Paris with the new camera

I didn't think it was possible for me to love traveling any more than I already did, but this new camera is making it even more fun. I just got home from a weekend in Paris, and I had a blast taking pictures there and getting creative with the camera. I got plenty of shots very, very wrong, but every once in a while one would come out amazingly right. Slowly but surely I'm learning my way around the settings, but clearly I still have a very long way to go.











More Paris photos on my Flickr.

I have always enjoyed taking pictures, even when I just had a point-and-shoot, but now with my DSLR I'm finally starting to see photography as a true creative outlet for myself.

Sorry for the long silence here since my last post... my computer died and is still undergoing the recovery process, making blogging (and visiting other blogs) more difficult than it should be. I'm still being creative, though. Thanks to those of you who are still around to read. :)

New toys: rhymes with squash

I had a lovely afternoon at the art store this week, stocking up on supplies and looking for something new to experiment with. Inspiration hit when I stumbled across this bargain-priced set of gouache. I've never painted with gouache before, so I couldn't resist this chance to try it out. I've heard it's sort of like watercolor, except more opaque and more pigmenty.

I also picked up some paper tape, which has been on my art supply wish list for a while now. It is perfect for stretching paper:



This way the paper doesn't buckle when it is painted on. Off to play with my new paints!

CED: sketchbook pages

I've been trying to make this post for days... unfortunately our internet access has been too spotty to handle photo uploads. Fingers crossed that this time it works...

I've been sketching, collaging, and painting up a storm in my sketchbook. In the spirit of this month's CED theme, Play, I've been trying new things and trying not to worry too much about the results.

I've also been playing around with my new camera, which has been a lot of fun. Hopefully I'll post some of my new creations here soon (in the meantime you can check out some photos in this post).

Happy Creative 2009!

I spent the past week having a blast in New York City, and now I'm home and ready for a very creative 2009. My Creative Every Day year is on its way. I got off to a slow, jetlaggy start, but today I'm feeling a little more energetic.

One of the big bits of excitement around here is our new SLR camera. This is the first camera I've had that isn't a point-and-shoot, and I'm very excited to learning what it can do. Posts of photos (and sketchbook pages) to come soon!

Tuscany in pigments and paints

A painting I have in progress: another Tuscan farmhouse scene, in a mix of acrylics and earth tone pigments. I'm struggling with where to go next. Maybe the sky will get some more color.

Happy holidays!

Gold leaf icon

 

For my last art class (experimental techniques in acrylic), the 'experimental technique' was gold leaf. Which immediately makes me think of Byzantine religious icons. At first I was trying to think up ways to incorporate the gold leaf into a cityscape like ones I've been working on recently, but in the end I decided to just play around and see what came out. After all, I took this class in order to try new things, and while I have tried new materials, my subject matter has remained pretty standard most weeks.

The result was two paintings: one abstract black and red square of which I didn't manage to get a good photo, and this icon painting. It came out looking much more religious than I intended. I do like some of the shapes I created in it, though. Not sure what I'm going to do with the painting now.

Overall I'm glad I took the art class. I had hoped for a class heavier on the critique and on the technique instruction, but I still managed to get something out of this class. At the very least it had me painting for three straight hours each week, usually finishing at least one if not two paintings in that time. Just imagine if I could impose such discipline on myself in my home studio... Also the teacher gave me some ideas for places in Munich I could contact about exhibiting my work, and a fellow student said she might know of a space, too. Good stuff.

5 things

I was tagged by the lovely and talented Leah for a meme which involves writing a post on "five things you do that help keep you mentally well". So here goes...

1. Creating things - writing, painting, drawing... it all works.
2. Moving my body - when my body's happy, my mind's happy.
3. Connecting with other people - as an introvert, I have a tendency to keep to myself, but fighting this tendency and reaching out to others on a daily basis does wonders for my well-being.
4. Experiencing new things - too much routine drives me crazy. I like to do at least a little something new every day.
5. Being - I mean this as opposed to 'doing'. Time for doing nothing is good every once in a while.

I'm supposed to end by tagging 5 others, but I'm not really sure that there are five people out there reading this blog, so I'll just say... if you're reading this and want to play along, consider yourself tagged. :)

photo: in-progress self portrait, pigment on canvas.

