What's UP in the Studio- Switching Gears to a New Painting......VERY LONG!

I am almost ready to go back to my tulip painting, after studying it for a bit I think I know where I want to go with them.  It's funny or weird that as an artist, I'll focus on working at one kind of subject or style, only to find myself moving beyond it to other things.  When I started painting again 3 years ago, I didn't want to paint people, I wanted to paint flowers!  We'd been living in the Caribbean for 7 years and tho' there are many charms of living on an island, tropical flowers really don't do anything for me!  So I was obsessed with roses, and pansies and oh the TULIPS.......and so, that's where the flower thing came from.
At this point in my life, I'd also kind of forgotten HOW to paint so I needed an easy subject that I could paint over and over again as I relearned how to "see" the colors and textures and shape relationships.....

This was my first attempt and though you probably can't tell what kind of flower it is; it was during my "Moonflower obsession".....I can definitely see a difference in where I was as an artist at that point.  These pieces are much "flatter" than what I do now.  I suppose at that time, I was looking to create exact replicas from my references.  Not very creative, but I felt it was useful for what my goal was at the time- remembering HOW to paint, create good compositions, and building a body of work.

I think I've come a ways in my color choices- this remains my least favorite of any painting I have EVER done!

In my mind, this Nasturtium piece was where the "lights came back on" for me and I really turned a corner with the quality of my work.  I was finally seeing some improvement!  Even though, I was still not making progress with creativity at this point- I was getting closer to my goals :)

These two, were a bit "daring" for me at that point in that I started moving away from matching exact color palettes to my references and began using my own color choices whether they were part of the reference or not.   It's also where I became a bit more abstract in my comps- less concerned with the flower being recognizable as what KIND of flower it was and more interested in the shapes, colors and inflections of light.

This is probably my favorite of my flower paintigns.  It's also the last flower I did where I was completely inspired to DO a flower as my subject.  BUT I was at a loss as to what direction I wanted to move towards.  And for me, it's really important to paint on a regular basis, whether I'm inspired or not.  So, I kept doing flowers, and more flowers, always waiting for inspiration to lead me where I wanted to be- even though I didn't know where that was!

One of the reasons I joined my Etsy team, Inspiration Avenue was in hopes of being guided towards new areas in my paintings......I was still feeling so uninspired.  I knew I wanted to change, but HOW?

This was from an IA challenge, and the first painting that sparked a glimmer of recognition that I was moving in the right direction for me- it felt RIGHT and poured off the brush onto the canvas.  I wasn't worried so much about detail- I just knew I wanted light and movement- the suggestion of a garden....

After that, I went back to more flowers, and more flowers......and some MORE flowers- always waiting for another inspiration.  Then IA's theme was coffee or tea- something along those lines.....I wanted to do a lady, and I wanted her to have lime green in her face and this reminded me of Matisse's portrarait of his mother which I decided to use as a reference....which led to my "Mocha Mama"

And I knew that THIS is where I want to be as an artist.  

I felt like I was finally figuring out how to "spark the muse"  And I now know that it won't happen every time.  It's important to keep painting and to keep loose.  I've come a long way, and still have further to go.  But I'm (slowly) getting there, and that gives me a measure of peace :) 

So, here's my new painting, I'm not done with her, but I'm VERY happy with her!  She was inspired by a Klimt painting, and I tried to follow what I did with Mocha Mama in taking inspiration and then going my own direction.......

So there you have it- I really didn't plan to write a novella this morning, it just kind of poured out.  So if you've stayed with me for this long, I must thank you for your patience and promise that my next posting will be more along the lines of "short and sweet"!

Have a bright and beautiful day!

Stephanie





What's UP in the Studio- Progress on "Midnight in the Garden"

Hello all, I actually made a LOT of progress on my new painting these last couple of days. Tho' I'm pretty sure that I won't be done for IA's new challenge :) I do have something else I can use so it's not that big a deal....This particular painting is the biggest canvas I've ever worked with- it's 16" x 20" which doesn't sound that big, but for me, it's approaching HUGE! Anyway, here's what I have so far, and dare I say it without jinxing myself? I'm VERY happy with the way it's going!

