Making Progress

I got my main figures sketched in and gessoed. I really like the cool toned one.

I have already started the shading on this warm toned one.  When this is dry, I will be ready to add the "reverse sketch" with liquid pencil. I've been playing around with it a little to get a feel for it, though I can't really say that the effect is all that different from regular acrylic paint. It is an interesting medium, but I don't think the little pots are worth the price I paid.  Oh well, live and learn.



It feels so good to have made so much progress in such a short time. I can feel my old sense of Fear of Ruining a Good Thing setting in, but I am *determined* to push through.

Of Paints and Purges

I always thought that a huge studio with unlimited storage space would make me happy. Lately though, I find that my stash of supplies has become more of a burden than a source of inspiration, and I also realize that, as I have gotten older, I am much less driven to "dabble" and join in on "the next new thing" -- I want to dig deeper into the processes and techniques that I really know that I enjoy. I have been making a mental inventory of the art activities that thrill me the most, and getting rid of supplies that no longer fill my need to create. Oh, the space!


The one activity that I keep coming back to is painting.  This is my little painting room.  Though it is only about 8' square, it has a large walk-in closet where I can store things that don't need to be immediately available, and that big window faces nearly due north and provides wonderful light even on dreary days. My favorite bonus is that it overlooks the field where the calves come out to play - it is a wonderful place to hide out.

Right now I am working on a pair of canvases I intend to display as a pair. I am using a project tutorial from a back issue of "Cloth Paper Scissors" that introduces Liquid Pencils. (OK, so Liquid Pencil is a new thing for me... it is still painting, LOL!)


Both of the canvases got a little more pigment on them than I originally intended (you can barely see the collage papers underneath all the layers,) but I am happy with the way they turned out.

I used "Gold Opal" glaze on this warm toned one for the lighter area in the center, so the reflection made it a little hard to photograph. If you look close you can see the beginnings of a figure sketched in the center. It took me several tries to find an implement that would make a mark on the painted surface, and I ruined several Sharpies in the process. (Does anyone know why??) A regular gel ink pen is the only thing I found that will leave a visible mark. Fortunately I am going for a "sketchy" look, so the fact that I can't remove the marks won't matter too much.

I'm not brave enough yet to paint without an undersketch. I am open to suggestions for other tools that will leave a *visible* mark and yet can still be removed.

Photo of the Week - "My Favorite Coffee Cup"

I have dozens of coffee cups, but this is the only one I use. I boought it from a potter at an Art Faire a few years ago, and it is absolutely perfect. Here is sits in its native habitat, on the work table next to my corner of the couch.

I would be lost without my coffee, so you can only imagine how much MORE lost I would be without my darling morning-person husband, who gets up an hour before I do and has a cup waiting for me every morning. (Needless to say, I am *not* a morning person!)  He even lets me drink the first cup without saying a word. Ahhhhhh... a jewel among men.

Photo of the Week - "Shadows"

This week's theme caused me no small amount of stress! I wanted to do something outside, but it has been so dark and rainy - alas, gray skies cast no shadows.

I thought about doing something with candles or a flashlight, but then this photo came along and I realized that I had been worrying a lot over nothing because it all came together in the end.

My daughter Alice represented Marion County this past weekend in the Oregon State Dairy Princess-Ambassador competition.  The theme was "Saturday Night at the Movies" and each young woman was introduced with a spotlight walk down a red carpet.  Talk about shadows!

I am so proud of her.

Slell Slice, chapter 1

I gave myself a kick in the pants last night to get going, mix up some clay, and start sculpting on that cool shell slice Linda sent me. My plan is to fill in each opening with a face, each with a different expression and gazing in different directions. I began by filling in the back of the slice with clay so that I would have a sturdy base to work on, then, beginning at the top, I started sculpting faces, baking in between each one. Each of these three is completely sculpted as even the largest one is too small to use even my tiniest beads as eyes.


So far, so good. I am especially happy with the color of clay I mixed up as it blends nearly perfectly with the shell. One half a bar each of Fimo Soft in Light Flesh, White, and Translucent combined into exactly the delicate pink shade I was looking for. ( I don't often get my colors mixed right on the first try -- woo hoo!)


I want to use some bead eyes in the next face. I have some great little malachite rounds that will make wonderful green eyes.

Monday Photo of the Week - "Something New"

Ack!  What has happened to Blogger?  OK, so let's see if I can figure this out...

