M.I.A.

Wow! Where does the time go? Has it really been another six months? And how busy can a person be not to write a little roundup? If you are out there making art, you'll understand. Time gets away from you, and the only place you really want to be is with sticks of color in hand, applying dreams to the page. As usual, I can be found in any one of a dozen online classes or subgroups on Facebook. I must be meeting deadlines I set for myself, because, after all, there is no grade or punishment for tardiness or incompletion in the virtual classroom. But I feel the clock ticking, and I know what I need to accomplish to make me happy. And it does. Make me very happy!

In just a year I have come so far in my skills and knowledge, it is starting to feel like a college degree and more. I can't imagine I could have possibly had the time to make this much art in college, what with all the "core" courses and the outside work, and the clubs and friend time, and hanging out. No, I am in a different frame of mind and I am driven, and it feels so good.

The End? No, it's time for a restart!

You may recall that in 2013 I was taking the giraffe as my muse in Carla Sonheim's "Year of the Giraffe" class. This is a frame from a class video animation I contributed to. My portion was titled "Spot Goes Spot Shopping".

In October we did four "mini" projects. This was "Cardboard Giraffe" week, made entirely from boxes I had sitting around in a box, and old fashioned brass paper fasteners.

Another October week was "Famous Artist Giraffe". "Frida Giraffe" was one of my favorite creations of the year.

But back to the blogging and why I haven't kept a schedule there. I think it has to do with a big change in the way we are relating out there in the ether. I notice fewer and shorter blog posts by many of the artists and friends that I followed. Generally, I am not finding the time to read them and unless a post is under my nose with a link on Facebook, I'm not seeing it. Most of the time I only go looking if I want to find a tutorial, or just check up on an old friend I've lost touch with. I am also finding that while Facebook is the social medium we love to hate, many of my teachers are finding it the most expedient way to connect their students' work and commentary to the class.

In addition to giraffing in 2013, I continued to stretch my mixed media drawing talents and imagination for visual storytelling with the Jane Davenport class, "Joynal", nine weeks of fairytale type characters from fairies to unicorns to mermaids. This altered photo of my toddler self was the basis for a "fairy godmother" illustration.

"Joynal" was inspired by both joy and journaling, part of which was creating an altered book in which to do some of our artwork. I also created a larger format book out of several types of watercolor and mixed media papers. Both are still be used in my current Jane classes.

Since we were encouraged to draw characters, the classmates began to collect not only myriad art supplies, but shelves full of studio muses. The "Monster High" dolls are great posable tools for use as manikins.

A journal page showing my research in the shapes which fairy wings can take was a lot of fun, with a few tongue-in-cheek references.

Over the three and half years I've written this blog, sixty-four posts, I have only received 339 legitimate comments, an average of five per post (and some of those are my replies). So I am often left to wonder, who exactly is reading it, and would they notice or care if I stopped writing? When my original intent was for this to be a diary of artistic growth that I didn't mind sharing with the general public, I guess I was really satisfied just to know I had a running record for myself of what I'd been up to. If I touch or inspire others along the way, so much the better. But really, why should I always be filled with angst that I am not making my "story" a well crafted piece of literature, or making it too long or short, too frequent or sporadic?

For the week on fairytale heroines, I chose Alice, and later did a "tables are turned" illustration of grownup Alice judging the Queen of Hearts in her courtroom.

Galadriel served as inspiration for this elfin queen.

For those old enough to remember the movie, South Pacific, you will recall the intro to the song "Bali Hai".

After drawing two unicorns based on horse photos, I went on to create this creature totally from my imagination.

Our parting lesson was based on a painting Jane had designed of "girlimal" twins. She invited us to create our own combination of animal and female. What else could mine possibly be to end "The Year of the Giraffe"? This is a digitally altered version of my full color Copic marker painting.
The complete set of all the classwork can be found here on my flickr page.

