autumn ramblings 11

this is a post i wrote weeks ago. since then much has changed. there has been very little time to create. someday i will get back to it with a renewed energy. for now i will share this.

 rolling through these days trying to get some sense of Christmas approaching ~ feeling discomfort at times.

and so I continue to create.

to this stage in time there was very little creating with this piece. I had acquired the original very dark pastel creation probably from my daughter. I believe she got it many years ago from a visiting pastel artist at her school. I had found it rolled up in the basement in a piece of craft paper. hastily one evening as I was preparing for a visitor I hung it on a wall in one of my basement creative spaces. then I realized how dark the piece was, how very abstract. not really what I wanted hanging on my walls. besides, there were so many possibilities. and so I began. the above pictured is with a number of layers of white chalk added.

another evening I chose to grab a piece of charcoal and sketch this face. the portrait was created using a reference from Misty Mawn's Open Studio class. I find my art being greatly influenced by her teachings even after eleven months. truly I have not had nearly as much time in this past year to be creating as what I had hoped. but the lessons will remain with me. and a great dream I have would be to one day participate in Misty's class in Orvieto. a dream ~ but I do believe that dreams can come true. as a dear friend strongly believes "If you can dream it ~ you can do it."  Walt Disney

so with pieces of charcoal flying as the piece was hung on the wall ~ the lovely lady appeared. 

I gave the piece more depth and feeling with darker lines. now she appears on my wall, yet another piece totally inspired by Misty, but with very much my own twist.

colour inspiration

I am gravitating towards the wonderful colours and styling of Pam Garrison in recent weeks. Yesterday afternoon, feeling totally NOT motivated, I was drawn once again to Pam's blog and then found this fabulous video which told me, in no uncertain terms, to get to some bright colours, maybe pretty pastels. But where to put those colours? I did not want to take time for prepping a new page, so I chose a book which already had some gesso and background colour. Then I was stumped again, not knowing what to make on those prepped pages. So I chose to grab some lovely paint colours and going totally with Pam's ideas, do some circles. Seemed like a good place to begin. I am wondering where this will take me. Maybe some words ~ I have suitable ones in mind. Maybe tomorrow, maybe another day, or month, they will be added. What is so important is that I put paint brush to paint and then to paper. It felt SO GOOD.

While I was at my painting table I spotted these works in progress from ages ago, and thought what a neat time to share them. Some of you may be able to tell I have recently added some definition with my black marks all. The golden lady was initially created with a background of Chatelaine magazine pages, I believe from the 1960s. 

Mother and daughter, below, was started with purchased collage papers. I will need to do some adjusting on the daughter's features ~ somewhat off kilter, but for the time being adds to the interest, we can say.

a flower in her hair

some days felt so lonely

some days felt so sad

 most days

same as the one before

the one to follow

too many worries

too much stress

too many shoulds 

not enough coulds

too few dreams

too little time

 the angels floating near

boldly placed courage

joy

and light

within and all around 

 a flower in her hair

a song on her tongue

a dance 

at her foot drops

***please click on images to view on black background***

faces, figures, and more

I continue working on portraits and have decided to begin with that which I have had the least practice ~ figures. About  a week ago I decided to give the vine charcoal a chance for expressive drawings together with the newly purchased white Sennelier pastel. Previously I had been using charcoal pencil and a very inexpensive soft pastel. The soft pastel was NOT working. Consequently I was getting frustrated. Ahhh, the Sennelier was fabulous. And as promised by our instructor, Misty, the vine charcoal is very flowing.

This work in progress is from a reference image ~ 1972 Chatelaine magazine. Blending and final touches required. I love how her eye turned out and am also pleased with initial appearance of her ear.

The beginnings with figures are not quite ready to share. For now I will show an old image I had started ages ago on a piece of foam core. I had prepared the foam core with old papers and covered with a layer of gesso. I need to complete the figure. I will be hoping to share a more finished version sometime in the near future.  

"bringing to me a smile

cheerfully chirruping waxwings

as they chomp

brilliant red berries

from the mountain ash tree"

Some of my favourite music which helps me to be mindful this day:

Homeless

500 miles

practice, practice, practice

portrait practice ~
pre-portrait, modified in photoshop
 

 graphite pencil, preliminary drawing

 

expressive drawing, modified in photoshop. This young lady needs work yet, especially her hair and chin. Because she is one of my first portraits for practice, I decided to share at this earlier stage.

