Alcor Mixed Media Art Studio

Husky ... of sorts

2012-01-25T20:47:00.000-05:00

I decided to draw the husky dod attached to my keychain. I don't know what made me think I could draw a dog...

He is genetically modified dog - combination of squirrel, dog and something else. He looked so sad that I decided to color the background with swirls of watercolor. I like the flower-like shape that emerged, I can see that as a stencil or a morph in an abstract painting...

Socks

2012-01-23T20:40:00.000-05:00

This is the third pair of socks I knitted this winter. The second pair were a Christmas gift for my sister. I am knitting a coat now - post to follow as soon as I am done.

Doodles gone wild - take 3

2012-01-21T20:40:00.000-05:00

This is the assignment for week three of the Strathmore workshop:

I did not have big paper, so I made some. I took the real estate supplement of the weekend paper and glued the pages together with masking tape. I was too lazy to take out the sewing machine. I gessoed, painted and stamped over the pages. The black and white doodles are on tracing paper and rice paper using acrylic ink and india ink.

Carpe Diem

2012-01-20T19:59:00.000-05:00

Last week, I felt the need to sketch something. I remembered one of the items on the everyday matters list is to draw a watch. So I drew mine - in reality it is black. I bought it a while back from the Museum of Fine Arts boutique. I did not really need another watch, but I could not stop myself from buying it. It is different from any other watch I ever saw, with the two little windows going around. Super cute...

Doodles gone wild - take 2

2012-01-13T18:55:00.000-05:00

Assignment for week 2 of Traci's workshop. Not much else happened on the artsy front I am afraid. We just got one foot of snow and tomorrow it will be -30, so my inspiration is kinda frozen at the moment...

Doodle gone wild

2012-01-08T18:15:00.000-05:00

Strathmore started another series of workshops. The first one on the list is Doodles unleashed with Traci. I am not a doodler. Somehow, I still consider doodles a waste of time. I used craft paints, so the colors are a bit clouded.

Dragon Fruit

2012-01-06T18:08:00.000-05:00

This was the first time I saw a pitaya - dragon fruit. I wonder if its appearance in the grocery store has anything to do with the dragon year fast approaching. I had to sketch it, but I did not like the first "version". I gessoed over and started over.

Doodled in some of the spaces created by the previous "incarnation" of the sketch.

Bottled flower

2012-01-04T13:02:00.001-05:00

I drew this from a picture found on the net. Have to start using my own photos ... if only I can find the time to take the pics in the first place.

The background was prepainted. Watercolors in the new Stathmore pad.

The remains of the party ...

2012-01-03T18:07:00.000-05:00

First sketch of the New Year: empty bottle of mousseux and half of a luscious cake from Première Moisson - my pastry shop of choice.

Color studies

2012-01-02T12:58:00.000-05:00

Monochromatic

Primary colors

Secondary colors

In the spirit of the season...

2011-12-30T11:39:00.000-05:00

Poinsettia sketch in my new Strathmore watercolor sketchbook using the new watercolor set that Santa brought me. The book is 5.5" x 8.5" coldpress watercolor paper140 lb. I used metallic watercolor for highlights.

Happy New Year!

Santiago de Cuba

2011-12-14T19:18:00.000-05:00

It's been a while...but I have been busy with many things, tired, and in no mood for artsy endeavours. These are some pics I took in Santiago de Cuba:

Under the tuscan sun

2011-11-18T09:52:00.000-05:00

The heebie jeebies continue. I did not have the energy to concentrate on drawing. I did knit some more scarves!
Yesterday, I managed two super quick watercolors from pictures.

I will probably go back and fill in the borders. This is it for now. I am heading out to warmer climates. Back in December, hopefully with more energy and maybe some sketches.

Socks like no others

2011-11-06T21:22:00.000-05:00

And these are the socks knitted by yours trouly! They came out quite nice and comfy, but loose. I am starting another pair on smaller needles, the socks need to be tightly knitted to be more resistent.

MIA ... sort of ...

2011-11-02T19:25:00.000-04:00

I am very tired and I don't find the time to do a lot of creative stuff. I envy people who have the time to make things, take beautiful pictures, write long posts all the while having day jobs and families. I am definetely not one of them. On top of everything, I suffer of a knitting addiction. I finished three more scarves and I am almost done with my first pair of socks! I continue exploring painting with OPEN paints and I am enjoying the process. That's all the energy I have these days...but I'll put up the pictures soon. Now I am off to finish the second sock!

Cold paraphernalia

2011-10-27T21:56:00.000-04:00

I was too sick the other day to entertain the idea of any challanging subjects to draw. I drew my medicine bottles.

Beach tree

2011-10-25T21:44:00.000-04:00

Next to my beach chair there was this bent tree stump. A survivor of sorts...

