Stuff ...

Don West is back at his blog at Idle Minutes. Unfortunately, his blog was hacked and he's had to start over so you won't see his past work but his future work is well worth visiting for! The painting above is NOT MY WORK. It's a beautiful postcard / painting that Don sent to me in June of last year after I won it at his blog. It's watercolour applied very thickly and it's of McClure Pass in Colorado. (There's a bit of a smudge above the mountain peak from the post mark but other than that, it came through the mail pretty good!)

I went to the Focus Art meeting last night where there was a great presentation by Gerald Swift, Co-Ordinator for Artwork at The Abbey for the Arts. Gerald walked us through a list of introspective questions about our artistic goals. He also gave us some invaluable insight into gallery workings and sales. Each of us there not only learned about selling our work but also about ourselves as artists.

I've always been (so far) one of those artists who does not want to sell their artwork. I have a full time job already and I just want to create art because I have this need to create. I know that I don't want to sell it because I cannot sell my own work and I learned last night that this is very common among artists. Maybe one day I will. But for now, I'm concentrating on creating only. There sure seems to be a lot of hassles in the selling process, though.

I'm hoping that once the warmer weather gets here, I'll be able to get out to the Abbey to maybe just sit and paint (if they allow that). It's a beautiful place.

For Teresa

My good friend, Teresa, asked a few questions that I thought I'd answer as a post rather than just answering in the comment section. (Teresa's blog is awesome. Go check it out!!)

Here are her questions;
Deb, what do you mean with gel "transferring"? I need to learn all the techniques you're using for these pages! I use a gel mat medium (deSerres brand) and sometimes soft gel glossy (Golden). Just paint it onto the page, lay a photocopy, printed copy or magazine page down, rub hard, wait for about 2 minutes, then rub off the back paper. You're left with an image on the page. It takes some practice though. I just ruined a photograph of my parents on their wedding day that I wanted to transfer onto a page. Grrrrr.

Also, why there's no the same risks with fluid acrylics than with normal ones? is it because they dry faster or what? When I painted the pages with the fluid acrylics, the paint dries to permanent just like regular acrylic paint. It won't lift at all. Being fluid acrylic, it can be treated like watercolour only while you're painting it and it's wet. After it dries, it's permanent. If I did the background pages with watercolour, and I used non-staining paints, think of the mess it'd make when I put something wet over it. There are ways of getting around it (i.e. using staining paints, putting on a light layer of varnish, etc) but I have all these fluid acrylics and thought it'd just be a whole lot easier to get where I wanted to get. Btw, fluid acrylics do dry faster than the watercolours also.

I wasn't too crazy about them when I first got them and tried them out but I'm slowly converting. Guess I don't take to change very easily. lol. But soon, I'll try Nick's way of painting again and see if I'm any better at it. (I've totally given up on that fluid acrylic waterlily. I cringe every time I look at it.)

aaaaah I need to know lol, sorry for pestering you with questions :) Tsk, tsk, tsk, Teresa! What a statement! You KNOW you never pester me! LOL!

Don't forget to check out Teresa's blog - Lost in Wonder. She's an incredible watercolourist!!! Look for her portrait of Tim Burton while there! Wow!

gel transfers

I've got some background work done on another journal page. It was done using gel transferring. I'm learning but I kind of like the grungy kind of colour in the three corners. The other colour (which was applied over one of the yellow pages) is fluid acrylic. I like using the fluid acrylics here so that I don't have to worry about it lifting in the many subsequent layers. Lots of collaging, layering, painting, writing and touching up to do here. I wasn't going to post this but thought I should just to show I'm back in the saddle again. lol

Also been working on another Japanese gate - drawing and transferring to w/c paper.

Now, off to work, then home again and then checking out blogs to see what you've all been doing!!!

A few more journal pages

This one says a lot about what I've been going through;














The pomegranite was collaged. I used pastels to create the soft halo around it. Unfortunately, you can't see the border very well.

