Sticky Fingers

The title sticky fingers usually has connotations of theft but in the case of a mixed media artist it means she's back in her studio. Hip hip hurray! See the mess below? That's the proof ! The gentle ebb and flow of the studio rhythm is finally filtering in after the festive season break.

I've only been dabbling mind. Below is a picture of a tote bag that Julia once gave to me. It has pockets back and front for photographs but I've decided to make some little collages instead.
Now working this small is a challenge in itself. My smallest painting is 50x60cm (20"x24") and these little collages are roughly 9x10cm (3 1/2"x4"). Its a first for me but as with the felt bag I'm having fun fun fun.
There are 9 pockets each side so I have a few more to go yet.

Once finished I will knuckle down to finish that portrait I started last year. Then its more of the same until I feel confident enough to do any one's portrait. Ha! Will that ever happen? Oh well, I will just practice, practice, practice anyway and see what happens. I just hope I don't insult any of my friends when I endeavour to paint their portraits. Just remember I'm just starting out. By the way, you're next Vanita.

The Call of the Studio

The call of the studio is getting very strong and still I have not got back into the rhythm of things. Bob has been home and Zoe has been staying. I suppose they are reasonable excuses for not starting my art. I did however go in the studio yesterday and start a little project that's been on the back burner. I had promised to make Zoe a felt handbag quite some time ago. I finally got out the wool and felting stuff and started that yesterday. I will continue with that today. I will take some photos to show you when there's something decent to see. I also have this clear vinyl bag that Julia once gave me. It is covered with pockets in which you are meant to put photos but instead I will do some collage and painting. These are just a few little projects to get the rhythm going. Next week Thursday art day will start up again. That will help. Maybe I will get the portrait finished that I started last year. I think I just have to resign myself to the fact that I take about a month off over the festive season. Maybe then I won't be so hard on myself and stress about getting back in the studio. Most of the time I do work hard so having a month off is not unreasonable. There is a lot of self discipline involved in being an artist. There is no one waiting for you to clock on. No boss calling the shots. Its up to you when you work and how long etc. Its taken me quite some time to acquire the skills needed to have a good working practice and I'm scared to fall into the old traps. I'm forever vigilant that I am moving forward not backwards. Forever vigilant that my inner censor, the little voice inside that tries to undermine you, doesn't gain strength. Anyway enough ramblings. I have my goals set for the year and all is right with my world.

Finished My Selfy

My first portrait is finished. There's a lot that could be better but I will improve with more practice. I learnt a lot! I also know my concept works. I can't wait to start the next one and put in practice what I learnt from this one. With the holiday celebrations looming I'm not sure how much studio time I can fit in. My list is so long I really shouldn't be in the studio at all :(

the painting

the photograph

I Finished It

Water

mixed media on canvas

50.8x60.9cm (20"x24")

Here It Is

Shall I Put the Kettle On?

mixed media on canvas

60.9x50.8cm (24"x20")

All Packed Up

All my artwork is labelled, priced and packed up in our lounge room ready to go. All forms are filled in. The t's are crossed and the i's are dotted. Is it normal to feel a bit sad? Its like my children are leaving home. They are all part of me I suppose. They are the evidence of my struggles, my fears, my perseverance and my growth. They are the pictures of my journey and our home is going to be empty without them. Gee I sound so mournful hehehe. I am also very excited and can't sleep properly. Its going to be great to see all my work in that lovely uncluttered space. I must remember my camera tomorrow so I can show you how its going.

Peeking Through Someone Else's Window

The Gallery M newsletter for May is out and look who they are advertising. The opening is only a week away and I'm so excited weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Anyway, you know what to do, just click on the newsletter to get a larger version.

#29 and #30

Urban Script

mixed media on canvas

101.6x76.2cm (40"x30")

Street Culture

mixed media on canvas

101.6x76.2cm (40"x30")

Since posting these on my Red Bubble site http://www.redbubble.com/people/utam I have had a lot of favourable comments. Both have been featured in certain groups and a lot of people have put them on their favourites list. Wasn't sure how a bunch of old advertising poster pieces would be perceived hehehe. I had fun collecting them and fun creating with them and people enjoy them. What more can a girl want???

