A 12 Piece Painting Exercise

Just beginning the 12 works on paper

Earlier this year, I began playing with 12 small pieces of watercolor paper (8” x 8”). I taped the group to the closet door in the studio and started with ink lines, scribbles, watercolor pencil and a bit of paint. I wrote a word at the top of each of them and added a related quote in pencil.

Last year, I did a series of 12 Meditations and wanted to create something similar this year.

Ready to take them down and work on them one by one.

I continued to work on them as a group, using charcoal and an orange water soluble Woodie. Then it was time to take them off the wall and complete them individually.

Although each piece began with a word and a quote, I had no intention for those words to influence the paintings. My expectation was for the words/quotes to partially or fully disappear under the paint.

The pieces developed individually based on their initial marks and lines. I played with layers of paint and colored pencils, and chose circles and shapes from a growing collection of pre-cut papers.

I’ve completed 9 of the 12 so far, with 3 more to go.

Wholeness - The 3rd one completed

These will each be matted and available for purchase on the website. Contact Me for more information.

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The 12 Painting Meditations

Inspired by Concertina Sketchbook Pages

When I completed the Concertina Sketchbook project, my head was filled with ideas for two new painting series that delighted my heart. I expected to dive right into the new work. Instead, I continued to play with the images that came together on the pages of that concertina. In the past couple of months, my focus has been on inviting inspiration from that sketchbook before moving forward into the new projects. My intention was to gain greater comfort and flow with the concertina processes in order to combine my old methods with the new.

First, I played with similar materials and techniques on paper and completed four studies. I chose a few of the sketchbook pages for reference and began laying down similar marks, elements, and collage pieces, followed by paint.

2nd of four works on paper

3rd of four works on paper

4th of four works on paper

“Renewal” Acrylic, paper, pencils, and cloth on canvas. 11” x 14”

Then I moved onto canvas and began a small series of paintings, called Elements, to explore similar marks, shapes, and materials. Currently, four have been completed with the 5th in process. I’m not sure how much further I will take this series since I haven’t made a real commitment to it. I’m just taking one step at a time.

I’m thrilled to be working on canvas once again (after spending so much time on the sketchbook and the above works on paper).

Sometime soon, I will move on to play with the larger body of work that’s been waiting in the wings. It’s been waking me up each morning with images and ideas. But at the moment, I’m willing to see what develops from here.

“Dichotomy” Acrylic, ink, paper, pencils, and cloth on canvas. 11” x 14”

“Levels” Acrylic, ink, paper, pencils, and cloth on canvas. 11” x 14”

“Synchronicity” Acrylic, ink, paper, pencils, and cloth on canvas. 11” x 14”

You may also be interested in: Series of Transition

Sketchbook Challenge: Week 4

During the last week of the 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge, I had fun playing with shapes and color, exploring new ideas, and continuing to develop concepts from prior pages. One of the pages was inspired by an Andy Goldsworthy photograph and another by a historical event. I experimented with mark making and new textural methods, while filling the pages with papers, acrylics, and all types of pencils (drawing pencils, watercolor pencils, charcoal pencil, colored pencils).

Day 22/30

Day 23/30

Day 27/30

Day 26/30

The piece I created on Day 26 was inspired by the Tulsa Race Massacre. The massacre has been referenced quite a bit recently so I decided to research it. And I couldn’t let it go. I continued to read a bit more each day and finally had to paint something on the subject. The atrocities of that event took place in 1921, in the wealthy black neighborhood of Greenwood. Hundreds of people were killed (estimates vary), and many are believed to be buried in mass graves. 35 square blocks were burned to the ground, leaving 10,000 homeless. I won’t share more here, now, but I do recommend you learn about “the single worst incident of racial violence in American history. “

On Day 28, I wanted to do something different and just be messier… a thoroughly enjoyable process. The idea of dedicating a week of sketchbook play to just messy pages sounds like a great exercise for me.

Day 28/30

Day 24/30

Day 25/30

As I neared the end of the challenge, I felt as if I had to make the most of the last few entries. But the reality is, my sketchbook play does not end with this challenge. I have another 30 pages left in this book and other sketchbooks on hand. I am likely to experiment more in the days ahead and finally get back to the painting I began weeks ago.

Day 29/30

Day 30/30

I have so enjoyed this challenge and the opportunity to develop a great relationship with sketchbooking. It will be interesting to see how this experience helps to shape the work I create in the coming weeks and months. I will be considering the ah-ha’s that showed up during these thirty days, the concepts I want to get back to, and the list of ideas I didn’t get to yet.

