30 Day Art Challenge: More Art Coming At Cha

OK, what day am I on posting-wise?

Day 20 (I think?):

A small piece on watercolour paper, attempting a little more Julification.

Day 21:


My beautiful son had a helluva week last week. To top it all off, he now has a sinus infection. Life, you know? It just kicks your ass sometimes, especially when you're only 9.

Day 22:



Day 23:



Some more of that old tattered copy of 1984 bites the dust, but with honour.

"Winston and Julia clung together, fascinated. The music went on and on, minute after minute, with astonishing variations, never once repeating itself, almost as though the bird were deliberately showing off its virtuosity. Sometimes it stopped for a few seconds, spread out and resettled its wings, then swelled its speckled breast and again burst into song. Winston watched it with a sort of vague reverence. For whom, for what, was that bird singing? No mate, no rival was watching it. What made it sit at the edge of the lonely wood and pour its music into nothingness?"

What makes you sing? Or write, or do art, or pour out your music into nothingness, whatever that music may be?

Day 24&25...the Dream Box:



I loved painting this. A cheap wooden "cigar box", richly textured on the outside and more of the "dream" figures on the inside. I think I foresee more Dream Boxes in my future. And I think the above is still a WIP, it needs some touches here and there.

And that's it for now. My 30 days are drawing to an end. I have really discovered that I don't need the impetus of a "challenge" to make me create. I have actually found it more constricting than inspiring in ways. Some days I want to paint 3 or 4 different works quickly, and sometimes I want to work on 1 piece for many days, and I really like to ponder an artwork for a few days before I call it "finished". The one thing that has definitely grown for me though, in these 25 days of sharing, has been my confidence. Putting all my artworks, whether I think they are any good or not, out there for the world to see has been somehow liberating. It is what it is. I am what I am. I am a learner...fallible, contradictory, inspired and inspiring and dull as dishwater all in the same breath. I am full of acceptance and angst, genius and the mundane in measure as variable as this chilly, fitful Spring outside.

And I am more OK with all of this than ever.

Hot Off the Presses: The Story Box

Several people have asked about getting a copy of my book. Aw shucks guys, I'm honoured. :) Thanks. I really wish I had author copies to give to everyone, but alas I don't.

For my American friends it is very easy. You can actually order a copy cheaper than I can! (shipping to Canada is a bee-otch!!!) You just go to the Createspace estore. Please note, that I have set the price at cost (not trying to make munny's off of my peeps). I will likely not leave my store page open indefinitely, so get 'em soon if you want 'em!

For my Canadian friends, who all well know the pain of International shipping charges, duty and exchange...the best I could do was to bulk order a batch of books myself, at my "author price". They still came to about $12.50 CDN each (plus shipping if you would like me to mail it out to you), but since they are charging $25 USD per individual book to ship internationally from Creatspace (I kid you not! And that does NOT include the price of the book itself!), it is still a much better deal for us Canucks this way. So if you want one, let me know and I will hook you up.

I love having the actual physical copy of my story in hand. I had fun writing it, and I think that comes through in the story. It is a fun story. I wrote it for my sons, who were then 7 years old, and read what I had completed to them each night at bedtime for critique. They had a lot to say! And they loved my story. I included everything that a kid could want...pirates, dragons, knights, robots, dogs, a whole town made of candy, leprechauns and vampires...because, why not? Why the hell not? Sometimes more is more. And I wove it around the loss of a Great Grandmother, because the boys had just lost theirs, and filled it full of as much love and care and bravery about the Big Questions as I could for them. All in all I am quite proud of it. :)

(More art coming soon, been painting everyday, although not always completing a painting in a day. Where does this leave me for my challenge? *shrugs* Sure am having fun though, and learning a tonne, as always.)

30 Day Art Challenge: Day 16-19 & Layer Love Liftoff

Day 16:



An exercise in underpainting and glazing. So interesting, will definitely be using this technique again. I love the depth and history it produces.

Day 17:



In my quotation journal. The quote is from my beloved Walt Whitman;

Have you heard that it was good to gain the day? I also say it is good to fall, battles are lost in the same spirit in which they are won.

Day 18&19

The "julification" has begun! These are my first and second attempts from lesson 1 of the Layer Love course with Julie Prichard. I can already tell that I am going to learn a tonne! ...about acrylics, about the play between opacity and translucency when painting, about new and exciting techniques for making richly layered, aged and urban looking pieces like Julie does. It's still not too late to sign up if you're interested!

12"x9" acrylic on watercolour paper

2 sides of the same page in my quotation journal

And that's about it for me. It's been a quiet weekend...happily so. Just puttering around the house, making some art, playing with my boys...nothing earth shattering, but not tedious either, just the steady forward motion of day to day living.

30 Day Art Challenge: Day 14&15

As of yesterday I am officially halfway through my challenge. Making the art, has for the most part been easy and enjoyable. I have been rather schizophrenic about it style-wise, skipping about to whichever palette, medium and style caught my fancy on each particular day, with no real direction or cohesiveness. For the last part of my challenge, I'd like to be a bit more focused. For the last few days I have been and for the next few days I will be focusing on that burnt out prairie landscape that is caught in my imagination from our drive to Saskatchewan. Amazing the way certain words or images get lodged, haunting and teasing you even in your dreams...my brain is full of flat lands, cloud shadows and spindly trees, everything waiting, lying fallow, expectant...