OK, photos are up.  Oh my, this is different.  Anyway... our challenge this week was to photograph "something new" so I am sharing my very favorite kind of new thing - new art supplies!  (Picture me rubbing my hands together, grinning maniacally... LOL!)

These shells were sent to me by my good online friend Linda (oh wow... another new thing and that was so easy!) for no other reason than that she is a wonderful person doing something wonderfully nice.  I don't know whether it's more fun to fiddle with the little bumps on the sea urchin or stroke the beautifully glassy inner survace of the little spiral shell - they are so much more beautiful in real life than in this photo.  The cut-away shell is already designated for another sea spirit project.  Now I just need to work up the courage to get started.

I picked up these little canvases last weekend on a whim because they are irrisistably cute. I wish I had put something else in the photo to indicate scale - they are *very* tiny. Now I just have to think of something to do with them.



I think my very favorite part of being an artist is buying new art supplies, LOL.

Monday Photo of the Week

A new year begins, and with it a new Photo of the Week Challenge. Our format will be a little different this year as members of our group will take turns selecting a challenge theme for any given month. I am SO grateful because by the end of the year I had run out both of ideas and the energy to work at it.

We are still on our own this first week, so rather than agonize over choosing "just the right thing" to photograph, I grabbed my camera and walked into my studio to see what I could find. I am tickled to share this little pile of taxidermy eyes of various sizes and species that I picked out for my Christmas stocking stuffer last month. Oh, the possibilities!


I have been avoiding going into my studio lately as the room has become nothing but a dumping ground for things that needed a temporary home over the holidays, and as you can see, my work table is still a catastrophe.


I love the holidays, but I am more than ready to get back to a normal-ish routine. Here's to a creative New Year!

Out of the Frying Pan...

Well, it has warmed up a bit. We are no longer threatened with burst pipes, but now it has started to rain and it hasn't really warmed up all that much. The weather people are predicting it to freeze and cover us with a blanket of ice tonight. Isn't winter fun? :-)

I made another little pod face, this time in a seashell. The shell itself is 2" from tip to tip, and the little face measures just 3/4". Sculpting on such a tiny scale was a challenge, but also a good learning experiece. There are at least half a dozen things I will do differently next time, but I'm still satisfied with this little practice piece.


I want to make a little faux-coral stand for him, and maybe hang some pearl dangles off his tip. I didn't intend for him to look as if he has horns - that's just the way the shell is!

Baby, it's cold outside!

Can you believe this? This is our 5th day of single digit temperatures. We are just not set up to endure this! Fortunately, there has been no rain or snow. Yet. In case you can't read it, this thermometer is reading about 7 degrees F. Brrrrr!


I am taking a break from present making to take a class from Pattee Graham on her ning site. She makes the most wonderful quirky, slightly dark and twisted characters, and I have learned a lot already just watching her work. These little pod people are so much fun! I am quite happy with how my pod turned out, but even though I tried hard to copy her piece, the quirkiness just didn't come through.


Maybe on the next one...

Mount Hood in another mood

An arctic high pressure system is sitting over the Willamette Valley this week. I don't like the cold so much, but I am enjoying the sunshine. However, it was a different story up on Mount Hood yesterday. This is what we saw from our front door as we came home from church yesterday morning. Just look at all that blowing snow!


Temperatures were already well below freezing up there, but I don't even want to imagine what the wind chill must have been with these wind conditions, which gusted up to 60 mph. Brrrrr!

I'm sorry I haven't been posting much lately - even though I have been creating my little fingers off, most of what I am doing is for Christmas presents and must remain secret for now. I LOVE Christmas!

A Pause

The creative wave I have been surfing since September seems to have run its course, so all I have to share this week are a few of my favorite time fillers - Zentangles. I discovered Zentangles while blog-hopping last summer, and I find them to be a wonderful way to keep up an artistic habit even though I may be unspired to create bigger things. They are also a great way to kill time during boring meetings. (Shhh... don't tell my boss.)


This is the first one I ever made - I was delighted with how well it turned out, even though I had only the barest clue as to what I was doing.


It didn't take long to start experimenting with less "traditional" formats. I have even seen some done in color, though I haven't tried that yet.

You can learn more about Zentangles at the website, as well as purchase their
official starter kit. The price seemed a little high to me, but I was glad to have the instructional DVD, and the pens and papers included are of very high quality, as is the box they arrive in. It would make a splendid gift, even to yourself.