I am so very thankful for Cheryl Taves, and for all her beautifully thoughtful sharing, her time, and the effort she put into hosting this fabulous sketchbook journey. It has been 30 days filled with riches.

More posts from the 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3

Sketchbook Challenge: Week 3

Something happened , something shifted as I began the third week of the 30 Day Sketchbook challenge. Up until this week, I was intrigued by the circular cutouts and felt drawn to using them on the pages of this book. But suddenly, as I developed the Day 15 image, the power of these shapes rose to the surface and my use of them became encircled in meaning.

Day 15/30

So in week 3, I’ve continued to play with this circular shape and reflect on my connection to it, meanwhile feeling as if I am also taking shape.

And now for the rest of the week…
(all images can be found below)

Day 16: “Black and Blue” was a reaction to Black Out Tuesday (the day before) and the presence of black squares on many and most Instagram feeds, in solidarity of Black Lives Matter and the events of this week.

Day 17: An image that didn’t develop as I thought it would, providing the exercise in letting go, learning, exploring, and moving forward to the next page.

Day 18: Playing with a variation on an earlier page with a similar color palette and elements but with a different layout and design. I love exploring variations on a theme!

Day 19: “ A Complex Society” is a variation on the Day 16 image. During these few weeks, I’ve been playing with new ideas, shapes, and colors, with a need to revisit prior pages and create variations on those images.

Day 19/30

Day 16/30

 Day 20: This was an effort to experiment with some mark making. I’m pretty shy and reserved when it comes to adding marks to a painting. So, I began by filling the page with marks and then painting a thin layer over it. After adding more marks on top of the paint, I ended up covering most of them up with paint, leaving just a bit showing.

Day 17/30

Day 20/30

Day 21: Shortly before this sketchbook challenge, I opened my new sketchbook and scribbled some stream of consciousness words in pencil to form a paragraph. My idea was to cover it with papers and paint but allow some of it to show through. Then during the challenge, I got caught up in using the clean fresh pages and didn’t get back to it... until the 21st day of the challenge. The added pencil lines are my attempt at mark making. I was much more comfortable with these not too bold lines.

Day 21/30

Day 18/30

As the week ended, I reflected on the experiences of these days I’m spending with my sketchbook and where it has already taken me. And I wondered what would unfold in the coming week, both in the world and in my sketchbook.

More posts from the 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 4

Sketchbook Challenge: Week 2

During the second week of the 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge, I continued to find similar and differing ways to highlight the circular shape that’s become the primary element on these pages.

Day 8/30

Day 9/30

Day 13/30

It seems that each painted image in this sketchbook, ends up calling on me to return and create one or more variations on that idea or concept. That’s no surprise. I love working within a series of paintings, with each piece a stepping stone to the next. This sketchbook journey has become something of a dance, steps forwards and backwards, 1-2-3. Each time I satisfy my need for revisiting a completed page, I find myself focused on another to revisit.

Day 10/30

Day 12/30

This week, as I explored the circular theme, I played with textures and layers, strings and threads, and various color palettes. I had fun scraping paint with a serrated knife, adding raw canvas, and limiting the colors on some of the pages. I’ve found delight in placing one or more red elements (like a dot or circle) for a pop of color.

Day 12/30

Day 14/30

Each day has been a new creative adventure that I look forward to with wonder. I suspect I haven’t finished playing with the circular shape and I would expect them to continue showing up in the week ahead.

More posts from the 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge:
Week 1
Week 3
Week 4

Sketchbook Challenge: Week 1

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to join in on a 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge. As I watched other artists beginning to get involved, I kept getting a nudge to play in my sketchbook too!! So with a fairly new 6” x 6” sketchbook, I began creating a page a day. I’m having fun and loving the sense of wonder in what I will come up with next as I use a variety of materials and tools. So far, I’ve played with cut paper, ink, chalk, charcoal pencil, crayon, pencils, acrylic, watercolor pencils, and thread.

Day 1/30

Day 2/30

Day 5/30

In the past, sketchbooks were something I used to brainstorm ideas for a new painting or series, for morning drawing meditations, and to express dreams or concepts. I don’t think I’ve ever used a sketchbook to just play. So as I began this challenge, I was stepping out of my norm and very excited to do so.

I have been loving the process of working in a sketchbook each day. I have found that in the pages of this small book, I’ve been working past the point of ‘done-ness’, continuing to add to what I have. Pushing it beyond and then a bit further. It’s been a wonderful exercise. And being a sketchbook page, it’s easier to take risks. 