Another scarf

2011-10-23T21:29:00.001-04:00

I think I am starting to suffer of a knitting compulsion. So far, it seems limited to scarf. Here is the third one I made:

Now I am contemplating an crocheted afghan ...

Beachcombing

2011-10-21T20:58:00.000-04:00

Beach treasures.

Cuba - take 2

2011-10-19T20:58:00.000-04:00

I went MIA for a while. I went back to Cuba for another week of sunshine, blue sky and clear water. Now I am fighting the post-vacation blues and a cold. Not much happened on the artsy front I am afraid. This is a sketch of a some peanuts and some left-over beer.

Vacation sketch

2011-10-03T19:54:00.001-04:00

Every time I go away, I make the same resolution. This time, I will draw. I will sketch. I will journal. Guess what.
That never happens. The only sketch I made in cuba is this one - a leaf and some rocks.

Newspaper sketch

2011-10-01T19:39:00.000-04:00

Top left - sketch from a picture in the newspaper. The rest of the attemps where made at the airport waiting for the flight to Cuba. I spent one week at Playa Pesquero. It was my second trip to Cuba, the first one some 14 years ago. I am not sure why I waited so long. The hotel is very good, people are friendly and the weather was great. The only problem - one week was too short!

Scarves

2011-09-29T09:23:00.000-04:00

I went through a knitting frenzy yesterday, fueled by a 7 hour wait to see a family doctor who dismissised my worries as some kind of hysteria. I will not go into details about my thoughte in regards to the medical system. I just wonder for what am I paying 40% of my salary in taxes. I see a doctor once a year and I cannot get a decent service. So, to calm down I knitted:

Yeterday's news

2011-09-25T22:24:00.000-04:00

I signed up for a subscription to The Gazette. I will confess that the main reason I did it is because they offered a gift card for gas. I will eventually cancel the subscription. The quality isn't there anymore. Better read La Presse or Globe and Mail. To put the newspaper to some use, I started drawing from it.

Top left - two shelves in my book case. Bottom left - a skateboarder. It turns out the cycling path in Montreal are victims of their own success - accidents waiting to happen. There are bikers doing speed training, skooters, roller-bladers, walkers, runners, kids, dogs...
Top right - I tried to draw three of the twelve crumbling bridges in Montreal. I am sure there are more that that, the list did not even include the behemot - Champlain Bridge.

Plant

2011-09-21T22:22:00.000-04:00

I picked up some leaves and a strange looking fruit during a run in the park. The plant could be a cousin of the oak tree.

Live like an explorer

2011-09-19T22:10:00.000-04:00

I decided to take Danny's advice and start drawing my shoes, as well and few things I bought from Costco. On the right page, I glued a piece of pattern paper with some doodles on it, then I gessoed it. I was planning to draw a self portrait with brush and ink. Instead, I drew a kefir container.

Little Miss Sunshine

2011-09-17T22:07:00.000-04:00

I am almost done with the collage class over at Julie's. This time, I started with this:

and it became this:

I always have paper, fabric or board handy to wipe off excess paint and gazes. It makes for cool backgrounds or paper to be used in other projects. As I was putting away the board I used to wipe left over glazes, I had another "vision". Here is the result - a totem pole.

The cut out words at the top right read "optical illusion".

Abstract circles and lines

2011-09-14T20:52:00.003-04:00

Windows ...

2011-09-12T20:43:00.000-04:00

Another collage from my class - the colors are much better in reality but I cannot get the picture right ... and no time to go to the print shop...sigh...

Cafe au lait and feuilles mortes

2011-09-10T22:20:00.000-04:00

Mighty I felt after drawing my breakfast and I drew the cafe au lait and croissant too. Then I drew some dried hybiscus leaves - with both hands and then with a marker. I think I will stray a bit from drawing directly in pen. I can't draw using a continous line, my drawings are a succession of tiny lines. Everything gets too messy...but I promise I won't erase ...too much!

Oatmeal etc

2011-09-08T22:10:00.000-04:00

Taking matters seriously, I decided to draw my feet (huh ...of course they don't look like that really). I managed to draw my breakfast - a bowl with oatmeal, apple and cinamon. This let me tell you was a serious achievement - I am hungry and sleepy and moody in the morning before I have my coffee.

Lucidity

2011-09-06T22:01:00.000-04:00

I am reading Creative license again, trying to pick up the slack with more or less success. But as some say, one should focus on what one did, not on what one did not. So I am focusing on what I did. I started by drawing two cookies - the last mohicans that succumbed shortly after the drawing was finished. Then I sketched my hand while jotting down bits of overheard conversations.

Seascape

2011-09-04T20:53:00.000-04:00

I don't know how people manage to find time to make art, take pictures, photoshop them, post them, write posts a mile long, raise kids, do the chores, go to work...huh?!

