Category Archives: Mixed Media

#100DaysOfMingus – #77 And #78

Mingus Day #77. 5.5 x 5.5 in. watercolor and pastel on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Mingus Day #78. 5.5 x 5.5 in. watercolor and pastel on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Three weeks. Can you believe it? And I am saying that as, “I ONLY have three weeks!” Not enough time. Ha ha, he he, ho ho. Those of you who have taken part in the 30 in 30’s know how funny that is. In one of those challenges, three weeks would be daunting.

I like #78 best of these two. I don’t think #77 is bad, just unfinished. For #78, I think just a smidge more dark at the base of Mingus will do the trick. Maybe just above the hilltop on the left. Tomorrow I will work on these more, after a second look.

Today was a recovery day for me. After two days of running around in Phoenix. We are doing it all again next week, so I will need to push to get ahead. HA! Yeah right, you say.

More appointments and planning for Pete. He is slowly recovering his strength. His hearing was affected by the surgery, the swelling, and that is coming back little by little. He lost about ten pounds, and all of this together is affecting his balance and physical therapy sessions. He is still not sleeping through the night. But he is sleeping more.

Next week we will find out when the Proton Beam Therapy will begin. It will mean a five-week stay in Phoenix. The hospital has a program that provides a place to stay nearby, and they shuttle you to and from treatments. It will be three or five days a week. Can’t remember which now. And the sessions only last 30 minutes. If you have never heard of it, there is a video at that link, very interesting.

I won’t be staying, only the spouse is allowed. But I will be driving down for visits. Also for some appointments of my own. The busy is going to last through summer!

Oh and, by the way. I signed up for World Watercolor Month. For July. Right before Christine invited me to join in the Love Notes postcard swap. (I told her I would have to pass.)

Yes, I have lost it. But I figure, I am painting for the #100 until the 11th. So I will kinda be killing two birds with one stone. Anyone want to join me?? Christine? (How many did you paint on vacation?) Anyone? Ha ha ha. Cue the crickets.

God Bless us – everyone!

#100DaysOfMingus Gallery

International Soul Art Day 2018

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Growth, Soul Art 2018, cropped. 12 x 16 in. mixed media on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Body map. 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Body map detail #1

Body map detail #2

Body map detail #3

May 23rd was a recovery day for me. After days of constant busy and little rest. I missed the live Soul Art group events, but was so thankful to watch them late in the day. I completed the worksheets, glanced at the Facebook group postings, and started my Soul Art journey.

I began with the body map. Watercolor and pencil. The largest sheet of paper I had, 12 x 16. Scribbled Neocolors, activated with water. Working quickly. Listening to songs and stories of the event leaders. I buried the body map with soft ivory acrylic. While it was wet, I scratched and scribbled into the paint. The texture remains visible in the final piece.

I poured colors into a butchers tray, started to cover the white with patches of blues, and desert earth tones. Clay and sand. When I added the green, instead of abstract patches, leaves began to form. Laura Hollick is the host of this annual event. This year, over 12,000 creatives took part.

Every garden presents innumerable fascinating problems.
Winston Churchill

It was not in my mind to create a scene. The questions and answers prompted by the worksheets are, not surprisingly, clear to me here. Focus on growth. My artistic growth.

A garden must combine the poetic and the mysterious
with a feeling of serenity and joy.
Luis Barragan

Every grain of experience
is food for the greedy
growing soul of the artist.
Anthony Burgess

Growth, Soul Art 2018. 12 x 16 in. mixed media on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Look at the earth crowded with growth, new and old
bursting from their strong roots hidden in the silent, live ground, each seed according to its own kind… each one knowing what to do, each one demanding its own rights on the earth…
So, artist, you too from the deeps of your soul…
let your roots creep forth, gaining strength.
Emily Carr

Click the images below or links for more.

Soul Art 2013. Acrylic on paper. Sheila Delgado

Soul Art 2013

Soul Art 2015. 9 x 12 watercolor on paper. © Sheila Delgado 2015

Soul Art 2015

Soul Art 2016, watercolor, oil pastel on Yupo.

Soul Art 2016

Soul Art 2017

#100DaysOf Mingus – #26 And #27

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Mingus Day #26. 5.25 x 12 in. Watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

I flubbed up big time. I felt discombobulated all day, and finally I figured it out. I forgot to post one of my completed paintings. So, I had to go through my files, and re-number everything. Well, not everything. The last five paintings. But I had to do it three times. I keep a Scan folder, a 150 ppi folder, and a WEB folder for my images.

Can’t tell you how good it felt to realize I was not losing my mind. And that I have not forgotten how to count to thirty. Made up for a day of thinking I was more behind than I am.

And this post was ready Wednesday morning. But I am just now hitting publish at midnight.

I am not really happy with either of these. Above, you can see the sky has “ghost” cloud shapes. My first attempt failed, so I painted a wash over the entire sky, and then lifted out some clouds using tissue. I had to some editing, as there were grains of color that did not dissolve, leaving dark streaks in areas. I used white gouache in the clouds to brighten them as well. Not happy with the blooms on Mingus, but that is the way the ball rolls.

Mingus Day #27. 5.25 x 12 in. Mixed media on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Day 27 was part of a threesome that includes day 20 and day 21. There was tons of texture in the first layers. A mix of watercolor and acrylics. I added transparent layers. Still, somehow, I ended up completely losing texture, and along with it, any interest or depth. But I am calling it done.

After the 100 is complete, I can always come back to it, and see if anything can bring it to life. Still, strangely, NOT discouraged or losing steam. Ready to dive back in.

Here is a look back at the other two.