The Circus Train is Pulling Out! Wave Bye-Bye!

I might have mentioned this before but it is worth repeating: I am one lucky woman. I seem to have found my calling (art) at, shall we say, a late stage in life. But like they say, it's never too late to find your passion and pursue your dreams. Sure, in the early years my dream may have had a paycheck and maybe fame attached, but my passion has always been the same: self expression, creative exploration, connection to a community of other artistic seekers. Then, now, and always, still the same. This year's revelation and most joyful surprise was to, on a whim, jump aboard the creative circus train that has been "The Mermaid Circus" with ringmaster and teacher extraordinaire, Jane Davenport, and legendary journal wrangler, Teesha Moore.  When I signed on and realized that there were no less than 500 others laying down good money to work beyond our comfort level and a seemingly impossible time commitment, I knew something amazing had to come from it. I have not been, for a moment, disappointed. I have learned so much and grown so far outside that cushiony box, that I have really begun to accept the title "artist" as something that may pertain to me.

As I said in the title, the official class is over for me next week, but involvement in the online class community grows daily with new connections on Facebook, and a body of work that seems to pour out of me. I have signed up to take what amounts to two years worth of drawing and dreaming classes with Jane and can't wait until Teesha decides to enter the online sphere on her own. Meanwhile any of you even the littlest bit intrigued by the possibilities this class could add to your growth and creative excitement need to run, right now, to sign up for a repeat session (set to begin September 2) of "Mermaid Circus."
 Meanwhile join me below in reviewing some of the work I have done so joyfully since I last showed you my progress at the end of June.

This "upturned face" that I drew while waiting out some rain on my vacation really represents the joyful feeling I have had since realizing just how much I love to draw.

One of our more complex lessons involved mermaids and their sea life friends. I decided to do a bit of sketching from a video filmed in the Galapagos, then turned it into a bit of a journaled page. One of the delights of this class has been how broad the type of art was, and all the possible permutations of the dual themes of "mermaid" and "circus" there could be.

Taking the sketching of dolphins from real to fantasy, and learning that a journal page can be either the beginning of a more complex, "finished" piece of art, or an end in itself. 

Again, drawn from the video, but this time with a watercolor look provided by Dylusion ink and white charcoal shading. These sketches became the basis for a couple of stamps.

A complex project commences in my Strathmore mixed media hardbound journal. The paper is beautiful and tough, has taken a lot of abuse so far. These dolphins, drawn from imagination, are partly cut out to give a view to the pages below.

The first two pages (one partially cut away) were given a surface treatment of collaged colored papers, while the far right hand page was painted with a matte acrylic, as were the dolphins.

A poem entitled "She Swam With Dolphins" was carefully penned on the underside of the elegant creatures, comically enough, forming the shape of a crab!

The finished painting, many layers and techniques later, includes stamped and over-painted original images (from my own foam stamps) of the mermaid frolicking with her friends.

This exercise introduced us to the use of watercolor and a certain clean simplicity on the page. The two "stormy" ladies on the right were Jane's creations that she encouraged us to copy for practice or turn into a similar composition of our own. The type of watercolor, new to many of us, was the Peerless transparent  watercolor, originally designed for hand coloring black and white photos. They are incredibly clear and concentrated, more of an ink. I designed the companion "rainbow wave" page and journaling to complete the story of the sisters in my own style.

Returning to one of the first lessons in face drawing, I was astonished to find that this, only my second attempt to follow Jane in drawing a simple face in colored pencil and Copic markers, would show such improvement over what I had done just a few of months before. Her eyes just captivated me and I decided she had to be used as the basis of my final unfinished assignment.

Here she is, tissue transferred, and over painted in acrylics with collaged and enhanced elements of sea life from the artist, Ernst Haeckel.

The facing page in the Strathmore journal tells the mermaid's story (as all our artwork in the class was story based,) and gave me the intended lesson of learning how to work with various mediums to achieve a black and white composition as well as a good small face.