So in the spirit of fairness to all, I'm going to try to post more often in whatever form strikes me creatively that week, and I'm going to be very happy to read and respond to your comments about what reading blogs like this means to you and consider that we could make this a dialogue, or not. I am finding that most of that is going on over at Facebook, and if we are connected in any way in the real world, (say, we both love Jane's classes) you can contact me over there. If you "like" my page, Second Part Art, we can be in touch without that friending business. Oh, and it still makes me glad that you stopped by for a visit. 

Kitty and I showing you a miniature journal we made with instructions from Tracy Moore in the Artstronauts club, one of our new online inspirations.

A New Muse

How did it get to be almost the middle of January? I guess I've been too busy to notice the time whizzing by. The last week of the year is always a favorite for me: celebration season coming to an end and everything calming down, exercise classes on hiatus. Fewer social expectations means time to clean up the house and clean up my to-do pile in a more relaxed way, and always, make plans for a new season of learning and excitement.

As the light of day materializes, I contemplate my creative life.

This year the Strathmore workshops aren't scheduled to begin until March, but I had an alternate New Year's Day creative jolt: after starting the day with a very "rah! rah!" Weight Watchers meeting I came home to begin, in earnest, "2013, The Year of the Giraffe, An Experiment in Creativity" with the most excellent of creative cheerleaders, Carla Sonheim. I have taken numerous online workshops with Carla over the last two years, as have others of the giraffe class, and we were so ready for this new concept. Rather than being an actual drawing class, we are expanding our vision about the meaning of creativity by having one basic muse, the giraffe, and twelve monthly assignments in various forms of creative expression. We will design assignments of our own choosing, we will communicate through word and image, we will talk on the phone, we will create a group e-zine, we will make friends around the world, and best of all, we will share an understanding of what it is to be a person who needs to, who must, create as a part and parcel of daily life. Rather than have a goal of finished product, the goal is to be present for the process.

January's assignment is to draw the giraffe, in any manner, as few or as many as we choose, largely from life or from photo reference, and then some from imagination. I began with three "realistic" portraits in conte crayon, and have moved on to ink and warm-up exercise type drawing. This week I hope to go back to portraits in pencil and maybe charcoal. I am not adding color yet. I want to study features and lines for a while.

A classmate's husband took the photo reference for this drawing while on safari.

This is a new baby and mom who live at Chicago's Brookfield zoo (drawn from a photo.)

Inaugurating my new journal with three versions of each animal (drawn while looking at the reference photo, but not the journal page.)

These "cool dudes" were the happy accident of drawing with water soluble marker with my eyes closed entirely, then adding water to spread the ink with my eyes open.

It occurs to me, faithful readers, that for a bit of a while now, even though I have been quite busy with classes and learning and trying many new things, what I have been sharing with you are photos and tales of my recent travels (still more installments to come!), and that I have quite a backup of this and that to show you. After two and a half years with my very first artist's journal, more of a practice book, plus some coffeehouse doodling, some travel drawing and a few "good" pages, I have come to the end of it, and chosen two others in my possession with which to move forward. One I bought as a lovely souvenir of Spain, which will suffice for my year of the giraffe, and for mixed media I am finally committing myself to my first Moleskine from Melanie Testa's class in 2012, and I think I will need to buy a new "everyday" book for scratching in.

This is one of my proudest doodle sketches in the old journal because I did an interesting piece based on a real art drawing strictly from memory. The two drawings are very different, but related, and I like how one begot the other. (I don't think I ever showed you the more formal one, and I will try to do that next time.)

This highlights my love of lettering and trying to develop ways to fill space with meaningful texture that is not a standardized doodle.

Many times in this short journey, partly due to excitement with learning, and partly due to the reality of the scheduling of online offerings, I have had to take classes at less than optimal times or overlapping with others, so that I may not have finished all the assignments or lessons. I have decided that the exposure to what I do have time for is better than not taking them at all. In most cases there is printed material to return to later, or even archived video lessons to use at my leisure. Such was the case these last six months, too much, too complex, but what would I be willing to lose? None, really. In some cases, I will return to finish these classes on my own, in others just the exposure to new ideas is welcome and will carry over to other activities.

In November, I had the opportunity to take a six week introductory class in the use of a FREE digital editing and drawing program called GIMP. It is something like Photoshop, quite complex, and will take much more study and practice, but it was a revelation to begin to understand "layers" and "brushes," and other tools of the trade.

