7th Day of 100 faces in 100 days

Well looking back on yesterday given the situation the day before that .. i guess i was really just completely saddened by everything........and it's just a horrible feeling to feel powerless. So the weight on my heart was heavy yesterday ...i felt as though i was feeling some of the collective sadness in the world...nearly overwhelming. I suppose its a lesson in taking better care during those times. Perhaps some meditation in the garden would have been good. A long chat with my neighbor was welcome relief. So i see that in today's portrait there seems to still be some lingering sadness. Who doesn't have some of that...?
I am still excited about pushing myself to do this..i know it can and already has had an effect that is positive and good so far and we are only on day seven.

So .. thanks for the friends that poked me yesterday when i was really feeling down and made me laugh or just get by.

I have lots of good ideas percolating in my brain. And I look forward to the mornings of painting.  And these as always are for sale .. days are the price so today's face is $7. Leave me a comment or email me and it's yours! Thanks for watching. oh and this is 7" x 11" on rusted fabric. :) oh and if you are on facebook .. I'd love it if you would like my page.

Day 5 of 100 Faces in 100 days

This morning a friend called while I was in the middle of painting day 5's painting and asked if i wanted to go somewhere.. i thought .. o.......no .......i have to finish this. I could do it later. No .. got to get this done. Then I hear the pressure in my head that today's painting must be better better better ..than yesterdays. So it's interesting to notice these things. IT's not about being better.. it's about doing another one and getting into the routine of daily painting. Most day's I end up doing alot of other art as well .. so for me it's about Inertia. The definition of which is a resistance to any physical object to change it's state of motion or lack of motion. I want my state to be moving, continuing to paint, create, make. I notice the resistance .......i am enjoying however the process. Mostly having to notice what's in my head which is always processing and thinking. Now .. i'm going to head to the beach and .....walk and enjoy the sand and sun. This is today's painting .. Girl 5. for sale for $5. on rusted fabric about 7 x 10 inches. Thanks for stopping by .. could always use the encouragement. Thanks. :)

Day 4 of my personal challenge to paint 100 faces in 100 days.

So little it seems to say ........i am finding that this challenge is at least giving me something to look forward too every day. I do love painting faces. I do find that i wonder how they stack up, finding i want to be grouped in with other artists or feel as important or as good as or something. I want to be positive and I guess that the painful truth is lately I am so negative ..  so rather than talk about that part. I am really happy with the results so far. I am enjoying the process and what it will teach me. I am excited about the results it will give me and my drawing/painting skills.

Thought i'd just put it out there .. i am thinking i'll just make extra and post more then one time a day .. maybe they don't all have to be painted. I did say 100 faces .. not 100 painted faces. hmmmmmmm

well it is good to just have a record of what I'm doing here. I paint a while and now i'm going to do some stitching . ... stitching feels like melodic therapy to me. I'll post those results if i get any. Thanks for stopping over to read my ramblings.

The face is about 71/2 by 11 and is acrylic paint on rusted fabric. Send me an email if you would like to purchase it. Every day the price will go up a dollar.. the day is the price. I'd love to read your comments. I post these on FB too on my page https://www.facebook.com/MyArtOfHearts?ref_type=bookmark to try to keep myself accountable to my friends.  I'd love it if you would like my page. I seem to need the motivation of saying it out loud to the world to get myself going .. jumping in with faith. Hoping you will notice if something doesn't continue .. hoping you will spur me on. Hoping i won't need it and i'll just do it ........cause i love too. .....:)

Flat Out Under Pressure

A few weeks ago I participated in an event in my hometown called the title of this post. The purpose was to compete with other local artists to win a spot on a trash bin. Doesn't sound to illustrious but if you won one of the top eight spots you won a little cash and the top winner won an all expense paid trip to Tuscany. I thought that alone was worth the try .. cause you just never know. So I did the necessary things to enter and after 24 hours of effort. Oh you had 24 hours to create something and turn it in. Here is what I created. A collage of rusted papers and cloths and my painting and cutting and arranging and it all came together. I was very happy with the results of this work. I didn't win but that's ok because I had a blast creating. I had spent most of the day outside working on this because I just seem to be happier outside and while I was out there something kept buzzing my shoulder and when I looked I noticed it was a dragon fly and this made me very happy so I included him in the painting. If you look closely you'll seem him in there. So overall a good experience and if it happens again next year, I'll try again !!!! Oh and for those of you that have been following me I've just been busy so I haven't posted so much but I'm hoping to pick it up again soon!! ANd more photos to come too. THanks for stopping over and I'd love to hear your thoughts!!!

