Where the Magic Is

This is something I started for my sister-in-law for her birthday, then decided to do something else for her.  I had all but the calligraphy done and finally finished it today.  I just love the quote... although I would maybe suggest that whatever it is we have inside ourselves IS magic.  Just something for you to chew on this morning :)

This is around 8x10 (I think?) watercolor and ink on 140 lb. paper and might be for sale at some point; I haven't decided.

Then I thought I'd work on a new acrylic henna impasto... I was dreaming about dragonflies last night so I decided that's what I'd do.

 I got the grass lines filled in but didn't feel like mixing a couple more cones of paint for the other colors I want to use.  The gel medium I'm using is opaque; I think I'd prefer a clear one for mixing with my Pearl-Ex powders.  This will have high-flow washes done over it when I'm finished with the lines.

Revisiting Old Friends

I started this painting a month or two ago as the first in a series of alphabet paintings I was doing with Crystal Cook.  She did "Apple."  I did "Apple-oosa."  Ha.

Only I was never totally satisfied with it.  I thought the little munchkin needed more detail and that the background needed something.  Think so?

Actually comparing the two the few little changes I made seem to make all the difference.  I gave his eyes a little more expression, darkened shadows, defined muzzle and ears, brightened whites.  Not a lot of time, but a lot of difference, in my opinion.

Then, I wanted to take the swirly background I envisioned one step further and give him a henna impasto background... in case this is your first visit here, I thicken paint and put it in the same kind of cellophane cone I use to apply henna body art, then pipe it onto the canvas basically like cake frosting.

The result is this kind of nifty texture.  I was worried that texturing the background would make the subject not stand out but I think it really has the opposite effect.  Opinions welcome on that, though.

A is for Apple-oosa!   6x6 oil on canvas - click to purchase

And here he is, all done (except I forgot to sign him, oops!  I fixed that.)  This little guy is 6x6 oil on canvas, and for sale in my Etsy shop.  Just click the picture or the link to take you there.

F....uschia. Floral.

Yesterday was busy... my hubby and I took my pet praying mantis (one of them) to the county fair to compete in the "Novelty" category of the pet show.  She got 3rd place, and it was a lot of fun.  Then we went over the Cultural Arts center to check out the lots of stuff I entered over there... 1 piece of jewelry, 3 paintings, my famous French bread, and an assortment of canned goods -- I just started canning this year and I kind of went hog wild.  

The results:  not bad!  I was really excited that, unlike last year, this year I had to compete in the Professional category (woot!), and still got 2nd in the Animals category with my painting of my little dog Dink:

And 3rd in Still Life with my violin painting.

I got first place in Jewelry with my wire wrapped turquoise ("Anshar" on this page), and a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd with canned stuff.  And my pretty dried hot peppers got Best in Show in the Miscellaneous canned goods category.  Sweet!   

At the pet show and later that evening at the Western Horse Show, I sat and practiced drawing from life (oh my god, do my skills at that need work....!!)

So that was yesterday.  Needless to say, I didn't get a chance to paint, but I drew a whole lot, filling pages and pages of my little sketchbook with gesture and contour drawings and quick sketches.  

So back in the studio today, I finished up a couple of paintings I'd base coated.  It's back to oil with the henna impasto for these.  I'm happy with one of them.  Guess which?

I might like the hibiscus better after it dries and I can make the central stamen more interesting.  We'll see.

By the way, these are 4x4 on hardwood panels.

I thought about doing journal pages with watercolor chronicling my fair adventures... that may be tomorrow's (or the next few days') painting.

Oh, almost forgot!  The fuschia is my "F" painting for the alphabet challenge with Crystal Cook., and I'm officially caught up for the 30/30 challenge  :)   Progress!

Day One: Night Falls

Yay, it's Day One of Artists Helping Artists Podcast's 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge!   I had the groundwork laid out for this one and since it's going to be a busy day I thought I'd finish it off.  

"Night Falls" 4x4 Acrylic on Hardwood Panel $30  - Click Picture to Purchase

This was done in acrylic in the reverse of the henna impasto style I use in oil; i.e., the textured henna part was painted on first, and then I used Golden High Flow acrylics thinned with water to get the watercolor-y effect.

