Cabin Art

11 x 14 acrylic on Canvas Paper
"Apricots, Mangos, Cherries"
(in progress) 

9x 11 acrylic and ink sketch

Two very rainy days in a row which is a disappointment to my son who is up here in the north woods after driving 6 hours up from south of Chicago.

We did have one gorgeous day for him on Friday…got to 78 and was sunny most of the day.  THAT was perfect.  He and hubby got the pier/deck in and the canoe out of the boat house.  Things we cannot really do by ourselves anymore.  

Rick brought up a ton of beautiful fruit for snacks this weekend and I arranged them and took some photos on my iPad and then gridded it with my new app for that purpose and spend a nice rainy afternoon trying some new techniques in acrylic based on the workshop that I watched on the Strathmore free online lessons.  There will be a dark background above and a table cloth at the bottom (for this afternoon if the the dark wet weather continues.)

It is about 58 this morning (8 am).  

The crazy sketch that is shown second was done on that sunny day sitting down on the pier.  When I opened my sketchbook I noted that I had used several pages as "brayer wipe off" backgrounds for Gelli plate and so I just though I'd give that a try.  Kind of funky.  Probably would be more effective if the colors had been a bit more muted in the background.  

If you get "Watercolor Magazine"..the new one that just came out has a section called "Try This at Home".  I think the challenge this month is very cool.  I would like to try it.  

Zentangle calendar

The size of my photo looked strange today.
I wonder if something is up with the blog today?

Anyway I am enjoying working on Narwol again and I haven't used Sqaro for a long time…like that one also.

Cool and dark in the north woods today.  
We expect some rain tonight but are hoping that sunshine will return soon so we can work on our pier tomorrow. 

Journal Prompt 24: Try a new and challenging tangle

5 x 8 journal page

Narwal is a tangle designed by Sam Taylor.

She has a video showing her style of doing it and Helen Williams has just shown a "freestyle" version on her blog.  I have a lot of practice ahead.

Sam's demo is here.

And Helen's demo is here.

I can't wait to get better at this one!

Coolish (65) in the north woods today with a mix of clouds and sun.  Hopefully it will soon be getting warmer and sunnier!  I keep hoping.

My son is coming for a long weekend and I'd like him to have some good fishing weather.

Sketching on Tippecanoe Lake

Mushy Gush Lagoon with Water Lillies

Tippecanoe Lake: Sat June 6, Lac du Flambeau, WI

Hubby and I had a lovely afternoon out on the lake.

He caught two fish…a 9" Blue Gill and a 14" Large Mouth Bass.  I did some casting but no bites.  So I reverted to my sketch book.   The sun was warm on our heads and backs. The loons called.  The frogs scolded us when we drifted into the lily pad beds, and the dragon flies flitted about.  We packed a picnic lunch and let the quiet magic of the lake surround us.  Ahhhhh.  

My Tangle A Day reflects a nice relaxed "steam punk" tangle-combo using "Ing" and putting in some cast shadows just for fun.  I see that I double posted this calendar page…totally forgot I put it out yesterday!  Sigh.  Oh well.  It's a nice one to see twice!

Dark and rainy Sunday has now arrived and we are off to church and then brunch and some errands in town.

The lake is still and slate colored under the heavy cloud cover and everything hangs wet and still with slow drips of rain making ripples in the birdbath.  The coffee is hot and I am grateful to be in a lovely spot.

Gelli Printing on self stick labels

Okay…so the top photo is me gelli printing on Avery self-stick labels.  You can choose any size.  Gelli arts recommends round ones, but darn they are quite expensive.  So I chose large rectangles.  I think they are just as much fun and you get a lot more of them on a page.  More for your $ is good.  Nothing special about the way you do the printing…except you need to plan for smaller details so you are not left with large sections of paint with no design.  You will see that on the orange/red one I went back with some stamps and some mark-making to fill in some larger area.  When you peel them you get "mini-masterpieces" for stationary, envelopes, name tags, gift cards, place cards, or anyplace you want!

My Tangle A Day calendar for June 7 and 8 got sort of "steam punk" again.  I added some cast shadows just to jazz it up a little.  Fun.

Hubby and I are off to go fishing now.

