Think I've said this before.....

 

So ....

 

To Life!

Oil & Cold Wax "LIFE" 16x16

"Life" was a fun abstract to paint, As with most abstracts, I had no pre-conceived idea as to what this would become. 

Adding color here and there, removing a bit, layering more colors playing over the week until what I wanted to say was finally said... 

"This is Life!"

Day Brightener

Here's an update to the post of my first sale of 2020.

It's always a little sad to say goodbye to a painting that I spent time and love on. However one of my favorite joys, is when someone takes the time to leave a review.

Dana received it & was so kind as to not only write a lovely review about this little painting, but also sent me a photo to let me see where she displays it!

"Sweet little landscape painting. Bought to sit on a shelf and it's perfect. You can feel the love Diane puts into the painting and the whole process of the transaction. Thank you!"

And thank you Dana for being so generous and brightening my day!

Wabi-Sabi = "Happy Accidents"

Initially this piece wasn't going the way I had hoped & decided to just take a chance. I splashed Gamsol onto it, letting it drip & flow naturally. After a moment or two I squeegeed it removing a couple of layers. Suddenly my heart laughed loving the color that was revealed! There it was, "Streams in the Desert"! What a Wabi-Sabi happy accident!

Are you wondering what is Wabi-Sabi? Well I first became aware of Wabi-Sabi in art after reading these two books by Serena Barton:

"Wabi-Sabi Art Workshop: Mixed Media Techniques for Embracing Imperfection and Celebrating Happy Accidents" and "Wabi-Sabi Painting with Cold Wax: Adding Body, Texture and Transparency to Your Art" 

available at Amazon

In her introduction Barton describes 
Wabi-Sabi as a Japanese philosophy "that honors the imperfect, the transitory, the handmade...…. It evokes a sense of acceptance of the transitory nature of life. Creating intuitive Wabi-Sabi inspired art...….is like taking a journey, a journey without a map."
Reading both of these books helped me not just to loosen up for abstract painting, but to play and experiment with art and to just go with it. Oil & Cold Wax is the perfect medium for Wabi-Sabi style. 

The medium is so wonderful especially for painting abstracts. It's playable & versatile and allows you try all sorts of tools. It's perfect for "intuitive" painting! If I don' t like some part, it can easily be changed in a number of different ways and almost always I discover a "happy accident" as in this piece.

6x6 "Streams in the Desert" 

1st Sale for January 2020

Hooray! My first sale this year!

A tiny landscape painting of Vermont 

measuring just 2.5 x 3.5 inches done in acrylic 

Thank you Dana in beautiful CA!

Breathing Free

                                            

Breathing Free

Painting "Breathing Free" was pure joy! The of layering colors with my palette knives and scraper seemed to lift my spirits and  set me free from the doldrums.  One of my favorite parts of this piece are the loose grasses. 

                   

         This is done in Cold Wax & Oil on a 

12x12 cradled gesso board

                                     

September Field

September Field 8x8 oil & cold wax

detail

When I first did this little piece, the sky had a much different feel & look as you can see in the picture below.

As often is the case, I decided to rework part of it, 

I changed the sky to the one below

I liked it much better, yet it still didn't please me perfectly. I had another go at the sky &  finally it's done!

September Field is available at etsy

Oil & Cold Wax

Early in 1999 I experimented with a new medium... Oil & Cold Wax. Unlike encaustic in which the wax is melted with resin & gives off toxic fumes, cold wax can be done anytime without toxic properties. All you need is oil paint, cold wax medium (which has the look & consistency of shortening), Gamsol by Gamblin for cleanup plus your tools & surface.

The above pic  shows  my first purchases for this new medium, a set of oil paints, 2 different brands of oil paint sticks (one brand I didn't like working with at all) a small can of ColdWax Medium, small bottle of Gamsol, palette knives & a couple squeegee like tools. 



I immediately discovered that I love painting in Oil & Cold Wax! The process of blending the oil paint and Cold Wax Medium with your palette knife to a creamy texture is relaxing & restorative. You can paint wet into wet, or let the paint dry before adding another layer. You can remove layers with Gamsol or carve into the layers. It's wonderfully versatile. Painting in this medium usually takes me much longer than painting in acrylics, but I find it much more satisfying & enjoyable. 

The above painting was my 2nd attempt, learning and experimenting with this different medium & to see what I can do in Oil & Cold Wax.

Collage with Tea Bags

One of my morning rituals is drinking tea after my devotions & I thought

 "why not incorporate/reuse the teabags into my collages?" 

Here are examples & a mini film as how I do it.

 The one above is called "the Golden Hour" and is available at etsy.

Below is a mini series call "Tea Fields" also at etsy.

All these collages can be found at etsy

tea bag collages

So It's Like This ... Part 3

If you look at the date, it's been almost a year since I wrote "..Part 2". 
I'd like to say that I'm 100% back to my pre-stroke status; but alas I've come to accept that this is the new normal. Yet I have 100's of things to be grateful for! 

And here's the one my hubby gave me... a studio!!!!