The nifty thing about this is that I could probably get one done in a single day, although in this particular instance I painted on the texture and left it sit for a couple of days before I finished it this morning.  Or, I could theoretically finish one and start another.  When I paint in oils I can almost never finish a painting in one day even if it's small, because I don't paint alla prima.

While I like this technique, I've decided I don't care much for acrylics for traditional painting and I think for my spirit animals series I'm going to go back to oils, after the bison is done.

Anyway, I'm pretty excited to be doing this again this month... I was kind of surprised at how much I've blogged since January because it didnt' feel like as much as it was, but at the same time, it sure is nice to get into the studio every day, even if you don't finish something every day.  So this is just the kick in the pants I needed.

If you're doing the challenge and you drop by, please leave a comment so I can reciprocate the visit... one of my favorite things about doing it is getting to see what everyone else is doing!  Happy September!

Impulse

6x6 Acrylic on panel, $40 --  Click to purchase

I wasn't entirely happy with this, mainly because the brown horse and purple background seemed to blend into one another from a distance.  So I darkened his face, added some detail to his mane and some highlights and shadows.  Much better, I think.  This is a new technique I think I will be playing with some more.

Visuddha

"A voice cannot carry the tongue and the lips that gave it wings.  Alone must it seek the ether.

And alone without his nest shall the eagle cross the sun."
                                                 -- Khalil Gibran

Visuddha, the Throat Chakra, is the chakra of communication, of expression, of honesty (with yourself and with others), of your declaration of your place in the world.  It is associated with the color blue the element Ether, and the expression of your highest truth.

I think this is my favorite so far, which is interesting because it's the one I have the most difficulty keeping open and healthy... I'm pretty quiet and reserved.  It's funny too because the stones I am most drawn to are the ones that are blue and associated with the throat chakra.

I managed to steal a few minutes from a very busy weekend to get this one painted, and I have the panels for the last two ordered.  They should be here in a few days, hopefully :)

Anahata

"When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object."  -- Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Anahata is the heart chakra.  It is the source of peace, love, brotherhood and joy.  When your heart chakra is open, it seems that all the world is a place of love and joy.

I've painted the 12-petaled Anahata in oil and outlined it in henna impasto.  I think the dots around the petals are a nice, henna-esque touch, personally.  The picture below is kind of awful but you get the idea... they're shaping up. :)   Still don't know how I'll mount them.  I had an idea to make a stone background with crystals (stone chips)  that correspond (like, garnet for root, carnelian for sacral, etc).  Kind of a marrying of my 2 crafts.  Still not sure if that's what I'll do.  Russ says I should paint a silhouette of a meditating person and mount them on that.  Hmm.

Unfortunately after the Throat Chakra, which I roughed in today, I'm out of 4x4 panels.  I just ordered some but I picked the slow shipping so it might be 2 weeks before they get here and I can finish the last 2.  Argh... I'm in a groove and I hate to leave these unfinished, so... what next?

I have an idea I'd like to try some realistic paintings but with a henna'ed border/frame on the edge of the panel, so I might try that... plus I have A and B to finish up, but I'm petering out on those, not sure why.  Honestly I could call the Appy done and move on.  I hate being indecisive and wishy washy.

Manipura

"Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie
Which we ascribe to heaven."
                    -- William Shakespeare (All's Well that Ends Well)

Manipura is the solar plexus or navel chakra, the third energy center in the body.  It is involved with creative energy, self worth, identity, and associated with the color yellow and fire.  

This makes my third in this series; I did Muladhara (root) yesterday and Svadhisthana (sacral) several weeks ago.  They're painted in oil on these nice little panels and then the raised portion of the design (the outline) is done in my signature "henna impasto" technique.  I'm not sure if you can tell that the "henna" is sparkly on this one (and the root), but I used no paint for this one, just PearlEx powder and impasto gel.

I thought to leave them to be hung separately but unfortunately I painted the one last night sideways for the nail slot, so... darnit.  I'll either need to put hangers on the back or mount all of them on masonite or something.  If you've got any ideas for mounting I'd love to hear them :)

I'm hoping to also finish up my little Appaloosa today, too.  I have the next 2 chakras in the series base coated.  Unfortunately I'm out of panels after that so I'll have to order some more.  

Change of Plans

I'm so unpredictable. Even to myself.

I had this cool idea for "Camargue" for C. But that wasn't what the muse wanted."C" is for "change of plans."

