My 'fancy' sketchbook

So, this is my 'fancy' sketchbook in which I do images that are just for challenging myself.  It is 11"x 14" so it is large for a sketchbook.  This page I wanted to do something pretty.  In one of the classes I am participating in,  everyone does such beautiful women faces and I do real (mostly old) people.  This particular lesson was on using gold foil which of course I could not get on smoothly but what the heck!  My face in reality is not as good as a lot of the people but it is my style and my husband loves it.  So that counts for something....

This sketchbook is kind of treated as a journal, but I tend to obsessively finish the pages, a journal should probably be looser. I am in no hurry so I sporadically work in it.  You can see the opposite page above is totally different from the pretty Madonna.  Sometimes, I am tempted to cut out a page and frame it BUT I have not allowed myself to do that yet. It is a 'collection'!

close up of above "Madonna"

 Here is a glimpse inside of my sketchbook...all mediums, all techniques and lots of experimentation....

My Voice, my story....

It is my personal belief that an artist speaks through his work.  This piece really hits me hard as it is a reaction/reply to the times in which we are living.  The blue orb in my work is always about the higher spirit and I feel in these times we are falling apart as a society and as a nation.  So this piece is about protecting the spirit, the good, and surviving the turmoil we find ourselves in at the moment.  I feel it very deeply, hopefully, you can feel it also.

Something a little less 'formal'

The activity for an online class that I am taking.  is doing a scribble drawing for this week.  Now, of course it is suppose to be black and white with a little wash of color-did I ever tell you that I am not good at following directions??.  This is my take on a scribble drawing/painting and is part of my cronies series.  "My Cronies" now has 9 portraits finished and I want a total of 30 portraits and then additional larger pieces...so it may take a while.  I am a tortoise apparently.  So, here is number 9.

Fun Day

Today was a play day and I had fun creating this face...I always start off intending to make a pretty face and then I get carried away...pretty is so over rated!  I was intending to do an encaustic (wax) finish on it but am not sure because of storing issues...we shall see....

"Unlocked Revelations"

This piece is a response to a theme of shields/defense systems that we use to protect ourselves personally.  I do not think of myself using a wall or shield but I do see myself keeping safe by using locked doors that are only opened for people who have been vetted as safe for me to show my true spirit/heart.

It would be a perfect world that we could just be 'open books' without fear of judgement and critical summaries.  However, that is not the way of the world and I will choose to be selective in whom I unlock doors and invite in.  (that is somewhat of an oxymoron as I do open up on this blog, but you are invisible to me and deemed safe! hmmmm).

Anyway, this is this week's piece and is a reworked canvas that I could never resolve.  Now, it is done......

All week, just one small piece!

So, it took me an entire week to do this one 11x14" piece!  That is not normal for me and I am not even sure if I like it.  Oh well, I am trying to stretch myself and do new things, but as is human nature, I want to go back to my usual way.  It is not easy to change perspectives and/or habits.  Give me a month or two and I will decide if this is a great, mediocre, or terrible piece.  Here it is, never the less, for you to make your own decision.

One of my favorite sayings is,  my job is to create the art...it is the job of others to judge it....

So judge away...

New Knee and I am back.....

Had a knee replacement done not quite 3 weeks ago and this is the first piece I have done since then.  'Vulnerable', was a word theme in one of the online classes I am taking and that immediately brought forth an image to my mind that I knew I had to capture.

Having spent the last 19 days progressing from a walker to a cane, I wanted to pay homage to the vulnerability of health and age.  Unfortunately, this really only looks a little like me...looks younger, but hey!.. I think it captures the feeling, thoughts, and resignation of aging.  My friends say I paint myself looking too old anyway.  (I also was referred to as 'elderly' this week....what a week!)

Anyway, I really love this image and hope you enjoy it.

FYI- Show is up until end of July...

Solo show- a Great Success...thank you!

I have no idea how these pictures  will rearrange themselves when I hit publish...but here they are.  It was a lovely show and a great joy for me to be able to show this series as a whole.  The turn out was wonderful, the food was great and I think everyone had a great time.  Being able to show your work after having it stacked up in the studio, and hearing how people react to the work is so gratifying.  We artists live for the moment.  Our egos puff up and the creative juices are pumped and ready to go again.  Thanks to everyone who came and to those of you that attended in spirit.  I love you all.  NOW,  Monday am, a knee replacement....ugh

 

Recycling fun....

Found an old unfinished painting in a closet upstairs while looking for who knows what!  The canvas was at least 10 years old so I have learned a couple new things along the way.  Updating the subject matter, enhancing the composition, and exploring what the painting wanted to say was fun and now it is done!

My theme/interests through the years seem to stay the same, as I am always drawn to the spiritual.  Happy places draw me in. This piece has no official title but has to do with releasing your blessings and giving thanks.

