Postcards from the Edge: deadline Thursday

Visual AIDS is holding the 12th annual Postcards from the Edge exhibition and benefit sale in January. Artists from all over the world donate postcard-sized works of art which are then sold to benefit Visual AIDS. You too can donate a postcard, but your entry must be postmarked by this Thursday, 10 December 2009.

I participated last year and was hoping to again this year, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get something out in time.

The monsters are done!

My sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project is finally done, documented, and ready to be mailed tomorrow. Woo hoo!

Here are some of the pages that turned out to be my favorites.



I'm looking forward to turning my attention to projects which don't involve monsters (for the Sketchbook Project I was randomly assigned a topic: Aaah! Monsters!). Which is not to say I'm not glad I participated in this project. I'm happy I did it, but in the end I was frustrated by it taking me away from my more serious artwork.



By the way, I am user zurika over on Art House Co-op. If you're a member there, too, add me as a contact!

rubber cement monster

I had to rub so much to get the glue off that I ripped a page out of the sketchbook (some of them are perforated, which doesn't work so well with all the wet media I'm using). Thanks to the mad skillz I gained working in a book bindery, I was able to reattach it without harming the monster.

monsters and gear

This is what the covers of the monster sketchbook look like right now.


And this is a page I went back over with gouache after masking a bit with rubber cement. Mostly I was just happy to have rubber cement - I bought some today after looking for it for weeks. It's not labeled with a name here in Germany; I just had to choose one of the glues on sale based on the description on the package (removable, contains solvents). I got lucky on the second try!

Today I also bought a tripod. I found one that has all the features I wanted for only €12. Made me feel silly for putting off getting one for so long. Time for a big session to photograph my new artwork.

almost done with the monsters

Today I put the finishing touches on several pages of the monster sketchbook. I've decided to get it in the mail by Monday at the latest. It's not due until the end of December, but I need to move on to other projects.

AEDM 2009 day 30: it's over already?

Once again the last day of Art Every Day Month snuck up on me. I'm not ready for it to end!

I especially like how AEDM has helped me make so much progress on my Sketchbook Project monsters sketchbook. Pretty much every page has something on it, and after a little more work on the cover and a few of the pages, it will be ready to go. Well, I also need to document it before I send it off. Which means it's time for me to finally get out and buy a tripod.

As I mentioned before, I'm going to keep up with the daily art and blog posting for at least the first couple weeks of December. I have a couple of projects that I need to finish up soon, so hopefully this commitment will help move me quickly towards my creative goals.

Many, many thanks to Leah for being such an inspiration during AEDM. Can't wait for next year!

AEDM 2009 day 29: the Procrastinator

OK, so art it isn't, but I wanted to show you my little chicken in a basket drawing anyway. This is a page from a notebook I have called the Procrastinator. Each page has spaces for little drawings and other quick, time-wasting activities. Something about the sense of humor of the authors really tickles me.

AEDM 2009 day 28: hand monster

One of my goals for the coming week is to finish the monster notebook, document it, and send it off.

For missing two days of AEDM, I think I'll do two more weeks of it (including blog posts) in December. Maybe I can convince my friend Kim to do it with me. :)

Slacker

OK, so I've totally missed the last two days of Art Every Day Month. But I have a boatload of excuses:

• We had friends visiting from London.


• I hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for 20 people.


• The Christmas markets opened yesterday.


• Someone who looks a lot like me was busy taking part in an illegal flash mob.

But today I'm back on the wagon. AEDM post to come soon.

AEDM 2009 day 25: even more monsters

Another one those pages that doesn't seem quite done, but on the other hand, it's just a sketchbook. Who says each page has to be done?

AEDM 2009 day 24: seaweed monster

I thought this one looked like a blob of seaweed. Or maybe coral.

Is it Sesame Street's fault that all my monsters have googly eyes?

AEDM 2009 day 23: last pages!

See this? It's the last blank 2-page spread in my whole monster notebook. I'm almost done!

There are many pages that are only kind of half-done, but still it will be a relief to have at least something on each and every page. Keeping in mind that this is only a sketchbook, not every page has to be a masterpiece before I hand it in. Here are some of the pages I'll probably work on some more:

AEDM 2009 day 22: that other project

This is what I was making the other day when I couldn't tell you what I was making: a life-sized man drawing for a bachelorette party game. Kind of a variation of 'pin the tail on the donkey'.