So that's all for now, I'm off to get some more work done!
Happy a great day!
Stephanie

I feel like I've been missing in action.....!

Sorry it's been so long since I wrote anything. It's been crazy around here! My Mom and I host a home a Home Show twice a year and last week was our Fall show. So, while I've managed to poke my head in around other people's blogs and leave the occasional comment, I haven't had time to do anything on my own blog; not even Silent Sunday!
Right now, I'm trying to plan my entry for our new theme at Inspiration Avenue- Community and how it realates to food. Tough one! Plus, I need to get going on my new painting, so I'm trying to combine the two! AND, once again, I've got artist's block........
Here are a couple of pictures I took at the Atlanta Flower Show, that I'm thinking of trying to make work:

I'm not even sure how I can make this work with the theme, but I'm hoping once I get going with the painting I'll be more able to make it work. I think half my problem is that it's been a couple of weeks since my last painting, and I'm in some kind of withdrawal.....

Sorry for the bleccky mood.....

Hope everyone else is having a great day at least!

Stephanie

what's UP in the studio- Altered Books and a New WIP...

Here are some of the altered books I finished for the show a couple of weeks ago.  I've managed to list most of them in my Etsy shop.....I'm slooowly getting back to a normal schedule!

I used my current favorite technique of tearing and collaging printed images from my paintings

And the quote I used reads; " 'Tis moonlight, summer moonlight all soft and still and fair, the solemn hour of midnight" by Emily Bronte.

again the collage technique; did I mention it's my current fave?  I also made a bookmark to go with......

I also enjoy doing pop-ups and here's a close up of the seed envelope opened....

For my new painting, that I'm sketching out today I chose to use this image of a peony and iris....

So that's about all that's going on with me.  Have a great day!

Cheers,

Stephanie

what's UP in the studio- More Easter stuff and Works in Progress....

Here it is Thursday and I'm just now doing my "Whazzup" post.....ooops!  Bill and I have been working like crazy people in the garden and sadly, there just aren't enough hours in the day to do anything other than divide tasks and delegate levels of priority to them.  Since painting is REALLY important to me, it gets placed pretty high on the list.  However, I pretty much lost all last week to being sick and am now playing catch up- in the studio and in the garden, and in the house too, but really, is a clean house completely necessary?  Well I suppose it is when one is planning Easter dinner for 12 people the house should probably be clean or at least neat.....but I digress, and I'll get to the house in good time :) Right now, I need to finish my parrot tulip which has once again changed it's mind that it would rather be red than black......

And ever since Regi at Southern Ooaks  posted a tutorial on hand blown eggs decorated with German glass, I've been dying to do some.  I used to have a collection of eggs that my children had painted for me, and some that I'd done as well, but over the years they have been broken so it is now time to create some more!

Also, I ALMOST completed the weekly challenge at Inspiration Avenue last week, but just didn't make it in time....The theme was "opposites" and I was using complimentary colors to interpret it with.  I had actually meant this painting to be the insert for my new altered book, but while I like the colors of both book and art, I don't like them together........

So, I'll use the book base for this week's entry!  Since the Home Show is in three weeks, everything I do has to be something I can use in the show.  I've chosen to do one of my Joie de Vivre books using a print from one of my paintings- only the covers are done here- I still have to attach the print.  The theme this week is "I" and I haven't chosen a quote for the cover yet, but it will be something along the lines of "I believe I can fly" or Inspiration gives you wings......dunno yet, but it'll come to me I'm sure.  Actually, any ideas or suggestions would be hugely appreciated!

That's all for now- cheers!

Stephanie

what's UP in the studio- Easter Goodies.........

I have done almost NOTHING this week!  Monday started out great, I got one project finished and another well on it's way, but as the day progressed, I began to feel worse and worse.  And that night, I woke up with a fever and a sore throat like I've never had.....anyway, I spent the entire week being sick and sorry, and TRYING to get work done.  But for me, when I try to paint and I'm not feeling well, it's like I can't SEE properly or something, anyway, everything I tried to do had to be redone, and then redone again.  Finally today I woke after seven hours of sleep feeling relatively human.  I think I might even be able to manage a little work before the kids get up.....