Monday Mounds of Making

On top the long field of blue images is of my stitching results while taking a whispering hearts online class. I am learning many things and enjoying the interactions with all the people that follow the sewing blog and participate in the class. Lots of inspiration there.

It seems that I am always doing something and it never seems to be just one thing continually just many of several things. haha. I just can't seem to focus on doing one subject matter or media.

So what I am showing here under the sewing are some photos of a church birdhouse. Every year a local non-profit group called Homes for Hope does a fund raiser to help house people. They ask local artists to decorate/paint the birdhouses. This year I took two birdhouses, one church and one house. I thought I'd post the results of my efforts. I added the trees because I am still loving the drawing of trees. I also painted some jewels on the steeple just because I could. I'd been looking at some books on jewelry antiquities. I thought they were beautiful so I just added them to my church. Inside I wrote out a poem that I found in an old piece of sheet music and because I just thought it was beautiful. And I painted it all with gesso inside and then covered it all over with walnut ink and then in clear mat medium. Also the imagery inside on the ceiling of the church came from another piece of sheet music. Sometimes the illustrations and borders on them are quite elaborate. I'll post the other bird house tomorrow. Oh and with this church birdhouse I also donated a framed tree painting of mine.

Friday Frigid Fragments

Well .. finally I have decided to post when I can and not be so upset with myself for not doing this every day .. I think I will try to work up to it. I have been stuck inside here all week due to weather .. yep snowed in. I've been ok with that because I've been painting alot. I did make up two rolls of composted fabrics but .. I'll talk about those later. I really do prefer the warmer weather for dying and such things but I did manage to extract some nearly rotten walnuts from my back yard before the snow hit. When we had one day of nearly 60 degree temps .. i thought it was practically spring. This week .. we've had 6 -8 inches of snow and cold cold cold .. So I did boil up my walnuts for a bit of walnut ink which I used in some tree paintings.

I'm hoping to get out of here tonight for a little bit. I'm just a tad lonely from no human contact for about 6-7 days. Above is the street that I live on .  Below is one painting that I did several months ago .. I'm not sure if it's done yet .. but it was stimulated by all the fiber artists that I see in blogs .. love all of the influence they have had on my creativity. I also find that I am really attracted to all things fiber and eco dyed.

 I think I enjoy the details of this painting more then the whole painting.

I really enjoyed painting this .. and I have noticed how much I enjoy the varying shades of white over different colors. I guess I will keep with this style of painting until I'm done with them.

There is one other work that I did a few weeks back ... when every one of the fiber artists that I follow were weaving fabrics .. I've been saving something I generate every day .. and that is coffee filters. So what is below here is cut up coffee filters that were woven and glued to a walnut dyed record album .. haha. Using what I have. and then embellished with the wonderful colors from Prismacolored pencils.

Ok .. better go before its too late. I'll post my snow day paintings tomorrow.



 

Saturday Sayings, Stitches and Sketches

 Ok here is my attempt at slow stitches. Here are a variety of fabric pieces. An embroidered napkin that was dyed with blue dye and folded so that the edges would be on one side and both seen so it wasn't folded evenly on purpose and then there is two pieces of discharged black fabric, I like these because the discharged images remind me of fire. So I'm kind of thinking this has an earth, wind and fire feeling to it. The center is a scrap of blue denim that is discharged and behind that is a wool sweater that had pearls stitched to it and behind that is a piece of beige that was dyed in walnut ink. To the right of the beige is a weave of threads that took a while but I enjoyed the way that it worked. I just had to try it. Then there are some eyes below that that I just tried so .. not sure it works but it is what it is. There are also a few beads I stitched in also. Kind of feels like my life today for I am feeling a slight bit busy but thats just in my head not reality. I have a mood of sadness today and find that I am not doing the things I need to do for myself. The cold is all around me just as the blue surrounds the black in these stitches. I think some days that I have what it takes to just get by and make art. I have a belief that if I just go after the things that I dream then all that I need will find me but that seems like a dreamer mentality and then doubts creep in and the reality of no way to pay the bills just seems rather overwhelming. So .. I then just become less movable. I feel stuck in my misery and all I can do that is consistent is paint pictures of trees and stitch here and there and look for more ways to just put the feelings into drawings and paintings. Then I want to find bigger paper to paint bigger ideas ... and i don't want to leave but I'm freezing. I hate the cold. I hate that I don't have the basic necessities of life during the winter. So I just want time to pass ... or I chide myself for trying to stay doing what I want instead of what I need. Which is more important? Its just a cycle of emotion weaving my brain and thoughts into knots. And thank God I have the trees to paint and then to see .. and i write words that I think the world needs to know. Love yourself .. love you and you will have love to give, love others and you will have more love. Maybe I need to love others more. Maybe that's a piece I'm missing. Hard to love others in a room typing or making art in isolation. Who knows. ? Just a saturday of sadness and ranting..

