Trees and fall foliage

I didn't manage to get much done yesterday after all. I found a great Somerset magazine called Artful Blogging, which featured Paris Breakfasts. I spent a glorious hour reading her archives, and dreaming of Paris, which took me off on a search for a good recipe for chocolat macaron, and Framboise Nougat, which continued on today as well. It is so easy to get sidetracked with surfing.


I have been looking at this little encaustic on my table for the past couple of weeks, trying to think of what I could do to replace little fern fronds, but I finally just decided that I like it the way it is, enough to call it finished. I tend to prefer my artwork to be understated and clean, and I think this image is nice because it is simple. It is 5.5 x 5.5 inches on board.

Studio Tour

When I first started writing this blog, I was using it as self-encouragement to do a painting every day. After all, there is no better way of improving one's art than to paint every day. I thought that the public commitment of promising to paint every day would be a strong incentive. Turns out I was wrong and it seems to be a common misconception. Not because any of us suffers a lack of commitment to our art. It is just that life gets in the way.

Creative Every Day is a commitment to just do something creative every day, and to recognize that creativity is a part of daily living. No obligation to create a finished painting every day - just to do something creative, instead of scurrying through life head down. That I can do, even if it just means that I spent 15 minutes working out the subjects of the chapters in a book I am writing, and even if the book never gets anywhere other than my imagination.

BWO is a little bit different twist - it stands for Blogging Without Obligation. No more guilt because I haven't lived up to my obligation to paint every day and post something.

It is early in the day, and I have no obligations to do anything today other than paint until supper time. However, I thought that you might like to see my 'studio' space. For most of my adult life, I didn't have a dedicated space where I could leave everything set up, and drop in to paint or glue when I had a few moments. I finally live in a house that is big enough to provide such a space, although I have to share it with our library. I have two large portable tables that, when put together, form a 4'x8' work space.

This picture shows the left corner of the table and my easel:

And since I like to work in a variety of media, I have created work stations around the table where I can leave the supplies for a particular medium. I know it looks like a bit of a mess, but there really is a loose form of organization to it. This is the encaustic station:

And the watercolor station:

This is the area next to my easel where I was painting with purple:

and this is another acrylic station, with two oil paintings in progress (there isn't quite enough room for all the stations I need):


I also have a huge storage area where I keep all my supplies (like wool for felting, and collage papers, and polymer clay and beading and ... you get the picture), and a spare bedroom where I store all my finished works.

lavender angel

I have been working on this painting on and off for several weeks, and I think it is finally finished. This is based on one of my favorite photographs of my daughter, which I use to create images in a variety of different media.

This one is acrylic on canvas

16"w x 20"h

Angel

I worked on this encaustic collage over a number of days. It is 14"w x 11"H, on hardboard

nest

I put some finishing touches on this encaustic painting last night. It is 5" x 5" on .5" poplar.

hats

I was looking for a book I had misplaced last night, and came across a great book about making felt hats by Chad Alice Hagen (it was in my own library, but I had forgotten it was there). I was inspired to dig out my wool and make a few, but ended up looking at all the wonderful examples online, like this one and this one, and that was as far as I got.

I also joined the Creative Everyday Challenge and will be tryign to post something creative every day. It is really hard to find bits of beauty when I spend all day in a sterile office and the weather is -20, but that is the purpose of accepting a challenge!

Goddess pendants

My Stone Goddess Pendants will be included in a wearable art show at IS Gallery in Red Deer, from February 5 to March 1, 2008. I created this panel for the gallery to use to display them. It is about 12 inches square and is made from the same polymer clay as the pendants hanging from it.

The gallery is holding their show opening from 6 to 9 pm on Saturday, February 9th. Please drop by.