Opted to do two extremely long posts to reinstall missing posts from July and August. I had copies of all but the two most recent articles. Thank goodness for Google Chrome cache! I had to learn how to recover some of the missing posts from that.

I have been in crises mode for a week, since the server went down. Not sure if I would have my site back, able to post for the painting challenge. And it is not lost on me,  that I was in the same mode this time last year. Remember? Just moved, and nowhere to set up the computer. Sure hope every August in Arizona won’t be so eventful!

Tally so far: 10 posts lost, Maps and Recipes gallery page lost, one draft lost, captcha lost. And I may have to reinstall all of this again. But now I have copies, and it should go more smoothly. Still need to add links to this post, but that can wait a bit.

I will post art for September first, but it may be late in the day. So excited to see the 30 in 30 gallery!! Have fun everyone!!

 

Trees Again

 

 

Paint to paper. Finally. See the original and the digital revision. My first reaction is that I went TOO dark. I mixed indigo and Shiraz Inktense watercolor pencil for the dark. What do  you think?

Counting this as done. Good practice for the next in the series. Must remember the darks!

 

 

He Was A One Eyed, One Eared…

 

 

While I was painting, I was wondering why this rabbit looked so different from those I have painted before. Easy answer. Recycled painting. I was working on gessoed watercolor paper.

I will be painting this one again. I want it to fit in with the other bunny pieces I have done. They are soft and well blended. You can see them here and here.

With the gesso, it is very easy to lift color. That will make it easy for my to go back in and lighten the background, if I choose to. But it also make it difficult to add layers. You can see on the fur, lots of hard edges and just an overall “messy” look.

I enjoyed the process, even though I am not pleased with the outcome. The next one will be better!

He sat for a long time, in front  of the drainage ditch. A neighbor came walking up towards him, and he did not move right away. Made me wonder if he really is missing an ear. I waited to see if I could catch him coming out, but I think he decided to take a nap. I will b e on the look out for a one eared bunny from now on.

 

 

Crown Of Glory

 

Sharing my fascination with the view again. Started out a sweet, soft pink. Moments later, intense warmth filled the sky. The entire mountain range was capped with a gorgeous golden glow, pristine peachy, pinks, and blinding whites.

 

 

Flashback

More work from art school here. Late 80’s vintage. This piece was about 12 x 16 inches. The watercolor was on horribly inexpensive watercolor paper. I remember I painted this at least six times before I was half way happy with the result. I vaguely recall starting with more of a rainbow in the background. There was some yellow in there. The instructor suggested a more monochromatic approach. The letters were printed on a sheet of acetate.

The next few paintings were influenced by 80’s pop artist Patrick Nagel. Though I did not know his name at the time. This style was everywhere. On MTV, on album covers, posters and T-shirts.

It is clear that the paper was not easy to work with. Uneven colors, stains, and bloom edges. Lack of control, and certainly lack of knowledge on my part. All of the women had a skin tone. But the scanner was just not picking it up. The redhead has a vivid green eye shadow. The pencil marks were much stronger as well, and in multiple colors.

 

 

Teacher’s comment: The models are wonderfully painted, the background falls short however – should have been a strong solid color like the heads. (Looks like she crossed out a “B” grade.)

Don’t know why this next one wasn’t turned in. It is unfinished, the eyelashes. I bet it had to do with the drippy, uneven background. Thanks for taking a look – happy day to you!

 

 

 

Food And Travel

 

 

A couple of nights ago, we had the view above in front.

And the view below, out back.

Great night!

 

 

 

NEW AT SOCIETY6 – BACKPACKS

 

Our Backpacks are crafted with spun poly fabric for durability and high print quality.
Thoughtful details include double zipper enclosures, padded nylon back and bottom,
interior laptop pocket (″), adjustable shoulder straps and front pocket for accessories.
Dry clean or spot clean only. 17.75″(H) x 12.25″(W) x 5.75″(D).

 

 

MAPS AND RECIPES

Twenty twelve seems to have been my year of recipes and maps. I hadn’t started blogging yet. In addition to that, I wrote over 30 articles on wellness for Examiner.com. I had hoped it would generate extra income. The site no longer exists, so you can tell how that went. I think I received a small check, once. For each article, I created artwork as well.

I am sure that the experience of writing and posting for Examiner, gave me the courage to create my site. To start writing about my art. Stepping stones.

I’ve spent the last few days cleaning my computer seems to be a theme starting. I realized that I have never posted the maps and recipes here, naturally. And if this blog is a record of my journey, it would be incomplete without them. Adding a new gallery page takes care of that. Take a peek, and visit the site links on the page to see a HUGE view. Thanks for looking!

 

 

Koinobori

 

Out of sight, out of mind. I opened my art portfolios, and what a surprise. I time warped back to college. Only a few pieces survived from then. Most of what I found was from 2010 forward. Still wonderful to see again. I would call these “early works”, ha ha. Early, from the time I decided to focus on art.

I thought I had given these away. I remember taking a stab at making a repeat design out of them. Pretty sure those files were on the laptop that died. Koinobori have a long tradition. Don’t ask me how I feel about the fact that they were originally meant to celebrate boys only. Times have changed, and now they are part of Children’s Day celebrations in Japan.

Also found some not-so-successful watercolor abstract attempts. Gorgeous colors though, and I am thinking I can use them for collage. A la Dotty, and Laly, and Bob.

Just a few weeks until the 30 in 30, hands up if you are planning to take the challenge! I am looking forward to it. I know, nuts!

Hope to see you there!