I finished a collage over at Julie's. It was a love-hate process. The base collage layer and first layer of painting went on smoothly, but then I could not find a suited focal point, stuff I wanted to use did not fit and so on. In the end, I settled on a marine theme with seashells, bubbles and golden shiva oil pastels.
It all started like this:

and become this:

Lanternes chinoises

2011-08-31T19:49:00.000-04:00

We had a 50-50 weekend. Saturday was nice. but Sunday Irene caught up with us and it rained for an eternity. Nothing much to do other than some window shopping and playing around with watercolors and collage. I bought a bunch of chinese lanterns at the market and I did a quick sketched - it was getting dark outside.

Ghost town

2011-08-29T22:05:00.001-04:00

Another painting - this one was more trouble. I managed to make mud in the first round and it took a while to get rid of that. Now I know what colors to use for glazes! This is how it started:

The bottom is muddied up and all I could see were skulls...I had to do something! This is phase two:

And finally:

It reminds me about the villages on the Amalfi coast in Italy...

Acquatic landscape

2011-08-27T21:54:00.000-04:00

This is another painting I finished in the Land of the lost luggage. It started like this:

and it became this:

I am pleased with the results, I think it is a step in the right direction.

Car show

2011-08-25T21:54:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, I happened to be in Pointe-Claire just as the city was celebrating its 100 aniversary. Lots of activities and entertainment, lovely weather, big crowd. There was also an antique car show. Here are some pics:

They looked like candies stringed on the street...

Doodleland

2011-08-18T19:57:00.001-04:00

I picked up Lynda Barry's Picture this and I found it as refreshing and inspiring as What it is. I was too tired after a long day at work, so I decided to give myself permission to doodle a la Lynda in my scrap journal.

Here, some more creatures that emerged from watercolor splotches.

Lonesome

2011-08-16T19:57:00.000-04:00

Photo inspired abstract painting from the Land of the lost luggage classes. It started like this:

This is a picture in the lava fields near Flagstaff, Arizona. The picture morphed first into this:

and finally into this:

I think I am starting to get a hang of this, but a lot more work is needed. I am very far from the 10 000 hours of practice that makes perfect ...

H&H

2011-08-14T18:45:00.000-04:00

Hydrangea and hibiscus, that is. I bought these plants for the new patio - the hybiscus is a present.

Summer flowers

2011-08-12T18:35:00.000-04:00

The field flowers were the next subject to practice on. They went from this:

to this:

Splotches of color - I could not figure out how to "make" those flowers ...

Artichoke

2011-08-10T18:31:00.000-04:00

A while back I established a moratorium on buying art supplies. I must confess that I broke the rule and I bought 6 tubes of Omer deSerres watercolors on sale for 1.49$. The tubes should allow for different color mixes.
Here is the palette I made up with those colors:

I chose an artichoke to practice my newly acquired paints:

Hibiscus

2011-08-05T21:56:00.000-04:00

My friend Kathee visited over the weekend and she brought me a nice present - a hibiscus plant. This one has huge flowers the sive of desert plates and pinkish. This is supposed to be a hardy kind of plant ment to survive the winters here. That remains to be seen, but for now I am enjoying the blooms. I sketched a bloom and I will take a pic as soon as the new blooms open up.

Flower sketch

2011-08-03T21:56:00.000-04:00

Last Friday, I was so tired that all I could manage to do was a quick sketch of a plant from a photo I found on Jane LaFazio's blog. And of course I had to come up with another weird face ...

I wish I had time to take nice pictures and have one nice blog ...maybe one day.

New discovery

2011-07-29T21:17:00.000-04:00

Few days ago, I was checking the web for vacation packages and such. I haven't found anything with my name on it, so to speak. Instead, I found touchrawing. I would not be me if I did not give it a try.

I used my old oil paints, rice paper and a piece of transparency - that's all I had handy. I only cut five pieces of pape, but next time I will have prepare more papers. The recommandation seems to be to do one hour sessions.

I spread the paint and started moving my hands. I ended up with four self-portraits of sorts and one flower doodle.

I added a touch of white and some black with oil pastels, but the drawings were not dry. They still aren't.
Touching the paper felt very much like sculpting in clay. I could just keep moving my hands over the paper for a while, eyes closed too. But my papers were small - maybe 9 x 12. Hardly enough room to move.
I will definetely do this again,but I need to find a bigger printing plate and a variation of papers. Red paint over newspaper could produce interesting results. This would probably work with acrylics too - especially the open ones from Golden. The problem I am having with these more intuitive approaches is that I don't know how to interpret the result. It is as if they drawings become dream images with a hidden meaning.