The city was collaged, too. The darker spot of burnt orange and yellows is actually blended fibre medium. Kind of like a little canvas on which I'm going to paint something.

Robert Tiso ...

Have you ever heard Robert Tiso play a glass harp? The man truly has magic in his hands! Beautiful! I stumbled across his videos on Youtube while searching out some classical music. (I was in a classical mood.) My jaw dropped when I heard his and it stayed 'dropped' while I listened to all his videos there. Totally amazing!

I've been listening to his work while cleaning up my painting area. It's become horribly messed up. As soon as I'm finishing, I'm going to sit down and work at a watercolour version of those water lilies I worked on a while back.

I tried to watch some art videos at CPP today but I think too many people were there. I did get to see Carl Dalio on Colour Power and picked up several hints and tips.

Hope your Christmas was beautiful and that the coming year is awesome for you.

Canajan, eh?

Some Canadian humour. I just had to post these you're-probably-Canadian-isms because so many are so true! ROTFLOL! My comments are in brackets.

Forget Rednecks...
Here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about Canadians:

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you may live in Canada. (they used to - now during that time, they just close at 8 pm instead of much, much later as in summer)

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you may live in Canada. (done this myself! Often.)

If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you may live in Canada. (Just shorts and a parka? How 'bout sandals, too!)

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialled a wrong number, you may live in Canada. (LOL.)

If 'vacation' means going anywhere south of Detroit for the weekend, you may live in Canada. (doesn't apply. American-wise, I've never been south of Lake Placid and Syracuse. Is Old Forges more south than that???)

If you measure distance in hours, you may live in Canada. (I am so guilty of this one. Ask me hour far Toronto is and I'll automatically say 4 hours.)

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you may live in Canada. (know many!)

If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' in the same day and back again, you may live in Canada. (done this often!)

If you can drive 90 km/hr through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you may live in Canada. (who hasn't done this??? I thought it was normal.)

If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you may live in Canada. (Where I grew up, the locks on the doors didn't even work!)

If you carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you may live in Canada. (Excuse me? Of course, I know how to use them!)

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you may live in Canada. (well, natch!)

If the speed limit on the highway is 80 km -- you're going 95 and everybody is passing you, you may live in Canada. (LOL - isn't that what the 401 is all about?)

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you may live in Canada. (Fact of life!)

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you may live in Canada. (LOL)

If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you may live in Canada. (Well, since I don't own a snowblower and we shovel by hand, this one doesn't apply. Each winter, I swear we're going to get one but somehow winter rolls around and I'm still shovelling by hand, trying to convince myself that it is a terrific workout.)

If you find -2 degrees 'a little chilly', you may live in Canada. (-2 is for those days of wearing shorts, a 'parka' and sandals if the snow's not flying. If it is, then just the 'parka' and shorts. Though, I don't know any self-respecting Canadian who refers to them as "parkas". ) (Btw, -2 is almost tropical.)

If you actually understand these jokes, and forward them to all your friends,you definitely are Canadian and proud to be. (Does posting it to your blog count?)

And another page ......

This page is about things I like to paint with. It's hard to see the writing but just in case you're interested, here's what it says ....

Things I Love to Paint With! My studio window open, birds chirping. I like that there are no trucks around here! I like the sound of a hot summer Sunday. If I look out my studio window, there are birds at the feeders. I like the colour of the water in the pool. This aqua. I like the sound of the summer breeze gently moving the wood blinds and the bamboo wind chimes. I love to have some flowers on my painting table so they can die and be painted by me. A bottle of wine, a wineglass and a few sips. My favourite brushes. A dip in the pool when the heat gets to be too much. Then back here. Living in my swimsuit ALL day long on each day off - rain or shine. Quiet. I love how QUIET this house is. I love how this house breathes. I love how this house sighs with deep contentment. I live in this beautiful house. It speaks to me. This house speaks good things to me.

Too weird?