Photo of the Week - Moonrise over Mount Hood

We are having a late burst of beautiful Indian summer weather, just in time for this month's full moon. (I used to know the monthly moon names, but my memory is failing me today. I think November's is the Hunter's Moon?)

Anyway, I got outside a little later than I intended, but it was still a most rare and beautiful sight, don't you agree?


If it is still clear this afternoon I am going to try again and see if I can catch it while it is still just clearing the horizon. Ahhh... I love the moon.

Can you stand one more?

One of the things Jean told us to do in our techniques class is to try to visualize a picture in the backgrounds we are painting. Kind of like finding faces in the clouds I imagine, which I've never been very good at by the way.

Anyway, I stared at the purple canvas for a while and I began to see (really!) a bird emerging from a starry sky. So I painted one in. I got a little carried away with the pearl white I'm afraid, and once again I had a horrible time trying to photograph the gleam-y surface. ("Gleam-y"... is that a word? LOL)


On my monitor, this photo skews a little yellow - the whites are much brighter in real life - but otherwise it's a pretty good representation. I think this canvas is my new favorite.

I need to go shopping for some more of these little canvases!

Too much rain... already!

The winds and rains of November have come early this year -- it is storming like crazy outside today and there is no way I am going out there, much less with my camera, LOL. (I think I would have made a good cat!) So this week's photo is once again of a completed project. I got the idea to finish one of the canvases I did in Jean's class with a little steampunk-style heart.


I really like the idea of the steampunk look, but judging by the sky-rocketing prices of watch parts and antique keys, it is going to become mainstream-trendy soon. (I wonder if the fact that someone like me even knows what it is means that it already has, LOL!)

Another little canvas

These little 4"x4" square canvases are so much fun - imagine creating an entire painting on a surface the size of the palm of your hand. This latest one was an experiment with several new techniques on a subject I love - nautilus shells. Their geometric perfection fascinates me!

I first drew in the lines of the shell and it's chambers, then drew over them again with a clear dimensional glue. I painted the image, then shaded it with micaceous iron oxid (that is some cool stuff!) and them added the iridescence using a large flaky opal glitter. For a pleasant change, I got exactly the effect I was after - now that's a great feeling.

When everything was dry, I applied some heat activated foil in a copper color to the raised outline. I managed to burn my fingers in the process, but it was fun anyway. That stuff could prove addictive. Oh dear...


I wish now that I had used copper rather than gold inside the chamber sections, but I have some more of these little canvases to play with. I think I just might make a series of them in different colors.

Monday's photos - 2 Little Canvases

This weekend has not gone as planned - nothing new there for life on a dairy farm - but it wasn't completely without a bit of free time. I got some work done on my Retreat piece, but when I just couldn't concentrate any more, I dug up a few little canvases and started making colors without thinking. These paintings are based on an online class taught by Jean Bernard, though I'm afraid that there is an essential connection that I have missed while trying to learn her techniques.

(I'm sneaking these in as my Monday photo because I am still trying to learn to shoot interference colors accurately. Can you see them?)


I am not disappointed in how they turned out, only that paintings are "splotchier" than hers. I am going to try again for the smooth color transitions that she achieves.


And she didn't instruct us to add the sprinkle of microbeads, but I can't seem to resist the little things. Using them just makes me so happy!

Retreat Wings Finished

I didn't make as much progress on my Retreat doll as I had hoped this week, due to dealing with the symptoms of a sinus infection. (Finding and redrilling the support hole for the right upper wing was an adventure let me tell you, LOL. Ugh.) Anyway, I managed to finish her wings/stand this morning and snapped a few quick pics this afternoon.


Layers and yet more layers of cheesecloth, art tissue, and paint were slathered on, and then the whole mess was frosted with some "Bernardization", a process which consists of a mixing up soup of Grrrip glue, micromarbles, glitter, and whatever else I feel like throwing in, which is then scooped up and applied with a craft stick and allowed to dry. The very cool frosted effect that this produces looks like meticulous work, but is actually delightfully messy and quick. Sweet, huh? (Thanks Jean B!)


The textures and embellishments on the upper and lower wings are a little different - lots more cheesecloth on top...


... and more tissue and glitter on the bottom. This is quite a large piece and I felt there needed to be some differences in order to keep it from being one overwhelming mass of yellow and gold.