Signing up for a creative 2009

I enjoyed Art Every Day Month so much last month that I've decided to join in for Leah's Creative Every Day Challenge for 2009.

I'm looking forward to more interaction with the online community of creatives I've gotten to know over the past month.

Playing with pigments

Last night in my art class (Experimental Acrylic Techniques) we used pigments. The teacher brought in five or six natural pigments, which we mixed with water and medium to get a paint-like consistency. And then we painted. It took a little while to get used to the different qualities of the pigments, the varying coverage they offered, etc. The limited palette also took some getting used to, since most of my works involve the whole spectrum. I spent about two hours working on the above Tuscan farmhouse painting (20 x 24 inches, on canvas). I was frustrated with it because the piece looked really boring to me. The teacher disagreed and suggested it was done. I admit I like it much more today than I did last night. I was sure I was going to paint over it as of yesterday, but today I'm not sure what I'll do with it.

I came home with a substantial amount of leftover pigments (and a partially-completed self portrait I worked on for the last 30 minutes of class). I can't decide what I want to do with them. Another attempt at a Tuscan scene, perhaps? The colors do seem fitting. Or perhaps I'll use them in some sort of mixed-media experiment. Hmmm.

Tuscany painting: done?

acrylic on canvas, 50 x 40 cm.

I think this one is done, or close. I'm going to set it aside for a week or so and see how I feel about it after that.

AEDM month is over; now what?

Art Every Day Month was a blast. On one hand it seems like it flew by; on the other I feel like art has been a daily habit forever. I am so grateful for Leah and all the other creative folks I have gotten to know through this challenge. I have been so inspired by your work and by the sense of community that AEDM created. The kind, encouraging words you have left as comments on my work have overwhelmed me and made me smile again and again. Thank you. I look forward to continuing to follow your blogs well beyond the end of AEDM.



Over the course of AEDM I have finished at least 7 paintings and have 4 or 5 more in progress. I've filled about half of a sketchbook, a sketchbook I've had since 2004, which is now 2 pages away from being completely full. I've played around with collage, pen & ink, pastels, charcoal, magic markers, and more. Plus I managed to post on this blog 32 times, which pretty much doubled the number of posts here.

So what now? I'm going to continue with this habit of creating every day. I'd like to finish up my works-in-progress by the end of the year, and start and finish a couple more. In addition, I'd like to keep experimenting with new subjects, materials, and techniques (for example, today I played around with image transfer for the first time - the partial result of which is pictured above). I won't necessarily post about my activities every day, but I'm going to aim to check in at least every other day to keep myself accountable.

I also think I'll spend December working through The Vein of Gold, the sequel to The Artist's Way which I started on quite a while ago, and then abandoned after the first chapter. Has anyone else completed this book?

AEDM day 30: more progress on Tuscany

Here we are, the last day of AEDM. I'll write some more thoughts about this month tomorrow, but wow has it been a fabulous experience. Many, many thanks to Leah for organizing and inspiring us all.

Today I made a little more progress on the Tuscany painting I started earlier this month. I made the mistake of loving this one early on, which makes progress hard - I'm so afraid to ruin it that sometimes I feel paralyzed. I'm trying to get over that and just move ahead. So far so good.

AEDM day 29: collage

I like the idea of collage, but I'm not very good (or experienced) at it. Anyway, in the spirit of trying new things for AEDM, I ripped apart a few magazines today and played around with it. At first I was looking for 'images that appealed to me' in the magazines, per instructions for a collage project I was following, but that didn't inspire me much. I found myself more drawn to pieces of images or colors, so I went for those instead. And then I just started gluing. I didn't produce anything particularly interesting, but I do feel like I learned from the process. I think I could do better next time.



If I were to name this one, I'd call it Purple Mountain Majesty.

I can't believe Art Every Day Month is almost over!

AEDM day 28: cold nights in the city

Yesterday evening's 'Experimental Acrylic Techniques' class was productive, if not quite in the intended way. The experimental material presented to us was white acrylic glaze, which we were to drizzle onto our paintings through a hole poked in the bottom of a plastic cup dangling from a string. The concept made me think of rain, so I set to work on two canvases, having no plan but vaguely intending to produce rainy day scenes. The drizzly glaze was more suited to abstract pictures, I would think, but I am practically incapable of producing abstract art.