My mermaid shaped book was far from filled with images, so I returned to the  style taught by both Jane and Teesha, of starting with collage elements and filling in with drawing and paint. Then "doodling" the heck out of it. I love all the secrets they taught us in this course about layering media and even discovered a few of my own along the way. If you'd like to see the other pages from this book, check them out in my Flickr album, Mermaid Circus.

So where do I go now? Well, I'm still not done with my lessons, having collaged an entire sixteen page "Teesha" journal that needs all it's layering to complete the story of my circus, and there are a few more pages of my shaped mermaid book looking for some new friends (maybe a Mer-man?) But I have already moved on to begin my lessons in drawing faces and figures in Jane's highly regarded basics class, Supplies Me.
 Maybe I'll see you over there.

When Art Invites You In

I have been either a very bad girl or a very good girl, depending on your point of view. I have been making much art and traveling as well, but I have gotten out of the habit of writing about them. You see, I have lately been overtaken to the extreme by my new found love of drawing. They say that to get better at something you need to do it every day, make time for it just like a job, just do it. I guess I took that to heart this spring, because this "Mermaid Circus" class seems to have taken a turn for the obsessive. I draw and paint and letter and cut collage materials. I shop for new art supplies and make room for them in carts and boxes and closets and piles. I try them out in new combinations and make lists of even more colors to own. I post photos to my class group, and friend my classmates on Facebook. The photos show up on Flickr too, but because the class is not centered there, that venue has taken a back seat for now. I am, in short, in the hackneyed phrase and with no irony, living the dream!

The sketch on the right was done while watching a video lesson, then used as the basis for a painting in acrylics and colored pencil.

It all started with that first face drawing lesson (see the April 29 entry) in which I drew and painted along with my teacher Jane Davenport. I was hooked! I realized that I don't have to draw "real" people if I don't want to, I can learn to work first with stylized faces and character creation. Bingo! I am learning to love storytelling, and I really want to be able to draw a face with consistency and personal style. This second face, "The Upturned Face" lesson, was the start of a series of three successful journal story pages based on the same initial sketch.

Adding the first shadows and highlights, bringing it to life.

Portrait of a sweet young mermaid, later to be called Cecelia.

Now it was time to reuse the art. This is the crazy looking but well conceived beginning to a story of Cecelia and her goldfish. The face would be color copied but painted over, and the fish, also an enhanced version of a piece of journal art from three years ago.

Practicing mixed media tricks: the luminescent sea is created by painting  Golden Fluid Acrylic over the red/orange base, spraying with water and blotting. The hair has quite a bit of florescent orange and red paint. The mermaid's tail end is a piece of batik fabric collaged with gel medium. Matte, shine, glow, texture.

A second use of the painted face was made with a tissue transfer of the original: color copying direction on (supported) white artist's tissue to make a sheer version, which was matte medium applied over a copy of a (real) tattoo pattern (meant for an arm). Finally, paint and pencil enhanced to change the coloration and character of the girl.

This became "A True Tale of Caution" about a mermaid who went  "bad".

Meanwhile, it was time for Teesha Moore's sixteen page journal to take center ring. I decided to dedicate the whole thing to one story, the actual "Mermaid Circus," styled a bit after impressions received while reading the novel "The Night Circus." 

Learning about (and liking) folded small flaps as extra pages.

I had a mammoth collaging session during this week and painted and prepared the collaged story on all sixteen pages. It will probably take me months more to get the time to finish them all, but now the story is set for me with a trajectory and a style that will add consistency to the finished book.

Be sure to click on the images to see them larger and check out some of the pen work and shading.

Meanwhile back at the zoo, I was neglecting my original 2013 muse, the giraffe. In preparation for "Paint the Giraffe" month in June, May was a time to explore color, consider our preferences, analyze a bit, get to know something about pleasing palettes. The next three images are collaged pages from an inspiration journal I had begun about ten years ago. Strangely enough, they still inspired. Now that I am learning about mixing collage with pen work, I look forward to returning to these at some point to develop them further.

Purple and more purple for me, but deepened.

My favorite for many years, purple and green, but ethereal.

And yet again, with an interesting image of "art clothing".

