new work: In the deep dark woods

I love a good story.  Some of the best stories take place in the forest, where adventure and mystery meet beauty and enchantment.  We are all familiar with the classic tales of runaway princesses, heroic bandits, and grandma-eating wolves in the woods.

After a stint of painting mountains, I was inspired to create a woodland scene.  I centered the work around a pond in the middle of a grove.  Initially, I was going to title the work Wishing Well, but as the piece developed, In the deep dark woods seemed more fitting.  I wanted the painting to read like a story and to conjure up a childlike response of curiosity, marvel, and fear. 

Typical of my landscape paintings, the creative process involved a lot of layering of colors and textures.  I actually did quite a bit of carving into the wood panel, most noticeably with the trees and the triangles in the right hand corner.

Recently, I have been using maple wood panels in lieu of birch panels.  I like the feel of the paint on the maple hardwood, which has a smoother surface.  I would love to find a local company that makes maple panels.  I currently use maple panels made by Art Boards [Brooklyn, NY].    

After finishing the new painting, I tackled a blanket project with scraps bought at the Pendleton fabric store.  Check back tomorrow to see the finished product!

30 works in 30 days

Zenith, a new mixed media painting on maple wood panel

My friends think I'm crazy.  I'm calling it a test in self-discipline.  Since January 7, I've been creating a new original work of art every day for my Etsy shop.  Today marks Day 10 of the challenge. 

I've been focusing on smaller, affordable pieces of art, which has been refreshing after a stint of working on larger wood panel paintings.  Working small allows me to experiment more with different ideas and materials, like the mini canvas panels and watercolor markers purchased a couple of months ago.  

I also found a line of maple wood panels out of New York that I'm trying out.  Due to the closing of a Portland art store in October, I lost my local source of smaller, uncradled wood panels.  The maple wood panels are quite a bit pricier (nearly double), but the material is nicer and the panels come with slots in the back for easy hanging.  

New pieces that have sold.

The 30 day project has made me sit at my art desk every day, which is one of my favorite places to be.  The challenge comes in finding enough time in the day to finish a work of art [that I like!], take pictures of it while there's decent light, and then upload it into my Etsy shop.  The schedule this past weekend was a little hairy, but I managed to get it all done.  

There is no master list or inspiration board to work from.  When I sit down at my desk, I decide at that point which substrate to use, and then I go from there.  I'm actually a little surprised that my works don't look more alike than they do.  Maybe a mini-series of art will surface in the second half of the project. 

twilight, 10 x 10 in. mixed media painting

Five pieces have sold so far, which is so encouraging.  This month, I'm trying to create a number of original works of art that are truly affordable for anyone.  I love the idea that a person can have in their home a one-of-kind art work for $40.  I realize that I may be underpricing my art, considering the time and detail I put into the smaller works.  But it brings me joy to know that people who love my art can afford to own an original.  And just so you know, I pack each one of the little works of art with as much love and care as I do the larger pieces. 

Twilight (above) and the works below are currently available.  You can keep checking back every day for new originals in my Etsy shop, or you can subscribe to the shop's feed here.  

New Work

Paradise Falls, mixed media on wood panel, 4 x 4 inches

Paradise Falls is one of three wood panel paintings I completed this week.  My paintings tend to look a little different from my drawings, but this piece seems to be a good blend of both styles.  I also used some shimmery chartreuse color in the painting, which is a fun break from all the dark colors in my art lately. 

Two more pieces for the July show at Tilde.

It is so rewarding for artists to see their work hanging in people's homes, and, this week, I was thrilled to receive several photos of my framed art from previous buyers. What a treat!  I'm planning on sharing some of the photos this Friday.  So, for those of you who have my art on your walls and have a camera on hand, I'd love to add some more pictures. 

New works, "Winter Cabin" and "Skyline"

My birthday is in a couple of days, and all I want is a good dose of vitamin D via sunlight.  It's officially Spring, but it's been unseasonably cold and wet, even for Portland.  We have yet to hit 60 degrees in the new year, and I'm still flipping on our gas fireplace every day. 

So, all this to say, it doesn't surprise me that I'm still painting snow-dressed mountains.  This painting, Winter Cabin, is one of my latest works.  The outline of the mountains were created by carving away wet paint with the end of my paintbrush. To see more detailed pictures of the work, go here. 