Day 14:



Day 15:

(both mixed media in my big art journal)

And a word about Mother's Day, the DH felt it was imperative that I make a public declaration about the absolute love and fab-U-losity with which my Mum's day was burgeoning. Since I had made a public plea for a little extra TLC on here, it's only fair that he gets full cred for rising to the occasion with true DH style! There were shining morning faces, tea and toasties served, presents galore and even one very special present that made me all verklempt. I got to share the day with my mom, and it was absolutely lovely. Not only did we not have to lift a finger, got time to do our own thing and had a delicious dinner prepared for us, but my 2 little dudes had been so well coached in the art of "special mother's day kindness to your mum" that it was almost comically sweet to see them taking extra care on my and Gramma's behalf.
Thank you honey. XXX OOO

Now what the heck am I going to do on Father's Day to reciprocate???

No Art Today

I have been doing art, just ready to post about something different for a change (I know, shocking!). I am feeling worn out this afternoon. A busy few days, and a lot of social...good social, but social all the same, and I'm tired. Then this morning we had our first appointment with a new psychiatrist, the next step in the ongoing process of accessing as many services as our Aspie-filled family needs, and it was positive, but exhausting.

I am ready to retreat a bit. To the land of quiet computer...beautiful, beautiful concise black lines of silent text. Time to ponder each response. A little red X to click, which makes a tab disappear if its information is extraneous or unwanted. A mute button.

*sigh*

Nice.

Maybe when I'm done with the computer, I'll paint or read a book.
O the introverted pleasures that await, like balm to my raw, overexposed and disappointed soul!

Disappointed because we just found out that my son's funding application for school was denied...again. Which means no EA (educational assistant). The bottom line is that he's too well behaved. Even though he desperately needs the help to cope with all the sensory and social overload and is slowly falling behind academically, because he is generally polite and teachable (with a Herculean effort on the part of the teacher!), he just doesn't qualify. I am more than a little bummed.

If only we hadn't of taught him that it's not OK to punch other kids...

30 Day Art Challenge: Day 11,12 & 13

We are back. We had a wonderful weekend. Best mum's day evah! But no time to blog about it properly now, I have company in the form of my 2nd youngest sister (yay!). But a short art update...managed to do a couple of quick journal pages on our weekend away, and worked on a small canvas board painting today.
Inspired by the Dancing Queen:



A stolen moment with my new Golden colours on Mother's day. E&L chose them all by themselves!



And the first of what will be several artworks inspired by the barren, almost post apocalyptic, après winter yet pre-spring prairie landscape. It was strangely beautiful...huge sky, burnished colours, rough expanses of dead, yet golden grasses, farmers burning fields, spires of smoke, bare branches, rooks and hawks...I saw a thousand paintings as we hurtled by yesterday...
The first attempt:



A better blog coming on Wednesday.

30 Day Art Challenge: Day 9 & 10, and My Infinite Nature

I'm here, I'm here! Didn't quit. Didn't even slack off yesterday. Just didn't have enough time to take a pic of my sketches before I ran out of light.
Yesterday was dragon sketching day. In walnut ink, on really crappy paper:



Not a great result. If it wasn't for the challenge, there would be no way I'd be sharing my sketchy scribbles! Oh well. It is, what it is.

Today was an attempt to take some of those ideas forward:

("8x6" mixed media)

Obviously similar to day 1. I don't know how well it shows in the pic, but the texture rocks, and I am pleased (yay!).

While I worked yesterday and today, I watched " i ♥ huckabees".

Couldn't love that movie anymore if I tried. Funny, funny, funny. The part with the rubber ball! I highly recommend for other too-much-in-your-head, prone to existential crises types.



"You can't deal with my infinite nature, can you?"

We go to my parents for the weekend tomorrow. I am bringing rudimentary art supplies with me, because I am committed to these 30 days, but I may not have the opportunity to post. If not I'll catch up here on Monday.

Love you all. Embrace your infinite natures, and have a great weekend. :)

30 Day Art Challenge: Day 8

A quick one today. Working out some angsty feelings, with words and paint.

10"x14" acrylic and ink on manila paper

30 Day Art Challenge: Day 7

This one is so fresh, the ink is still wet.

10"x14" acrylic and ink on manila paper

It's beautiful here today! But allergies are keeping us inside.

Such is life.

30 Day Art Challenge: Day 6

Today's artwork:

16"x12" mixed media, art journal page

Something a little different. Bright and exuberant, like the small boy who inspired it! If I had time though, I would keep puttering away at it. It needs more depth in the background to make the figure pop...but this is the 30 day challenge, and that's all she wrote for me today. :)

I'm off to the zoo...

