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The Spiraling Redemption Process

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Below is a video of the process that got me to the painting above. It was a canvas I had used for demo purposes at a session reflective art. I used it to show various techniques during a New Year’s painting session to invite the new year and new experiences.

In the process of “redeeming” this canvas, I journey a couple of different places. I started by deconstructing what it had been.  I used a drawing of a woman holding her knees that I had done as practice for a different “Held” piece (Held: Safe).

And I will say it again – hands are hard – so, I attempted one hand that ended up looking cartoony, finished it with details, etc. Not satisfied. Wiped it all back with baby wipes and let it dry while I moved on to another piece.

When revisiting, I did a single had large enough to envelope her and protect her. I love the colorful hand showing creativity, warmth, and joy. I also enjoyed every second of this redemption process….even when I didn’t like the aesthetics, I loved the process of pushing paint around the canvas, mixing colors, and adding textures.

As you view this time-lapse, I’m curious what strikes you about the iterative process of redeeming a canvas? Do you see life applications, learning lessons? What comes to mind for you?

Curly-haired Lovelies….a study of silhouettes

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I am really enjoying creating on smaller canvases with a bit more real estate than typical canvases. These are 6x6x1.5…museum profile – which means I have 4 sides to use in my creativity.

These were multi-day pieces, with many, many layers involved. I had no idea they would be what they became.

I am a curly-haired girl who never had the “right” hair to fit in or look “professional,” always out of control curly hair with a mind of its own. Spent much of my life believing there was something wrong with the way my hair grew and with the look of curls. So, I decided to put this journey to canvas and explore curly-haired silhouettes, since most of the ones I’ve done have either had no hair or smooth hair….I wanted ones that looked like me!!

And then I had to do a poppy as well and play around with my neon magenta paints  – so fun!!

Backgrounds in Time-lapse

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Starting a project with a blank canvas or paper is sometimes daunting. I just like to get color and texture on the surface. I know I will do layers and layers so nothing is permanent and everything is changeable…..the beauty of acrylic painting and layering!!

This time-lapse shows the background making process for these paintings (pictured below).

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This is truly mixed media in that I used masking tape, acrylic paints, watercolors, watercolor and pastel pencils, matte medium, and inks. So much fun. The flowers on top are done with some supplies from my artsnacks boxes over the last few months. Opaque watercolors, that I had never used before. They were a lot of fun and it was awesome to have watercolor white stand out on top of a busy background.

The time-lapse video is at the bottom and the progression of flowers is below. Supplies list can be found here.

 

 

UPDATE: These pieces re now available for purchase in my online store.

Small Square Abstracts

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I have been pondering working on more than one piece at a time. As I have listened to various artists on podcasts, they consistently mention that they are simultaneously working on pieces so that they don’t force a piece or hit too much “creator’s block.”

I also enjoy the idea of playing with color and technique in various ways at the same time across various pieces. So, I’ve been envisioning an array of square papers (not canvases) to create a series and play. These would then be mounted on mat board – fingers crossed I can figure out how.

So, today, as I have been avoiding the predicted eclipse traffic (that didn’t manifest), I spent the morning in my art studio….painting, recording and PLAYING!!

I did a process video (pictures below)

Here are the results.

Yay bubbles!!

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Earlier this week I was looking for creative inspiration. I wanted to paint but couldn’t find my mojo. So, I went to the Internet and my Facebook friends.

  They were a great help and I now have a list of prompts and topics to explore. 
While awaiting responses, the idea of bubbles kept surfacing in my mind. I have a friend traveling now and as she left I sent her off with the visual of traveling in a “joyous bubble.” That seemed like a fun place to start. 

So, I grabbed a canvas I wanted to redeem and set to work. I love it. 

My son named it “Galaxy Bubbles”

 
I look forward to further exploration and play with bubbles. 

#paintmyresearch

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Today I worked on developing a process for reflecting and designing a line of inquiry for my next research project.  

 
I approached it as map making… Islands of inquiry and methodology connected by routes of inquiry methods and surrounded by seas of diverse literature. 

I’m not a fan of the final result but I really enjoyed the process that ended up developing. And look forward to the next iteration of this map making and inquiry process.