Fears, Doubts and Slipping Confidence

Have I really not posted since last Thursday? Time is flying by. Its two weeks until our work has to be delivered to the gallery. TWO WEEKS!!! There are still two more paintings that I want to do. One is part of the way through and the other one hasn't been started. I'm having trouble getting things to work for me as the fears and doubts are setting in. My confidence is slipping as the exhibition gets closer. Anyway I thought I'd share with you what I have been doing with the layers of advertising posters. This canvas is on the large side 101.6x76.2cm (40"x30")

some advertising poster, book pages, found paper, acrylic paint and some stamping

some altered paper and some tie dyed paper towel added with more stamping

more of the same, nearly covered the canvas

the canvas is all covered and now a protective coat of matte varnish is applied

once the matte varnish is dry I covered the whole thing with white gesso

water is sprayed on and I start scrubbing back the gesso with a toothbrush

a very light wash of black

then a very light wash of raw sienna to age it a bit

a bit more stamping on the boring bits

Late One Night

Sunday Arts, one of my favourite programs on tv, had a segment about an artist (Bill Luke) who goes on nocturnal explorations through the streets of Melbourne collecting swathes of advertising posters from the city's walls. In his studio Bill strips back layers from the posters to reveal scraps of pictures and text. With careful composition they become new works of art. As most of the backgrounds in my work are inspired by old bill boards I was totally in awe of this and had to have some old advertising posters too. I enlisted the help of my nocturnal daughter, Julia. We have been on two heists now and below are some of the treasures.

I want to use scraps of text, images and textures with layers of paint and gesso, some stamping and other mark making and see where that leads me. I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. Maybe its the naughty nocturnal jaunts that I'm excited about hehehe hahaha hehehe.

The Meaning of Art

There's a blog I came across by Katherine Treffinger. There Katherine poses the question "What meaning does art have for you? Why do you show up in your studio, or wherever and pick up your tools day after day?" Well I thought about this for several days before I emailed Katherine the answer. She posts the answers on her blog http://katherinetreffinger.blogspot.com so you can check out my answer and answers from other artists there.

New work below. That makes 28 pieces for the exhibition. I set myself a goal of 30 so only 2 more to go. The colours aren't exactly right on the photo as there was no sunshine today. Only gloomy dark skies. We've had quite a bit of rain YAY!!!

Tick-Tock

mixed media on canvas

50.8x60.9cm (20"x24")

For the Love of Old Books

New work. Another one completed, yay. As is the norm with my paintings, its larger than life size.

It's on the Shelf

mixed media on canvas

50.8x60.9cm (20"x24")

I just love old books. I like them to be written between 1920 and 1940. I really enjoy the style of writing between these dates. They are simple interesting stories and very descriptive in their narrative. And of course nothing compares to the smell of an old book.

Well I'm off to paint cupcakes now. Cupcakes or muffins, I haven't decided yet. Will just have to wait and see.

The Tablecloth Saga Continued

So here is my tablecloth painting nearly complete. I still want to add some real stitching where the hem and the trim is. I added more text to the background and a few more washes of paint, some subtle shadow to the tablecloth to really show the movement of the fabric and painted the peg and the clothesline. Its lost a lot of its power in this small image. The sheer size of it in real life adds something which is lost on the computer screen. It hasn't got a title yet either but that will come.

Next painting is in the planning stages. The theme was inspired by my friend April. Yes a cupcake painting, low cal of course hehehe.

The Tablecloth Saga

The tablecloth and the peg painting is going well. I should really call it a construction not a painting. Not much painting going on but lots and lots of tedious cutting and gluing. Very tedious cutting and gluing. Did I mention it was tedious ugh! The results however are quite pleasing to my artist's heart so it keeps me going.

I prepared some altered and stained newspapers before I started as these were to form the checks of the tablecloth. So I needed two types of red and a white.

I started with a bit of text stamping but I lost most of it as I continued to paint in the background. This still needs to be resolved with more text I think but I will worry about it later.

I started cutting and gluing the checks of the tablecloth. Each 'square' is such a different shape and I have to pay careful attention to this to get the movement of the tablecloth right. The wind was moving it ever so slightly as I took the photo and I want to capture that. The colours are a little richer in real life as I took these photos inside with a flash. I looks a little like a patchwork quilt rather than a tablecloth but I don't mind that. Like I've said before, the canvas is on the large side 101.6x76.2cm (40"x30") with the peg measuring 35cm (14"). Still a bit to go and I still need to resolve that background so I'd better get to it.

The Tablecloth and the Giant Peg

Bob is home and is doing well. We are hoping this is the end of it. He's sick of going to hospital and he wants his life back. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and well wishes.

I'm working on a new piece. The canvas is on the large side as usual. I can't get my paintings to work on a smaller scale. The canvas is 101.6x76.2cm (40"x30") and I started with the theme of washing on the line. I always start with a photo. I can see what composition works and change the subject matter etc. Anyway after quite a few photos and strange looks from my son as I was standing on a stool in order to get the right angle of the washing line, I settled on a photo of a red and white checked tablecloth being held down by a peg (see image below). Now you think this would be an easy thing to draw but as I found out today the red and white checks take on all sorts of odd shapes depending on the fall of the fabric.


What I decided to do is to depict the checks in various altered and stained newspaper so after taking photos I went to work on some papers to make sure I had enough to choose from. It will probably look more like a patchwork quilt than a tablecloth but that's ok. At this stage the background will consist of text being stamped on with medium. This forms a bit of a resist when you paint over it and the result should be some subtle text showing through in the 'sky'. I won't have any of the buildings or other things in the painting. Just the tablecloth and the peg. As the canvas is on the large side the peg will be huge. It will be about 35cm in length which is roughly 14". My love of inanimate objects continues and this time I'm showcasing the humble peg hehehe. A giant humble peg, wooden of course, all grey and weathered. I wouldn't use any other. Anyway the papers are prepared, the image is drawn onto the canvas so I'm ready to get stuck into it but not till tomorrow, I'm done for today.