By the way, I now realize why I don't work much with yellow. A little goes a *very* long way, LOL!

I gave the doll herself some little breasts just to even out her shape a bit, and I am still pondering what I want to do to finish off her head. I should take more in-progress pics as I go so you could see better how they develop, but I never remember to do it until I pause to think "what's next". Oh well... if you want to know where I am going with all of this you can see the original of this doll at Sherry Goshon's blog.

Sherry and Jean's Retreat doll

Photo of the Week - Night Photography

One afternoon last week in the middle of the milking we had some trouble with the milk pump, or so we thought. Jake couldn't find anything wrong, so he called out a technician, who also couldn't find anything wrong. That is, until he put his little gizmo on the power line to check the power feed and saw that we were getting only a trickle of the electricity that should be flowing - the failsafe switch on the transformer that feeds power to the milking parlor had been tripped. (Fortunately we discovered this before the pump burned out!)

A call to the power company brought out a lineman to reset the transformer. It is always fun to watch a lineman do his thing, but just imagine our surprise when a huge tongue of flame shot out of the transformer when he flipped the switch! Fortunately noone was hurt, but... now we had a very big problem. No electricity in the middle of the milking shift, and it would be hours before the power company could send out a crew with the equipment to deal with the situation.

Jake and the guys hooked up the generator while Lydia and I went into the house to cut the power to all sensitive electronics. Sigh... It was going to be a dark and cold evening at Cascade View Dairy.

I was a little shocked by how absolutely dark it gets around here with no moon and no barnyard lights. It was a great feeling to watch the big utility trucks pull into the driveway.


I didn't have anything else to do, so I grabbed my camera and attempted some night photography using full manual settings. It took some trial and error, but eventually I hit upon a good combination of settings.


I think I ended up using ISO 800, F/4, and a shutter speed of about 1/2 second. I was able to take these shots hand held using "da grip" - I am making an effort to always compose my photos with my left eye at the viewfinder after this!


I had plenty of time to experiment, as it was nearly midnight before they finally finished. They actually replaced all 3 of the old transformers, so here is hoping that we won't have this issue again!

I have gotten some good work done on my Retreat doll as well, but I will save those photos for another entry.

Now we're getting somewhere

I finally have my Retreat piece to a place where I feel that she is structurally stable enough to really start going to town on her, and so here she is.

My main problem was caused by my stubborn insistance on using the head and hands that I sculpted out of polymer clay especially for her. They are VERY large (3" from chin to forehead) and HEAVY, and the wings-stand just wasn't sturdy enough to support all that weight. Also, her torso is stuffed fabric and the armature wire she is built on wasn't heavy enough to support the weight of that head either. Most of what I have been doing to her since I got her home has been building, rebuilding, enforcing, and reinforcing her inner architecture, but now I think she's ready for her makeover.



The second wing is lying on the floor because I haven't yet reamed out the hole it sits in. I want to try this wings-as-stand concept again, but next time I will protect those holes with a lot more care, LOL!


I see now that she could use a little more chin, but I was so proud of this head that I just really really BADLY wanted to use it.


I practiced for weeks sculpting hands and there was no way I was going to let these babies go to the spare parts basket.



Oops... didn't mean to get gesso on her fingers, but right now I just don't care. I finally get to start on the fun stuff!

Monday's photos

I fully intended to put up some in-progress photos of my Retreat doll today, but have you ever had a project where everything (Every. Last. Thing.) just goes WRONG? I keep plugging away, and at last I have an assembled doll and base complete, but I still need to add paint and ream out a support hole that somehow got filled in with apoxie. And so it goes... sigh...

Trust me, she is not ready for photography, LOL!

Instead, I bring you one of the most spectacularly beautiful nuisances of this or any other region - a swarming flock of starlings.


There is a vineyard across the street whose fruit is irresistable to these voracious pests. The owner of the field has set up a noise cannon that keeps them from settling on the fruit, so they settle on our barn roofs instead.


Watching them dip and swirl in the sky is quite a sight. HOW do they know how to move in such perfect unison??


You should just hear the racket they make. If the cannons don't deafen you, this flock will.


"Firebrand" the alpaca doesn't really care about the birds or the noise. Until some feed shows up, he is content to sit and enjoy one of the last beautiful sunny days of the season. Smart critter!

I really will try to get some of those doll shots posted soon.