The Internet Connects to Inspire

Facebook remembers and connects us to old memories. A self-portrait lost to the fire reappeared this week and made me look fondly at two paintings that were saved and presently flank our bed. 

The Arts Council of Princeton is back to offering more free virtual Art-Making classes based on the Princeton Universtity Art Museum collection, starting with Durer's rhinoceros. I'll be there. 

Deborah wrote that TextileArtist.org had a free five-day Stitch Camp. What fun. Day by day they gave us another step in this adventure with needle and thread, fabric and paint. The first day we made paint marks on two fabrics, then cut them up, sewed them together, embroidered, painted and appliquéd. Working with Gwen Hedley while seeing the class results, it was a happy no-pressure learning experience Gwen Hedley: Stitching distress and repair - TextileArtist.org. Slow stitching is meditative. Most people stitched abstractions of many emotions, but we all LOVED our process.You might visit TextileArtist.org and get to know these wonderful artists. Joe rolled his eyes, but I won't forget this adventure. It is time for me to iron and line this double pup piece for a bookmark.

Paint fabrics in two colors, all sorts of marks and more

Cut into pieces, look for connections, join and embellish

When finished, line the back and present it

No longer lost. Found hanging in plain sight!.

Drawing on what interests you

      Recently I ran across a favorite book about Joan Brown, a California artist who painted her life. I LOVE  her catalog and that cover with images drawn from her every day! Many artists paint or draw what is going on in their lives. It is what interests them. It is not necessarily boring, trite, or unimaginative...not just a face as mine often are. That made me study two paintings that flank our king size bed, paintings from 15 years ago. I remember when the target image was hanging in a show in Cambridge, another grandmother walked in and burst out laughing when she saw it, ringing some truth to her experience.

      Another self-portrait hanging in the bedroom in a corner is this one painted on a fabric of brown values. I like to study  the lights to darks, clarity. I also wonder how I painted it so neat! Painting self-portraits is so much fun and I too often avoid doing so because uninformed people think it is a bit narcistic. It is not. The subject is an inexpensive handy model, a vehicle for self exploration. It allows role playing, intimate work, a landscape and media exploration.I encourage grands and friends also. Sometimes they draw me while I draw them.An effective artist shouldn't worry about what people think!

     This week I picked up a couple of books with ideas I am enjoying, both of which had helpful surprises for me and I have read lots of books. See photos below: The Drawing Ideas Book and Find Your Artistic Voice. Enjoy!

Painting Daily here ...always available model

     Ignoring the serial snowstorms, Joe drops me at the Boston MFA every Thursday to paint a series, in my case, self portraits. I love my classmates and teacher. Sadly, there are only two more classes. When I get home, I paint some more, all in acrylic. NO MORE. I am transitioning back to oils, alkyds (faster drying oils because of the resin) and maybe encaustic.  I ordered a cardboard carrier for wet paintings, and it will be a joy to return to this easier medium.

      Whereas I painted 18 self portraits, two were a different size and not included in these photos. These are all 9 x 12's, on cardboard backs of legal tablets or in the last few, on canvas boards. I won't have any problem tossing, but in deep concentration, I learned something on every effort. After class is over, I will either return to a bigger canvas and my engagement with art history subject matter (see LindaHicksweb.com) or enjoy the suggestions of Carol Marine in her book Daily Painting for a 6" x 6" painting a day. This is a fabulous book that I bought yesterday and highly recommend...relevant to many creative endeavors. Click on the photos to enlarge or scare yourself. Do you have a favorite?

         Since my blog is a storage site for my crafts that I return to see how I did something years ago, I will add that Erika had a birthday on Valentine's Day and is now nine. We gave her a small guitar (she often fiddles with Joe's). She likes to see herself on her quilted birthday card so I printed photos of her on EQ Printables, cotton lawn inkjet fabric sheets. Pardon the photography. I developed the soft birthday card in Comic Life software and sprayed the batting with a glue (bad idea). Then I simply sewed around the two photo fabric sheets, batting between, and added stick-on rhinestones. I cut the edges with pinking shears which you can see only at the bottom of the poorly cropped photo, but it looked very nice "in person" for a quick, simple, but attractive finish. I also finished Erika's crocheted scarf, "the draft dodger"!  Click on photos to enlarge.Thanks for visiting if you did!