I enjoy photographing the flowers in my summer garden, so it was fun to work a little color magic on this clematis, and the iris below.

My favorite garden ornament becomes ethereal with a color punch.

I started to learn about the ability to "capture" areas of the image (here a part of a garden pot,) and then layer them on interesting backgrounds.

Capturing areas, adding filters, emphasising parts. The artistic choices are endless.

Learning to "cut" a piece of a photo and make a frame for it.

Drawing by creating shaped areas to fill will color gradations, using brushes to make patterned lines (or stamp with) to add or erase color.

These are basically doodles with brushes drawn or stamped through defined areas. So much fun, and you can create your own from any cropped bit of a photo or drawing.

 I continued my Alabama Chanin wardrobe with a long sleeve bolero with bead and sequin embellished cuffs. Although I am generally not a "sparkly" kind of dresser, this piece works well with jeans, and will be a versatile cover up for cool times or just for adding a little special kick to a simple outfit.

This is my fabric and bead choice showing the instructions page in the book  "Alabama Studio Sewing and Design."

The finished cuffs, and the garment below. (Of course, there are pants involved when I wear it!)

 I had to try a pair of the hand warmers. They were a bit difficult to sew with the two layers creating eight in the flat felled seams in tight places. Not sure if I'll make them again.

My first journal page spread of the new year summed up the completion of my biggest goal for 2012: being able to have clothes shopping be a fun experience again, and giving me a reason to put all that time and effort into making artistic handsewn garments.

My favorite blogging artist at "Smallest Forrest" gave me a wonderful idea for capturing creative ideas before they flee in a small (this is really small) journal called a "Seed Book", named for the seeds of ideas.

 And finally, after months of it sitting idle on a shelf, I decided to get out my hand-me-down iPad and use it for:

       1. a Weight Watchers online cookbook source,

       2. a (Pandora) radio on my kitchen island, and

       3. an electronic sketchpad from the inspiration of another favorite blogging artist, Pat, at "Reclinerart's Posterous".

Here I am playing with brushes for the first time (in a controlled manner.)

Here I am playing with brushes like a kid (or someone who doesn't mind calling the giraffe her muse.)

And here I am actually attempting to draw with it . (The program is "Sketch Club".) Let's just say there is going to be room for improvement, but I do expect to have some fun trying.

Calming the Inner Storm

Inner turmoil, angst. It's been brewing ever since I returned from my trip to Spain. I have felt burdened lately by the demands I have made on myself, both to create, and to share. As I have said often before, there aren't enough hours in the day to do it all, and sometimes that inability to let things go brings me to a dead halt on it all. Like writing about my trip. For heaven's sake, I returned a month and a half ago, and haven't shared a thing! Overwhelmed by the richness of the experience, I didn't know where to begin. I have decided to share one more "art" story today, then move on to a number of posts in which I can tell you about my grand travels.

Also, I'd like to note that today is the second anniversary of my blog! In honor of where I have traveled in my creative life and what I feel has been achieved, I decided to take her out for a makeover treat, to let her look and feel evolve as needed. You will notice a new lightness to the template, hopefully an easier time reading the type. (I am trying to lighten my mood as well, hopefully complain less, but I can't guarantee.) All I know is that many around me are having hard times, and I have been blessed with riches of all sorts, primarily my good health and ability to pursue my heart's desires. What more do I need?

These dramatic night shots were taken on an evening this week when, with the spirit of Autumn in the air, my dear husband and I took to the yard as the sun descended and the moon rose to light our way, as we moved and raked and found peace in simply caring for what is in our keeping. When the work was done (or the evening too settled in), I went for my usual hot tea, and the camera, and spent some time recording a favorite theme, the warmth of house and home where love resides.

This head planter has greeted me every day at my front door for many years. There is something in her calm demeanor that sooths me, and yet in this guise she seems to pose a yet unanswered question.

It doesn't take a lot of light to make a welcome sign.

I was on a treasure hunt for images with just a touch of mystery about them.