 I love the purple and blue of these trees and there is something that makes me want to keep looking. The above tree is walnut ink and gesso on a page of book text and glued to a book cover. Something satisfying about it. Alone it stands .. kind of lonely feeling. Maybe thats why I'm so drawn to the naked trees because I identify with the feeling of being so exposed. Sometimes my writing makes me feel exposed. I have been thinking about listing the trees on my etsy shop just as they are and see what happens. I guess if I don't try I'll never know.
Too much thinking for now .. I will eat and see if I can think clearer. Anyway .. .. I hope you enjoy the peek into my insanity. haha. and maybe the trees.

Tuesday Rainy Day Stories

Ok lets see .. sometimes I see stories on other blogs and it makes me think of my own. I was looking over at Jude Hills blog and her beast cloths and recent post about a raccoon named rocky. One morning long ago when I was taking care of some rental property for my parents there was a phone call from the tenant rather frantic that he had a raccoon problem. When we inquired he mentioned that he'd noticed that the sofa in his living room was often found leaving a trail of stuffing coming from it. He thought perhaps there were rats in the house but he could never see or know how that could be. It was something of a mystery and then that morning he took his dog out for a walk and came into the kitchen to get a dog treat from the cupboard over the refrigerator and was quite alarmed to find a fat sassy raccoon enjoying the dog treats. They both sort of froze and then the man quickly closed the cupboard and found a broom to put between the handles so the raccoon couldn't get into the house, this is why we received his call. Needless to say the raccoon needed a new home haha. After a safe trapping he was relocated to a less desirable place and way to find a daily meal. Oh and the sofa didn't lose anymore stuffing after that.

Steamy Trees (above photo) This afternoon when I was taking my two faithful pets outdoors while the rain seemed to have subsided, I was amazed at the temperature outside. They said there is a burst of warm air proceeding the cold front that is on it's way here. It was alarmingly warm actually. I wondered why all the windows were fogged up but that explains it.. It's actually now colder inside than it is outside. Thats right .. because of not having adequate heat most of my house was less than 40 degree inside and now it's like 60 degrees outside. Strange phenomena. None the less I am headed out .. guess I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for tornadoes. I did manage to create some new works. Started some coffee staining on some cotton pieces and a piece of silk. Now I'm just waiting to see how they turn out.. I'm going to give it a day or two. Here are some recent works that I haven't posted. The image below is on a record album cover that I thrifted and added a center tree on a book page and then all painted over with delectable walnut ink.

The image on the left is a discharged tshirt that I did and it has such a photographic feel to it that I may just have to use in another way other than wearing. It's such a eerie kind of branch scene. But I was excited with this result.

Then below is a purse that I painted on. It's difficult to tell but there is one strip of hair there that has silver leaf on it ... I have tried selling some similar purses on my etsy site but I haven't had any luck selling one yet. Although I did do a commissioned purse for someone. I was grateful for the sale. I am always just trying to think outside the box and do something different. The image
on the
right is a
piece of
aluminum
foil tape
that I did
a drawing
on with an
embossing
tool and then went back and filled in with red paint and then the spaces in between are painted in white acrylic. This photo doesn't do it justice. I like the way the white paint looks in the negative spaces. Well I'm off to go to town .. and hopefully won't have to dodge any tornadoes.

Monday Matins

Like the branches of a naked tree my soul feels so exposed.
Just love me.

Work in process

I like M words and so this morning to look for a new M word I looked in one of several dictionaries that I repurpose and immediately found the word above... Matins. This old dictionary give the definition as; Morning Prayers, prayers for the morning, said at midnight. Interesting no? Either way Monday mornings are always kind of difficult for me .. I guess it's because I think of it as a beginning which is a good thing but also that another whole week is gone. I want to work for me now ..(I make this my morning prayer) but I keep dragging my feet on posting everything that I could possibly sell because I need too. Sometimes I just feel like I waste my talent. I wonder sometimes just about giving away the art. Maybe there is someone that would get some great pleasure at having my work. I do give alot away to friends. I remember seeing somewhere .. where people were making some small piece of art and then leaving it in places where someone would find it and then there would be a note attached that said .. something like I"m so glad you found me .. I hope you enjoy this piece of art. I would love to see what that would be like.... I imagine myself finding something like that and it makes me happy. Maybe because I have written it here I will just post my art on my etsy shop .. yes I have one but I haven't ever really posted the link here in an official way because I'm embarassed that I haven't improved it or added things to it. .. and it's strictly for handbags. well i do have shirts there too. I have done so many discharged tshirts its crazy. I must have something like 70 or 80 .. I even have a dress form that I made myself on my own body that was made with duct tape and then I took it a bit further and stuck a lamp pole in it and then used old book pages and decoupaged or paper mache'd it. Then one day when I was out at a thrift store I found a plaster outdoor umbrella base that was broken on the top. The hole that was in the 

Walnut stained napkin, photo taken indoor at night.