This reminded me of an orchid painting I did a while back where I used only my fingers - it is the one at the bottom of this post. It was so much fun and I still like it. To be continued ...

Crusade no. 53 - Mad Scientist

2011-07-27T19:10:00.002-04:00

This month crusade was an easy one. Hmmm ...maybe not as easy as I thought. Or maybe that was because I missed all the other crusades of the year!

As I was planning to sketch my cactus garden anyway, I decided to use the sketch for the crusade. I must say that I had some difficulty coming up with names, and they are kinda boring anyway. Maybe next time I will do better.

I don't like wasting paint, so whatever I had left on the palette I used on the left page. The plan was to look for abstract shapes in the mix of colors. But instead of abstract shapes, I ended up with that figure. To me, it looks like a girl with a dog on a swing. OK. The dog looks more like a pig. The thing is I was looking for abstract shapes ...and I ended up somewhere else. Such if life after all, often we do not end up where we thought we would ...

Here are the names: stormy sky, pomegranate juice, saguaro, spring grass. Hmm ... I forgot to write the colors I started with. This must be a senior moment ...

Fabric inspired

2011-07-22T21:54:00.000-04:00

This doodle was inspired by the pattern on a summer blouse.

It was very time consuming. As I was sitting in my rocking chair working on it, I kept wondering what's the point. A six years old does a much better job I am sure. I am not a doodler. It does not improve my drawing skills. It does not improve any skills. I should do something more "meaningful", more productive, more usefull. Like learn a new trade, or skill for work, or something tangible...

Remains of the fridge

2011-07-21T21:45:00.000-04:00

Hidden at the bottom of the veggie drawer I found an old potato, a lemon at the end of its life and a pear. Only when I got to drawing the pear did I realize that I placed it in a foreshortened position. Ahhhhhh ... but I was too lazy to change it. And too unskilled to draw it corectly ... maybe next time ...

Pocahontas

2011-07-19T21:20:00.000-04:00

A woman caught my eye in the metro. She was tall, black, and wore a traditional long fuchsia dress and a head scrarf the same color. When I got home, I tried to draw her from memory. The results resembles more Pocahontas. Watercolor washes and colored pencil.

Groceries

2011-07-17T21:19:00.000-04:00

What to sketch ... what to sketch...hmmm ... I know! The groceries!

Hot and humid weekend it was. Now there is a severe thunderstorm alert and I think the downpour is just around the corner. The long run yesterday deserved the name - "long". And painful. And hot. I decided I deserved a reward after all that struggle and I bought a rocking chair for the patio. There ... now I have a place to read and paint outside.

Journal page

2011-07-16T21:53:00.001-04:00

I saw so many nice journal pages done in public places that I decided to give it a try. Halas, my result is nowhere near the ones I saw.

I drew the figures standing on the platform or in the moving train. I get it! Not my fault, it's the moving train!

Insomnia

2011-07-14T21:51:00.002-04:00

I am still having trouble sleeping. I woke up at 3AM, tried to fall back asleep till 5AM., then decided that this is a lost cause and I took out the watercolor set. I drew my key chain and a flower pot.

Some more gerberas. I really "killed" those flowers.

I am going to do some pen doodles over the petals as soon as I figure out where my pens are. And no more gerberas for a while!

New place

2011-07-12T21:25:00.002-04:00

I posted some pics of my new place before the renovations here. And here are the pics after the renovations:

Very different, don't you think?

Out and about

2011-07-10T21:25:00.001-04:00

Today I went for a walk from my home to the Old Port. Half way there, I stopped at Atwater Market for a green papaya, pork satay and coconut water at the Satay Brothers. Here are some of the pics I took one the way:

The Circus is in town - this is the tent for Cirque du Soleil.

This is Daniel McAlister - the oldest tugboat in Canada.

I find it funny that they installed a metro sign like in Paris.

It's about 8 km from here to the Old Port I figured. I am planning to do it in the reverse - take the metro all the way there so I can check all the boutiques and then walk back.

Gerbera

2011-07-05T20:38:00.001-04:00

Things are slowly getting back to normal. Or so I like to believe. I don't know yet where will be my "studio", so for now all the artsy stuff stays in black bags. I tried to hang some pictures only to have them tumbling down as soon as finished putting the last screw. I did not know that in concrete walls I cannot put screws. Only nails. One damaged picture later, I know.

The cat ventured outside. Finally. He is on a tight leash, he sneaked out of it once already. How he managed, I haven't a clue. Most of the time he does what he is best at: snoring.

I wanted to test the Internet connexion from the rooftop - and it works!This means that once my patio will be finished, I could work outside. Lovely! Now I have to keep an eye on patio furniture sales. I want a patio set that folds, but it is hard to find these days. Everybody seems to want lounge chairs and other paraphernalia. They are all great, but what am I supposed to do with them in the winter?