For now, let me show you the one project I managed to get done this week- an Easter banner.  I've been wanting to make a banner for a while now, but just never got around to it.  Then a couple of weeks ago, my blog friend Elizabeth from Altered Book Lover posted a tutorial on how to make a banner with hand embellished papers.  Elizabeth is amazing- she always shares the most creative ways to make art and has lots of Altered Art goodies on her site; I always feel like I'm in the candy shop when I'm at her blog- never know what I'll find, but it's always a delicious treat. This tutorial was a five day challenge she had set for her Yahoo group and she shared images of their results. One of the participants, Linda Manning did an Easter banner which I loved, so much I wanted to make my own. Actually Linda's blog, The Art Sook is gorgeous too, a great find even without the banner.....

So with no more digression, here's MY take on the Easter banner:

For my papers, I veered from the project a bit in that I used antique music sheets which I painted with a thin layer of white acrylics and collaged scraps of doilies leftover from Valentine's Day.  I glued these to card stock for exra stability and color.  Then I just went to all the blogs with free vintage images until I found six that I liked, cropped them down and glued those suckers on.  The lettering started as a brassy gold to which I added a layer of white glitter to try for the look of that 1940's glitter, it looks a LOT better in real life- my camera just didn't capture the effect in this case!  Hey Elizabeth, does this count as bricolage  even though I used my printer?  Everything else was stuff I had readily on hand....

So there you have it, my Easter banner (which I LOVE) my one completed project of the week!  Go check out Elizabeth and Linda's blogs, I guarantee you'll enjoy the experience!

Oh just as a caveat for anyone who clicks on the image to see it better, ignore the view of our back garden which is a WIP progress at this time- we don't ordinarily decorate with garbage cans.....my husband cut down a Mulberry tree last week and is slooowly clearing the debris and then we also built a new raised bed for our veggies and cutting garden which is waiting to be filled with pretties.

what's UP in the studio?

Here's my update for all the projects I'm working on this week.  Once again, I've probably been too ambitious, but we'll see how it goes:)

For starters, I'm getting close to completing my new tulip that I started last week.  It began as a deep crimson parrot, but somewhere along the way decided that it wanted to be a black parrot when it grew up, so I've finished the highlights and just have to work on the purple-black tones the fade out from the center and the background....so not much longer, I hope!

Next up;  this weeks challenge for Inspiration Avenue is "My Town".  Since I've been dying to do an art doll and a shadow box from a canvas, that's how I'm going to address the challenge.  Here are some of the materials, I'm planning to use.....

And last but not least, my new altered book.  I've finished the prep work on the book, I'm just going to white wash over the exterior and then modge-podge the butterfly papers on.  Then I'll paint my Joie figure onto the canvas, and put the quote on the cover.  I *might" add some tags in, haven't really decided yet;)

There you have it, what's UP in the studio for this week, I'm crossing my fingers that work goes fast and well.

Happy creating- Cheers,

Stephanie

what's UP in the studio- or not as the case may be.....

I know as artists we all have those weeks where no matter what we're working on, nothing seems to go exactly as planned.  I got my daffadil painting almost completed, but after working and reworking and REWORKING the shadows on the petals, it's still not quite where I want it to be.  For the moment, I'm putting it aside lest it become completely overworked!
Then the Joie de Vivre painting for my altered book was AWFUL, it started out great but quickly became "cute" and the more I tried to "uncute" it, the cuter it became.  I think it was too big; with this series suggestion and movement are key elements and painting it as an 8" x 10" piece there was too much room for details and once I got bogged down in the details, I lost the spontaneity which is what "makes" the Joie de Vivre paintings.....anyway, I'm doing a redo this week, and then maybe I'll reveal the awfully, hideously cute version that's making me nauseous even as we speak- I'm just too embarrased to show it right now.

