Let's Try This Again

THE WEDNESDAY PAINTERS

Maybe someone should invent a word for a person that blogs only once a year.  I think that would make me an  'annualogger.'  Shameful as that is, I've realized that I enjoy reading others' blogs so much that I should be working on mine again.  Let's give it another try for 2013.

I have the greatest group of women in my classes here at Quietwoods Studio this year.  My lovely Tuesday ladies have been with me (I think) 4 years now and continue to inspire me every single week.  The Wednesday group just started a little over a year and a half ago.  Their continual growth just amazes me.  I'm so lucky to know each of them.  They're very accomplished and successful women and it's obvious that they apply that same hard work ethic and tenacity to painting that they used to achieve success in their "former lives" as professional people.  There is also a terrific group that meets in the studio every other Saturday and I have to work very hard just to stay ahead of them too.  I just love the way they are so willing to try every crazy thing I throw at them!  Besides that, we have a blast solving all the world's problems and bragging on our children and grandchildren!

I'm now the victim of a triple obsession - painting, collage and jewelry making.  On these -0 February days, I've discovered the pleasure of sitting by the fire and working at designing paper collage brooches, making author inspired bookmarks, stringing beads on a bracelet or other small lap-size projects.  No one is more thankful for a beautiful studio in which to paint and teach than I, but sometimes there's special comfort in taking your art to a different spot in your home with a different view (and a warm fire) just for the sake of change.

I've just sent off a box of 18 author themed collaged bookmarks to a very special book club (started by my daughter, Kelly) in Kingwood Texas.  I've never had so much fun painting, pasting, embossing, stamping and ribbon tying.  If I were to market them, they'd probably be the most expensive bookmarks in the universe that no one but John Paul Getty (is he still alive?) could afford, but sometimes there's nothing so satisfying to an artist as a labor of love.

I also just acquired an extra bedroom in our house.  It's still a guestroom, but it's also equipped with a large desk and cabinet that I've turned into jewelry heaven.  My latest brainstorm has been creating brooches and other jewelry from my baskets of old watercolors that just didn't make the cut.  Combining collage papers, tiny letter stamps and beady dangles with the torn and cut watercolor paper, they are repurposed perfection to me.   Each paper pin (or pendant) is then coated with a resin like glaze and displayed on tea dyed and aged tags.   Each tag is then stamped with a handcut linocut design of my Handsongs jewelry logo and sent off to find love in the world.

People have been liking my jewelry at the Up North Gallery in Lindstrom MN and I'm bringing several new pieces to them in time for Valentine's Day.  I also continue to show my paintings at Fineline Design Gallery in Door County, WI,  Kah-Nee-Tah Gallery in Lutsen, MN and Peter Kess Gallery in Ely, MN.  I'll be bringing new paintings for them in the next couple of months (April in Door County, does it get any better?)

My favorite pins are the little houses.   Each one is different and collaged with special little messages like hope, love, faith, etc.  The little bluebird of happiness pins are fun to make too.  I don't know how long I'll continue making them though.  They're definitely a limited edition project.  I always feel a little guilty whiling away the happy hours putting them together,  knowing that I probably should be out in the studio creating "great art," (if only I could) but I'm in love with smallness these days.

THE WEDNESDAY PAINTERS

 Rev Joanie, hard at work on her beautiful poppies.

 Karen, loving those gorgeous reds.

 Mary, finding out how fun a full sheet is to paint on.

Isn't that just the happiest painting you've ever seen?.

 Judy, poppy painter exceptionale.

THE REPURPOSED WATERCOLOR PAPER PINS

 The new 'houses of hope' pins

The new 'bluebird of happiness' pins

That said, my studio and teaching passion this February is painting huge floral watercolors in gorgeous, saturated colors.  The Wednesday class (shown above) had a blast splashing those gorgeous Winsor reds, vermillions, quinacridone corals and yellow oranges on their paper.  Incredible successes for first time full sheet (22"x30") painters!  This group is fearless.  Most of them have only been painting in watercolor a year or so or are revisiting watercolor after many years away.  I'm so proud of them!