Skyline is the second wood panel piece I completed this week.  I love using blues in my art, and, next to white, they're the first colors to be used up.  Even the cyan ink cartridge in my ink jet printer is replaced at twice the rate than the other colors.  Lately, I've been trying to branch out and use more reds, but I keep coming back to the calm and cool effects of blues. 

New work

first signs of spring, 4 x 4 mixed media on birch panel

The 4" x 4" wood panel is my favorite size to work on.  The small surface area is not at all intimidating, and I can casually work on the painting over the course of a few days.  Anything larger than 8" x 10", and I'm toiling over every little mark and decision. 

One of my goals for this year is to work on larger pieces, but I don't intend on moving away from the smaller compositions any time soon.  I enjoy creating original pieces of art that are easily accessible and affordable.  Whenever I sell one of my works, it's so rewarding to know that someone's personal art collection has just increased by one. 

Grove, 5 x 7 mixed media on birch panel

Fun with image transfers

I don't like to see things go to waste.  So when my experiment with acrylic gel medium as a top coat didn't quite turn out like how I had hoped,  I wanted to figure out another alternative use for the material.  As I was browsing Golden Paints' website, I came across a video on how to create image transfers using acrylic gel.  Perfect!  And I knew just the drawing I wanted to use.

This drawing has been sitting in my "I don't know what I want to do with it" pile for several months now.  I was excited to finally use it in a project.  The first thing I did was make a color copy of the drawing (image was flipped horizontally), and then I trimmed the print to the size of the wood panel.  After applying the acrylic gel onto the wood panel,  the print was placed face down on top of the gel.  I left it overnight to dry.

The next morning I wet the print with a wash cloth and started rubbing off the soaked paper.  This part of the process is almost as fun as watching an image develop in the darkroom.

Once the remaining pulp was wiped up, I set the piece aside to dry fully.   For the top coat, I decided to use a varnish rather than the glossy acrylic gel medium. 

On my second image transfer piece (using another drawing from The Pile), I ended up applying the acrylic gel as a finish.  For the background, I mixed the acrylic gel with some color, but I'm not sure what I think about it yet.

Here is the video that inspired it all.  I look forward to hearing your experiments with image transfers!

Third time's a charm

I just finished this mixed media on birch panel titled walk on the beach.  It's been quite the journey with this particular wood panel.  This is actually the third art work on the wood panel.  I experimented with different finishes with previous compositions and ended up having to strip them from the panel with an xacto knife.  I talk more about this process here and here.

This process of taking away and adding creates a very textured surface.  You can see some of the carved and layered details in the photo below. 

I've been thinking a lot about the beach lately.  I take it as a sign that I need to go back soon.  When I think about my last trip to the Oregon coast in November, I remember it like walk on the beach.  The beach grass had a lovely golden hue and the ocean and sky seemed to blend into one. 

To read more about my latest work, go to my Etsy listing here. 

I'm still painting on these old bingo markers I found on Etsy.  In addition to magnets, my friend suggested that I make them into push pins.  I loved the idea, and I happened to have a box of flat head tacks on hand! I'm wanting to sell the hand painted push pins as a set of six, so I need to come up with a couple more designs.  My guess is that I'll have the first batch ready in my Etsy shop within the week. 

New work, "Sierra Basin"

My latest mixed media work is called Sierra Basin.  It's the third piece that I've deconstructed in the last couple of weeks.  You can read more about the process in this post. 

Scraping away the initial layers of oil paint was a little tedious, but I really liked how it exposed all the different colors I used.

I have one more smaller piece that I'm working on in this manner.  Once I finish it this weekend, my plan is to tackle the large wood panel painting that's been sitting on my easel for months. 

Today, my art is being featured on the art blog, The Flopslump.  Chris and I connected through Etsy, and it's great to meet another artist who is not only passionate about his own work but the art of others as well.  While you browse his shop on Etsy, you should also check out my latest treasury.  Christmas has passed, but I still have a long wish list! 

My process of reusing wood panels

A couple of pieces that have been reworked. The painting on the right is still a work in progress.

