New Year’s Resolution - Cleaning

Let’s take a moment to laud the lowly stir stick.  Beautiful in their own right where would we be without them, after all?  As for me, I’d have very colorful fingers. Today is studio cleaning day which involves a lot of gathering and putting things into their rightful place.

The background is a handmade linen scarf we bought from a vendor in Belgium.  We were traveling on a particularly chilly day.  Gary bought a sweatshirt, I bought this scarf.  The two items made our day and we were nice and cozy after that!  I first laid the stir sticks on my desk, but the desk looks the same so it was like they were wearing camouflage.  Had to find a plain background! 🤭

This unsung paint sticks really ARE beautiful, aren’t they? And now I actually have them all in one place instead of scattered all over the house and garage.  Maybe.  Now... what else can I organize around here...

Studio Art Work

This is some of the work behind my paintings.  I take meticulous notes which stand behind the legacy of my art for future repairs, new work or whatever.  These are my records for kitty noses for a piece for a client.  I have years of notebooks like this, all dated and labeled.  When you purchase my work, you’re purchasing an heirloom.  Best products, archival and acid free. Www.colorcatstudios101.etsy.com.

www.colorcatstudios101.etsy.com

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.

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.

An Artist’s Desktop

It doesn’t seem to matter how big my desk is; it pretty much always looks like this.  Unfair that I’m not showing you the outer edges which sport PILES of books, papers, information, inspiration and ephemera. What’s on YOUR desk? Is it clean? 

I have an insatiable personality which means I read an unbelievable variety of weird things, just because it’s good to know.  And as far as art supplies, I pretty much have to try everything, which means I’m constantly experimenting.  Thus the Daniel Green watercolor crayons you see in the little five-pack at the top. Each stick is the equivalent to approximately four pans of watercolor and they ARE pigment loaded.  The jury’s out on them thus far... As far as both the Golden paints and the Matisse paints, they are so luscious and pigment packed that I could eat them.  But I won’t.  Because I expect like many materials they are carcinogenic in the State of California.  May be safe here in Texas, but let’s not be chancey.

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?

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. :)

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.