Plans change...

Sunset at the Kripalu Center

So it's funny how plans can change so quickly. Back in December I was invited to show the Art Heart series at a venue in Southbridge, MA during the month of February. Shortly after that I was told that we would need to reschedule the exhibit, so I figured I was free to participate in the Fun-A-Day exhibit instead. I am sure that because I chose the Art Hearts project as my focus for Fun-A-Day, the universe decided to resurrect that original show. Pretty cool actually - but since I (and my artwork) can't be in two places at one time, it looks like I won't be at Fun-A-Day.

I took a brief break from the artwork to sort out the details of the exhibit, and go on a creative retreat at the Kripalu center in Lenox, MA. Now it's back to work, to finish up Art Heart number twelve and start number thirteen. Lots to do to prepare for this show!

Fun-A-Day day 4

The stone arch, forest and turtle are painted

More progress on the painting - most of the center is done (I think). I like to look at it with fresh eyes again later to see how it works.  I will probably need to add some bright areas with the pastel over the watercolor base. That, and more texture in the grass and sand.

Fun-A-Day day 3

Beginning washes of watercolor 

Man, Tuesday was a long day. Museum work, then grocery shopping, cooking dinner, giving hubby a haircut, and finally, back to my Art Heart. Just enough time to get a few washes of watercolor in for the background before yoga and bed! 

Fun-A-Day day 2

The design sketched out for painting

Work on the new Art Heart continues! Monday I had a long stretch of time to put into the artwork, so I worked from the thumbnail sketches to find reference material, tried out different layouts, and then decided on what colors would support the imagery. After committing to an idea, I sketched the final design onto watercolor paper. Next up...the underpainting!

Fun-A-Day Providence 2012!

New Year  - section from my holiday linocut print 

It's a new year already! Holy smokes 2011 went by fast. The last three months were a crazy blur. Lots of work at the Warwick Museum of Art and for Kretschmann Brewing, participating in holiday art fairs, visiting family and friends, decorating, cooking, way too much eating, and artmaking. Once we hit Christmas the art went on hold, so now it's time to get back to work. Starting with Fun-A-Day!

Last year I participated in Fun-A-Day Providence for the first time. If you are wondering about FAD, here's a description from the website:

Fun-a-Day is a creative challenge open to all inspired by the basic premise that everyone is an artist and everything we make is art. Do something creative every day in the month of January and share it at the community art show in February.To participate, sign up at: http://www.funadayprov.org/p/participate.html

Fun-A-Day from day 1 - research and sketches

I want to focus on my Art Hearts series, so I'm making that my Fun-A-Day project for 2012. For day one I started research on a new Art Heart. I have to brainstorm a bit at this stage and usually sketch out some ideas and symbolism related to the essay. I was a little nervous getting back into it - I want each heart to be different, and yet appropriate for the family and meaningful. Perhaps a little performance anxiety has been slowing down my creative process on the hearts lately. In any case, I have some new ideas. Whew!

So today I'll continue on this Art Heart, and try to catch up on blogging the previous Art Heart. I want to make 2012 a great year for supporting families affected by CHD.

Fun-a-Day Providence show!

So tonight is the night! All of the work that the artists have put into their projects will be shown at the WBMA in Providence tonight and tomorrow night. If you are in the neighborhood, please stop by and check out the work and chat with the artists. I'll be in attendance tomorrow for the closing night, partying with my creative peeps! I took some photos last night when I went down to hang my work. The crew was working hard to get everything ready.

More information about the show is on the Fun-a-Day Providence blog, and here's a Facebook invite for those of you who'd like to RSVP.

Fun-a-Day paintings wrap-up

Well, the Fun-a-Day Providence project is complete! I haven't had much time to post much lately, as the entire beginning of February we were buried in snow up here in Douglas. I've been shoveling my brains out for the last week. But more on that later.

Days 29, 30 and 31 are complete!

