do my best to surround myself with flowers inside and outside the house.

And the best flowers of all, peonies.  Yummy!

Now my self-portrait is much more complete. :)

An Artist’s Palette

Palette of the Day. My work for today is with this palette and an entirely new set of colors. What’s your work today?

Honestly, though, although I don’t paint a whole lot of abstracts, I love the abstract qualities of my palette and really love looking and the colors, layers and values.  I think it’s beautiful in its own right.  Sometimes I’m sorry to cover it up and start anew.

Painting In Studio

Here’s a typical scene in my studio. My Yeti filled with tea, of course, and some acrylics ready to start a new painting.  As you can see, I also have my sketch pad out. I often keep a pad nearby to work out problems or record colors. Often I’ll clean off my brushes onto the pad as well, or do a mini painting similar to the canvas. Anyway, as you can see on my IPad, I’m looking at some photos of kalanchoes from our garden. Spring is inspiring!

What you see on my sketch pad is the first layer of paint.  On the canvas and on this pad I plan to do many layers with clear glazes, so that you can see through the colors. Not sure at this point, but I’m guessing there will probably be about 12 layers.  I’ll know when I get toward the end, of course. 

Paintbrushes in My Studio

You know, these are the unsung heros of my studio. I have ... I just counted... twelve containers of paintbrushes. Mostly arranged by size and purpose. Some are for students to use, and then there are some that STUDENTS MAY NEVER TOUCH OR EVEN LOOK AT.  This particular broken urn holds my faves. Most often used, they find their way here for easy access. The square one at the base is also my go-to, and it hangs on a nail on the wall directly to my right. Here I’m using one of my paintings for a backdrop.

By the way, I always use broken things to house my brushes.  Broken favorite coffee mugs, broken pitchers without handles... it’s a good place for them. :)

Paintbrushes in My Studio

I own a lot of brushes.  So why is it that I always seem to prefer these goofy self-shaped brushes to all those others sitting in my studio having mini brush conventions? I can’t answer that question.  I guess what I really should do is go into the custom brush business, huh? 

Come one, come all.  Bring me your brushes! I will customize them for you, tailoring them perfectly to your needs.  riiiight...  

Work in Studio

Dang.  I was going to drink that. Paint water coffee.  This happens on occasion and you would think I’d learn.  ApparentlyI never do. Well, it wasn’t wasted; I just used the coffee to cover a couple pages to get a nice background neutral stain going.  Art that not only looks good, but SMELLS good!  Coffee artists arise!

In Studio Today, Working

A tiny bouquet of baby bay leaves to help me stay out of the garden and in my studio today. If you EVER need bay leaves, ask! My tree grows so fast that I’m always trimming branches off. Wonderful flavor, pretty in bouquets. Even looks pretty on a palette!

My Palette

I’m working on a commission right now in blues and golds. The colors are so gloriously beautiful together that even my palette looks good! WhenI get a little further, I’ll be adding the complimentary colors to this,and hopefully soon showing you the painting. 

My Art Studio

Black and white in my studio. What better way to celebrate a cold winter’s day?

Watercolor Mixing

My floor is covered with my morning’s work; I have to quit because 1) there is no more room to walk, and 2) watercolor paper is expensive! Moving my students into watercolors now. Teachers do a lot more homework than their students, trust me on that one.