Author Archives: Sheila

#The100DayProject – #43 through #47

Mingus Day #43. 4 x 5.25 in. watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Mingus Day #44. 4 x 5.25 in. watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Mingus Day #45. 4 x 5.25 in. watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Mingus Day #46. 4 x 5.25 in. watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Mingus Day #47. 4 x 5.25 in. watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

I managed to get these painted before I returned to Phoenix. That was about, hmm, a week ago. I did not have time to prep, or post as it turns out. Thinking of these as starts, but I do like them as they are.

Around Here

Missed you Mingus!

Sun Setting 5/24/18.

Pete is out of ICU. He was transferred to a physical rehab facility. They are thinking it will be seven to ten days. One of his doctors apologised, told Pete he just happened to be that one in a million (not quite that many) that had complications.

So good to have him talking and joking again!

Grateful to all of you who sent good thoughts and prayers. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Blooming Bright.

Closer.

International Soul Art Day 2018

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Growth, Soul Art 2018, cropped. 12 x 16 in. mixed media on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Body map. 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Body map detail #1

Body map detail #2

Body map detail #3

May 23rd was a recovery day for me. After days of constant busy and little rest. I missed the live Soul Art group events, but was so thankful to watch them late in the day. I completed the worksheets, glanced at the Facebook group postings, and started my Soul Art journey.

I began with the body map. Watercolor and pencil. The largest sheet of paper I had, 12 x 16. Scribbled Neocolors, activated with water. Working quickly. Listening to songs and stories of the event leaders. I buried the body map with soft ivory acrylic. While it was wet, I scratched and scribbled into the paint. The texture remains visible in the final piece.

I poured colors into a butchers tray, started to cover the white with patches of blues, and desert earth tones. Clay and sand. When I added the green, instead of abstract patches, leaves began to form. Laura Hollick is the host of this annual event. This year, over 12,000 creatives took part.

Every garden presents innumerable fascinating problems.
Winston Churchill

It was not in my mind to create a scene. The questions and answers prompted by the worksheets are, not surprisingly, clear to me here. Focus on growth. My artistic growth.

A garden must combine the poetic and the mysterious
with a feeling of serenity and joy.
Luis Barragan

Every grain of experience
is food for the greedy
growing soul of the artist.
Anthony Burgess

Growth, Soul Art 2018. 12 x 16 in. mixed media on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Look at the earth crowded with growth, new and old
bursting from their strong roots hidden in the silent, live ground, each seed according to its own kind… each one knowing what to do, each one demanding its own rights on the earth…
So, artist, you too from the deeps of your soul…
let your roots creep forth, gaining strength.
Emily Carr

Click the images below or links for more.

Soul Art 2013. Acrylic on paper. Sheila Delgado

Soul Art 2013

Soul Art 2015. 9 x 12 watercolor on paper. © Sheila Delgado 2015

Soul Art 2015

Soul Art 2016, watercolor, oil pastel on Yupo.

Soul Art 2016

Soul Art 2017

#The100DayProject – #41 And #42

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Mingus Day #41. 5.25 x 12 in. Mixed media on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Mingus Day #42. 5.25 x 12 in. Mixed media on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

The sky in day 42 was a mess. You can see ghost cloud goofs. I splattered water over the drying watercolor, made more of a mess. Scrubbed to get rid of hard edges from the drops. That didn’t work. Washed more paint over that to cover it all up. Still not working. So I took the last few drops of white acrylic, mixed it in with the remaining blue, and washed it on.

It is still a mess. But coming back to it this morning, I kinda like it.

A Three Hour Tour

Caught up again. Painting on the current day. Life has been hectic. My Dad Pete has been in ICU since the 2nd of May. He went in for surgery to remove lumps on the right side of his throat. Cancer. When they got in there, they found more on the left. A four-hour surgery turned into eight. And a three-day stay, well, we’ll see. But he is cancer free!!!

I have been splitting my time between taking care of home, and staying at my brother’s house in Phoenix (2 hours away). Driving Mom to and from the hospital. Forty minutes in traffic. Last week I remembered to take art supplies with me, but there really wasn’t time.

Yesterday he finally woke up, and is making quick and steady improvements. They had to do a tracheostomy. He had been intubated longer than usual and that causes complications. He is doing better, getting physical therapy. Time out of his room. Has been breathing on his own for most of the day, part of the night. Able to write, since he is unable to talk due to the trach.

HALLELUJAH AMEN!!!!

I am at home for a few more days, and then I will head down again. On top of all this. Last Friday there was a fire in the fields near our house. We were at the hospital when neighbors called. About 5100 acres burned.

You can see a photo here, of how far it spread. The video talks about one of the neighbors who helped to clear a fire break behind several homes. It really is a miracle that the development was untouched.

Prescott Valley Fire. Yellow highlight marks our location.

At its closest point, the fire was about three-quarters of a mile away. There is only one main route out of the subdivision. And the fire has prompted talks about completing some of the roads for better access.

Two homes were lost, and 12 outbuildings. The fire was human caused.