 

 Another expressive drawing below, reference image from our teacher Misty Mawn, with closed eyes. I decided to do eyes for her.

"sadness envelopes me"

After some changes to lighten. Initial image looked so much a "zombie", especially in unnatural light. We are to do many portraits and I am trying not to get too caught up initially, so will come back later, possibly to try more blending.

The actual art practice has been difficult to get excited about because of so many ongoing family challenges. I am very grateful that Misty has promised to keep the workshop available for an entire year. The lessons are truly packed with knowledge, expertise and magic.

the practice of mindfulness ~
With those challenges, the need to practice mindfulness becomes even more pronounced. 

Playing in photoshop is something I find relaxing.

 

The folding of paper for developing a flock of paper cranes is also becoming a common activity for me. I believe I have about fifteen cranes made to this time. I have been very excited to view the final product after the folding. A patterned page I printed myself brought special satisfaction.

Music, for a long time, has frequently been comforting and mindful for me. This artist is one of my favourites.

And I frequently find myself coming back to Misty's videos to inspire, to relax, to get me moving, mindful and motivated. Imagine what it will be like through the next year to come back again and again to watch Misty producing magical pieces of art in her relaxed and comfortable style.

Angels be with you dear friends as you practice your own art, as you practice your own mindfulness.

reaching towards

mindfulness ~
 “In this moment, there is plenty of time. In this moment, you are precisely as you should be. In this moment, there is infinite possibility.”  Victoria Moran

There exists a practice of numerous of my art friends to choose a word for the new year. While I have very mixed feelings about this, I decided I would choose a word for the year 2012. This word pretty much jumped into my lap when, after I had signed up for Misty Mawn's "open studio" workshop, I saw Misty's intro. Mindfulness - so clearly and beautifully stated. Over the years I have been attempting mindfulness and have been taught numerous methods to reach towards it. This year, perhaps more than ever, I feel the need to grasp it even closer.

 

The act of creating without putting a specific planned action with it, is extremely mindful for me, particularly if I allow it to happen. These papers I created for origami, once again inspired by Misty, are a recent venture in mindfulness. The actual origami process can be so very mindful in itself.

The papers were fun to create with old scrapbook pages, ink spray, ink and hand carved, or hand made stamps.

Now lets add some music and make some paper cranes.

beginnings

An online art course with Misty Mawn - something I had dreamed of taking time and time again. Working with Misty in real life would be optimal, but that being unrealistic, I chose to ask for Misty's newest class for a special Christmas gift. Very little else interested me for a gift and very little else was asked for, besides dreams for family, which were more elusive than not.
And so I received my special gift request. I am thrilled to be in Misty's class. I have had little time for creating and practicing, but the preparation has been thrilling. The very first post I saw was exciting, even though nearly two weeks until the class began on January 9.
Enough for now. Much more to come in following days as my own studio awaits. My body and soul are so very ready for this.

Book binding thread was required for preliminary activities. I was starting to get frustrated as we went from shop to shop. Finally two different sources recommended a shop in a part of the City from which we had previously departed. But I needed that thread. We returned to the location required. There it was in three different colours. I was pleased. Now for the time to make some books. That time too will come.
Vintage thread I found at home that I hoped might work - not nearly what I was looking for however.

Waxed linen thread I purchased in three different colours.

Angels be with you my friends.

God uses his children: This piece was inspired by the work of Misty Mawn. I love Misty's art. The background was done using an article by Misty in Cloth Paper Scissors magazine, Summer, 2006, Issue 7. I did this last June. Other parts of this were also from planned projects not yet completed so I am also doing part of the craft challenge with this piece besides just creating. It is not quite finished. I will be adding more parts - maybe covering some of my handwriting. Not sure when I'll finish it. The next few days are quite busy. It took me a long time to actually do any creating today - feeling quite wasted because of the school and difficulties with communication. I did quite well the last couple of days considering but today I felt extremely unproductive. I'm glad I thought of this background and looked up the magazine and some of Misty's recent work.

Angels be with you.