And while I wait for the patio, I decided to buy flowers anyway. Gerberas. This is the left handed version:

And the right hand version - can anyone say that there is a real difference between the two?! I say they are equally childish. But I like using my left hand, it is more liberating in a way. Less judgement.

Moved!

2011-06-30T21:28:00.001-04:00

It happened – finally! I had to postpone it one week because the new place was not ready.

In the meantime, both laptops succumbed to virus attacks. My car decided to break down the week before the D-Day. The money saved for this year's vacation were spent repairing it. Then, I had an accident with the courtesy car from the garage.

Last Friday, I spent five hours loading and unloading boxes, but now me, my office assistant and all our possessions are in the same place.

We are facing new challenges. The cat went into hiding for two days and refused to eat. The noise level is more than what he is used to, so he sleeps under the bed. The noise is sometimes too much even for me. Life in the city comes with a whole set of challanges I forgot all about. When the tenant upstairs used the hairdresser, I could swear she was in my bathroom. Every time she goes up and down the stairs it seems that the building is about to collapse.

On the other hand, after work I run to Atwater market, did some shopping at the organic butcher and took the bus back. A run to the Old Port would take me a little more than one hour. I can get anywhere I need to go on foot or by metro. I wanted to enjoy summer in the city, the cafes, restaurants, festivals. But so far, not much of a summer. We had few nice days here and there, but nothing to write home about.

I have been utterly exhauseted this past week, I overslept, I did not exercise enough. The worst part is that I don't feel rested. Au contraire ...

I am in no rush to unpack.I have some paints handy and I want to get back to painting asap. I want to finish the classes I signed up for over at Julie's. I tend to get sidetracked and leave things unfinished and that would be a pity ...

Moving woes

2011-06-12T22:03:00.001-04:00

As D-Day approaches, the packing efforts intensify. I am dealing with contractors on both fronts. At the condo where I am now, repairs will be done next week. At the place where I am moving, everything has been torn apart and put back together, with the usual surprises that one expects in an old building (such as water pipes installed outside the wall instead of inside them). Each surprise resulted in an emergency call to the plumber or the electrician or both.

I am up to my ears in boxes and bags. Unbalievable. Where is all this stuff coming from, I wonder. I don't buy stuff often. I don't even have a toaster. Or a microwave. The TV is going away tomorrow - given away on freecycle. I purge once a year. I gave away three big garbage bags of stuff. Still... I am moving from a place with three big closets, a laundry room and an indoor locker to a place with one closet! Seriously ...

More purging will be needed at the destination, I am afraid. I have two huge contractor strength garbage bags full with art supplies, plus five boxes. I kid you not. I think I need to sit down and reevaluate this whole art business. I found old oil canvasses I painted years back - I will have to decide what to do with them as I will not have enough place for everything. Arghhhh ...

Bodies in urban spaces

2011-06-05T21:06:00.000-04:00

After spending the morning kayaking on Lachine Canal, I attended this free event. The strangest thing I saw in a while. The show started at the Planetarium and continued all over downtown, ending in Place des Arts. Few hundred people invaded the streets, to the chagrin of many a driver, following the performers who run from place to place and "glued" themselves to empty spaces on building and streets. Here are the pics I took:

On the moving front, I am about half way with the packing... and there will be "victims". Stuff collected for various projects, paintings that I don't like, some that I like but that are bad anyway, assemblage pieces...will sadly have to go. Amazing how much junk there is around, and I purge at least once a year. I don't buy a lot of things, gizmos are against my religion. I don't even own a toaster... and still. I already brought bags of clothes to the Salvation Army and I suspect some more purging will happen at the destination.

Train doodles

2011-06-02T21:35:00.000-04:00

An attempt to use travel time effectively resulted in a plot for a fairytale and a doodle ....I have not found the time to sit down and write the story, but I finished coloring the doodle. Moleskine notebook, pen and colored pencil.

Band of Cyclopes

2011-05-31T20:28:00.000-04:00

Being short on time these days, more than usual, I started this page with few splotches of watercolor. Bands rather. Then I had "visions" again and here is the result - an orchestra of one-eyed animals, a band of cyclopes!

Walk on the Lachine Canal

2011-05-29T20:28:00.000-04:00

In between two outpours, I tried a new experiment. I parked the car in front of the place where I will be moving and I walked from there to Atwater Market. It took me about 40 min, which was to be expected as there are about 4 km door-to-door. Last time I walked on the bike path was about 5-6 years ago... I took some pictures on the way:.

I also took a couple of pics of my place - the "before":

The previous tenant left me a "present" - a toaster and a waffler :) Work on the place will start in few days. That garage roof will be changed, the kitchen redone ... busy,busy,busy!

