"Nebula" watercolour

Nebula

3.25"x5"

watercolour

"Jubilant"

"Jubilant"

8.25" x 11.25"

watercolour, 90lb smooth watercolour paper, large chunk salt
(click on image to see larger version) 

I normally only use textured watercolour paper and found the smooth very different to work with.  Will take some getting used to but I really enjoyed doing this piece.

Home has cats, plants and gardens

I love noticing things that bubble up or trickle down into my art from my sub or super conscious.
This is the second yellow house with orange roof I've done!  I like this one much more than the 1st one.
I would never consciously choose those colours but they are in me somewhere!

I'm working with Speedball waterproof ink in a fountain pen I unearthed that is likely older than I am - and loving it.

first the drawing (which I let dry overnight so the markers would be less likely to smear):

then colour with markers:

5" x 6"

Very cheerful, sunny house.  I think it's straw bale with yellow stuccoed walls (and solar panels) :-)
I wasn't positive I could draw the garden well enough so I drew it elsewhere and cut and paste when I liked it (which thankfully was on the 1st try).  My work tends to be abstract or very loosely representational so I'm not too good at proportion or realism.

Repurposing Failed Projects

Some watercolour experiments don't turn out well so I use the paper as background or scraps for other projects.  All of the words shown in the lefthand photo will become fun inspiration tags like the Magic one shown above.
Update: I finally came across the photo that inspired me to do these (although the method is a bit different, the core idea was from here).  Like much of my favourite inspiration, this came from Daisy Yellow (thank again Tammy!).

I made a strange little decoration for one of my plants including this lovely Blue Jay feather my mom sent me in a Valentine's Day card - thanks mom!

Fragrance In Gluesticks

Due to the high VOC content in liquid glue, which I react badly to, I use gluesticks most of the time for my adhesive needs.
Unfortunately, the only gluestick that I had been able to find unscented has changed their formula and now adds fragrance. :-(
So I have less than one full gluestick left!  Woe is me!
I wish I knew why on earth companies feel the need to add fragrance to a glue stick.
I react to even small amounts that the average person can't smell.

If anyone knows of a glue stick that they are positive is fragrance free, can you let me know?  Unfortunately they don't label them as being scented so the only way I can find out is to buy it.

Thanks!

Inks With Paints

"evolve"

1.5"x6.25"

watercolour, inks

I'm loving the contrast that inks on paint can provide. 
Visit some of the links below to see some wild and wonderful work by artists incorporating inks with paints and other mediums.


I love:


- almost every single piece by Lawrence Yang 
seriously... go check this page out - there are so many and they are all so awesome! Yes, I like weird and wacky :-)

- these weird and wonderful pieces by Cherie Tan

artificial,
umbilical


- most of, but in particular, the fish pieces by Marina Korenfeld. (my fave is The Wind - sorry no direct link but it's near the bottom of the gallery thumbnails.)

Home Is...

Colouring Fun!

The child in me loves colouring.
There are many neat colouring books you can get these days that are details enough to appeal adult-level colouring skills.
There are also a number of places online where one can print off colouring pages for free.

I can't recall where I printed this one from but it's one of my favourites:

 

My thanks go to http://www.mandalarbre.com for their amazing, inspiring colourable mandalas. They are all designed by Marc Bove and are copyrighted.
They have galleries there where you can see various coloured-in mandalas. It's wonderful seeing all of those vibrant colours!  You often can print out free sample pages.  Here's one:

And if you love whimsy, check out Phee McFaddell's colouring pages!
Lots of fun fairies and fantastical creatures:

I like having a few colouring pages on the go - it can help me get unstuck on a main project.  I think that a freed-up inner child is a boon to any artist!

Getting Distracted by Clutter

I have gone into my new creativity room a number of times over the last few days with the intention of working on art... only to find myself distracted by organising or tidying the room.
Maybe it's easier for me to create when things feel settled around me.
The room is a big mess still.  It had been full of boxes and I'm slowly sorting through them - finding all sorts of things I was keeping 'in case' I wanted to use them in art 'some day'.  I have boxes and boxes of those 'some day' items!
I'd like to pare down but have a hard time deciding what to let go.

What a mess!
yes, that is a snake skin on the wall :-)  a wonderful snake I met this summer shed and left it fresh in the sun for me!

What is 'Home' to me?

I'm having fun working with this month's Creative Every Day theme of Home.

Have drawn a background, still have to glue on all the words and then plan to paint over everything with watercolours.  May add more words or ink after that.  I will post another picture of it when it's done :-)