It's "brisk" on the lake at 68 this morning but I will wear a wind breaker and hope the sun in warm out there!  It is free fishing weekend in WI…you can fish without a license!  Yippee.  We are out of state now so those licenses are expensive.  This will probably be "it" for me this season.  Wish me luck.  

(I'll take my sketch book in case no one is biting.)

"a song without end" Journal Prompt # 23

5 x 8 journal page

So the prompt this week was a "do-over".

Pick a prompt from the 22 weeks before and do something different with it.  

So I picked "What Do you Know for Sure?"

.

Gosh couldn't you just use that EVERY week?

But I like this poem that came in Garrison Keillor's daily blog this week so much that I wanted to save it.

It is hand written on my page but also I typed it and put it in the little envelope on the page as it's a lot easier to read that way.  

Here it is:

a song with no end

by Charles Bukowski

when Whitman wrote, "I sing the body electric"

I know what he

meant

I know what he 

wanted:

to be completely alive every moment

in spite of the inevitable.

we can't cheat death but we can make it 

work so hard

that when it does take 

us

it will have known a victory just as

perfect as

ours.

So there you are.  I like that the author speaks of the inevitable because in our western culture we often avoid mentioning that.  But many cultures are more in tune with that idea.  

The poem celebrates our brief lives here by wanting us to live so fully and so well that even death has to work hard to find us and take us home.  I find that a good reminder.  I covered the page with gesso and let that dry (as one blogger said that gesso is underwear for you journal page). 
Then I used a foam roller in gold paint to put on the stenciled pattern.  Something simple and in an elegant color.  Just gold and black and white.  No color needed here.  And because the author called his poem a "song", I picked sheet music for the little envelope I hand folded to hold it. 

I can hardly express all the thoughts that went through my head while I put this together and then quietly had my lunch looking out over the forest and lake here in WI.  The sun glinting down into the incredible green of early spring here…nuthatches and chickadees at the bird feeder.  But all that thinking is for another blog another day.

The calendars was fun…I found that I need a lot more concentration for Rio than I at first thought!  Whoa.
I ended up with flat acrylic magenta background as I love how well acrylic pops and also takes the shading. I used a jellyroll white pen for that also. Next to Rio, All Boxed Up is my next best favorite one.  

Gelli Plate Fun on a Rainy Day

Inexpensive canvas tote bag 

Folding Gelli Plate Book

It's important to note that the only real painting I did today was the canvas bag.  The other things I just put together in a little "kit" to demonstrate to folks who are (I hope) going to sign up for my Gelli plate workshop in August an idea of some of the things that "emerge" and what are some things to do with the lovely papers.  

The canvas bag is my first time to print on fabric and I just used regular acrylic paint as I did not have any fabric paint.  I think for a heavy canvas bag that regular paint is okay but I learned a lot in this first experiment.  One I learned you need a lot more paint on your Gelli plate that you would with paper!  Way more!  And you need to press much harder especially if you have to press through two pieces of fabric as I did!  

I did add some embellishments with slick 3D paint and with fabric markers.  

I did do both sides.  The other side is "okay" but nothing to write home about.  I may still be able to make it more interesting later.  If it does "get better" I will post it.  The other side was the first side I did.  Thus it is hidden. Hahaha.

The folding book idea came from another Gelli arts teacher and it is simply taking small 3.5 x 5 bits cut from your deli or other papers and glueing them with a glue stick.  You could do some embellishments with pens and stamps later.  It would be nice if everyone could take one home at the end of the workshop.  I did glue paper on both sides but if you didn't you would have the option of cutting the book apart to make greeting cards too.  All of these papers were from another day of printing.

The matted gelli prints were an idea I came up with this afternoon.  I picked up 4 nice little mats free from a friend who is moving and giving away her art cache.

As I was selecting papers for the folding book I saw the bag of mats and thought…hmmmm.  Why not show off some of my interesting prints in a new way.

What do you think?

The blue swirly one is slightly "enhanced" with some shading and some white charcoal pencil for the reflections and there is a little Zentangle added on the edges.  The top one is made with my favorite (at this time) stencil.  I love how the colors underneath show up in the circles.  Fun!!!