How many animals do you see?

2011-05-16T21:27:00.000-04:00

I made another spread in the ROD journal - based on an exercise from Carla. It was easy, fun and very relaxing.

I should have probably work some thicker lines here and there...but maybe next time.

Have cake

2011-05-01T22:01:00.000-04:00

Flower doodles...and no cake for me. I am trying to follow P90X. This winter was a killer for my running form and now I have to lose weight asap to start training for the fall marathon.

Poppies

2011-04-30T21:54:00.000-04:00

I love poppies. The fields back home where full of them in the summer, but here in the cement jungle there aren't any of course. On the way to Compostela there were many too, especially in the first part of the pilgrimage before reaching Burgos. These ones are from a photo found on the net:

Eagle

2011-04-28T21:42:00.007-04:00

I found the photo of the bird in a magazine. I forgot to coat the nun with absorbent ground and the paint and pen did not stick to the page.

Feather

2011-04-26T21:33:00.015-04:00

This is a page in the ROD journal. I love this journal, but it is not the best format for painting. MaryAnn does not paint in hers either...Anyway, the inspiration came from a photo on Alisa's blog.

New home

2011-04-24T21:33:00.000-04:00

I have been busy looking for a new home closer to the city. I moved to the 'burbs 12 years ago only to realize that they are great places for families, not for me. I want to have easier access to services and activities without having to drive. Gas prices are taking all the fun out of driving anyway, not to mention traffic jams, crazy drivers and the famous potholes... The house I found is smaller, but it is close to a big park, bike path, metro, busses, and only 7 km from the Old Port. I can wak all the way there in the summer, have an ice cream and come back.

Now I have to sell my condo, which means I have to clean all the time and keep the artsy mess to the bare minimum. Not that I have that much time left to make stuff... Some of the found objects I collected for my journals ended up in the garbage when I cleaned up after the renovations. Older (and very ugly) journals had the same fate. This purging process will continue until I move and not only because I will have less space to store stuff, but also because I have to accept that I do not have the time to keep up with all the projects I'd like to do. For the next little while, I will concentrate on abstact painting ...at least that's the plan.

Failed experiment

2011-04-10T04:50:00.000-04:00

A while back, I decided to try an experiment in altering papers. People do this by burying the papers for few months underground. I live in a condo, so that was not an option. I decided instead to leave the papers on the balcony over the winter. Same thing, right? Snow, rain, sun ... Wrong! I forgot to consider Canada's second national animal: the squirrel. My papers became a squirre nest... Imagine my surprise when the snow meted and I found my precious bag torn to shreads. I shoud have known. When I had a house, squirrels ate all my tulip bulbs. So there is goes - another failed experiment...

Trying ...

2011-04-08T05:18:00.000-04:00

... to get back on track here, but it is hard. I am caught up in other things at the moment and I don't have the energy to make anything anymore. I do still putter around in my online classes with Julie, but I do not have anything finished. I tried my hand at a bigger abstract painting, but so far it is a total failure and I cannot seem to find a way to fix it. I am also trying to get a hang of composing abstract art and I must say that it is harder than I thought. I always assumed that abstract is easier, after all, one can just put stuff on a canvass in a more or less haphazard manner, call it something and voila ...That was until I got my feet wet and realized that there is more to it than meets the eye. But I keep trying...

Swimming

2011-03-31T20:36:00.001-04:00

This is an abstract I managed to finish in between cleaning and dusting around. I called it "Swimming" because the images at the bottom made me think about two people swimming.

I could not make up my mind which way to display the painting. I decided that I will turn it around whenever I get bored. It is 6x6 and abstract, so that should work. For now, I chose this display:

I framed both of them and displayed them side by side:

The after ...

2011-03-29T20:36:00.000-04:00

... of my condo following major revamping:

Super cool - if I say so myself! And now that I fixed it, I might end up selling it and starting all over again.

Still alive!

2011-03-22T21:43:00.000-04:00

I neglected the blog, but with good reason. I had renovations going on and no time or place to make anything new. I am trying to get back into it slowly. Hopefully, I will have something to post soon.

Lonely

2011-03-06T10:04:00.000-05:00

I wanted to work with a photo I took a while back. The focal point was the tree, the rest of the background was without interest. Once I cut out the tree, I found that it did not fit on the left page, but it had a nice spot on the right page. I applied absorbent ground on the left page and on the fabric first.

I like the trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do.

Willa Cather, 1913

Sketchbook delight - 2

2011-03-04T08:21:00.000-05:00

I sketched this from a photo I took last year in Guatemala. I messed up the measurements and I drew only half of the facade :)

Sketchbook delight - 1

2011-03-02T08:21:00.000-05:00

I have been running around like a chicken with no head lately and I had little time for making stuff. I managed a few quick sketches following Alisa's instructions. I am using the patchwork journal I made with Mary Ann. Page coated with absorbent ground; pen and watercolors.

