Preparation for "Off the Grid"...

I'm not really going off the grid, although I used to harbor fantasies of that in my younger days. Too much reading of "My Side Of the Mountain" I guess. No, these are the pieces I have been working on for Artstream Gallery's "Off the Grid" show which opens this Friday Dec. 6th. I am so excited to be included. As a friend pointed out, this is the second time I have shown my work this year. How's that for throwing yourself out to the universe?
I have been working on these pieces for the past couple of months-ever since my friend Susan gave me the invitation.  Here is my process:

early concept-rejected because it was too literal

So one of the requirements was that we were allowed to submit up to 4 pieces. They also had to be a maximum of 6"x6". A challenge for me because I usually don't work so small.

I cut and then prepared the boards with a couple coats of gesso...

The concept that eventually came to me was that I wanted to paint a young woman pressing up against the proverbial glass ceiling, trying to break free of rules, confinement, strictures-the grid. I enlisted daughter #3 as model and took some photos of her from above. I selected 4 photos and based the drawings on them.

Photo, prepared board, and drawing

More photos and boards...

Starting to actually paint the figures was scary. I was afraid I was going to screw it up or make some irreparable mistake which I guess was silly because then I could just paint over it...

So I painted on fortified with the occasional glass of wine...

I decided to add the detail with prismacolor pencils so I could have more control. It also added an interesting layer of texture to the painting. I protected the pencil layer with a layer of acrylic medium and then added the glass ceiling after I had a glue trial with my glass and brass bits. I now own more glue than I will ever need...at least until the next project.

The finished pieces...Glass Ceiling #1, #2, #3, #4

Glass Ceiling #1

Glass Ceiling #2

Glass Ceiling #3

Glass Ceiling #4

A Furniture Reno Going On...

 This is my side project. My friend Joyce has been kind enough to donate to me several pieces of furniture which I have been rehabbing and placing around the house. The last one I picked up was an old refrigerator or icebox that her friend had given to her and was currently living in her garage. She sent me this picture:

As you can see it has some pretty cool tree designs on it and I thought it would be awesome as a bar.After I brushed, vacuumed, and bathed it, I started contemplating the general structure of it and realized that it was 3/4 of a refrigerator. Somebody at some point in time had removed 1/2 of the lower cupboard. No matter. It didn't affect my plans. At this point the husband got interested and suggested a structural rebuild of the lower portion. Can't keep engineers away from anything...This worked with my plans 'cause I wanted to make sure any nasty creepy crawlies were evicted from their former home. So this happened.

And then I did some more vacuuming and stepped back so this,

and this,

could happen. Next stage-putting it upright and fitting it for some shelves. Also waxing the exterior and rebuilding skirt for around the base...Stay tuned!

Things That Make Your Head Spin...

Today I sat down at one and joined in listening to Cloth Paper Scissors webinar, The Business of Art: Social Marketing For Mixed Media Artists. It took about an hour and a half and gave me a ton of information. A bit too much. I am now officially overwhelmed. I want to start selling my art on Etsy so I need to set up an Etsy shop. I need to promote my work on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and maybe Twitter. However I already have a personal Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest account. Supposedly all these things should match with names and contact info. Do I merge or start anew? Decisions, decisions...
In other worlds, here are a few things I have been working on in between working on the "Off the Grid" project. Hope you like them.

Terrariums. Always fun!

Messing around.

Getting Ready for the Big Time...

High excitement at Working Cat Studio. I was invited to participate in a local exhibit during the month of December. It is called "Off the Grid" and the theme is--you guessed it. Grid. It's the first time I have been asked to join in such an event and I'm super psyched. Is that even cool to say anymore? Whatever. I am. So we are allowed to submit four 6"x 6"boards which is a lot smaller than I usually work. That is my first challenge. My second is to complete what I envision for my entries. I have an idea but I don't know whether it is beyond my skills. I am going to go for it. Don't know whether I should make back up entries in case it doesn't pan out. Does anybody else do that? And holy crap, I've got to price them...
Oh well we will leave that to the last minute...like usual.

Sketching some ideas...

Preparing boards...with some extras.(just in case)

Gessoing the boards.

Stages...

That's a painting?!
Umm...not yet. It will be when I'm done, but it's got a long way to go. At least a dozen walks, countless sessions on Netflix and Amazon Prime streaming episodes of series that do not tax the brain too much and get you "in the zone", multiple cups of tea and coffee, and long sessions in the thinking chair deliberating on what to do next.