So late in the season, the sun has abandoned this portulaca, but it still it has beauty in the light of the night. You can see more of these photos in the flikr set "Light and Shadow".

There is a storm brewing (even as I write these words) all along the East coast of the US, threatening life, property, and peace of mind. But here in my corner of the Midwest, life's crazy patchwork has finally been assembled into something I recognize as order and comfort. I am finally ready to continue telling my story. You know how sometimes being overwhelmed by too many demands can render even the things you love to do difficult, make you fearful of beginning new things. That's the way I have felt for the past few weeks. I decided I had to settle on doing something that had a rhythm and routine so well ingrained in memory that it didn't tear open the creative box, and scatter all the pieces. Neat orderly life, neat orderly creativity. Maybe it was the change of seasons, the change of body size, the change of direction in my creative demands, but lately there has been a heavy feeling of dread instead of joy. Best to retreat for a short minute, and find my center.

I returned to beading, something small you can hold in your hand. Something with stitch after stitch to occupy the mind without too much thinking, then something completed--beautiful and complex looking, but really familiar and soothing. I also began to clean--closets, surfaces, creative places, air out the weight of having too much stuff in sight. I can only ignore the chaos of the creative home for so long, then it begins to stifle thought and action.

I chose a project featuring two polymer clay disks made by a friend. I worked with techniques found in the book "Beading with Cabochons" by Jamie Cloud Eakin. 

I raided my bead cabinet and found all that was needed (enough raw material to make necklaces for the rest of my beading life!)

The completed pendant had a bit of a "star" turn.

Then the finished necklace went on a photo shoot which you can view in this flikr set on jewelry.

While I was gone on my Spanish adventure, a new class had begun. Something I had looked forward to all Summer, drawing from life and learning to tell stories with drawing, with the lovely Katherine Dunn: animal rescuer, farmer, storyteller, and artist extraordinaire. The class is called "Capturing the Essence" and finds inspiration in her wonderful family of barnyard personalities. If you don't yet know her work, check out her several blogs and online presence by beginning at this blog, Apifera Farm. In fact, you can still sign up for a little while yet for the online class, which will be at your disposal to work at your own pace until next summer.

We began the class by observing the animals in several poses and capturing the essence of the shape and movement through "gestural" drawings. We would overlap 2 or more gesturals by partially erasing the lines which were no longer relevant. This allows you "see" the movement.

After a series of gesturals, we would then do a more finished sketch of the animal in a single pose. This is Lucia, the donkey.

While it is intended that we work at our own pace, mine has been glacially slow. I think this is partly because, having done so well to begin, I am a bit intimidated by my own success. It makes me so happy to sit in front of the computer, watch the videos and draw with a simple conte crayon in a spiral sketch pad, that I am almost frozen with fear of moving to the next step. I don't think this had anything to do with the assignments ahead of me, it is more about my deep fear of art. I want it, I need it, but I may never fully eradicate the voice that tells me I am not good enough to have it.

Stevie, a goat crippled by neglect in a previous home, is  the subject of this gestural and the portrait sketch below. I love how he smiles at me with his wise eyes.

Having taken classes online for two years now and having had joy and success in each, I know I am capable. I know there is innate talent and I know  there is will to do, to learn, to express, to be interesting. But the fear always returns and puts on the brakes. My biggest obstacle to overcome at this moment, I think, is this need to label my efforts with a "grade". Unfortunately it is 60 years of socialization that says everything must be judged and compared to standards. Not a personal failing or obsession, but something build in to the machine. So I must keep reminding myself--I am no longer in "school". This learning environment is mine to determine the nature and rules, and I say: enjoyment should rule! Losing myself in the task should rule! And when today's play is done, put it aside with a kiss, and do some more tomorrow.

Rosie, the potbellied pig, is at the center of many of Katherine's daily farm adventures, and it was a privilege to capture her porcine beauty.

My assignment this week is to "evolve the drawing". With Katherine's guidance I will be making inroads into making a drawing something greater than a sketch and more personal than a "capture." I will be looking to express something deeper about myself and what drawing can mean for me. I'm very excited to be taking this step.