Blue shapes

2011-02-22T20:58:00.000-05:00

This one went through so many incarnations that I lost count...

Abstract with flower

2011-02-20T20:57:00.000-05:00

I used to think that painting abstracts is a walk in the park. After all, they are just circles and squares, right? Of course, I was wrong. I am spending an insane a mount of time painting these abstracts for the classes I am taking with Julie and Chris, but I am pleased with the results and I am having fun. That's what counts, right?

Gradient

2011-02-15T20:25:00.003-05:00

I went AWOL lately because I am taking three classes with Julie Prichard and Chris Cozen over at the Land of Lost Luggage, a sketching class with Alisa Burke and a fiction writing class. So far, I am enjoying the process but it takes a while to finish a piece. That's ok because the paintings will be better.

Here are two of them. The exercise was to create a gradient of color using glazes.

Remains of the day finished

2011-02-13T20:08:00.000-05:00

I am done! Yepee! Here is the final look:

All in all, it turned out nice, but it took a while to finish. Maybe for somebody well organized who has the scraps neatly stored in bins and bags, the whole process is faster. I also realized that I have enough stuff collected to make about ten of these! I think I will use it for quick scketches after I coat the shiny pages with absorbent ground.

Recycled journal page

2011-02-02T21:10:00.000-05:00

Strathmore runs three free workshops on their website here. I followed Pam's instructions and decided to produce a recycled journal page. I photocopied older pages to use as background, not as focal points. I found an image that qualified as a focal point ... kind of ...the resulting page is this:

oooouch ... I was not about to abandon the fight when faced with adversity ... right? So I decided to use my papers as background and magazine images as focal point. The new pages started like this:

And finally, they became this:

Stabilo pen and watersoluble pastels.

Birdie

2011-01-31T20:32:00.005-05:00

I did not have too much time, so I tried a quick bird sketch from a magazine. Cute-ish...I think...just not me, I guess.

Illustration Friday - surrender

2011-01-30T20:07:00.000-05:00

I came up with a kinda funny idea for this topic. Not too original, I admit. And the execution leaves a lot to be desired... but it was fun all the same.

Remains of the day - pages

2011-01-27T19:40:00.000-05:00

Putting together these pages took forever, I must say. At some point, the floor was entirely covered in scraps. It would be nice if I could figure out how to do it faster. Here are the pages partwayt through the process and the two signatures.

Picasso Dogs

2011-01-25T19:37:00.004-05:00

I had some time the other day and I played again with Picasso's dogs exercise from Carla's book. I am still trying to get a hang of the pan pastels. I have to name these creatures, they could become part of a story one day ...

Crusade nr. 47 - Evidence

2011-01-24T21:18:00.001-05:00

When I read the topic of this month's crusade I almost cried. Seriously! I had no evidence of Christmas past. I made my own wrapping paper from newspaper pages, paint and stamps. Made my own gift tags too. But take pictures? Nope...that I did not.

I made all my tree decoration though. You can see them here. Hope that counts ...

But then I thought ...must do something. So I took some candy wrappers left over from the chocolate spree and sewn them to a piece of cardboard. This in no way indicates that this is the only chocolate I had! I then applied two coats of absorbent ground. I never used it before and I wanted to test different mediums to see what happens. This is the end result - evidence of my Christmas chocolate over indulgence. The creature is based on one of the exercises in Carla Sonheim's book.

I used charcoal, pen, watercolors, pan pastels (I cannot figure how to use those properly no matter what) and watercolor ink.

Remains of the day - cover

2011-01-23T21:03:00.000-05:00

I finally signed up for Mary Ann's class. I wanted to sign up last year, but I did not have a sawing machine. Now that I have Lili, I decided it was time to act.

I got started on the cover. I used a page from a catalog and scraps of fabric. I made a mistake and I saw the scraps directly on the paper instead of putting the scraps together, then sawing to the paper. I did not want to make a slipcover because I am sort of bad measuring stuff and I am pretty sure the slipcover would have been to small or something.

See what I mean? It's got all wholes on the back so I glued pattern paper over.

Illustration Friday - dusty

2011-01-22T23:30:00.000-05:00

Dusty made me think about the mule trip I took down the Grand Canyon 3 years ago. I was wearing a white sun shirt which turned dest-red by the time I got to the bottom of the Canyon. There was no way I could do draw that. I figured the next best thing about a desert are cacti.

Flowering pear cacti - watercolor, color pencil.