AEDM 2009 day 21: sparkly plant monster

If you can't use magic markers and glitter in a monster sketchbook, when can you use them?

I'm so happy there are only a couple blank pages left, plus the cover. Can't wait to finish with the monsters!

AEDM 2009 day 20: starry-eyed monster

In the background there's sort of a monster hiding in a sock drawer for Leah. :)

I spent most of today working on a bigger project, but I can't show it to you (yet). It's a surprise.

AEDM 2009 day 19: pencil monsters

I had so little time for art today. For these pages I just grabbed a pencil and doodled in my monster sketchbook. The pencil itself was kind of interesting: a standard American number-2 dark blue pencil with "1990 FBLA DISTRICT II SKILLS' CONFERENCE" stamped in gold on it. I wondered where it came from, and how it found its way into my pencil holder. I was happy to learn that it was my husband, and not I, who was hoarding 19-year-old pencils and moving them from country to country with us. Not that I haven't been schlepping 19-year-old items through four countries myself. I'm sure there are plenty to be found.

This week has turned out to be so busy with things that are not art. Not that I can complain, since most of the things are very very fun things, but still it's frustrating that I can't give art the attention it deserves during Art Every Day Month. Hopefully tomorrow I will steal more time for art, and have something more interesting to share with you.

AEDM 2009 day 18: London goauche

Last seen here, this little postcard-sized goauche painting of London is done.

I am still getting the hang of gouache. My tendency is to use it very watered down so that it behaves almost like watercolor, but that seems silly given that I'm not particularly good with watercolors. I want to keep playing to see if I can find a style that works for me.

AEDM 2009 day 17: there is a monster lurking in the darkness

Luckily I have some good suggestions for future monsters from the comments of yesterday's post. And then there was my trainer at bootcamp today...

Hopefully I'll be done with this notebook by the end of the month.

AEDM 2009 day 16: monsters dressed up like ghosts

Eh, you try filling a whole sketchbook with monsters. Not easy.

The view from my studio window

Yesterday's monster was inspired by the Art House Coop's Weekly Project. This week the project was to take a photo out your favorite window. This is mine; you can see the other submissions (and sign up to participate in future Weekly Projects yourself) here.

AEDM 2009 day 5: Tate Modern Monsters

Sometimes it's hard to fit in art when I'm traveling. Currently I'm in London, and I packed really light so I wouldn't have to check a bag. The only art supplies I have with me are my monsters sketchbook and a couple pens and pencils. So today I sketched some monsters from paintings at the Tate Modern.

AEDM 2009 day 4: Ahhh! Monster!

As I mentioned yesterday, I am participating in the Sketchbook Project, for which I was assigned a topic. The topic I received couldn't have been further from what I usually depict. The topic label simply reads: Ahhh! Monster!



It's ridiculous how hard of a time I'm having trying to fill a sketchbook with monsters. I keep hoping I'll loosen up a bit and find my monster groove, but so far that hasn't happened. At least I'm having some fun with it.

You'll be seeing a lot of my attempts at monsters this month. I hope they don't scare you.

AEDM 2009 day 3: Sketchbook Project

I am participating in Art House Co-op's Sketchbook Project, and AEDM has come along at just the right time to help nudge me to finish the project and send it off by the end of the month. Art House Co-op is putting together a library of small sketchbooks from artists from all over the world. When you sign up you receive a sketchbook and a topic. Can you guess what my topic is?

AEDM 2009 day 2: Tallinn in pigment and sand

This was a canvas (40x30cm) I had prepped with black gesso mixed with sand. Today I got out a few pigments, mixed them with acrylic medium, and created this scene of Tallinn, Estonia (based on photos from our trip there earlier this year). I'll probably tweak a couple little things, but it's mostly done.

AEDM 2009 day 1: thank-you card

Art Every Day Month is underway. I'm starting with a small project, a thank-you note for friends who hosted us in Toulouse last week. I could have worked on this little gouache scene for hours more, but I forced myself to declare it done and move on.

