Salal + pink

Are you bored of these yet?  I hope not because I'm still having fun with them.  I keep playing with how much to leave of a strong line and how much to blend away.  I just love playing with my paint because it really does feel like playing to me.  I've been putting down the line, then the white, then blending with a completely dry hog bristle brush and I like what it's doing to my edges.  On my bigger canvases, I used to just switch back and forth between the two color brushes but adding a third dry one seems to help a lot when I'm working this small.  I could sit and push lines back and forth on my canvases all day :)

My creative space

I'm noticing that when I go and work in my studio in the evening, I have something interesting to post for My Creative Space, but everyone else posted theirs ages ago.  I hope it still counts even if I like to work a little later :)

More creative spaces (and play along) at Kootoyoo.

Salal some more

Look, there's finally some art here on my art blog!  8x8" and I think I'm feeling a little more comfortable with squares.  I've been kind of resistant to using a square format and I bought a few of these panels in squares to force myself to give it another try.

To finish my degree I needed just a few more credits even though I've finished all my upper division, degree-specific classes.  Of course I didn't find this out until after spring quarter had started :) so I'm taking a couple of classes online right now.  I never took an online class before and it's a little odd.  Fortunately I can do the work whenever and go do something more fun when I'm done.  Can't wait for that diploma though...

Frogs!

Wee baby frogs were migrating (I guess) through my yard this weekend so I borrowed a couple of them for a few minutes to take some pictures.  These two little guys are in a pint glass in these photos - if that gives you an idea of how small they are.  

I'm still amazed at how many frogs there are here.  In eastern Washington where I spent my first 28 years, I think I saw maybe ten frogs ever.  

Now I have to go take all the things that I moved into the studio and put them back into the extra bedroom where they usually live :)

My creative space

Well, it's just a quick dash in and out of my studio today, as I've got family coming over this afternoon.  No new work, just a shot of my wall where I'm playing around with some paint chips and color combinations.

More creative spaces here.

Garden update

Not a whole lot of art-making going on around here today...I've got family visiting tomorrow so I've had to cram a bunch of things that normally live in the guest bedroom into my studio.  I did go outside to take some pictures and thought this little snail had some star quality and deserved a little internet fame.

This is my Eden climbing rose - it's only been in the ground for a couple weeks so it hasn't done a lot of climbing just yet.  I love the lush blooms.  For me, roses are definitely a "more is more" kind of thing.

Salal!

Not salad, salal.  I finally found out what this was just lately and I'm pretty enamored with it.  It's the same thing those lil' bees in the earlier post were visiting.  

This one is 5x7" and I sanded the gesso on the canvas a little bit more before I started this one which helped my blending a bit.

My creative space

I finally got around to putting the wires on the backs of the panel paintings...I think they look kind of adorable on the wall.  I love that flush to the wall, no-frame look.

More spaces at Kootoyoo.

Oooh, so pretty!

Look at this lovely treasury that Belinda made!  I'm really delighted to have one of my prints in with all this gorgeous work :)

Thanks again, Belinda!

Dogwood again (and bees)

I went outside today to take pictures of the salal flowers and I noticed that I am not their only admirer.  Bee fuzz is so cute.

And here's the next painting in the series - 8x10".  

I had a pretty good weekend but I'm ready to get back to work (this painting was from Friday - just hadn't got around to scanning etc).  

My creative space today

I've been admiring Belinda's My Creative Space posts every week so I thought I'd put one up of my studio.  I've been working at the table instead of the easel because these pieces are so small.

More creative spaces here.

Dogwood

Not maple seeds, but dogwood flowers this time.  There's a dogwood tree right outside the big window in my studio and when it started to leaf out this spring I was hoping it would be something interesting.  It didn't seem to be doing anything and then I noticed it had little green four-petaled...things.  They've gotten bigger and are slowly turning white.

This piece is 6x6" on canvas on panel and it's challenging working this small.  But they are automatically cute because they're so little.

Finally, some new oils

Here are the paintings that I've been thinking about and prepping panels for (with one more that's still wet).  The top one is 8x8" and the bottom one is 8x10".  I think the maple tree that these are on is a bigleaf maple...I'm still learning about the trees around here.  I'm better with pines, firs, tamaracks, that sort of thing.

Whenever I start a new series or project, I wonder if anybody else will "get it" or if I'm making work that only I like.  So I guess I'm feeling a little apprehensive about these pieces right now.  But at the same time, I like them, so maybe somebody else will...

Some flowers for you

The unknown roses have started to bloom.  I was hoping I would like them but they had no tags on so I had to wait until I could look at the flowers.  Anyway, this is how they look in a vase until a cat pulls them all out in the night and scatters them around.  Oh, and the tall thing in the middle is stock which I love to grow for the scent.