Life drawing session

2011-01-18T20:45:00.000-05:00

I finally made it! I wanted to to a life drawing session for a long time, but things kept getting in the way. This time, I found a drawing buddy and off I went to this gallery. I did not know what to expect and I decided to follow the instructions from Kimon Nicolaides - gesture drawings and conture drawings. It was a lesson in humility I suppose as my drawings turned out terrible - I still have some 9900 hours of practice before mastering this skill. Enough for two lifetimes I suppose. Recycled papers and pencil

Expressive drawing practice

2011-01-17T20:33:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I worked on the exercises from Steven Aimone's book...I finally finihsed the chapter on shapes.

This exercise is about static shapes (circle, square, triangle), directional shapes (rectangle, elipsis, elongated triangle) and a combination of both (chosing shapes from both groups for a total of three). I wrote my answers to the questions from the book on each page, easier to remember this way.

The next exercise was a still life. I setup a simple still life and I had to look at it in terms of shapes and draw these shapes. This is the still life:

And these are five shape sketches - I used different pens and pencils for each:

The last exercise was a drawing made using a combination of shapes and lines.

Illustration Friday - chicken

2011-01-16T22:53:00.000-05:00

Collage and watercolor.

Pomegranate

2011-01-15T20:27:00.000-05:00

The supermarket had pomegranate on sale and I decided to buy a model for my sketching session. I used both hands - the right hand for the top drawings and the left hand for the bottom ones. I can't say I notice a significant difference. I wanted to go back and add some highlights around the seeds, but in the meantime I ate the model ...

Sweater redux

2011-01-13T19:54:00.000-05:00

I bought a few wool sweaters at the Salvation Army and felted them in the washing machine. Now, I am looking for inspiration to turn them into something else. In the meantime, I made myself a pair of slippers, leg warmers and a jeweled hat.

For the slippers, I used the pattern from here. I cut the sleeves from another sweater and felted them by hand.

For the hat, I used the instructions from here. I bought a bag of "jewels" from the DollarStore, glued them with the glue gun and voilà!

Meet Lili

2011-01-11T19:53:00.000-05:00

I got her for Christmas. So far, we are getting along just fine and I hope it stays that way! I will try to incorporate some sawing in my journals and maybe embark on some easy sawing projects.

Self portraits

2011-01-08T17:14:00.000-05:00

Continuing my left hand experiments, I decided to try self portraits from photos. They are not as bad as I thought, except of course for the lack of resemblance. The right one is stabilo pen and acrylic.

The elephant on the page

2011-01-07T16:46:00.000-05:00

I wanted to paint a face. Just a face, nothing else. I decided to prep the background by gluing paper scraps. In the end, it came out to this:

The only thing I like is the green elephant in the corner. Or maybe it is a gigantic genetically engineered bug ...I think that it will make a good background for something else.

Three sisters

2011-01-06T16:28:00.000-05:00

Here, I wanted to practice painting on fabric using my left hand and different mediums. So I painted three faces using acrylic paints, Shiva paintsticks and watercolor crayons. I like the acrylic face the most. The three older women on the left page look like three birds perched on a branch. Maybe one day I will write a story about them. Not sure what the story is yet.

Blue Poppy

2011-01-05T15:00:00.000-05:00

This postcard is from the Butchart Gardens. I was not too sure how to proceed with the page, so I tried drawing a face with my left hand.

oops ...I see now that something got glued to her face. Serendipity I guess.

Doodle journal page

2011-01-04T14:34:00.000-05:00

I am not sure why I still attempt flowery doodles when I know I don't usually like the results. This time was no different. Here is how the doodle page looked like:

Since I was not too fond of it, I gessoed over and then I had "visions" again. The page turned into this:

The first page makes me think about camping under a palm tree on a night with full moon. On the second page, I "saw" birds. One of them is falling on its nose. Hah ...

Happy New Year...

2011-01-03T20:46:00.001-05:00

... to all of you and thank you for stopping by. It is customary this time of the year to divulge the resolutions. I won't. That is because I do not have any. I stopped doing this a while ago. Having a long list of failed resolutions was not something to look forward to. For example, when I started this blog, I was convinced my art skills would improve dramatically, I would find my "style" and I would spend a good chunk of my time making good art. I am still a long shot from this. When I started running, my goal was to loose 30 lb. I only lost 15. Better then nothing, I know. It turned out I love chocolate more. I wanted to have a travel journal for every trip and that did not work out regardless how much I tried. My writing improved only a teeny tiny bit. You get the idea ... So no more resolutions, I decided. One day at a time...

Christmas gifts

2010-12-31T20:55:00.000-05:00

A quick sketch of my Christmas gifts:

I am now the proud owner of a sewing machine! Second hand, but it works fine. That black thing in the middle is a heat dish - in case anybody wonders. I know, it looks like a panda bear ...