Blessings....
di

imaginary likeness...easy

People never like a picture of themselves especially women.  One paints a portrait and everyone but the person it is of, recognizes them!  Frustrating....but I keep telling myself doing portraits is for my growth as a painter and I will not let silly little things get me down.  However, I just did an imaginary face with some layering to complex the piece up and I really like it.  So, I will share it with you-it is only 9x12, a jewel for fun.....

Oh, the details....

So now it is time to make sure everything is signed, glazed, framed, documented....yeah, like the fun stuff (NOT)...However, complaining aside, it is so nice to have "The Village" pieces ready for the two upcoming solo shows.

Of course, I am in the artistic-hating-not satisfied with my work mode- but I know from experience that when I see them all hanging I will be proud and happy.

What next?  I need to find some more venues to show this series, work on my portraits of my Cronies, and I have some images in my head of where I want to go with my next series of work. Sketchbook time!!!!

FYI...just for inquiring minds, it took me close to two years to put this "Village" series of 25 pieces together.  As they say-Rome was not built in a day.....

first four portraits

These are the first four of my
"Crones" series... (crone=friend)...and what I have discovered is that I will never be a portrait artist!  I am attempting to do representational paintings of friends but none of them have been -spot on-....oh well, it is good practice and each week the class I am taking gives us a different approach/technique to use...so like medicine-it is good for me.  I actually enjoy doing these, I just get frustrated when I can't get them exactly accurate...but of course being me, I only give it one shot instead of persisting until I am satisfied...onward

Working on final 'Village" piece

This piece is 3'x4' and will be the final piece in "The Village" series, I have been working on.  The title of it will probably be Community as it incorporates a lot of the characters I have created in the past two years.  There are about 24 works in the series so I now have a packaged show.  The series will be shown in two solo shows this year and hopefully, I will find some other venues.

My next series is going to be a spiritual woman series and I am planning on it being much more textural and loose.   In a creative trip one never knows where life will take them, but I have to say that the journey so far has been a great ride!  The portraits I have been doing of friends, I will continue to do as they are good technical practice for me.

Hang in there with me and thanks for viewing my blog and following my path of creativity with me. I am solitary in my studio pretty much and your viewing my ramblings means a lot to me.   di

Overworked Piece...but I did it

Only 48 more portraits to go in the online class I am taking.  This week we were suppose to practice glazing for fun on a drawing of a face.  I, of course, have to make life difficult and decided to do the faces of  friends  (with no guarantees it will look like them).   I massively overworked this piece but next week will be better.  It is not terrible and does have a resemblance to her.  I am calling this one "K", as her first name begins with K.  For the rest of the week I am working on a 3'x4' piece for the Village show.  Will show that as I get further along.  TaTa .....

OLD CRONIES....

I am taking an online class, "Let's Face It 2017", in which for 52 weeks we will be doing a face a week.  This week was introduced by a guest instructor and we did glazing on top of a monochromatic painting.  I have always wanted to try this technique as it is what the old masters did. I had a really great time trying this procedure out.  The process is slow but if you build up slowly over time, you will have a really stellar piece. (Which I will do in the near future). ...So-  most everyone else in the class is doing pretty faces but I want to do 'mature' faces.  I have put out a call to friends, old in friendship and a little old in timeline, and hope to do most of them during this year.  I see a show coming up titled--"Old Cronies"....stay tuned....

Back on the right road again....

Just finished this piece for my "Village" series.  The title is A Walk in the Village, am I clever or what?  So that is all the discourse for today, just sharing....Di

Reworking, tweaking....

Not my usual style but what I am working towards ...BUT  (note to self) I have to get the present stuff together and looking right so it looks like a  cohesive body of work.  This face is done over a piece that I never liked and I am glad I 'went for it'....it is much more interesting now.   Back to work....

My World....

As I have mentioned, I have a solo show coming up in April and have been assembling the pieces I want to put in it.  This picture is a recently completed work (as in today) and I consider it my intro into the show.  I titled it, "Welcome, to my World", and it represents me in color and some of my imaginary characters being created in black and white.  The orbs as always represent the 'gift of Life' and for me will never be black and white.  Life is real and such a joyous gift.  Though the face is somewhat realistic, I just can not go without excessive color and brushwork.

Now I have to do drudge work as in painting the edges black on all the pieces, photographing, etc....blah, blah, blah, oh well- such is life.

PS  yes, I do look this old and I am embracing it....do not mind at all...

Hibernating and Working....

This is the first piece I have sewn in a very long time....about a year I think.  It is for a group activity and it only took me 3times before I got a square I liked!  I had to take a break from the textiles but now I am invigorated and ready to go again.