The third one down, Cynthia will recognize as a hot glue gun mask!  I need to make some more of those. 

They are so organic and fun.

All of these are reasonably small and easy to pack up and so I am doing a short presentation to the art group on June 10 (next week) in order to get some interest going.  The class will cost members only $15 which is a huge steal (I get paid a flat fee from the league).  BUT everyone has to buy their own Gelli plate, brayer and paint.  Still…most classes are quite a bit more and you always have to bring your own stuff!  

I laughed…in my first demo yesterday I showed my 3 x 5 Gelli plate just as a sample of what they look like and one gal (quite mystified of course) raised her hand and said "can you reuse the Gelli plate?"  I was dumb founded.  

Icosahedron

Making the tangles on this was totally fun.  It was done on copy paper and not tag board.  I am not comfortable putting anything through my inkjet here at the cabin except paper.  After I was done I did make the ink permanent by using my Gelli plate and gloss acrylic medium. More on that another time.

When dry I carefully cut it out.

Now who out there can tell me HOW you manage to glue the LAST triangle in place.  Everything goes fine until then!  Am I doing something wrong? I mean it's totally impossible as you cannot "press" anything together at that last point!  I did see that glueing half of it and letting it dry and then gluing the second half had it's merits.  But that did not solve the last triangle problem.  Help.

The idea of these 20 sided little guys is to demonstrate how you can have fun just tossing them up and letting the pattern you will use next appear on the top (like a die) and then no real planning involved.  I think this is nice for beginners.  

I put a small # on each triangle so there is a "key" with names of the tangles.  

Okay, it's "tea time" here and time for a cup of hot cider or some wine and then a few more things to get done before supper.  It stays light here now to almost 9 pm.  

New tangle: ALL Boxed Up

All Boxed Up/Zander  3.5" tile 

Cardboard Folder Opened: 9 x 12 Gelli Printed

I am definitely crazy for the new tangle "All Boxed Up" and it has several wonderful variations!  GREAT tangle.  Will become a "mac and cheese" tangle for me for sure.  

I am posting my latest "example" of one of the ways to use the Gelli print plate in preparation for teaching my class in August.  I recycled a folder (you know that you get from various vendors with pockets inside?).  I needed something to keep my art league newsletters and other printed art info in for this summer.  Voila.

This is a sample of a 3-layer masked print.  It is SO fast to do as the acrylic is so fast drying.  I did finish coat the painting with one coat of gloss acrylic varnish brushed on to seal it and give it a nice glossy finish. It also brightens up the colors.  Fun.

Weather is getting slightly warmer in the north woods of WI.  After hail and 3 nights of freeze/frost warnings we are now supposed to get to 70 and sunny today.  That is more like it.  Of course now we have 3 days of rain following that!  BUT at least temps are more in the normal range!   

Noodler's Ink

Contour Ink Drawing/wc sketch 5 x 8

One minute I am not around and then I post 3 times in a day.  Sigh.  Feast or famine, that is me.

Okay I finally received my Noodler's Ink and Lamy fountain pen.  Something that has been on my "I-sure-would-like-it" list for a long time.

Not exactly cheap. Either one of them.  

And I had to buy an ink refill adapter if I was going to use ink other than cartridges.  It's fun to be using a "fountain pen" again after all these years.  

I have been away from my contour sketching for a long time (and it shows).  You do lose the muscle tone for it and the eye for it if you don't do it regularly!  

I wanted to show Cynthia that I keep some of my odds and ends in an old dishwasher basket I picked up at a garage sale.  It does not work real well for brushes.  I was disappointed about that.  But for other odds and ends like the milkshake straws that I wind my hand-painted washi tape on, pens, toothbrushes, and etc.  That funny pointy tool with the wood handle I picked up in clock shop repair shop for 25 cents.  I thought it would be great for embossing things like styrofoam.  Yet to be tried.  

Incidentally…the sun is warming things up to a toasty 70 degrees here in the north woods this afternoon!  Despite the pounding hail from last Wed, the wild strawberries are making a come back and my impatiens flowers are rebounding.  Greg brought a tiny green inch worm in for lunch on his shoulder and he inches all around our lunch plates until a took him outside again.  So cute.  