30 Day Art Challenge: Day 5

Today I realized that I am serious about art. Not the sickeningly pretentious accumulation of knowledge to out-snob the other artsy people serious, or the single minded, manic, obsessive, "get out of my way, so I can do my aht!" thing...but the type of serious where I suddenly realize how important art is to me, how meaningful it is becoming in my life, and how protective I have grown of myself as an "artist". (yipes still getting used to that word! It comes with so many layers of affectation and exclusivity. I don't love it.) I have grown protective of my every creative effort, and even of artists in general (it takes a lot of chops to put yourself out there time and time again! People don't realize how much guts and hard work it takes, and they can be so quick to criticize!).

I was talking to a well-meaning person who was being jokingly negative about my artwork. No offense intended, just blundering humour that went a little too far, but the underlying attitude was a familiar one. You're not a real artist like _____ (fill in the blank with any number of "real artist" names), therefore your art has little or no value. Again, not what this very kind person intended, but a pervasive attitude about art in our society. If you aren't a direct descendant of Picasso, and/or have a Master's degree in fine arts what the hell business do you have picking up a paint brush? And more particularly, how can you have the audacity to actually like what you are doing or to be proud of the "art" you produce?

It's silly. It's so silly. Something that should be viewed as bread and butter simplicity and commonality, as everyone's territory, everyone's potential, everyone's right to make art, is instead, only for the elite and spectacularly talented few...otherwise you are just kind of making an ass of yourself. It's like saying that unless you can cook like Ferran Adria, you have no right to be in the kitchen.

What are the rest of us supposed to do? Starve?

And I realized that I am not having any of that nonsense around me. I put the kibosh on that joke quicker than you could say "Whistler's Mother". I am just not going to accept any negativity or non constructive criticism when it comes to my creativity (and really how much criticism is actually constructive?!). I am making art out of the best that's in me. I am new to it. I don't know much. But I have just as much right to make art as the most seasoned artistes, trained in the finest schools. And my artwork has value, and so does yours.

Today's artwork:

8"x11" art journal page, done with acrylics

PS For those of you who have asked about a copy of my story, thank you so much. :) I wish I had author copies to give out to all my friends and family, but alas, with self publishing you pay for everything yourself. So I am figuring out how to make copies available at cost to anyone who wants them, and will post about it here soon.

30 Day Art Challenge: Day 4, New Glasses & O, How I Love my Tolkien

I got my new nerd grrrrl glasses. They make me feel like a sexy librarian, a slightly dizzy, sexy librarian. The dizzy is because the wide arms=no peripheral vision, which I didn't notice in the store before I bought them. One would think that people who design glasses would think of pesky little things like, oh say, not blocking your vision...but apparently that is ok as long as they look good. I'm sure they'll be fine as soon as my eyes adjust, but still, they're going to leave me totally vulnerable to any flank attacks from marauding ninjas, pirates, zombies or orcs....and one also wonders about driving...
(and look at that overgrown hippie hair! I'm getting a haircut soon, I promise.)

Speaking of orcs and such...today's artwork:


Yes, it's Gandalf. An ATC for an exchange over at Willowing.

I have Tolkien on the brain again. Not because I am rereading LotR to myself for the kabillionth time or rewatching the Peter Jackson movies (O Aragorn, you're so dreamy! *sigh*), but because I have recently begun reading it to my sons. They have been asking me to read it to them for the last couple of years, but I put them off thinking that the plot and language were still a little too complex for them. Now they are 9, which I still think is young, but they are reading at an advanced level for their age, and did brilliantly well with keeping up with the twists and turns in the Harry Potter series when we recently completed it (which was so much fun to share with them!). So I figured we could give it a try.

As always, slipping into this book is like sliding into a hot bath. Aahhhhh...nice. I love these characters like old friends, love the cadence of the language that Tolkien used, love the maps, love the humour, love the grand scope of it all. It will be a challenging read for my guys. I am stopping at least once every second paragraph to explain an archaic word or turn of phrase, but they're into it. And how wonderful is it to share something with them that I, their father as a boy and even their Great Grandfather loved so much? E&L are considering it a rite of passage, since the DH's grandfather gave him a copy to read when he was just a little older than they are now. Part of our family history, part of growing up.

And I couldn't think of a better story to share with growing minds...bravery, loyalty, doing what's right in the face of almost overwhelming evil, persevering when you are small and your hope is even smaller. Not to mention the fact that it's just a good, old fashioned, exciting adventure story...battles, Elves, mighty warriors, scary bad guys...I mean, come on, that's good stuff! So I am really, really looking forward to reading it to them.

“This is my last word,” he said in a low voice. “The Ring-bearer is setting out on the Quest of Mount Doom. On him alone is any charge laid: neither to cast away the Ring, nor to deliver it to any servant of the Enemy nor indeed to let any handle it, save the members of the Company and the Council, and only then in gravest need. The others go with him as free companions, to help him on his way. You may tarry, or come back, or turn aside into other paths, as chance allows. The further you go, the less easy will it be to withdraw; yet no oath or bond is laid on you to go further than you will. For you do not yet know the strength of your hearts, and you cannot foresee what each may meet upon the road.”

~Elrond, The Ring Goes South, LOTR