Here is what the Daff painting looks like at this point.....just so I have something to show for the last week :)

My goal for our show was to have 15 paintings- right now I have 10 not counting the Daff which WILL be done then.  But the other half of my goal was to create paintings of flowers that can be grown from seeds and then incorporated as prints into affordable altered books which was one of my best sellers at the last show.  Of course daffodils can't be grown from seeds so I've already diverged from my plan......so why not move a little further off the path and treat myself with a tulip painting......
SO, my goals for the week are to get a new painting in the works- probably featuring a parrot tulip- I'm feeling something like Rococo withdrawal.....
Redo the Joie painting and get it installed into it's book and prep a couple more books to feature printed versions of my flower paintings and seeds to go with them.
Happy Monday, have a great week!
Stephanie

what's UP in the studio?

This week I'm working on a couple of projects and I'll show you what they are, but first I want to show you how I finished my "Before the Seed" Green Envy Zinnia altered book.  You might remember that it was almost done last week except for the back....... 

                                   

 And here it is; I kept it sweet and simple since the other side has so much going on- just a little more torn paper, a collaged butterfly and my signature & date. 

Now for this week; I have two new projects.  First up is my second painting in my daffodil series.  I took this picture last Spring and have wanted to paint it ever since.  It has that glowy quality of light that attracts me so often- maybe I have a little of the moth in me?  Anyway, here's one from the series of photos I'm using:

evidently Blogger's having issues with me today, because it's insisting on uploading this image UPSIDE DOWN!  Why, I don't know, maybe it likes it better that way?  It should be enough to at least give an idea of my general effect I'm going for.....

I got much of the background laid in yesterday and hopefully today I'll make good progress with the actual flowering parts of the plant.  For those of you who are cat folks, my assistant of the day is Latte who has won temporary custody of the desk until I remove him to the chair.....Peri, my muse from last week is holed up in the bed;)

My other project is for this week's challenge at Inspiration Avenue .  Cyndi, my team member in charge of this week's challenge wrote the following, "this week’s theme is all about changing the world in all the many forms it can take. Perhaps a beautiful piece of jewelry will change the world of the wearer. A small knitted booty will certainly change the world of the baby who wears it. Perhaps your piece will have a powerful message … for example; a piece using recycled materials can change the world with its Eco-friendliness. Or maybe a piece will elicit strong feelings of compassion, love and kindness. A painting … a sculpture … a collage … all can have power."

For my entry, I'm planning to create one of my Joie de Vivre altered books using butterfly wings, recycled book pages and tissue and a small painting......wait and see!
Here's to having a Happy Tuesday!
Stephanie

what's Up In The Studio?

O.K. so seriously, I call my work space a "studio" with tongue in cheek and the wishful thinking that some day I WILL have a studio......  But for now, I'm happy to have my own desk with all my stuff spread out in general disorder, at least it's MY disorder!  I'm trying to post more often and because I work SO slowly, I've decided to start a weekly posting visiting my works in progress.  Hopefully, seeing pieces at this point won't cause people to run screaming horror from their computer screens (as I sometimes feel like doing when a piece isn't going just the way I'd hoped...;))  Anyway, here are a couple of pictures of my desk in it's current state.....

Please allow me to introduce Peri, my mentor and muse and sharer of studio, er desk space, He says, "Welcome!"

You can see that he's guarding or sharing space with my new painting in the poppy series.....which is in the VERY early stages, and kind of an example of what kind of work I turn out when I'm not feeling well (like yesterday.....) hopefully, I'll be able to turn it around today.

Also on my desk, are the preps for what *might* be my subsission for this week's challenge at Inspiration Avenue.  The theme is "Purple" and I'm doing an altered board book with either an original painting of morning glories or a pair of my Joie de Vivre figures- haven't decided yet.  If I do the Morning Glories, I already have a book prepped and ready to go.....it all depends on how it goes with my poppy.

Last but not least of the projects on my desk is the book I started for last weeks challenge at IA but didn't get quite finished.  Also, I didn't feel like it fit the theme of "Reflections" well enough to justify rushing to the finish.  (FYI- on the last page, the packet contains zinnia seeds) I just need to do a little more on the outer cover and I'm done- note Peri's butt gradually reclaiming his, um MY space....

Anyway, that's what's going on in my "studio" at my desk......now I have to convince Peri that it's time to move his napping position to the bedroom....and get back to the desk before another kitty takes his spot ;)

Cheers,

Stephanie