I don't have a problem with painting over a painting, especially if I'm not emotionally attached to the work anymore.  This week,  I "deconstructed" three of my wood panel works because they had yellowed over time.  The yellowing was not a total surprise; I was forewarned that this could happen if painting medium was used as a final coat on a painting.  You can especially see the yellowing effect in the work shown below.  On the left is what the work looked like when I completed it a year ago.  The photo on the right was taken yesterday.  

I found out that storing the paintings in the dark most likely made the yellowing worse.  Supposedly, extended exposure to sunlight helps bleach the yellowing factor of painting mediums.  Hmm, I will test this out with one other painting that I have.  Fortunately, I only poured painting medium on top of a select number of pieces, so it wasn't a huge loss of my time, creative energy, and resources.

To deconstruct these pieces, I have been using an xacto knife to scrape away the top surface.  When pulling the top layers off of the cathedral painting, I rediscovered a simple line drawing that I had done on the wood panel (shown in right photo above).  It's so common for artists to work over their drawings or paintings that it's easy to forget what lies underneath.

Here's a closer look at my "new" painting, Mist.  After peeling away the top layer, I glued a segment of a drawing to the wood panel.  (It's actually part of the same drawing shown on the other small wood panel.)  There were cuts already made in the paper, and I liked how the textures of the wood showed through those open spaces.  I painted on top of the watercolor and marker drawing with acrylic and ink.  And while the acrylic was still wet, I took the end of my paintbrush to "carve" into the painting and reveal the bright colors underneath. 

I just added it to my Etsy shop, so you can see more pictures of it here.

Show and Tell: favorite art materials

One of my dream jobs would be an art product tester for an art supply store.  I guess, in a roundabout way, I'm already doing that- just unofficially and unpaid.  Sometimes I think that it would be cheaper if I just opened my own art store!

When I used to teach art, I really enjoyed talking about different art materials- what they were, when they were developed, how to use them, etc.  In the past year, I've featured several art materials on Habit of Art, some that I've used for many years and others that are new found favorites.  Here are a few more to add to the list. 

I like how easily watercolors and oils mix on paper or canvas, but found myself wanting a paint that dried faster on wood panels and would be good for detail work.  I quickly got over my hang up with acrylics when I discovered Golden Fluid Acrylics.  The colors are vibrant, and the paint goes on very smoothly.  I mostly use the fluid acrylics for fine line details, so the small bottles actually go a long way.

Since working with wood panels, I also needed to find a non-spray glue that would bind paper to wood.  Lineco's PVA glue seems to be a favorite among bookbinders, and I can see why.  It's not too thick, and it seems to dry pretty quickly.  And it's acid-free, so it won't yellow with age.  I'm not a huge fan of hot glue, rubber cement glue, or spray adhesives, so this bottle of PVA glue has become a permanent fixture on my art desk. 

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a paper snob.  I don't even like sketching on paper that is less than 70# (a lot of sketchbooks are 55# or 60#).   Local Portland company, Bee Paper, packages 6 x 9 sheets of 90# Aquabee paper that has become my favorite paper to sketch on.  I keep the pile on my desk, so it's easily accessible when I need to jot down some ideas or map out a quick sketch.  My 7 year-old daughter also prefers to use this paper over printer paper.  I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Stack of the Aquabee 6 x 9 drawing paper in my desk organizer. 

Three new works

Remember this box of aged note cards I found at an estate sale a couple months back?  I thought they would make perfect little envelopes for my new magnets.  Then I actually tried folding one into an envelope and discovered that the paper was just too brittle.  Bummer.

I was determined to use the note cards in some way, so I glued a few to birch panels and made these:

The index cards catalog different plant types, which I thought was fitting for my nature-themed art.  I like the fact that some of the cards are typed and others are handwritten.  Based on the classic handwriting and the yellowing of the paper, my guess is that these cards are at least 50 years old.

The top piece is called the way home.  Some of the details of the work remind me of a topographical map, and the red trees are in a path-like formation.  The second work, first snow, features similar design elements, however, the yellow shapes are not trees but floating dandelion petals.  They are mixed in with tiny white dots representing a delicate sprinkling of snow. 

I also finished a third work, which is a new print in my Etsy shop.  It's called Wonderland.

I must have been in a really happy mood when drawing this.  Rainbows, hearts, and roses- so cheery!  And I couldn't find a yellow marker that was bright enough, so I used a neon yellow highlighter!

