Playing with a new brayer, creating I don’t know what yet. Backgrounds maybe, for more paint. Or papers for collage work. I also used a texture sheet, and a wood stamp. Having fun with these, more on the way!
Recently Simone Nijboer asked several questions on her blog. One of them was about an art community. Would we be interested, and if so, what would we like it to be? I swear, about a week later, the group was up and running! You can find out more at ArtNow. You can also see Simone’s wonderful work. I hope you will consider joining us!
Louise Gale’s heART exchange Global Art Swap for November is still active. In the previous post, I shared the first card to arrive. Today I received this lovely surprise!
With A Grateful Heart, postcard. De Coeyer Inge, Belgium. Global Art Swap November 2017
Isn’t this a beauty? A feast for the eyes, and a treat for the fingers. Lovely textured paper, and a fabric heart. Wonderful crookedy stitching with the tails attached. Love it! The envelope has a wonderful decorative tape with flora, figs and mushrooms. Take a look at the stamp. (Everyone knows the best chocolate comes from Belgium.)
Thank you Inge, for sharing your wonderful art with me!
The next round starts soon! Visit Louise’s site for more.
Think I might have botched it. Debated about adding a soft wash to the petals. But I think it will just get messy. Used Inktense watercolor pencils this round. Made additions to the other two starts, will share soon.
Do you remember my spider snafus from about a month ago? They have started again. (Links for the curious. No photos here, because I don’t want to see them in my media gallery every time I write a post.) I had just stopped checking my bed each night. And Bam. No, not in the bed. Under it. I spotted it on the floor mat by my chair. A huge dark spot. A wolf spider. Turned to get a shoe to kill it with, looked again, and it was gone. Matches the carpet perfectly. Camo Turbo Spider. Spent 30 minutes literally tearing the bed apart. Needed help to lift the mattress and the box spring.
There it was. So I am standing there, holding the box spring, stretching a foot to mash it. Because it just ain’t over until there are spider guts on your shoe. It was slower by this time. It had popped out from under the bed at one point, and I spritzed it with hair spray. You can laugh, but it works. Slows them so they are easier to catch.
Wolf spiders vary in size from small species with only ½ inch leg spans to large ones whose legs may stretch out 5 inches. This one was at least two inches long. That was two days ago, and since then, there has been a spider by my window, and desk and art supplies. A cricket on my closet door, and a spider in the bath next to my room. Enough!
There are 200 types of wolf spider!!!! 40,000 in world, that we know of. Far too many if you ask me. I know, I know, they are beneficial. And I am just fine with them existing, as long as I don’t have to see them. Or worry about finding them in my bed.
I ventured outside today, to take some photos of the flower pots. Saw a HUMONGOUS grasshopper. Must have been five inches at least. I only about half of it. I was leaning in close to some pink flowers… and then backed away slowly.
I walked around the back of the house, and saw the biggest spider I have ever seen in person. No, take that back. I did meet up with a tarantula near Miramar once. This Garden Spider. was actually almost attractive. Follow the link and you will see how colorful and dramatic it is. It was a female. Females can lay more than one egg sac, sometimes three or four. Each sac can contain almost 1,000 yellowish eggs. Spiders “hatch” from their eggs mid-winter but do not emerge from the safety of the egg sac until the following spring. Three or four thousand could be hatching??!!!!
Yuck!
OK, one more gross bug story. A few months after we moved in, friends came to visit. As they were leaving one day, I opened the front door and this fell on the door jamb. Right in front of me. I was looking at my friends, so I heard it first. A very solid thud. That thing was quick! It made it about six feet into the house before Mark carefully kicked it out the door.
Started this after nine tonight. After painting most of the day. Just over five hours of work on five small pieces, and still not one I would call finished. But I suppose I am closer to getting ahead than if I hadn’t worked, right?
Thought about just posting the WIP’s. But then I really would not be ahead. Besides, we had a sweet sunset. And I had paper at the ready. This group of hills sits north-east of us. It is really separate peaks. Our site makes them look like a small, connected grouping.
There were no visible clouds in the sky. When the sun lowered enough, the entire sky became salmon, with hints of purple streaks.
4 x 4 WIP’s
I had three favorites at the start of the session. Two soon became least favorites. Always the way right? I worked one canvas at a time, and while it was drying, went on to the next. I used mostly palette knives, and I am happy for the practice. Later I used a large brush. I confess, I covered up the two disasters.
4 x 4 WIP #1
For #1 I had in mind a garden view. Abstracted. I soon realized that my trying to make it into something specific was not working. For #2, I just added colors, no intention. The white shapes made me think of leaves. The brush I used has long since been damaged. Glue or paint has dried in the bristles, creating a gap in the middle. The brush is great for spreading large amounts of paint. Won’t be tossing it anytime soon.
4 x 4 WIP #2
Pretty much decided #1 is a do over. I like the movement, and the colors in #2. But to me it is just a bunch of blobs. There is no story, or feeling, and no focal point. It is just not finished yet.
Happy daily creating to you! Thanks so much for visiting, hearing from you keeps me going!
