Marking Cloth and Canvas - Week Forty-Four

An old family napkin

dyed

ripped

marked with stitch

A not so old painter's drop cloth

dotted

spotted

marked in play

Even when painting I can't get away from 

simple shapes

soft greys and browns

and of course

marks that could be stitches

Not so many layers of colours here

but what I learnt

was that I prefer the marks to be a lighter value

rather than darker

An old acrylic painting completely covered

then marks were made by

scraping into the top layer of oils.

I'm trying to teach myself to paint with oils

Exploring mark making with oils

Most of the time I end up with mud!

I am still a stitcher!

A Change of Medium

Took last weekend off

to spend it with the amazing artist Wayne Boucher and

a group of painters at our Community Art Centre.

The medium used was oil sticks

but I learnt so much more.

Wayne emphasized the importance of our work

being a continuation of the work we had done before.

That made it much easier for me

My paintings would have to reflect the marks of stitchings.

I became enthralled with finding marks and tools to make the marks.

As a complete novice I felt a wee bit overwhelmed

but Wayne was great and encouraged me as I explored my mark making.

I think I need to spend many hours learning this new medium

and mixing colours.

This large piece is what inspired that first painting.

It has been resting on the design wall

because I am in one of those moods.

The mood that brings me to wondering why the heck I do this!

Life might be easier if I wasn't so driven to create in stitch.

But my weekend painting must have been renewing

for I walked in the house, went to the studio

and fell in love with those lines of stitch that reach out beyond the main body of stitch.

This piece might not end up as planned just because of those lines

if not this piece

certainly the next one.

Coffee Break with a Polyphemus Moth!

We sipped coffee on the front porch

and noticed we had company

I find those hairy moth bodies fascinating

He slowly pulled himself out of the shadows...

...and warmed his magnificent wings in the sun

What a treat

Just look at those eyes

Rust appears everywhere

even in my art class homework!

Family

"Family Ties"

An intuitive painting about family

caring for and gaining strength from one another.

No more words today

just thoughts of families around this world of ours.