I am so glad that the Holiday season is over, although I did enjoy the festivities.  BUT NOW...I can get back to a schedule and be creative.
Which is what I like to do best.  I am still painting and have two solo shows coming up in the spring and summer so that in itself takes some time and preparation work.  

Hopefully, I will be posting lots of stuff in the near future.  Have two unfinished paintings waiting in line and a lot of ideas swirling in my head.  So,  I AM BACK.....see ya

New Show Scheduled

Just scheduled my first show of 2017.  I will be doing a solo show at the Etowah Art Center from April thru July of 2017.  The show will feature my 'Village" series, so I think it will be awesome!!

This is my newest piece and though it looks large it is really only 9x12".  I think it is a fun piece and hopefully people will like it.

This is the time of year that things go crazy so I am having to clear activities out of the way so that I have enough studio time.  Get cranky if I do not have my studio time.  I think artists are better off as hermits so that they can devote time to their craft.   Having said that, I am going to get back to work....ta, ta----

Play Days...

Went on a mixed media frenzy!  These are 4"x6" on paper little drawings.  Wanted a few free days before I committed to a larger piece and small little studies always bring out the creative side of one's self. This was two days work and I actually have one more but that made me not have a pretty presentation so you only get to see nine.  Tomorrow is a movie day and then Tuesday a meeting day BUT Wednesday I paint again.

 See ya..... Di

Inner Cities...

This is a 24"x 36" painting in the smokestack series..(maybe by the end of it, I will be able to paint smoke better...argh)...the idea behind the piece is how the city affects the city youth and the mentoring needed, solutions to the crime, crowding, biases, etc..in the cities.  I think my soul has been wretched watching all the killings in Chicago and other big towns.  It is a reactive piece to what is going on in our own backyards.  Have to admit I am figuring out my own thoughts, as I go along with these paintings.  Thanks for sharing the journey with me....di

Working on loosening up....

The title of this piece is, "I See You", and I am working on painting intuitively and going crazy.  It is all in hopes of getting looser and out of my lines.  Several people have gasped when I told them I thought I needed to loosen up but I really do.  I love shapes and kind of want to stay in the lines. However, that is really not a good thing....so here is to letting things fly--

We are Spirit....

This is my newest piece and it is titled, "We Are Spirit".  The blue/turquoise orbs are my symbol for our spirit, life force, soul, or core, and are my constant reminder to revere our being and our temporary walks upon this planet.  The floating bars are portals and represent the path we take by making choices and decisions.  This is part of the series I have been working on called- "The Village".
 

You can see from the group picture that 'The Village' is a happy, mystical place.
Hopefully, these paintings make you smile and want to make you visit.

The imagination is a powerful place......

Doing some smalls....

Doing a couple of smalls (9x12, 8x10) before I start a large piece.  Smalls are fun because they are pure play...This particular one has the most beautiful colors in it.  Hard to tell from a photo but it is really rich looking....Scrumptious...

Back to work.....oh, this is titled, "Geisha in the Garden"

Hmmmmm....

Not sure why I have a fascination with smoke stacks at the moment. But apparently, I am in the the process of a smokestack series.   My concern is that they are not current or a reflection of our times. Perhaps, in  the unfolding of the series, it will begin to relate with today.  Every current thing I think of is filled with anger, crisis, and conflict.  That, in my opinion, is not a good thing.....

 My main objective is just to keep painting and hopefully, by they time I have painted a thousand, I will be a master....and left my voice.

On to my next canvas and trying to figure out what to paint that connects to our time.

No title yet....

New piece which  I am really liking!  Haven't signed yet because may still do a couple of tweaks.  Working very hard to loosen up and I am getting there....No title yet but will think of something...enjoy and follow your passion-smiley face...

So......

So....I am taking this online class and I have promised myself that I will do as instructed.  Which, I might add, is not always easy for me.  This last challenge was to 'deconstruct and construct' within your piece.  Basically that meant that I need (as a painter) to paint, over paint in sections, texturize, and let things happen.  These are my first two attempts.  I have to admit that I am learning some new techniques and approaches.  My work was beginning to be too illustrative and I really want to get away from that, as much as I loved the pure color, etc.  So this is a start down a new road and we shall see....as long as I am learning, growing, and stretching....I am ahead of the game....I think!!!! DO NOT TELL ME DIFFERENT!!!!! or I will be sad...di

This week's challenge.....

In the online class I am taking, the weekly challenge was (1)contrast and (2)doing something outside of your norm.  I am one who loves color so I decided to do a basically monochromatic painting with empty space.  'Empty space,' being somewhat of a foreign concept for me.  This piece is called "The Enlightened One".  And I have to admit that I do like it.

Calling the Inner Child...