Hooray for Art Every Day

Time to revive the art blog for Art Every Day Month, hosted as always by the lovely and talented Leah at Creative Every Day. It starts tomorrow. I participated last year and really enjoyed it. Once again I'll be posting my creations daily, no matter how ridiculous they turn out.

The other fun part about AEDM is checking out what other artists are creating during the month and connecting with them via their blogs. I recommend browsing through the other participants via the list on Leah's sidebar.

Work in progress: Sachiko

I make most of my color choices unconsciously. Or do I mean subconsciously? It's not like I'm unconscious when I make them... Anyway, I'm amused to notice that the color scheme of the painting is very similar to the colors I used in the preparatory sketches. I guess Sachi is destined to have purple hair. Who am I to fight it?

Studio, rearranged

I am lucky to have a wonderful room to use as a studio. In honor of the Creative Every Day August theme, MOVE, today I rearranged to give myself more working space for art. The large table in the photo used to be my computer table, and I was using a much smaller table for art stuff. I'm very excited about my big new work space. I can't wait to get going on some new projects.

Now if only I could figure out a good solution for storing all these canvases...

Sachiko sketches

This week I'm doing some preliminary sketches for a portrait of a friend.

Still here, still playing

When life gets busy and I step away from my artwork for a while, sometimes I have a hard time jumping back in. That's when I decide to set the bar really low, and just tell myself to play around in my sketchbook. A good example of this is the above mess. My inspiration was the ticket stub from Museum Brandhorst (pasted in the upper right corner). By incorporating scraps of paper I collect as I go about my day, my sketchbook becomes a little like a visual journal of my life.

Now back to catching up on the 100 in 100, again.

Self (portrait)

Inspired by this month's Creative Every Day theme, self, I decided to start a new self portrait today. Can you tell what kind of mood I'm in?

I've done tons of self portraits, my whole life long. I like making portraits, and I'm always the most available subject. I'm doing this one (like most of my self portraits) by looking in a mirror. I like working from life when I get the chance.

I actually try to curtail the number of self portrait paintings I do, because they are pretty unsellable (and ungiftable). Not that I only do art to be able to sell it, but I have to sell things in order to have room to produce more. And who wants to live in an apartment full of self portraits? That'd be a little creepy. So would giving people portraits of myself as gifts... so yeah, I try to focus on other things. But I'm enjoying this chance to revisit my oldest subject.

Revisiting the Volksbad

I keep coming back to this tiny painting, trying to rework it into something I can be happy with. The colors have become brighter since the last time I posted it. Not quite where I want it to be yet, but moving in the right direction.

Catching up on the 100 in 100

I signed up for Warrior Girl's 100 in 100 challenge a few days late, so I've been behind from the start (which was supposedly June 1st). No problem, since I don't mind doing more than one drawing/painting/collage per day to catch up. Most of my 100 things will be small sketchbook pages, but I'm also counting the larger works I do when I happen to finish one.

As opposed to Art Every Day Month, when I posted daily, I've decided I don't have to post all 100 creations for this challenge. That leaves me freer to experiment and produce some totally crappy stuff. I like it that way. But I will post some of them. Here are a few of the drawings, paintings, and collages I have created over the past month. I'm proud to say that as of today, I'm all caught up on my 100 in 100.

To join or not to join

Since visiting Munich's new Brandhorst Museum this weekend, I've been trying to justify buying myself a membership to the Munich art museums. For €90 you get a year pass to several of Munich's best art museums (plus a couple in surrounding towns, as well).

Without the pass, I am unlikely to spend €90 on admission to these museums in the next year. But with it, I will be incentivized to go to them more often, in order to make sure I get my money's worth. And wouldn't it be great to have an excuse to go to the museum more often?

Do you have a museum membership? If so, tell me how wonderful it is to help me justify this purchase...

New series: city collages

Dublin, Ireland, 24 x 18 cm, found paper and acrylic on panel.


Tampere, Finland, 24 x 18 cm, found paper and acrylic on panel.

I really enjoyed making these, and I'm pleased with the initial results (I'll do a little more work on the Tampere one, at least). The collage elements consist of paper (maps, fliers) from the cities themselves that I've collected on my travels. I need to buy more panels so I can continue the series.

I think this one is finally finished (although this photo of it is somewhat out of focus):

Piran, Slovenia, 40 x 30 cm, mixed media on panel.