Thinking chair-complete with fuzzy blanket and pillows

Sometimes I believe that people think that paintings and other projects spring fully formed from the artist's head like Athena from Zeus (Don't get the reference? Greek mythology. Look it up. Lots of fun. Sorry. It's the librarian and the mom in me...) Or they think it's sort of like a coloring book. We draw the outline and fill in the colors. If only it were that easy...Sometimes you do have a vision what the finished project should look like and when you do try to put it down on canvas, paper, your media of choice-it never ends up looking like what you envision. That's when I feel like I have settled. Either because I have made peace with my mind and what I actually have created or because I have realized that I do not have the technical skills yet to complete it. But maybe someday in the future I will and I will try again.

Most projects evolve with many layers. The painting, uh background above started out like this:

I made this for an online class a couple of years ago and I can't stand looking at it any more. She has a really long face and crazy hair but the husband made a nice wooden support for it so I decided to recycle/reuse and covered it with lots of green paint. I've got a goal in mind so we'll see how long it takes me to get there.

Another project I started is this:

I think this had cute little bunnies on it and was headed to my daughter's room when she was 10 but I got sidetracked for about 10 yrs and decided to experiment with texture so I covered it with masking tape and gesso, put a layer of blue paint on it, and dabbed it with paper towel. I stared at it for a couple of days and decided it looked like a snow scene, so I added a layer of white acrylic along the bottom:

It seemed as though there was a cottage along the snow line, so I sketched that in too:

Who knows where it will go from here? That's the fun part. And if you don't like it-you can cover it up and start again. Hopefully I will have enough courage to go with the vision and try to make it come alive. There are more than enough seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation to make it so...

And Then I Went To Camp...

In order to recover from the stress and trials of organizing and presenting Daughter# 1's wedding, I gave myself a little present. I gave myself the permission to go on my very first art retreat. I signed up pre-wedding and the goal of going to Susan Schwake's Art Retreat Camp 2013 kept me focused and sane throughout the month of July. I first read about it in an email from Mati Rose with whom I had taken an online painting course. I thought,"Art, like-minded women, good food, on an island-and it's in New Hampshire? I'm there!" From there it was a bunch of serendipitous (is that a word?) incidents. I told Susan I had found out about it from Mati. Susan told me that Mati was originally from nearby Kittery. Who knew?  Susan, I discovered, was moving her business Artstream to Dover where I worked. Then I realized I had actually received a poster for ARC 2013 at work and hung it up in our foyer thinking all the while , "This sounds interesting". I guess it was just meant to be. I had so much fun and met a great group of women. And it all took place at such beautiful location at Mayhew Island on Newfound Lake.

The Lovely Lake

Awesome Music!

Two of the wonderful women I met there!

Mati's future is so bright she's just got to wear shades...

Some of the art work I did....

Proud graduate of the Jack Shack!

Had such a great time and I can't wait to do it again.  Miss you guys!

Summer's End...

Fall already? I guess so. It's my favorite season. Time to set new goals for the year even though I'm not going back to school. I just want to sharpen those pencils, straighten up that studio and start creating. And my birthday is coming up. Guess I shouldn't be so excited about that at this point in my life, but I go out to dinner and I splurge on myself and hey if the husband wants to splurge on me too-I'll let him.

So I haven't blogged in a while. After the big June blowout (mentally/emotionally) of my library show, I hung up my paintbrushes for a while. And then about an hour or so later began making and creating for daughter # 1's wedding-reception to be held in our backyard. It was a long hot rainy summer with the wedding to be held on the last weekend in July. The daughters and I crafted our hearts out.

We covered, stamped, and tagged jam for wedding favors.

We made signs and containers for wedding cards.

We framed wedding portraits of the bride and groom's parents and grandparents.

We created a guest tree to sign instead of a guest book so they would have a piece of art to hang on the wall.

We decorated the stairs with blackboard paint, chalk, and an appropriate wedding quote.

We made pies and cookies.

We made signs for the wedding.

And then it was over. Bride married and gone. Guests gone, daughters 2 thru 4 remained until just this past Monday and I am finally cleaning up my house and putting my studio back in order. There was a little foray to adult sleep away camp which will be  continued next time. I know. The suspense is killing you.