Painting BIG

My inner mermaid 48" X 36" or 3ft x 4ft, it sounds even bigger when measured in feet.  To get the paper this big I taped 4 pieces of 18 x 24 paper together.  When I took the paper off the wall where I painted it I really had no where to put it. I ended up putting it on a different wall in my studio, just so I could look at it more.  All the other paintings I did fit right into a portfoilio I made with poster board. She was fun to do and it took a long time and a lot of paint.

This is my last week in BIG and I may go even bigger.  Some of the artists in the past have done painting as tall as they are so I think I want to try that. So I have 6 pieces of paper ready to be taped together. i have loved taking this class. Connie Hozvika is just amazing, being a professional teacher she really knows her stuff and how to run a class. I have to say that I have taken a lot of online classes and my favorites so far are Mystele's Gut Art and BIG.

Now the reason these are my favorites is because they did not show me how to paint like they did in a step by step way.  Don't get me wrong there is value in those kind of classes when you want to learn how to paint something in particular. I think the problem is you end up with a lot of paintings who look like the teachers work. Not enough emphasis is put on using the ideas but doing it your own way.

These classes broadened my view of myself as an artist, they gave me confidence to explore in my own way. I am not the same person I was before taking them. BIG has really opened the world of art in ways that I have never had before. When I stood to paint my first painting in class the thought running through my head was I feel like a real artist. Going through all the process and exercises and inspirations in BIG really has changed how I view my own art. I now see no limitations. Look out world this artist has been unleashed.

The other thing about BIG is its not just about the painting, it is about so much more.

The Artist Way - week 11 - A sense of Autonomy

Week 11 is all about discovering a sense of autonomy. Julia talks about how we insist on a straight and narrow path but the artist way is a spiral path. I really resonated with that. We seem to travel the path and then begin again over and over. If we lose that beginners mind we lose out on so many things.

Having just started doing Nanowrimo again I particularly found this quote to be helpful "You are lost the instant you know what the result will be" - Juan Gris. Such a hopeful thought when writing a novel when you haven't a clue whats going to happen next. I think that will be a quote for my writing desk. Of course the quote really applies to painting and journaling too. If you knew what the end result would always be, would you take the time to create. I think its that journey we take that is so important.


















I think a great example of taking that journey is this painting in my gut art journal. When I started out I knew there a face hidden in there but I had no clue on where it would take me. I had a journey of discovering how to do more ethnic faces and skin color. First she was in a blue dress but I initially wanted yellows and reds to dominate. This is done mostly in Golden fluid acrylics.

I had my blue dress which I didn't like so I put gesso over it and thought I'd paint the dress yellow. My first thought, was would the fluid yellow that I had cover it? Many fluid acrylics are transparent. Then I thought of using heavy bodies acrylics instead and it worked perfectly. In not knowing how this would end I really learned a lot of things that I wouldn't have otherwise. All art is a journey of some sorts. I am really glad I took this one. Now I will incorporate both kinds of acrylics in my paintings.

Finding my groove

I have been behind in the Gut art class so I have been trying to play catch up. These pieces are all results of my field trips in the class.













In this one I was encorporating a style, yes only part of the horse is supposed to be there.













The inspiration for this was some native american black and white pottery. I really liked working on her. I started with black gesso added the paper and then drew her on the page. It seemed to be too dark so I added the background at the end.














Finally got around to painting a Raven. The artist whose work I was encorporating used a lot of vertical lines so I added them to my background. I am pretty happy with this piece too. I am finding if I treat these experiments as pure play the work is easier and I feel better about it. I am so loving this class.

Gut art and a new toy

This was a exercise in the Gut art class. We take these field trips to artist sites that are really fun. We were to make a piece of art to fit in with the scheme of artist Cora Marshall's work. One of the things that Marshall has done has taken old advertisements about runaway slaves and given them a face. This was my interpretation of this. The piece looks so much better in person, it sort a looks washed out here. I really enjoyed working on it.






















Awhile ago I did some sewing in exchange for my friend Jennifer. In exchange she gave me a piece of sculpture. She calls these pieces guardians. Its a Raku firing and you can see so much color in the piece. I have her on my messy feminine altar. I think I need to redo this space. For now its a good place for her to be, away from all my cats.

















I bought this yesterday, its my going to be my Christmas Present to me. I know its a little early but I certainly was not going just keep it in the box and not play with it. My local craft store had a 100.00 off coupon so the price was right. I think I will make my xmas cards with it so now its justified.

Its a Cricut electronic die cutting machine. Usually scrapbooker's buy them but I am finding that I will really be able to use it in my mixed media work and other crafty projects. At first I wasn't sure I could justify the cost but now I am finding more and more uses. You can even cut out cards and envelopes to match with it. I also plan to use to to make some words in vinyl for my studio walls. Plus all the lettering fonts I know I will be using them in my art journals. What fun!

New Pens

Look at all these lovely colors of brush pens. They are going to be so much fun. They are pitt artist pens and they were 3 different sets that I sound at Michaels. Unfortunetly there were two duplicates. They come in 40 colors. If I want others I think I will need to find somewhere online that sells them individually.






















This is the inside front cover from the Gut Art Book I made. I used an old piece of art to remind me where I started on this artistic journey.






















This is the back cover of my gut art book.






















and here is the inside back cover.






















I did this as an exercise for class. This little lady was found art.






















This lady I painted from a drawing I did. At first I did not like her because the proportions were all wrong. Then in class it was suggested she looked like a Modigliani. I did not know that artist so I looked him up. The face does look like his style. How funny is that. So I decided to keep her as she was instead of messing with her.

Playing in the Studio

Well the craziness of October has begun. I am taking 2 online classes, doing 2 book groups plus extra activities from my regular life. Its fun and crazy and time consuming but I still love it.






















In the Gut Art class we are making a book to hold our observations and so forth. This is the cover I made. The class is all about finding your authentic artistic self and I am really having fun with it. Mystele says its all about play so that is what I have been doing. Sometimes it is hard to let loose to be able to do that but I am giving it my best shot.

Some new classes

I signed up for some new classes today that you may find really interesting. First the lovely Mystele at Little Glimpses Studio is teaching her Gut Art class. Its all about painting authentically and to your own style and looks to be awesome. You can sign up here. If you haven't been to her blog I recommend it. She has wonderful videos. She does this technique where she pulls an image out of a painted background. Be sure to watch that video it is really fascinating.

Next I found this class through Nina Bagleys blog Ornamental. The Poetic Eye Point and shoot Journaling with LK LUdwig who wrote True Vision and many other books. It is all about using your own photos in your journals. Most of mine just languish on my hard drive so I am excited to be able to do more with them. You can sign up here

My October is going to be busy since I will be adding those to the the Artists Way and the Joy Diet with Jamie Ridler, which start tomorrow. Well all the work will get me prepared for Nanowrimo coming up in November. Sign ups for this year begin October 1st. Maybe this is the year you write that novel. I encourage you to come join the fun. This will be my fourth year. By now it doesn't seem like November if I am not writing along with thousands of other people from all around the world. If you have any questions about the National Novel Writing Month please email me.