God bless him! He had our tiny leaking back porch converted into my own studio! I made this photo collage shortly after it was finished, but it looks a bit different now. I put away my easel as it took up too much room and instead he made a way to turn a wall into one! love it :) I have more supplies now of course; my collage supplies are temporarily packed away with my paints taking center stage.
What a blessing and joy it is to walk into my little studio and create anytime & everytime that I am able!
I will be sharing pics of my new work and details of my new favorite medium soon.

So it's like this - part 2

In April of  '16 I wrote this post
https://theexpressivepalette.blogspot.com/2016/04/so-its-like-this.html   things were going well but suddenly I had an update to that post...  a stroke in Dec.

Once again, life as I knew it changed & my art came to a stand still. I closed my etsy shop.  After months of therapy I was able to pick up my art  supplies. I began reworking & experimenting with 2 pieces I no longer cared for, & liked the result.  I ended up making a few more mixed media landscapes. I like the simplicity of these pieces and the more subdued color palettes.

I still have trouble painting. Since I paint on the kitchen counter & stove top, setting up, painting, then cleaning up so I could prepare dinner, and setting up again - well it's just to difficult for me  these days.

But there is good news that has come from all this, & I'll share the news in a future post :)

mixed media abstract

When I was making this piece in 2016 before my stroke,

it had me thinking of deep space,

it was as if I were on another planet singing praises.

It's mixed media and acrylic on cradled ampersand.

I haven't listed it on etsy as yet.

When the sun goes down

Lately I have been trying my hand at mini sunsets. I would love to go to an artists retreat, take classes or even take an on-line class on sunsets, but right now with money the way it is,  it's just learning as I go.

Sunset 4x4  SOLD

 

"At Sunset"  4x4 ~ Sold

Sunset II 3x5 SOLD

Sunset III 3x5 SOLD!

That Elusive Certain Something

I was talking with a friend about some new landscapes I've been working on that had a bit of a  Nebulous feel; yet for the life of me I couldn't describe them.  I am  trying to paint something... to capture something that I can't seem to put into words. I want it to feel dreamlike, other worldly,   mysterious and compelling.  I want the viewer to look at the paintings and want to linger & wonder. 

These are the first three... I love these paintings & can see they're getting closer to it, but that "certain something" still eludes me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And then, this one. 

Nebulous IV

You might have seen the beginning of this painting on my last post. 

It was to be an abstract with collage accents when I picked up paint instead of acrylic medium. With each stroke of color I could see the painting was attaining that nebulous dreamlike feel. 

So far, this one captures that elusive certain something more than the others, but now I am hopeful that I might be able to attain it. 

Lighting for Photos

You might be wondering... "Is she taking pictures on top of her washer?!" Yup. I have struggled for years trying to get good light without any abnormal colors. In order to take good photos of art, or I guess anything that sells on line, a light tent or good natural light is needed. Our wee abode is surrounded by trees which block a lot of light & so many pics would have a greenish tint.  I have tried every window in our home with only modest success. Normally much photo editing is needed to capture the colors accurately.


But just recently I discovered that on top of the washer is THE best place for photos, I get lots of natural light without any green tint to the photos. It's close to the back door with a large window which gives me perfect light for photos of my small paintings. Plus the white enamel and my handmade white card stock screen reflect 
the light and the colors perfectly!!

Oh the paintings... the upper left is practically finished, I just have to paint the sides. The large has the most work left to do..it's a new color palette for me. And the smallest painting still has a way to go before I consider it finished.

Two New!! Who Knew? :)

Last night I finally finished one landscape and am very close to finishing the "reworking" of an abstract.  

The landscape is mainly a palette knife painting with a wee bit of glazing and a couple of small brush strokes where needed.  

I'm having the dickens of a time capturing the colors of the painting accurately. Maybe I need a light box or a better camera because I always have trouble anytime I include shades of purple in my paintings.  

When I finish with the photo editing of this one I'll list it on etsy.

 This small abstract isn't finished, but I know where it's going. It started out all done in acrylic inks, but I am adding acrylic paint to it in little spaces. Right now all the yellow you see is new, but I'll be adding more colors too.

 update.... almost finished  the tentative title might be "life" but not sure yet. 

1926 Cartoon

 A little bit of whimsy  for you today... this watercolor, which would be perfect for a child's room if I may be so bold.
And this darling claymation  cartoon from 1926!!
 Smile  & Have fun!

 Claymation: "The Penwiper" 1926 Joseph Sunn; Stop-Motion Animated Cartoon
 

He says "up", I say "across"

I  had a 4x6 stretched canvas that was a little bit loose, & my normal hot water/shrink it remedy didn't make it tight enough to suit me. So this provided me with the perfect opportunity to play without the guilt  of ruining a good canvas experimenting.  This is done in acrylic with one strip of teal artisan paper.

The work in progress.  At this point, I really like it.  side notes} I protect my kitchen counter & stove top with a black vinyl tablecloth  I picked up at the dollar store,(they were out of white).   My palette is made of paper plates covered with foil, when finished I flip the foil over & have a clean palette.) 

I turned the painting vertically adding just a few more accents & then called this finished. ((OH and to my surprise, the acrylic mediums I used, seems to have tightened up the canvas!))

My husband likes this vertical & while I really like it that way, I lean towards  horizontal. I can see it both ways.  Would you please give me your opinion as to which way looks best?