The funny thing is that it almost turned to be very colorful... thanks to my clumsiness. As I was painting this, my daughter Hana was painting her masterpiece:
She finished and left a palette with big juicy globs of fresh acrylics on. You know Murphy's law... I was holding my canvas and painting the edges (trying not to get too much paint on my fingers) and my canvas fell - face down - right on the palette. The funny thing is that I didn't start panicking - I was looking for my camera to get a quick picture of it. Here it is - bright magenta, yellow, blue, green and even white on my monochromatic piece:
I was able to wash the paint of, and with it some of the painting. Interestingly enough - I liked the washed out pieces more, so I continued to sand the rest of the canvas, added some more details and called it a 'happy mistake'.
First thing that came to my mind was that real monsters are usually not the ones that look like monsters.I never altered a board book and this rainy day it seemed like the right time for it. I striped the shiny printed layer and gessoed over the pages. They were not as strong as I thought they would be so I glued two by two together (and added a little 'something' between). I decided to play with my transparencies sayings printed on vellum and everything else that I find. This is it for now. The glue and paint take long to dry... and I don't where to proceed from here, so for now this book is going to a "project in progress" bag. I'm posting it here so that I don't forget about it completely....
I woke up this morning very early (well not that early but before 8 a.m.) and headed right for the gym. To my surprise and disappointment there were people working out on all treadmills and ellipticals! As the music from my 'gym playlist' was already blasting in my ears I was not ready to go home, so I decided to take a long brisk walk on the beach. I am so lucky to live across the beach and it's a shame that I don't go there very often. We had a beautiful, sunny morning and I enjoyed every minute of my walk. I even had that wonderful, very rare feeling that at this exact moment EVERYTHING is just fine.... and that there is no need to stress out or worry about anything. I found some 'treasures' on my way and couldn't wait to use them.
So - the little art dolls were born.
and made this:
Happy Birthday wishes will be on the back. Will they like them?Three days ago I decided no t to list anything on eBay for a while. I need time.... time to finish some commissioned things, time to clean everything, time to organize my thoughts, time to exercise more, time to create freely, time to "torture" my daughter with math... time for everything. It was not an easy decision as eBay is quite addictive (not to mention that it helps pay for the fun of creating). Anyway - today they had a 10¢ fixed price item day and I just couldn't miss it. I don't know why.... It surely isn't because of the 25¢ I'll "save".... it's the addiction...
I listed my journals, transparencies, fun packs of bamboo beads and other stuff. And as I type this three have sold already. YAY!!!
Meet my friend - the Blue Rose. A really goody good girl, shy, very fearful of any kind of pain, one that you would never guess that wanted a tattoo. And yet - she did, much to my surprise. The blue rose tattoo was her way of celebrating her thirtieth birthday.We were supposed to go to
So, instead of packing winter clothes, I was preparing my art material and getting ready to sketch, journal and read while others have fun. I even decided to start a new journal, small enough to fit in my bag. Should the cover be cheery, white, snowy? Noooooooooo....... It turned out very dark, sad, hopeless... just the way I was feeling.
Dragonflies are flying away from me... weary eyes are looking at me... the crackle I guess shows the way I feel (old and crackled). Interesting how our art comes from the soul when we let it. Should I turn this into a journal about my fears? Scary.
We decided not to go because the weather changed for the worst. That didn't change the way I feel. Is there a magic pill to help me to become more adventurous? It seems so easy for so many people.
I wanted to try "Touch Drawing" for a long time... and obviously needed a challenge to finally do it. The girls from Inspire me Thursday say: This weeks challenge is to create a piece of art without using your senses." The first thing I thought was touch drawing. You should try it (even if my first pieces don't inspire you) because it's fascinating! You don't see what you are doing, you don't feel much (although you are using your fingers), oil paints have a smell but it's not that important) and you don't need sounds because everything comes from within. In a way - sense-less becomes a very sense-full experience.
The whole process is explained and demonstrated on the website ("Touch Drawing"). I used a piece of mylar, several colors of oil paint, roller and paper.... that's it! You roll the paint, cover it with paper and than use your tips of your fingers, nails, hands.... to draw on the paper. When it's finish you lift the paper and are surprised with the results.
The whole experience was wonderful and I wish I had more time to play. I had absolutely no expectations - you don't really know what's happening on the other side of the paper before you lift it. I was not creating it for sale (which is refreshing) and my inner critic had no reason to yell at me how untalented I was because I had an excuse for not doing it right. And I actually like the way some of it turned out. YAY!!! Thanks Misty & Melanie for the challenge!
"I follow the butterfly's cascading flight of 
What else happened today? I was watching the Oscars... my husband recorded himself playing the guitar so he is in my iPod now and can gently play in my ear whenever I wish... Internet was down most of the day - that's extra frustrating... my daughter cooked with me - that was fun... So, that's it. I have big plans for tomorrow - to start going to the gym again and to make a journal in a new, fun format.
Be sure to click here to see wonderful items with the theme "Crowns" from many different artists.
Smell.
Hear.
Taste.
Touch.
I think I'll try my luck with "Five senses" on eBay. I wrote about "Inspire me Thursday" in my auction. Too bad we are not allowed to put links in our auctions. I'll have to change my "about me" page to include the link.This was one of those rare days when you find a beautiful surprise in the mail. Tony Watson creates “collage wanderings” and I was the lucky receiver of one of them. I love both sides so I had to post both pictures (unfortunately the scans don’t do them justice).
Thank you so much! I'll think of you whenever I look at it.
Click HERE to see all the wonderful self potraits many artists did this week.