Journal Prompt # 22

5 x 8 journal page

I was pretty much "on the road" when this prompt came out so it's not a very "artsy" one.  The prompt had to do with "home" concepts and somehow the TS Eliot quote seemed to fit with how I am feeling right now.  …"we'll arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." 

Catch Up

Gosh, it's been like 10 days since I have posted.  You must think I have fallen off the edge.  Instead I am unpacking like a crazy person and trying to get into my studio (photos to come) in the north woods.  Busy.  I did keep up with my Tangle A Day.  Boy, if you don't you get so far behind you find craziness!  The May 31 post by the way is connected to Carole's tangle (not for you to think I tangled that whole thing myself!)  

The north woods is amazingly cold for this time of year!  Sigh.

We have had HAIL and rain and freeze warning two nights this past week.  How's THAT for a start to the summer season in northern WI?  

But we are crossing our fingers that this will soon turn around.  Temps are supposed to get to 70 or even a little above later in the week and I am going to plant my hanging baskets today in hopes that his is actually true!  

My en plein air group is set to paint Thursday and of course now they say it will rain again on Thursday.  Sigh.

All in all, it has been a fairly smooth transition this year.  Our pump worked, the water heater is working, no leaks in the pipes and no trees fell on any buildings.  So we count our lucky stars!

The lake level is WAY WAY up this year.  We are excited.  It hasn't been this high in over 15 years!  Our little stoney beach has all but disappeared at the lake front!  It will make putting in the pier somewhat challenging.  I can hardly wait to get out in the canoe and explore how this has changed the configuration of the islands.  

I am prepping for the June 17th Zentangle class (see side bar) and hoping that class fills.  Lots of art on my schedule this year.

Will write more soon.

Journal Prompt #21

Because I am traveling I chose to make my hand out of an old map.


The prompt says "use hands any way you want".
Won't it be fun to see all the ways folks choose to interpret it?

I chose to look up words and phrases that include the word hand.
The background was prepared ahead using deli paper printed on my Gelli plate.

The words were fun..I had no idea there were so many words and phrases
With hand in it: example...handcrafted, handmaiden, panhandle, handwritten, handcuff, etc.



Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

St. Mark's lighthouse in Fl panhandle

First day of the trip north with a lovely painting spot.


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Journal Prompt #20: Creating Depth

5 x 8" journal page

Well, here it is folks…my last post before I hit the road.

When it's 95 every day in FL…my hubby starts packing.  Hahaha.  

Only 53 for a high at the cabin.  It's going to be a huge shock to me!  Packing sweaters and jeans when it's 95 is somehow strange!

The prompt for today was to create something "with depth".

I have already packed up all my art supplies (well most of them) and so a pair of scissors and some glue and my inkjet printer were about all I had to work with.  Oh and a glue stick.

The background for the page was pre-done weeks ago…I do several backgrounds at a time.  Then wait to find something that will fit on them!  The "slick" ink which has a raised line seems to fit with this idea well.  Behind it is a Gelli print deli paper glued to the page.  

The Zendala (unfinished by the way) was copied on my inkjet printer twice and glued with YES glue to light tag board and cut out and between the layers is that stick/foam that you buy at Walmart or Michaels in sheets.  And I used glue stick on it as well.  I wanted to sort of express the "whirlwind of packing" and heading off again.  And because my journal theme is "awareness" or "attentiveness" I wanted a quote that fit that theme too.

I was thinking of coloring the layers of the Zendala but with the wild background decided against it.  That would be nice if the background were uncolored AND if I had time.  I'll post now and again from my iPad but the images are always so small that I am unhappy with them.  But at least you can follow along my journey.  I can always repost them another day.

We are praying for decent weather.  Leaving Friday morning.

Should get to southern WI by Tuesday. 6 days there and then the last 300 miles on Memorial Day.  

Diva Challenge: Laura's birthday tangles: Dex and Bunzo

L and H are for Laura Harm's birthday which is TODAY…May 13.
I am sorry it did not get put in the slot on the calendar for today…but I know she won't mind.  