My favorite patron of the arts (my husband) just "commissioned" me to paint a massive (5'x6') acrylic of #1 son Ben's winter ice kiting experience a couple winters ago.  Although the photo was taken on a blustery, frozen day on a lake near Duluth, MN, I'm already envisioning sneaking some wonderful oranges, pinks and lavenders into the mostly gray and white wintery scene.  I'll need to paint it in place on the cabinet above which it will be displayed since it's too big to work on anywhere else.  It should be a very fun project.   I think I'll start working out now in preparation for all the stretching I'll be doing.

Happy New Year, everyone and may 2013 bring you great creative satisfaction.

    

You Are My Sunshine

It's true. We've been spoiled in Minnesota this winter. However, I'm still starving for sunshine. One of the blessings of being an artist is that whatever you want in your life, you can just CREATE IT....by painting it. This week, in our Tuesday class, we'll be painting sunshine, using lots of warm, sunny yellows. To me at least, using Naples, New Gamboge, Winsor or Aureolin yellow just screams "Sunshine."

My latest addiction is COPIC MARKERS. I shamelessly stole the idea from my friend and artist, Karen Knutson. (Sorry, Karen but you inspire us all.) I'm so excited to share the fun of layering with these beautful markers. I invested in a small square watercolor sketchbook and markers of every brand (except the Xylene based ones.....Ick. VERY toxic smelling). My second favorite brands (and more affordable than COPIC) are the Sharpie fine point markers. Their colors are more of the bright variety, no beautiful shades and tones like the COPIC ones. I also am liking Dick Blick's brand which does have those beautiful grayed down, muted colors.

The markers are wonderful for preliminary sketches for your larger paintings. Also, their smaller scale and easy transportability (is there such a word?) make them fantastic for travel and they even have that incredible transparency that we layerists find so intriguing, so that we can build layer upon layer of pure transparent color to create colors never before seen by mankind!

"Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy. Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry. Sunshine on the water looks so lovely. Sunshine almost always makes me high.........If I had a wish that I could wish for you, I'd make a wish for sunshine all the while."

Thanks, John Denver.

This Little Light of Mine

Happy 2012!

It's back to the Studio

Isn't a fresh start wonderful?  After several weeks of focusing on family and Christmas travel, I'm dieing to get back into the studio and start my new paintings for the year.  I have several deadlines approaching and that's such a great motivator.  Every year, I like to choose an underlying theme for the year.  For 2012, I've chosen..THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE.  I'm inspired every time I hear that little childrens' song and it reminds me just how essential LIGHT is to an artist.  Everything I love - crystal bowls full of glass marbles, brilliant bonfires on a dark night, the sun setting over a Gunflint Trail lake, and the ENLIGHTENMENT I experience when reading scripture or a new book, are all made brilliant by the effects of light.   

January is also a time for list making and I spent the afternoon making my "2012 inspiration list" by paging through piles of my old sketchbooks and journals.  Now, if I can just make it into the studio to paint all (well maybe, some of) those ideas on my list, 2012 will prove to be my most prolific year yet.  Can't wait to get the brushes wet!  I hope you'll be able to sign up for one of my workshops or ongoing classes this year.  I already have 3 scheduled, with more to be added soon.  I'm also working on an Etsy site for my jewelry line.     

"I'm gonna let it shine."

        

The Tenth Song and Texas

A Christmas trip to Texas is just what the doctor ordered for this confirmed northerner.   The weather has been glorious, perfect for morning coffee and reading on the patio and a day wandering the Museum District of Houston with 'da kids.  There's no time for painting and that's ok.  


Visiting art museums with teenage grandchildren is a rare and special thing.  Amazingly, there were no "I'm so bored"moments and plenty of "that's so cool" moments.  We all loved the Art Car Museum in downtown Houston in the Montrose area.  It was so accessible (they even allowed you to photograph the art)  and didn't take itself too seriously, a perfect art experience for teenage grandkids (and antsy husbands).   The beer can house down the street made beautiful music in the breeze, though its inclusion in the "art" category may be questionable.

