do I actually ever

complete any of the works in progress? I frequently ask myself. And you may wonder also.

I have high hopes for these turquoise pieces. Actually one is for an exchange so I must complete it. Very soon. But not today or tomorrow. I have a little gathering I plan to attend tomorrow. There will be other artists, perhaps only a few. There will be a chance to visit, a chance to share experiences and creations. There might be an opportunity for showing some of the art to customers and EVEN selling some of it. Unfortunately our weather has been, ummmm, to put it nicely, disgusting. Road and travel conditions have not been good. And so the turnout at the first annual Prairie Earth Crafters Artisan Marlet may not be spectacular. Does not matter to me. I am looking forward to the opportunity to get out. I am pleased to have a chance to visit with like minded people. That does not happen very often in my real life.

These pieces go back to the turquoise theme which I have been toying with the last couple of posts. They are some very tiny canvases which I thought I might complete for tomorrow. Not sure if I still have time to finish them.

The next is an older piece in the same colour theme together with a cd I am altering.

This is the piece I must complete soon for the exchange.

In my last post I mentioned needing practice with painting faces. Drawing and using pencils and charcoal pencil is more familiar to me. I'm thinking these faces are not so bad for some of my early attempts. Of course they are not complete yet either. This one is not quite turquoise but another older one that was very handy. That nasty habit I have, of almost always putting out too much paint, prompted me to work on it as well.


I will be adding many new items to my shop next week. Hoping you will take an opportunity to check back then.
Angels be with you dear friends.

turquoise dancing with

other shades of blue

 
and pinks
and even red

something about
this time of year


spring has just
arrived
but in my part of the world
I see snow
and wind
and bigger wind
and more grey
skies
and thoughts
and more grey
and white
too bright
of snow
more grey
within my mind
would be so easy
yes so easy
to withdraw
within


instead
I choose turquoise
and creativity
and bright shades of pink
 
and copper wire
all
to warm
to remind
that spring
is just around the bend
at least
in my heart
and I rejoice
in the friendship
of art
of creativity
my own strength
my own courage
my own
hope

trying though

Occasionally I don't actually do art some days in November. Even so, I am almost always creative every day. Sometimes that involves thought and much creative problem solving.


At times, too, I get bored as I mentioned here. Then I tread on the wild side.
A journal page on which I had applied black gesso then stuck a magazine page between two before they were dry enough. Consequently I've got quite a lot of magazine page showing. That's all right. I like it. It's talking about "oot camp". I definitely saw the young lady and chose the page to use conte crayons on. It was tricky doing the eyes on the glossy part so didn't quite turn out as it could have but for a journal page - I was pleased.


I also completed this canvas, which had been nearly complete for quite some time. I needed to paint the face better as first it was done very roughly. I think this painted face was the first I did in somewhat proper colours on a canvas. She's looking a bit pale here but that's how copied images sometimes turn out.

These two journal pages were mostly done in September - the right one particularly. The left was started at the same time with words and the face just drawn with ink. I painted her face today. I'm not positive this page is totally complete, I think probably. I might add a bird sometime.

I've also been doing some bits of creative sewing this month. This is one of the pieces on which I was practicing free motion stitching. 
"just be"

I hope fun has been a part of your art everyday month.
Angels be with you dear friends.

The good thing

about having a number of works in progress available is - when you do have a larger block of creative time available, you can get right to the art of it.
This is a smaller canvas in progress.


I started on this large piece of wood a number of months ago.


All the other canvases are in various states of creativity. Realize that the bright colours will most likely be covered over by large amount of layers. I paint what the heart needs for colours. As I work on the piece, the colours tend to get much softer and typically much darker.






Works in progress are a very good thing.

Creative every day: sometimes I lose track of what I've done, shared and completed. These are some sketches, some from quite a while ago. They were mostly done while I was waiting for appointments of one kind or another, as with the journal page with lots of rub on letters. I ran out of my fave black letters. I guess I should have known better. That's OK. The message is still the same. I finished the two journal pages yesterday. Actually has been quite awhile since I've felt like doing any.


I also did some preliminary painting on some canvases yesterday.I've got a caulking transfer happening on one of those. I have to wait till later tonight (24 hours) to see results of that.

canvases and plans:



Above is a photo of a canvas I started working on last Friday night. It measures 16 x 20 inches. I want to put some words on it and more texturing before I put a person on, blah, blah, blah.




Last Friday I purchased this book by Claudine Hellmuth. I got it at the arts and crafts store, you know the one I mean, in Saskatoon with my 40% off coupon.



