Studio binge

After finishing off my big research paper last night and turning it in, I thought I deserved some studio time.  I put the two collages together pretty quickly and then I felt like I could settle down to do the drawing.  Drawing is 8x10" and collages are 9x12".  I don't have any wise words about these, I just needed to make something, you know?  I had a good afternoon.

Collages

So here's two of the collages I was starting on a week ago.  Top one is 9x12" and the bottom one is 8x10".  I printed out the magazine pictures, some scanned wood, and I did a little spray painting with some little stencils I cut.  It's nice working on this kind of project because I could work a little at a time in between doing schoolwork and reading.  I'm not sure what I think about them yet...I'll have to let them sit for a little while and look at them again.  I definitely had fun messing around with them, though.  I've got a few more pieces of paper with spray paint on them so they will end up collaged too.

A new (to me) tree

So this is from a tree that I've been watching all summer that's growing at the edge of the woods next to our house.  It had tiny little flowers on it in spring, but I didn't think they were that exciting.  Now it has little round berries on it that start out green and turn shiny black.  I looked it up and it appears to be a cascara or Rhamnus purshiana (had to cut and paste that - my Latin spelling is not so great).  I like the groups of berries and the angles of the leaves...it looks very graceful to me.

I was trying to find a way to incorporate a little more color into a strong drawing without taking away from the drawing too much and this is what I came up with.  I like it - what do you guys think?  I'd like to try this again, but I have to say I do still love my plain pencil drawings too.  I think drawings are looked down upon a little bit and I want to change that :)

My creative space

I had a sudden whim to do something collage-y because then I can work on making something a little bit at time.  It's harder to work on a painting in short bursts what with all the setup and cleanup each time I sit down.  I'm on the home stretch in my classes but I can't just do schoolwork so I thought collage would be good.  

I love collecting old books and magazines but I have a hard time finding bits that I want to use.  I know a lot of people do amazing collage work with vintage paper but for me, there's too much of that old-paper brown.  So I did some scanning and printing yesterday so I could use the images but keep the white of the paper, and I added color to some black-and-white photos.  Since I'm using my good archival roll paper in my printer for these, I'm working on flattening out my pieces of paper here.  That's as far as I've gotten today, but I'll update with more later.

Oh, and I had to relocate to the dining table because we're in the middle of a heat wave.  I love all the windows in my studio but it does make it toasty in there right now.  I heard Seattle broke a record high temperature yesterday.

Many more spaces here.

My creative space

Yes, I've actually been in my studio making something today!  I was feeling pretty good about where I was with schoolwork so I decided to go draw.  I can tell I needed it, too.  I get withdrawal symptoms if I haven't been able to make anything for a while.

Cute and old

So when I'm not doing schoolwork and I don't have a headache (that's a whole other story), I'm doing my best just to keep up with watering the garden and keeping my mare all scritched and happy.  It's been very hot and dry here which is ok with me, really, but I was anticipating more rain.  You know, Seattle area and all...

She's giving the neighbors' sheep the eye right here, because they're always getting upset over something and shouting and running about.

This is like a minute later.  She's a power napper.  She's 26 this year - did I mention that? - so I think she's allowed to nap.  However, she still gallops around and bucks in her pasture like she's 3 and loooves to run when we're out riding.  

And this is what she does when I scratch her itchy spots - camera in the right hand, scritching her back with the left.

I promise someday I'll have some actual art for my blog again.  I hope you'll all bear with me, though - when these last classes end, I'll have my diploma and I'll be back to work a little more steadily.

Clematis

So this vine looked dead for quite a while this spring and turned out to be a clematis.  It's uh...kind of flowery now.  I never grew a clematis back home and I didn't realize they'd be so overwhelming.

No new paintings to show you all, I'm afraid.  I'll be glad when these online classes are over because it seems like to make up for the fact that you don't have to go sit through lectures or take exams (at least for these two), the professors are giving us way more reading and writing assignments.  I don't mind writing papers, but I'd rather do a few longer ones than a ton of shorter ones.