On our museum day, we also discovered the DeMenil Collection, an amazing museum of modern art collected by the architect and his wife.  Included in the museum complex were several other buildings, including the Rothko Chapel and reflecting pool and a Byzantine Fresco Chapel exhibit.   What an amazing collection, including everything from Picasso to Pollack to a 5th century icon exhibit.  I think the grandkids enjoyed it too, if for no other reason than the opportunity to make irreverent remarks about the art.  Kids are so great.

  

There has even been time to read an entire book this week.  Kelly recommended for my Christmas vacation read, The Tenth Song by Naomi Ragen.  There's something a little amazing about finding just the right book at just the right time in your life. I think they call that 'serendipity.'  Some books really change the way you think about life and others confirm a direction that your heart and head have already been leading you.  This one was the confirming/affirming kind.  Ragen's books have so many layers.   I'm sure many people could find themselves identifying with her characters at some level.

All the things that make for a happy grandma are here.... grandkids, art museums, funny beer can houses, sunny days antique shopping in Old Town Spring, really good food, soccer and basketball games, and my rockstar husband who for supper last night, made the best curry soup and crabcakes, assisted by sous' chef, Maranda.  Life is good in Texas.  But I miss you, Minnesota.      

Woolgathering

I hope everyone will be able in this crazy busy season to take a little time to woolgather. We can rediscover the joy of finding beauty in the very simplest things around us and that....my friends, is the spoon that stirs a great big bowl of hopeful!

My studio classes have finished for the year and I while I can't wait to see everyone back in January, I also love this time of woolgathering in the studio. I can daydream about the upcoming summer season of travel workshops, spring shows and gallery trips and do lots of painting in my head.

This painting of the poinsettia is a work in progress. Before I began applying paint, I did my drawing (taken from a photo of the beautiful poinsettia show at the Como Park Conservatory in St. Paul), spattered the whole paper with Miskit, let it dry, then proceeded painting the poinsettia petals one at a time, wet-in-wet. As in all my watercolors, I need to see an "explosion" of color somewhere in the composition and I lucked out with that upper left corner. It's always a breath holding situation when you paint that wet, with that much pigment on your brush. But what fun when the adrenaline kicks in!

I've been invited to be demonstration artist/speaker for the March meeting of Minnesota Watercolor Society in Minneapolis so that will be my first order of business in the New Year. The butterflies have already arrived, but they'll be flying in formation soon, I'm sure. The ideas are dancing around in my head just like the "sugarplums" that my son-chef Ben and I spent several days last week baking (and I've spent every day since then, trying to AVOID!) Eeeek! The calories this time of year.

Please have a Merry, Merry Christmas and a prosperous and beauty filled New Year.

Baby, it's cold outside...but warm in the studio.

There's something about that first substantial snow that kicks my creativity up a notch. How about you? Time to light a candle, turn on the twinkle lights in the studio and grab a cup of good Dunkin' Donuts coffee. Setting the stage for the arrival of "the muse" is a huge part of the process of getting down to work. A little Burl Ives playing in the background, the brushes all washed and I'm ready to go.

There are only 2 more classes before the Christmas break so this week we'll be fine tuning the designs on our Christmas cards and perfecting our snow scenes. For last year's card, I painted dancing Christmas teacups from my Mother's beautiful teacup collection so maybe this year I will do Christmas cookies to go with them....just to keep that food theme going. Having a live-in chef has inspired me to see the beauty of food in a new light. At least I'm assured that PAINTING food is perfectly calorie free! What could be better?

New Beginnings

What a great day to begin a brand new blog! I just finished two days of teaching in the studio with some of my favorite watercolorists and as always, I'm pumped to learn more just to stay ahead of them. I often find myself wondering who is teaching whom. Their weekly injection of enthusiasm and inspiration never fails to get my creative blood pumping. As they say, "If you want to learn, teach" or in my paraphrase, "If you want to be inspired, teach."

Today we focused on perfecting our snow scenes. Not as easy as you'd think! We had some success using the 'meditative' approach, building layers of glazes to SLOWLY achieve our values. Next week, we'll try the opposite approach with lots of pre-planning, pre-drawing and maybe we'll even dig out the masking fluid, and THEN.....look out! Throwing caution to the wind, we'll let the colors fly...splash, spill, flow and mingle. I get an adrenaline rush just thinking about it. This, my friend is why we paint.