GPP Street Team Crusade No 23

Well, the month is almost over, and today I got the chance to enter Michelle’s latest challenge. You can read the details here. The challenge was about cleaning up – “clearing your plate” – but doing it your own way. And I did.

Today I moved mountains of “stuff” that had accumulated in my art room. Emptied boxes, consolidated things, cleaned up piles of left over bits and bobs. I wouldn’t call the room super tidy or super organised; but compared with the non-existent “before” photos, it’s a miracle 🙂

Can you see the wall of 4×4 and 4×8 canvas piled up at the back of my desk – I love having them all sitting there just waiting for me to have a few spare minutes!

More circles

Just continuing on with mark making and abstraction. On a 4×4″ canvas – loving this size.

Puppy portrait time

I have been taking cute photos of our puppy. Well okay, Faith’s not really a puppy, in fact she’s almost 2 years old. I think she’ll always be a puppy to me. Anyway … I thought “why not paint her?” … so I did.
Tony looked at the end result and said “it looks like a bunch of lines going in all directions” then looked at the photo and laughed. In all honesty, from the right angle, Faith really does look like a bunch of fur thrown in a heap. Judge for yourself! BTW – you can visit Faith’s blog here.

Trying a new direction

Circles 4

This weekend I have been working (playing) with new directions; nothing serious, just seeing what happens. This wee one is a 4×4″ box canvas – it has a lot of layers, some scumbling, some stamping, some glazing. I’ve also been working on a new set of four 4x4s ready for the new gallery in Christchurch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve also been working on a digital entry for the latest Masters Month challenge, Andy Warhol, with the NZ Art Guild. I took a self-portrait using my Nikon D40 then manipulated it in Photoshop Elements to get a Warhol style self-portrait poster.

Full-moon-itis retreats!

Last night the moon was definitely not full any more, our room was darker, and I slept till 5am. Fabulous!

So tonight, I am tired but starting to feel better. It’s been a long, difficult week at work and I am pleased to have two days to unwind and rejuvenate. Mum had a good appointment with the surgeon where we all agreed to forget surgery, Tony got an ok report from the treadmill test for his heart, and the cat went to the vets with a urinary problem. Some weeks are longer than others…

Tonight I have, just for a change as usual, been playing with moon images.

Full moon again

We’ve come full circle again. I was wide awake last night (not helped by the 5.2 earthquake we experienced) and am quite restless tonight. Something made me check and, sure enough, it’s a full moon tonight. No real surprise there I guess.

So, this evening I have been playing round with moon images; cropping, colouring, texturising.

I’ve also been playing round with my photocopies, thinking about my options. Nothing too deep and meaningful, with so little sleep last night I’m a little hazy. I can guarantee tonight won’t be much better. Let’s hope there is reasonable cloud cover.

Playing “what if?”

A good photocopier is a wonderful tool for artists. I have some photos of the moon, seen through long grass, that I use over and over again. Every now and then I spend some time and money playing with our work photocopier. At only $1 for a colour copy, it’s a bargain.

Playing with the photocopier means thinking about things like; how would this look as a negative? With the saturation turned right up? With the green turned right down?  Black and white with very high contrast?

Recently I copied a dozen pages of the same three photos. This picture is just one photo of the three on a page – so for only $12 I have 36 reference images. Cool, I hear you say, but why not just mess round in Photoshop?  Well, I do that too, but there’s something about seeing the immediate result come out of the copier, and then adjusting my choices accordingly, that is more satisfying and useful to me than only seeing the image on screen.

Chic, but not yet finished…

I have been working on more paint ‘n collage wee canvases. This one is not finished yet. It is too simple but I am not sure yet what else to do. Perhaps I need to add some sparkle, or gold brads or something! So I am putting it away for the night to dwell on the possibilities.

Hot landscape

Here are four 4x4s that I thought could go together, or stand as individual items. I started with mineral texture gel and modelling paste, then went in with Golden fluid acrylics. Once the first layers had tried, I went back in again with more layers of fluid acrylics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Small beginnings

I have been offered the chance to exhibit at a new gallery opening soon in Christchurch. Very exciting. I decided it would be good to do some small canvas to send down, ordered some, and they turned up last week. Yesterday I spent a lazy Sunday painting 10 new 4×4″ canvas. Martha was right; they’re addictive! By the way, Martha’s little canvases are amazing; you can see them here.

Some of the canvas I have used texture on them painted, others I have painted then collaged on to, others I have started messing round with and am not sure where they’ll lead. One thing’s sure, love my new 4x4s.