My Week

our neighbor gave us a bag of pears from her yard

so I made pie

took pictures of a high school senior at her family's vineyard

finished the pocketbook gallery (31 pages) just in time to give it away

it's headed to Spain! 

new piece, Breezy Night

My Week

playing around with a lensbaby // i might have to get one of these

now that the girls are back in school, 

my husband and i have recommenced our weekly lunch dates to the food carts 

one of our favorites- vietnamese sandwiches, 2 for $6

it's the busy season for family photos

three photo shoots scheduled this weekend and several more in the next few weeks

started a large panel painting // still mapping out the foreground in my head

My Week

found grandma's pink doily in my memory box and now it's hanging on the wall

created a few paintings on black paper.  this one with six feathers i decided to keep . . . for now

fabric that my dear friend brought back from Uganda.  i feel loved

finally having time to hang some of my art on the wall, even if it's temporary

i'm thrilled about my new estate finds: metal boxes (at a buck apiece)

 one of them is full of aged note cards. i'm brainstorming ways that i can reuse them

the notes (some typed and some handwritten) are all related to trees and plants

my thought is to hand print my designs over the text

a couple of my ideas so far: shipping tags, mini zines . . . any thoughts?

new to my Etsy shop: Summer Thunderstorm 

mixed media on 4" x 4" birch panel

My creative process this week

Here's my latest mixed media piece called summer at the lake.  This work evolved from a lot of editing and problem-solving.  Originally, there were more details around the lake, but I didn't like the direction I was going.   So, I decided to cut out only the elements of the art work that I liked and glue the pieces to a birch panel.  When using a rotary paper trimmer, I miscalculated one of the cuts and sliced through a part of the drawing I wanted to keep intact.  Funny enough, I actually liked the horizontal line effect and made a few more horizontal cuts (as seen in the top portion of the work).  

I debated on tinting the birch panel.  Ultimately, I decided to keep it natural, which complements the warm tones of the sky and the water highlights.  To enhance the wood a bit, I used Gamblin Gamvar varnish.  Gamvar is normally used to varnish oil and acrylic paintings, but I apply it on mixed media works as well.  The varnish seems to give colors a little more pop. 

Although I do love drawing at my desk, most of my creative time this week has been spent on this embroidery piece:

I'm almost done with the embroidery part.  I'm wondering if I should add a city monogram to the design like I did in this piece.  Your thoughts?

Artists I Like: Clare Bowers

Yes, I do like diamond clusters and cuddly animals and mountains in rainbow colors.  So when I came across Clare Bowers' art on Etsy, it was like she was reading my mind.  I love how she builds up  different layers and materials to create a visual melody of pattern and texture.  I recently contacted Clare and asked if she would share a few words about her art.  Here's what she had to say.

When I was a little girl, I used to write tiny notes and leave them inside hollowed out acorns.  I wanted to believe in magic and I figured if I found a secret note inside of an acorn, I would've thought that was pretty dang magical.  Like, maybe an elf wrote it?  Or a squirrel?  I like doing what I can to promote magic and wonder, but that's not really why I make things.  I make things because I have always needed and wanted to make things. 

Right now, I'm interested in creating art that doesn't have a specific story behind it.  I think people are connected by the feelings underneath our individual stories, and I'd rather connect with someone than tell them a story.   I love geometric shapes and patterns.  I'm inspired by nature, by plants and animals, and by the Northern California landscape- the texture and shape of skyscrapers, redwood trees, abandoned buildings, graffiti, the fog, the Russian River and the Pacific Ocean. 

Clare is currently taking a short break while she works on larger pieces and sculptures for her next show in October at Mina Dresden Gallery in San Francisco.  You can see her current collection in her Etsy shop here and on Flickr here.

Vending machines that dispense art

I first heard about Art-o-mat when I was teaching in Eugene many years ago.  A fellow colleague told me about a vintage cigarette vending machine that dispensed miniature art at the local community college for $5 apiece.  I thought it was a brilliant idea.

There are currently 82 Art-o-mats in the U.S.  Venue, the art shop in Seattle that I mentioned yesterday, has the only one in the state of Washington.  While I was at the store, a customer came in to buy art from the Art-o-mat.  She paid for a token at the counter and browsed the selection of artists listed on the vending machine.  She found a landscape artist that piqued her interest, pulled the knob, and voilá! An original work of art for just a few dollars!