Sometimes the man has a day free to spend with me that coincides with great weather and a peaceful place. Before the heat of summer, we enjoyed a hike on the beach of Lake Michigan and up to the summit of "Mount Baldy" one of the high points in the Indiana Dunes National Park.

Because the normal route up the side of the hill is being recovered from erosion, we were forced to hike all the way down to the beach, along the shore and then straight up the hill. It was a fabulous workout and proof that keeping fit makes life more fun.

Nearing the top and where, on a clearer day, you would have a view of Chicago fifty miles to the west across the lake.

Feeling happy, but with about a pound of sand inside each sneaker. Soon we were off the the outlet stores to find me a pair without holes.

Trying to establish a daily drawing routine in a journal, I prepped a number of pages in my Moleskine with acrylic paint, then started using them to inspire complex doodles or simple themed drawings. This one was about keeping occupied during a yard sale, but ended up looking like fireworks over New York City.

This one was full of affirmations to just draw what was in my heart, Teesha style.

This "fat mermaid" was a Jane Davenport drawing lesson that felt not quite ready for my "prime time" journal, until it was complete, and then I realized: I am ready for prime time, this is it. I'm doing good work and so proud of how far I've come in just a few years. Art has made me its friend I have bonded with it. I think we will be traveling companions for a long time to come.

Earning My Fins

It's that time of year again when I make a notch in my belt and mark off another successful and grateful year on the planet. It will also be official on Tuesday: twenty-three years after leaving the teaching profession I will finally be "retired" and can begin to collect my pension. I wouldn't get overly excited about this financial independence. The amount being deposited in my bank account will maybe cover my monthly art supply bill, but isn't that wonderful? I am finally doing the thing I should have done all those years ago, studying and practicing what I love the most, but now the thing I did as my second choice (heck, maybe it was my third or fourth) will be helping me foot the bill. I am, month by month, class by class, fleshing out the path for this "retirement" adventure in the world of creative expression.

When I last left you I had shared many of the products so far of my "Year of the Giraffe" creative muse (with creativity guru, Carla Sonheim). Somehow I missed pulling out a few of the most creative of these, my four new friends from her "Imaginary Creatures" class. They delighted me so much when they showed up on the page, that I can't wait to incorporate them into some other artwork. I am also thinking it is time to update my Etsy store with some new sets of greeting cards, so look for them there soon.

"Have You Seen My Comb?"

"Just Washing Up"

"No Match for Rabitoid"

"What's Not to Love?"

While I was working on these guys I spent quite a bit of time experimenting with layering of mixed media. Most of what we use in Carla's classes is water based, but there is also Prismacolor colored pencil and permanent black fine marker. Learning to work until the effect and balance desired is achieved is serving me well, as I realize that an artist may not know how to get where they are going until after they have arrived. Trial and error is a big tool of the trade and nothing to be ashamed of.

Today is the start of week four in "Mermaid Circus" with Teesha Moore and Jane Davenport, our most excellently talented and hardworking teachers. The amount of truly fine video lessons they are providing makes failure a non-option, and the generous video tours of their journals and their process is a major inspiration and confidence booster. What I have achieved in three weeks is astounding, although the number of projects they have planned for the eight weeks is so great it will probably take me the rest of the year to complete. I am not concerned, because although I can see great progress in my work, I also see what skills are weak, and I intend to move directly into a series of classes with Jane to boost them.

I love the warmth of this beautiful Fabriano watercolor paper, pure and clean just waiting for what will come (since at this point we had only a little clue).

Although I may not have time to work in the second shaped book during the run of the class, I had to try my hand at designing one for my beloved hippos and their giraffe friends. Note the cover is a blow-up swimming pool for a merhippo to frolic in.

Meanwhile, April's "Once Upon a Giraffe" month continued with writing and illustrating a three panel cartoon: "Stasha Tales: The Treadmill".

While out searching for paint pens and other mermaid necessities, I ran across this very lovely lesson book for Zentangles, which not only teaches the patterns, but goes on to show how to make them art. Of course, in the midst of overload, I added one more thing to my schedule.

Teesha started us off in our shaped (and now colored) mermaid books with a lesson in collage. Had a blast and fell in love with the possibilities.