Little Miss Series

Quirky

mixed media on canvas

91.4x60.9cm (36"x24")

Coy

mixed media on canvas

91.4x60.9cm (36"x24")

Prim

mixed media on canvas

91.4x60.9cm (36"x24")

Proper

mixed media on canvas

91.4x60.9cm (36"x24")

I Think I Can, I Think I Can ...

Well I gave it my best shot to try and do all four paintings of The Little Miss Series in one week. I nearly got there but I've run out of steam. Long hours have taken their toll. They are so close to being finished but I started making silly mistakes so I thought I will give it up for tonight and see if I can finish them off tomorrow. I am still very happy with how much I got done in one week. It was a huge task and I nearly made it, yay!!!

Hello World

I thought I'd better come out of my art zone for a little while to say hello. As you know I've set myself a task to finish the four paintings in the Little Miss series in one week. Usually it takes me a week to do one painting but I thought if I pushed myself I could do it. I'm spending longs hours at the easel and letting everything else go. No housework has been done and I didn't even go to the market this week for our groceries. I just grabbed a few things locally. I have to report that the paintings are going well. All the backgrounds were finished yesterday and today I started painting in the legs, shoes and socks. I am really enjoying losing myself in my art. Time to finish for tonight though. I'd better go and clean some brushes.

Had Some Fun But Its Good To Be Home

on the road again

watch out for kangaroos at dawn and dusk

Doreen, the lady who invited me to hold the workshop

we made a real mess

everyone is very busy

The River Murray near Murray Bridge

about 45 minutes from home

I had a really lovely time over the weekend. The ladies from Mt Gambier where an absolute pleasure to work with. They are textile artists so working with paper was something new to them but they all did a magnificent job. Doreen was kind enough to put me up for the night on Saturday night so I didn't have to drive back to my friend, Vanita's place in Naracoorte which is about an hour away from Mt Gambier. I don't like driving on country roads at dusk or dawn as that's when the kangaroos are out. They are prone to jump in front of the car. Not only does this kill or injury a beautiful animal, but it makes a real mess of your car and you risk injuring yourself to boot.

Although I had a great time I was itching to get back home and start on the dangling legs series. Its a series of four with each pair of feet doing something different like the toes pointing in or the ankles crossed etc. One of them will be with brightly coloured striped stockings, another with white little ankle socks etc etc. At the moment I'm calling them the 'Little Miss Series' with Little Miss Quirky, Little Miss Coy, Little Miss Prim and Little Miss Proper. These are just working titles and I may change it if I think of something better. They are of course larger than life size with each canvas being 91.4x60.9cm (36"x24"). For the background I am going for an old wall effect and it looks like the Little Misses are sitting on the wall. I've drawn them all and as soon as I draw the stripes on the stockings I'm ready to start on the backgrounds. I'm really pushing myself with these as I'm trying to get all four done in a week. Let's hope life doesn't get in the way as is usually the case. Today is eight weeks till delivery to the gallery so I'd better stop rambling and get back to it.

Do You Like Colouring-in?

I still love to colour in and have my own colouring-in book. Its got pictures of fairies in it and I like to sit in bed and colour it. I refuse to completely grow up. I thought it would be fun to do a painting of coloured pencils, larger than life of course to elevate their importance. To give you an idea of their size, the dark blue one is the length of my arm from shoulder to wrist. I had real fun with this painting as its got so many different colours in it.

Why Stay Within the Lines?
mixed media on canvas

60.9x50.8cm (24"x20")

I've set myself a goal of 30 paintings for the exhibition. That means there's 9 to go and 9 weeks to do them in. I will be working on a series of Zoe's dangling legs next. Again larger than life. There will be four in the series, each one with the legs in a different pose and with different socks or stockings on. That will leave another 5 and at this stage no ideas. I am thinking of another domestic painting, maybe with some washing on the line. I have visited washing on the line in an earlier work and have always wanted to do another. Maybe with a nice blue background representing a glorious blue sky. I also must ask April if she minds if I paint some cupcakes. She created some lovely collages of cupcakes and I would love to give them a try if she doesn't mind. Check them out on http://www.aprilsart.blogspot.com/ in one of the older posts.

I'm going away for the weekend. I'm leaving on Friday and back home on Monday. I'm giving a workshop in Mt Gambier which is about 5 hours drive from home. Its about an hour from Naracoorte so I'm going to stay with my friend Vanita on Friday and Sunday night (if she'll have me). I've bought all the materials so all that's left to do is pack and hope I don't forget anything.