Transparent Watercolor Show in WI

Carol Brody, Wellington, FL
22 x 30
"Party Papers, Ribbons and Confetti IV

You HAVE to go and look at the Transparent Watercolor's 39th annual exhibit here.  

First comes all the awards (except People's choice) and then down below you can click on all of the artist's paintings to see each one in the show.

VERY worth while to do that.  

I am going to get to see this exhibit in person a week from Thursday in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  I am SO excited.  I know two of the artists personally that got in!  What an amazing array of talent!!!

Tangle A Day Calendar

The count down to the annual move back up north closes in on me.  6 days and counting.  You hear me go through this twice a year every year.
And it's not really a whine (although packing is not my favorite).
I've been reminded many many times this year that it is my privilege and my joy to be able to have two delightful places to be during the year.  

So should this sound like a whine, please forgive.
I am really really grateful to have two lovely spots in the world that mean a great deal to me and two sets of friends.  AND to have family who puts up with it and loves me anyway!  :-)  The packing, although not particularly "fun" is a good way to inventory what is most useful and needed in your daily life.  My art cupboard get organized and cleaned out, my fridge and kitchen cupboards get cleaned.  All good.

So this year I am going to make a huge effort NOT to sound like I am whining about all this.  But more than that I am grateful to have another opportunity to see 3 seasons in Wisconsin (spring, summer and fall) and to leave the snow and cold behind me each winter.
I look forward to our lovely little lake and our dear church and friends up there.  And my hubby has done so much to try to make the tiny cabin comfortable and pleasant for us both.  What could I possibly complain about!!!  

Tangle A Day calendar for May 7-9

This layout is based loosely on Margaret Bremner's last post about how she did a tile ensemble.  I was just blown away (as usual) with what she did.  She used tiles but this is just all one page of course.
She took a very simple idea and made it elegant. 
That's the name of the game and she plays it so well.
Margaret's blog is on my sidebar.  Enthusiastic Artist.  

Acrylic Fun

Acrylic 11 x 14 canvas board

So I am in this online free acrylic class sponsored by Strathmore papers.  The teacher is Patti Mollica.  Nice soft big brush approach..I like it. Sort of like Jane Slivka who I once took a class from in Mt. Dora, FL.  Patti demos a nice wine bottle and two glasses.  We are allowed to place a photo of our work from the class in a free gallery where Patti can comment or other can also.  So I do a quick study of this life buoy at St. George Island and even though it's not done and needs some work (unsigned you'll note) I flip it onto the gallery.  (Hey, I am packing here to go north and I don't have a lot of time.)

It's the next day when I go online to look at other's work that I notice that I am THE only one who has NOT painted a wine bottle and two glasses.  Wait.  I was supposed to paint what the teacher painted without a photo reference?  I look in my in box and there is a photo reference.   Oh boy.  So here's the gallery, wine, wine, wine, wine, wine, life buoy, wine, wine.  You get the picture.

OH boy.  So I write a little public note in the space provided for us to communally chat and note my distress at not having been provided with the notification that I was supposed to paint a wine bottle.  The teacher is understanding and apologizes for getting the photo reference out a little late.  

So I get this feedback from one of my co-painter students who did her painting and posted correctly.  She says, ""Which one of these things in not like the other….which one of these things just doesn't belong….can you guess which thing is not like the other before I finish my song…..XOXOX"

I just got to laughing.  That is EXACTLY how it looks…a Sesame Street game.  Hahaha.  I love it.  People are so funny.

There is always one, isn't there?  This time it's ME.  

Oh well, Patti will paint again next week and I won't be able to paint along because by then all my acrylics will be packed up and ready to go into the car.  Boo hoo.  At least I'll be able to watch along as I travel using my iPad.  

Incidentally, Patti uses only flat brushes 1,2, and 3" and does all the detail with them so as to keep things loose.  I like using the angular flats that I bought for Jane's class.  They are made by Scheewe and are called "background brushes".  I have a one inch and a 1-1/2"  Nylon.  Patti says she just uses inexpensive nylon brushes from Michaels or wherever.  They need to come to a sharp edge and have spring to them.  Voila.  There will be two more free Strathmore online classes in September on lettering and pen and ink drawing and I can hardly wait.  These have been very fun.