This was suppose to be a weekly drawing for a class that I am taking.  But the theme and a bigger canvas decided differently.  The class's theme for the week was, ' letting out your inner child when you are being creative'  (and the rest of the time is good too as per my opinion)...and instantly I had an image of the herald calling out our inner children.

My 'blue orb' that I use so much is the spirit-the heart of us all.  My children are calling for their creative spirit to fly and be honored.

Have a few tweaks and it will be considered done. It was a fun one to do.

Online class started....

 So...signed up on the internet for a year long class!  That means that I will be painting and sketching pretty regular for 365 days.  Really enjoying the stimulation and interchange with the 59 other participants.  The focus on the class so far has been 'our marks' and connecting with our own creativity/voice.  I have no theme or set goal for this work so it is very freeing to just fly with what images that come to mind.   The sketchbook is the most fun part because the drawings are one day affairs.  Life is good...however, I think/know I have a big black skink in my studio!  Hoping it will starve..or escape.

Have been visiting Middle Earth lately....

So...a neighbor's son asked me if I would do a game board for  him and his friends.  Of course, I said yes.  Two days later he arrives at my doorstep with a 4'x4' piece of plywood!  Oh my.  He and his friends have been busy building a life size hobbit house this summer and have created a board game.  How cool is that????

I have been having a blast doing this project and it takes me 'out of my box', which is a very good thing.
This is not done yet, but I am working my way to the top.  The right hand corner will have a dragon curled around the perimeter of the board.

This and wonderful visitors have keep me rather busy for the last 3 weeks.  Hope to finish this in the next 5-6 days.  Then onward to other projects.....

"The Gossips" is done!!

It has been a while since I started this but at last I am done.  Life got in the way but now I am back!

This piece is called "The Gossips", and as you can see they are two faced.  They run about town with enhanced ears to catch whatever gems of info that are floating in the air.  They have hands that can attach to corners, buildings, or crevices so that they can remain hidden while on the job.  Of course, the job does not entail getting their information truthful and correct.

My village and its' characters, is basically a very happy and uplifting town but you can not escape the inevitable word mongers.  How would a town function without the gossips?  ....Run for your lives.....they live....

Design Wall...this week

Working on three projects currently, albeit at a non rushed pace.  For my personal quilt for the year, I am doing 100 6" blocks.  I am working with a project in which two blocks are revealed a week, so the quilt will literally take a year.  My interpretation of the blocks is not always literal...so I just do not post them on the FB site...do not want to upset the masses!

The second project is a 20" square to be entered in an exhibition.  That will be all I can say about that one at the moment.  Other than I can only use solid fabrics which is insane!

Third project is doing a variation of a block presented to me every week.  We shall see how this goes as there is a good probability that my blocks may not be what they are expecting.  Such is the life of an independent thinker.  Crazy is never understood.....

What have I been doing????

NOT MUCH....well, maybe a few things....

I am approaching my life with a new perspective.  Most of my life I have felt the need to achieve. I kept pretty focused and more than likely had a somewhat flexible, but never the less,  plan.  Shortly, I will turn 65 and I figure that is pretty grown up.  NO MORE PLANS!!  My new mantra is, "What do I feel like doing today? And that is exactly what I do.  I still have an innate need to finish what I start but I am giving my 'self' that- "Jimmy Buffet Latitude", and regressing into my flowerchild.

Having said all that (sounded good anyway),....this month, I did a set of prints for the Sketchbook Library Exchange in which I will donate one print to the library and trade the others with ten other artist from around the world.  How fun is that!  The other project I am working on is a 'sew along' with OVER 18,000 quilters around the world.  Every week we are presented with two 6" blocks to make and at the end of 12 months we will have 100 blocks created by different designers with which to make a quilt.  I am planning on making two 50+ block quilts and this is my social, traditional, project for the year.  The quilting event is called, "The Splendid Sampler" project and is open to anyone who wants to participate.

So, I have had a month with NO PLANS, but I am getting the urge to make a major type piece....hmmmm......what am I thinking????

Collaborating....

Been super busy this month and kind of taking a break from ANYTHING THAT HAS A DEADLINE!! Here is a peek at a project that a friend and I are collaborating on this spring. Fellow artist,  Geri Forkner, works primarily in felting fiber (among other things) and I work primarily with woven cloth.  We are trying to put the two processes together  into a vessel form, which we are finding is not always an easy task.  This is our first piece, which we both are very pleased with.  Now our second piece that we are currently working on is talking back!  We are trying different construction techniques, and pushing ourselves to see where we can go.  We are also learning what the limits are in each others manipulation techniques.
This is our first sculpture-

It is good that we are both mature because combining two visions is both the good and the bad of the process.  Geri continually surprises me with what she comes up with and that is what makes the journey fun.

ETSY store opened.....

Took me FOREVER...but I finally opened my ETSY store...Please check it out.  www.difergi.etsy.com