And as you can see, I am already using my Zentangles in my art, in this case a lovely belly tattoo for my unnamed queen.

A closeup of her face shows the use of paint pens and metallic markers along with Copics to turn her blue. The coral formation behind her will be part of the landscape of the inside back cover.

And here she is in all her glory swimming in waves of discharge screen printed fabric I made a couple years ago. 

Week two was Jane's turn to teach us a different mermaid style. She wanted us to be able to paint over previously drawn artwork, but since many of us have not done face drawing before, she first gave us a lesson. The pencil drawing on the right was done as a base, then I traced out the basic shapes and features on another sheet of paper.

After a session with learning to blend Copic markers, plus some pencil and a bit of paint pen for those gorgeous green eyes, she was ready to reduce, print and collage. (Now I have this face in my "portfolio" of faces to use again and again.) The colorful painting she leans against was shown last time. 

Starting to design the mermaid, we added our photocopied face, and laid out other collage elements to tell the story. Jane's girl had a tattooed sleeve, and many of ours followed suit. I got to spend a fascinating half hour or so perusing tattoo magazines at a local bookstore before choosing a couple I found useful.

First layer of paint to block in the body and background colors.

The face, now painted over the marker drawing, the tail fins (from a previous painting) attached, and more colors added for texture and cohesiveness.

The completed page after many hours of work: "She Was Particularly Fond of Hippos". (The hippo is from a previous watercolor painting, and over-painted in the same manner as the face.)

Two weeks, two pages!

Meanwhile, back in Giraffe World, we were writing poetry!
I had made this stamp earlier in the winter, and decided to make some more to help illustrate my poems.

I used the new Moo carving blocks I had bought but not tried, and they cut like butter. So quick and easy. I made the giraffe stamp from my one-liners exercise, and the eye and tail from my giraffe parts for the "Flower Crazy" class. Again, finding my style, reusing my designs. Things are starting to fit together.

I wrote five haiku-like poems, and made a sixth page as an introduction.

The backgrounds are painted with my newly purchased Golden Fluid Acrylics and Liquitex Soft Body Acrylics. Both are densely pigmented and lovely. The lettering was done with my Pentel Pocket Brush. Some of the highlights are done with a lovely neon yellow paint pen by Molotow, but unfortunately it didn't scan true.

I am practicing developing this writing style as my own. I quite like its loose, modern, and poetic feel.

Learning that an effective journal page can be quite simple.

The second assignment in week two was fancy lettering in a "circus" style. Teesha provided a wonderfully detailed lesson (as in: watch her do this entire page on video while she talked) and I pretty much copied her technique. Here I have laid out all the lettering with a minimal amount of embellishment.

The letters fleshed out with drop shadows added.

The page complete with colored pencil shading, additional gel pen and paint detail on the main title, sparkly gel pen around the bottom line and the border, and overpainting on the last line to make it appear to be under water.

While I was contemplating how much I was enjoying the lettering lesson, a high school friend reminded me of our yearbook, for which I was the art editor, and designed the cover art as well. Well, lookie here! Who was into telling stories in lettering, 60's style?

Several classmates have chimed in to tell me just how innovative everything was about our yearbook design, from landscape orientation to color to almost everything inside. (And yet I didn't go on to an art career. Silly me!)

In week three, we began working in a hardbound journal format. I purchased the new Strathmore 500 series with mixed media paper. Loved it! The paper took both the wet paint background and the pen media beautifully, although I have a lot to learn in handling drawing and painting over magazine cutouts. Somehow, with my longing for the warmth of spring to arrive, I created a mermaid scenario of warmth and light under the sea.

"The Keeper of the Door at the Mermaid Palace" was an obsession from start to finish. I learned so much; had such a good time. Looking forward to many more adventures in creating new realities.

When I took on this new class and its odd theme, I really had no connection to either the circus or mermaids as beloved muses. It didn't take long to realize that inspiration is everywhere, the more unlikely, the more it can spur the imagination. I have a feeling, that just like the love poems to my giraffe, I will now have an ongoing love affair with creatures both under the sea and the big top. My tail fins are all aflutter. I must be off to create my newest best friend.

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