PAINTING BY THE FIRE

It was 11 degrees BELOW zero this morning!  Much as I love painting in my wonderful studio, it just seemed so right to paint here in front of the fireplace these last few cold days.  Actually, almost every room in our house has become a studio at one time or another but now that I'm following the discipline of painting and posting every day for 30 days, it's nice to have a warm cozy spot to paint quickly and simply. 

Here is my last painting from the FEATHER series and it was a very spontaneous watercolor with lots of fresh rich color in the background.  (Indanthrene Blue, Quinacridone Magenta and Cascade Green). It actually reminded me that each of us leaves the 'essence'  of ourselves behind, whatever nest we occupy.   

Here is Day 6 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge:

  

OCCUPIED

watercolor 8"x10"

Day 5 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

SHELTERED

The inspiration for this painting is from a poem I wrote a long time ago while sitting on the shore of Lake Superior.  I've since lost track of that poem but what impressed me that day was the fragility of the little gull feather lodged in the rocks.  The water swirled around it, the smooth rocks clattering against one another, but the feather stayed firmly sheltered in its spot.  It spoke to me of God's care for us. No matter how things swirl around us and try to push us into the deep, we're sheltered.  It's His promise!

My process for this watercolor included first painting the feather, then laying down fresh pigment on dry paper and laying saran wrap into it for the rock and water texture….an old trick, but very useful for this painting.  Add splashed water drops and some glazed negative shapes to describe the oval rock shapes found on Lake Superior and there you have it. 

Featherlight

Day 4 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

I actually fished this one out of the trash this morning.  I had given up on it last evening, but woke up with a new idea to begin abstracting feather shapes and "carving" out those shapes with negative painting.  I've already begun to depart from my original plan to stick with pure transparent watercolor and added some white line with my Molotow pen.  I think it added a little whimsy to the painting.  I guess I've not exhausted this vein of feather paintings yet.  My quote for the day:

"Nature contains all the elements of color, form of all pictures

 as the keyboard contains the notes of all music.

But the artist

is born to pick and choose and group 

with science

these elements."

                          

                                                                            --Whistler

NATURE'S POETRY

30 PAINTINGS IN 30 DAYS CHALLENGE - 2017

It appears I have a bit of a thing for feathers this new year.  These images might just evolve into birds, eggs, nests and who knows what else. 

Many years ago I began painting as a watercolorist, then evolved into a water media painter for love of the experiment.  I must confess that my truest love is the wet, loosey goosey flow of pigment into puddles and rivers of water.  Soooo…..my intent is to spend most of the 30 days revisiting the beauty of pure transparent watercolor and see where that takes me.  

I also love to collect inspirational quotes (who doesn't?) poems and scriptures, so I'm including one of them with each day's offering. I may not post here on the blog every day, but as often as possible. I will be posting every day on Facebook and on the 30 Paintings in 30 Days website. (www.saetastudio.com)

As an instructor, I find working in series one of the best ways to really tap into that often neglected well of each individual's creativity.  I've always found value in selecting a simple, well loved subject and playing with all its aspects and characteristics using color, line, shape, value and design to seek out all its possibilities and meanings.

  

He alone is great who turns the voice of the wind

into a song

made sweeter by his own loving.

---KAHLIL GIBRAN

Coloring Book Mania

YES, we have jumped aboard the 'adult coloring book' phenom at Quiet Woods Studio!  I've just designed my first coloring book and I'm in the process of creating a workshop for 2016 on how to design your own coloring pages for sharing or gifting.  So much fun!

There is a reason so many adults have returned to this seemingly juvenile pursuit.  The world is complicated these days and coloring is a little creative vacation from all that.  It returns us to a simpler time and reconnects us with the creativity that I believe inhabits everyone.  It creates an oasis of fun and relaxation with no rules, no expectations, comparisons or competition.

Some of my most treasured childhood memories involve a pile of Crayons, coloring books and a small red table and chairs where my little sister and I spent many hours perfecting our coloring techniques.  But really that was just what our HANDS were doing.  Our minds were busily engaged in free form little girl talk.  When we were engaged in our coloring, the world was far away….and it was a good and perfect world without worries or troubles.  Though we can't escape the realities of adult life, we can give ourselves a little creative break now and then and I believe the world will be better for it.

In our classes at Quiet Woods Studio, we take our art very seriously.  We study things such as value, aerial perspective, color theory, design basics, proportion and balance.   It's my hope and prayer that a little play and a little laughing together will help make this corner of the world  a happier and safer place.  

SO COLOR ON, AND HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A BLESSED NEW YEAR!

Here we go!

MEMORIES OF TULIP TIME


This is the first in a series of figurative mixed media paintings I'm  attempting.  It was a BLAST! to paint.  I've always avoided painting people because I've never taken a life class and hesitate to expose my lack of training to the world.  HOWEVER…..when you reach A CERTAIN AGE, it's time to let those fears go and charge ahead, full steam…so here goes!

Because I always have (and always will) love painting florals, I'm going to incorporate my floral images with the figures.  Flowers have always spoken to me of God's extravagance in creation and they're rife with metaphor and meaning for me.  They're involved with so many of the memories of my childhood.  My mother was a gardener and I have wonderful memories of playing with my little sister in the sandbox while Mom was on her knees weeding away and feeling that all was right with the world.  I even remember being completely knocked out by the brilliant blue beauty of the cornflowers in our back yard.   Don't even ask me about my Grandpa's red tulips or my Auntie's red Blaze roses or her zinnias that made me sneeze.  I could go on all day.

I used mixed media for this painting, beginning with watercolor.  I then collaged rice paper on top of that before layering with pastels, spray inks (over various stencils), watercolor crayons and acrylic.

Wish me luck!         

Color Therapy

Do you every have those days when you MUST have color?  I had one of those days this last week.  I had just finished several months of traveling and teaching lots of classes and workshops with well defined artistic parameters, answering the  questions generated by those brilliant creative minds that participate in said workshops. I love teaching those classes but find that sometimes my inner artist is starving for painting with no rules, no compositional formats, no well planned designs, no assigned palettes.   I just need to paint with abandon and throw color to the wind.

As I began reorganizing the studio and returning all the supplies to their respective spots, I discovered many jars and tubes of paint that were nearly…..but not quite….empty.  What to do?  What to do?  Then I spotted my old workshop suitcase sitting in the corner.   I've used her for close to 15 years to transport my supplies.  She was still wearing her rather dog-eared original black and to be honest, she was pretty bedraggled looking.  She was nothing that any self-respecting artist could pull around with any pride whatsoever.  Hmmmmm…….What if I thinned down all those scant bits of paint I'd just  discovered and did a little redecorating of the poor old thing?  An hour later, she was a feisty and beautiful  old girl with a fun personality and I had spent a cathartic hour binging on color, purging my soul of all the 'shoulds' and 'coulds'.

While adjusting to these new grayer days of fall, what could be more medicinal than an hour spent simply bathing in living color?  It's the cheapest and most fulfilling form of therapy I've ever found.   Sometimes we need to reset our creative clocks and find new joy in the season that's ahead.  Instead of bemoaning the loss of summer, I'd like to find ways to enjoy the same barefoot warmth of spirit (albeit it might be with wool socks and colorful mittens) that warmer weather brings.  

There you have it.  That's my prescription for you for a fun fall and winter in Minnesota. (Take two brushfuls and call me in the morning!)