I had borrowed Claudine's more recent book from the library. They actually brought it all the way from Nova Scotia to Humboldt, Saskatchewan for little old me. I was impressed. But I had to return it after only three weeks. :(
I would have liked to purchase that book, but of course they wouldn't have it at Michael's yet.

That's OK. I'm really impressed with the book I purchased. It has in one book lots of techniques which I've been trying to learn from Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazines and online, from videos and tutorials. I've been really chomping at the bit to try some encaustic work - with melted wax that is. A time ago I was thinking I had a small crock pot for melting the wax. Uh whoops - it's a fondue maker - getting my utensils muddled. I asked Greg to look for one for me when he was taking stuff from the house in Regina and the farm to Value Village but he didn't see one in the quick glance he made. Patience, patience Wendy. I was thinking yesterday of trying to melt some tiny bit of wax in the microwave but no, no, no google search says DO NOT. I really must have melted wax on this canvas. Oh well. I don't have the mini iron yet either. Wednesday - back to that arts and crafts store for another week's 40% off coupon.

Here are a couple more of the canvases I started. They are a bit smaller - 8 x 10 inches and 5 x 7 inches, I think. I won't take time to run downstairs now to measure.

These are more textured but I'm not certain of the colours.

Other than gel medium I don't have a lot of Golden products and I know they are recommended. Some day after I've sold lots of my art I'll be able to afford more of those beloved Golden products. Wait a minute - I think I did buy one tube of Golden paint the last time I was at Art Placement. With all the moving and organizing and phewph - busyness - I totally forgot. Next time.
I love the creations of Misty Mawn whose original texturing I encountered in probably the very first Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine I purchased. Someday between Misty Mawn's teaching, suziblu"s most recent video and the techniques in the book I purchased, I might even learn how to do transfers.

ANGELS BE WITH YOU

feeling dreadful while excited - near to the point of exhilarated:
I feel dreadful because I've not taken time, had time, to comment on so many friends blogs. But there has been so much happening. I am "this close" to being ready to open my etsy shop. I may not have lots in it to start with but I'll see how it goes. EVERYTHING takes so much time. YAAH, so what else is new Wendy!
I'm also near ecstatic because I finally felt comfortable to try doing something on canvas. I was terrified for the longest time. Fran said to me once it's not a big deal. Then I was very much the mixed -up media artist. I think I still am, but I'm finding much comfort in that place.
Between suziblu's inspiring videos and the creating in my journal I feel like I'm really finding my place. Now if some fairy, some fairy god-mother, any fairy, particularly my daughter, would decide to help a bit with the laundry, I'd be dancing my way to the stars. Wouldn't you think a 16 year old girl might like to do her own laundry? NOT this one - I guess we'll rationalize for her and say she has issues (which she really does) but that's not a suitable response LOL.
We'll proceed on the dance regardless.
This is a picture from Wednesday. It shows a couple of the canvases I'd splashed paint on. There are also a number of fabric pieces with pictures and words printed on them. Some day I might try to do a tiny tutorial on how I do that. I'd also printed parts from some of my poems which I'd translated to french with babel on some recycled paper. That would be the one that says confidential. tee- hee - really confidential. Actually I'll really miss all that recycle paper when it runs out, which it nearly has, WAHHHH!
These are some mini quilts in progress. The fabric with the gold is my own design done with permanent ink and the gold which is shiva paintstik. I love this fabric.
I'm also showing a flat canvas of 8x10 inches which I painted on and then applied some of those french words. Sometime if I remember I'll share the words as I wrote them. Don't hold your breath though.
I believe I forgot to show this journal quilt which I think I finished on Tuesday night.



In order to see the details of it, which you really must, please click on it and then do the view on black at my flickr.

I'm off to the big city again for some more tuning up.
Angels be with you dear angel friends,
Wendy

More art in progress and another journal page to share. I'm also working on the banner for my etsy shop so hopefully in the next few months LOL.














I'm realizing now that I would have preferred without the black trim around the words from the book for the journal page. Oh well, better to learn on a journal page than on a canvas.



I remember now the difficulty I had with the face also. Because I used a pastel for the purple I got a bit of smudging where it wasn't supposed to be. Also, the face being smaller I wasn't using the right tools - mouth especially got larger than I'd planned. Like I said, oh well.

The robin started out as this crappy photo from a long time ago. I wouldn't be able to tell you how I ended with this image.



I did use my old photopaint program and I think I did lots with effects. other than that I'm not sure. You'll be seeing more of it as I don't really like using others images, if possible, even the copyright free.

And a couple of pics of the fabric I've been painting for the last few weeks.