At any rate, the resulting paintings came out better than I expected, and the teacher all but forbade me to use the drippy glaze on them. So I ended up with a couple plain old acrylic paintings.

The darkness of the paintings makes them particularly hard to photograph without glare, so I'm including two photos of each scene, taken in different lights. The first ones are more accurate. They are both acrylic on canvas, 30 x 30 cm; I haven't named them yet.

AEDM day 27: strange

Today just feels strange. The Christmas markets opened all over the city today, and the mood is festive and fun. At the other end of the spectrum, good friends of mine remain holed up in their hotel room in Mumbai, waiting for the terrorist attacks to be over.

Oh, and it's Thanksgiving. I'll be celebrating with some American friends later tonight at the Hard Rock Cafe, of all places. How's that for strange?

AEDM day 26: in Tuscany

It feels somehow decadent, to work on a new painting when I have so many others in progress that need finishing up. But I'm enjoying myself. This is the beginning of a Tuscan scene that I've wanted to paint for a while now. I think there will end up being a whole series of them.

AEDM day 25: more Volksbad

A million thanks for all of the thoughtful, helpful input I received on yesterday's post. Your ideas have really helped invigorate me as I think about what to do next with those two paintings.

Today I did a little more work on this little painting, including inserting the tree. I like the way it's coming along, but I don't feel like it's finished yet.

I also filled three sketchbook pages with writing today. One contained Gratitude and the other contained Accomplishments. The idea for writing out my accomplishments came from fellow AEDM participant A Feminist Wife. The gratitude idea was inspired by the latest Art Biz Blog newsletter, which talks about, as you may have guessed by now, gratitude. It was easy to fill the page with things I am grateful for. The third page contains a mixture of goals and wishes for 2009 - things I would like to accomplish in the next year, mostly. It might become a jumping-off point for more concrete goal-setting.

AEDM day 24: stuck

I have been working on these two paintings on and off for the past couple weeks. With both of them I've reached the point where I don't know what to do next. I know they both probably need some big changes before they are done, but I just am not seeing what those changes are right now. So I'd like to ask you for some input. Any suggestions for how to proceed with either painting? Any parts you feel are particularly unresolved or that you particularly like? I'd really appreciate any feedback you'd like to offer. Think of it as a virtual critique. :)

AEDM day 23: homage to my houseguest

As of today we have a very handsome visitor in our apartment. He's so adorable I can't stop staring at him. He was kind enough to pose for me as I completed today's AEDM creation, which doesn't begin to encompass his charm.

Today was a very good art day. In addition to a couple cat sketches (with water-soluble pastels), I did a little work on my Volksbad painting. Plus I spent the afternoon at Typisch München! (Typical Munich), an exhibition encompassing much of the art, history, and folklore of this lovely city. I was particularly intrigued by the cityscape paintings, since I'm currently working on paintings of the very same subject matter. The level of detail and geometric precision on some of them was amazing. As much as I enjoy depicting places I love, I hate straight lines. In my own work, at least.

AEDM day 22: Eyeflowers

Our party yesterday evening went very well. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and it was a very fun crowd. It made me happy to realize how many wonderful people we have gotten to know in less than a year of living here.

I received many complements on my paintings, which are hanging all over the apartment. Some guests wanted to know who all the people in the portraits were, and why I had painted them (a friend in Amsterdam, a bartender in Tokyo, a friend and her child in South Africa...). Some wanted to know where the cityscapes came from, and shared with me what they were reminded of when they saw this painting or that. Still others wondered whether it was difficult to sell art, to part with it. It was so much fun to have these conversations, discussions sparked by my paintings hanging on the wall. I was quite touched by how much interest people showed. Maybe the theme of my next party should be "come talk to me about my art". :)

Today has been a day of post-party clean up and watching the snow fall outside the window. No painting today, just playing around in my sketchbook. My doodles almost always involve eyes. Today they wanted to become flowers. Eyeflowers.