You might also have noticed that "A" is for aaaaallllmost done (it still needs some finishing touches) and "B" is for "barely started."

But one does not disobey the muse.  So rather than Camargue, "C" is for Chakras.

So, today I had loads of day job work to do, so I didn't get to the studio until pretty late.  I had this idea a month or two ago and got started, then petered out (imagine that!).  But this is what I felt like doing tonight. These are the symbols for the first two chakras, the root chakra (Muladhara) and sacral chakra (Svadihsthana).  "Chakra" is Sanskrit for wheels of light.  They are the energy centers in your body and you have many, but there are seven primary ones, each corresponding to a color of the spectrum.  I have seen really cool chakra flags (if you follow my chainmaille at all you might already know I just love rainbows).  But I wanted to do some paintings.  So, these are 4 x 4 little panels - with a place for a nail in the back, I was happy to see - and so far I have 5 so I need a couple more.  I had done the orange/sacral one when I started this project, and base coated the first 3.  So today I finished the red/root chakra and base coated the green one.  They're oil painted backgrounds with my signature "henna impasto" - I load paint thickened with impasto gel into the same kind of cone I use when I do henna, and pipe it onto the canvas with the cone.  It's quite fun, actually.  I think I might be getting a better handle on the consistency, too.

So, yay!  Who knows where the muse will take me tomorrow.  The key is to show up at the studio.

Svadhisthana

Chakras are the subtle energy centers in your body, and you have seven.  They are typcally depicted as different colors.  Your root chakra (the base of your tailbone) is red, sacral chakra (deep in your belly) orange, solar plexus yellow, heart green, throat blue, third eye indigo (sometimes purple), and crown purple (sometimes white, or gold).  When they are open and spinning is when you feel your best.

I wanted to paint a series of small paintings, one for each of the chakras, and hang them vertically on my wall.  I base coated three of them yesterday, but the red one wasn't ready to paint on today so I went with the sacral chakra, whose Sanskrit name is Svadhisthana.  It is the center of physical procreation, controls our maturation and regulates our appetites for food, sex and pleasure.

Why did I start out of order?  Well... the panel for the root chakra wasn't quite dry yet, and besides, today is Beltane... a very appropriate day to be painting my sacral chakra ;)

Besides a color, each chakra is associated with an area of the body, a shape, an element, etc.  Here's the rundown for this one:

Svadhisthana
Location:  2 inches below the navel and 2 inches into the pelvis.
Color:  Orange
Musical note:  D
Element:  water
Aspect of intelligence:  sensation/pleasure
Essential oils:  jasmine, neroli, orange blossom
Crystals:  carnelian, tiger's eye, some agates
Plant:  Jasmine
Life issues:  to know that who you are and what you do are enough, to have enough rest, food, exercise, fun and money; to not link self worth with what you have; to create healthy boundaries and protect your vital life force
Archetypes:  Empress/Emperor (positive), Martyr (negative)

I may or may not add to this little painting, which I did with impasto henna and oil paint on a little 4 x 4 panel.  It will soon be joined by its other six comrades :)


My 30/30 Marketing challenge for today is to form an artist mentoring group.  So I'll be asking around to see if anyone is interested.

New Challenges

I kind of lost focus during April.... I've hardly been to the studio at all.  Time to get back on track.  I almost had to force myself today.

And as you can see I didn't get a lot done, BUT I did go, and that counts for something.  It's not for lack of ideas.  I'm not sure what the issue is.

But, I've decided to do another Leslie Saeta challenge, this time 30 Marketing Ideas in 30 Days.  And of course, if I don't paint anything there's nothing to market, so I'll need to show up at the easel, too.  I'm hoping for a little inspiration on both fronts.

A couple of weeks ago my husband went to a Windows on the World international festival and at one of the booths there I saw this awesome flag with the symbols for the chakras on it.  I loved it but I didn't want to drop $30 on it, so I decided to do this series of mini-paintings.  It will be a series of seven, obviously, for the seven main chakras in seven colors.

More to come on what chakras are and what the symbols for them mean!

Consummate V's

Chinese Dragon done in henna impasto technique, with Swarovski crystal eyes. He's headed for an art contest this weekend :). This is 6x6 panel and he will be for sale after the contest.