Day 4/30

Day 6/30

Day 7/30

In this week of daily sketchbook entries, two elements have presented themselves… the open circle and the grid. I’ve become interested in exploring what I might create with them in the future, individually and in combination. My mind has been flooded with ideas of images to explore on these pages. Each day I wonder, “What creative experiences will be present in the adventure of producing the next page.”

Much thanks to Cheryl Taves for creating this fabulous challenge. I am thrilled to be a part of it. To view the many other sketchbook entries for this challenge visit, #insightcreative30daychallenge

More posts from the 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge:
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4

Re-Words Concertina

Re-Word Concertina Sketchbook

Here’s a look at my recently completed RE-WORDS concertina sketchbook, produced on canvas. This book is centered around the theme of RE-Words. Early in the year, my 2020 seemed to be one of redo, rework, recreate, and recover. As 2020 has developed into a year like no other, more and more words keep showing up. (reopen, reconnect, retreat, revise, restart)

Pages 1 & 2 of Re-Word Concertina

In creating this book, I had a few objectives in mind: to create two page spreads rather than individual pages, to combine circular elements with linear shapes, and to spread the RE-WORDS throughout. And most importantly, to create a concertina sketchbook on raw canvas with textures, threads, and frayed edges. (I’ve used cloth, papers, ink, acrylic, with threads and text on raw canvas for this book.)

Pages 3 & 4 of Re-Word Concertina

The process of working on the book became an interesting journey and a means of processing all that was happening out in the world, as I sheltered in place in my studio.

During 2020:

• I’ve had to REVISE my plans for the year.

• I’m REASSESSING everything.

• I’ve spent time RECREATING work from the past.

• I’m RECOVERING from the losses experienced in the past year.

• I am RE-IMAGINING what life may be like moving forward.

• I’ve been REDIRECTING my creative energies and focus.

• I’m REMAKING my life under new circumstances.

• I can’t help but REFLECT on where I’ve been in the past few months, the state of the world now, and how it compares to different times, in different ages.

• I question what of the past is best to let go of and what we will be able to RECLAIM in the future.

• I’m REALIZING that this book will not satisfy my need to explore these words. I’ve already begun working on a Re-Words painting.

• I wonder what the effects will be once businesses REOPEN.

• What will the tapestry of life look like once we RE-THREAD it?

• How soon will I be comfortable to really RECONNECT with friends and family?

• RESTART is the first word appearing on page one and the last word on the final page of the book. Each day and each project becomes a RESTART.

• As I look towards the future and the path forward, after these days of sheltered in place, we will need to REBOOT our lives, RESTORE what is possible and what makes sense, and REBOUND as best as we can... hopefully, in a kind, compassionate, and healthy way.

Pages 5 & 6 of Re-Word Concertina

A concertina book can become a mini series of pieces, all connected as one attached progression. And I love working in a series and I’ve loved working on this book. I can definitely see myself doing more books in the future, on raw canvas. This is where I’m at home... with the textures, threads, and the frayed edges of the canvas.

I’m sure most of you have had your own 2020 reasons to revise, reassess, reflect, etc. I wish you health and safety and the ability to experience the future as a fresh and positive RESTART.

Pages 7 & 8 of Re-Word Concertina

Above I’ve shown them as the two page spreads… And here they are as individual pages, the cover and all 8 pages:

The 100 Day Project

“Explorations” series in process.

I was just beginning a new mini-series when I learned of the 100 Day Project on Instagram and it peeked my interest. As I write this, it is day 24 and I had committed to creating 25 pieces in the “Explorations” series to get me started. For the “Explorations” paintings, I’m using magazine images to inspire a daily exercise on pieces of 6” x 6” canvas paper.

My focus for the 100 days: I absolutely love to paint on canvas, raw or primed, stretched or unstretched. So, since this project is designed to take me out of my comfort zone, instead, I will be creating (mostly) small works on PAPER. I intend to play with paint, some collage, pastels, pencils, and any other materials or process I can have fun with.

I see the time spent on this project as an intermission between the work I've done in the past and what I will create in the future.

I'm curious to see how far I will go in this. One hundred days takes us to JULY! I don't know if I'll complete the full 100 days, but for now it’s my daily focus, allowing me to stretch my creative muscles.

The project came up for me at the perfect time… just as I was taking a break from producing paintings on canvas and instead finding and exploring various ways to develop and grow as an artist. It ties into my current need to play, experiment, and try new things.

Note: The artwork shown above is a selection of 9 pieces from the “Explorations” series. And at this time, I know I will be creating ten additional minis as part of that collection. Posts for the 100 day project and “Explorations” can be found and followed on Instagram and on my Facebook artist page.