One of my discharged shirts on my dress form

center was larger then it should be due to breaking. So I figured for the $5 dollars that they were charging for it I could make it work. I put the dress form stand into this new stand and put things around that would hold it upright and then took a can of Great Stuff (that stuff is great!! ) haha .. and almost filled the base. I knew that it would expand as it dried and that it would be very stiff yet light weight once it dried and I was right!!! I love it. I was going to cover the hole but haven't done that yet. I'm thinking maybe I can take some gauze material and cover the hole. I guess I could post some photos of it. I think it turned out pretty nice. Here is a blog that has recently inspired me to post more because she is quite talented and productive. I know she can't leave a comment here so Arlee, thanks for stopping by to see what I'm up too!!  Check out her great work here: http://albedoarlee.wordpress.com/. I'm thinking I won't wait to have a comment before I post more work. I'm thinking its good for me to be able to see what I'm doing, how I'm doing, and mostly that I AM doing the things that give me the most happiness every single day. Maybe I just have to prove it to myself? Who knows. 

Thursday Bluesday

I haven't posted in a while. I did have fun writing the story and many nice comments were made. Since that time I have had lots going on and as with all things there are ebbs and flows of creativity of emotions, and some days it's like riding a sea of ideas, waves of creativity come crashing into my brain and other days I am overwhelmed by the reality of my life living in a shack in the woods. As with anything life has its ups and downs. I suppose I can just come here and post that. None the less, I have been creating inspite of myself. There are so many things pulling at me sometimes I just become stationary and unmovable. So here is my attempt at creating a forward moving enertia. The top photo here is a painting I did of my grandmother on a square of fabric. I am such a thrift store junky and its always a surprise what will capture my attention. I found this square and about 2-300 more of them with these wonderful swirls and i have thought of just sewing them together to make a quilt but that just seemed to easy. Not that quilting is easy at all .. it's quite amazing. But I have been doing a series of paintings from some old photos of my grandmother. This one is one from about five that I have done. Below that are some soft pastel drawings that I did with color. For some reason I had a color infusion into my trees. I have been really taken by trees lately and it will just get more interesting because all the trees here are losing their leaves with the fall and coming winter. The backgrounds were done with watercolor pencils and walnut dye. I love the mutedness that the walnut ink gives to the color and then there is a wonderful contrast to the straight pastel colors. I love the bright green and blueness of some of the trees. and the strokes are indicating the breeze or wind blowing around the trees that we can't see but we know that it's there. And again there is a little character.. i love them for some reason.

I have taken the photos on top of one of my walnut tree paintings. Below (bottom photo) you will see another tree painting with no color just walnut dye. This one I painted for my best friend and it is about 24 x 36 and will oddly enough be cut in half and put on either side of her fireplace in her beautiful living room. I also sold two of my other walnut tree paintings to another friend. It's nice to have friends that wish and have the means to support my artistic endeavors. All the color trees are small about 8 x 10 and smaller. I have just torn the paper.. i always love the torn edges. Kind of like enjoying the edges of fabrics that are stringy.

The last thing I have added here is a little bag that I had sitting around the house and it just seemed to call out to me to paint on it. So one morning I actually sat in bed and painted it before doing anything else.. haha. Funny how I do those things. I enjoyed so much the way that the paint sort of was sucked in by the fabric and left this kind of glow around each stroke .. so it has a very moody feel to me. I love it. The bag is about 4 x 5 inches. So cute!!  Not sure I'll be able to part with this one. Isn't it always the way ... ? I'll have to work on that.
Ok hope you've enjoyed having a peek into my creative week. and moody madness haha.. There will be more to come hopefully sooner rather than alot later.

My Wrapped Trees Story

This is a story that I wrote for the blog that I am participating in for Tree wrapping.. if you check my profile you can see the blog there and link to it. Hopefully you can read this and it's not too small and I'm no english major so hopefully you won't be expecting that haha.. just my story. Love to know what you think. Thanks for stopping by. : )As with all work on my blog this work is copywritten by me Oct. 2010.