The last three paintings for the project were small numerals, and relatively simple paintings. At this point, I've been comparing the new numbers to the rest of the grid as I pick out their color, so that I can relate squares to each other in a harmonious pattern.

The wood panel is prepped and ready for the paintings.

This week, I started to wrap up the project, preparing a panel to mount all of the small paintings. I cut some scrap wood to size (14" square), and sanded the edges.

All the paintings line up on the grid correctly!

Once the panel was prepped, I used acrylic medium to seal the wood and bind the paintings to the surface. Some of the paintings have pastel on the surface, so I had to be careful to not smudge them. It was also important to keep the acrylic medium from bleeding around the edges of the numbers so that the encaustic medium would fuse to the surface later.

The completed artwork - Thirty-one Days, 14"x14" mixed media

To seal the surface I added a mixture of melted beeswax and resin (the encaustic medium) which I melted and applied with a brush. I dabbed the wax on so as not to smudge the pastels, and then heated the surface with a heat lamp to smooth the surface and bind it to the paper underneath. This darkens the underlying artwork, but also makes the colors look rich and saturated. I like the fact that now you can touch the surface of the final piece instead of mounting it behind glass.

I'll be hanging the artwork on Thursday for the Fun-a-Day Providence show this weekend. I'm looking forward to all the creative work that will be on display! If you are interested in checking out the show, it runs Friday, February 11th from 7-11pm and Saturday the 12th from 5-10pm at the West Broadway Neighborhood Association, 1560 Westminster Street Providence, RI.

Enjoy!
-Lisa

Fun-a-Day paintings from the last week

My Fun-a-Day paintings for the Providence exhibit are still coming along - only three more days to go! Here's my progress over the last week.

Day 22 - bright shining like the sun!

Day 22 - Twenty-two is another important number for me, and so it was the larger format painting in this series. Twenty-two is the date of my husband's birthday. As I looked at the grid so far and the other large pieces, I thought that this one could use a warm, bright color. So this one I made a yellow, thinking of my husband's influence in my life. My husband is one of those people who are always looking for something to be engaged in - he gets excited about ideas and learning, and he throws himself into hobbies and experiments with a passion. He reminds me to have a sense of humor, and to enjoy our lives. He truly does burn brightly like the sun.

Day 23 - winter birch trees

Day 23 - Here is another large format number, the last one in the series, and was chosen for that format because of the positioning in the grid. Twenty-three isn't a significant number for me, so I was able to add whatever imagery came to mind. We've been having lots of snow out here in Massachusetts, and whenever I look out my bathroom window I see a group of white birch trees by the house and the landscape of our yard beyond them. It's a really nice view, with lots of privacy, and I want to make some larger paintings based on that view of the birch. But for now, I put down on paper my impression of the birches in the cold twilight.

back to the little paintings

more little paintings

Days 24 through 28 were back to the smaller format, with simple two inch square paintings. Several of them are painted using metallic inks. I'm thinking I should get my MDF board measured and cut soon so that I can start mounting the numbers to it. It's going to be interesting to see all the other artists' work in February. :-)

Enjoy!

Fun-a-Day paintings from this week

In the midst of some other projects this past week, I've managed to get my Fun-a-Day paintings done, but not gotten them up on the blog. So here's a catch-up on what I've made for the last week.

Just a few smaller sized numbers for these three days - nothing too crazy.

For day eighteen I had another large painting to do. In this case, the number does not have a special meaning for me, but had to be a larger format to fit within the grid design. So I just freehanded the number and let it guide me. Drawing the infinity shape for the eight made me think about recurrence, and life. So I added in the eighteen leaves.

Days nineteen through today, back to the small format numbers. Simple designs with some fun markings.

Here are the numbers so far, arranged as they will be for the grid. The overall pattern in coming together. As I've been working through the project, I've been trying to alternate the colors and styles so that there's no exact repetition in adjacent blocks. Overall, the colors are staying bright and punchy. When I cover them with encaustic medium in the final piece, the colors should darken a bit but be a little more saturated.

Enjoy!

Fun-a-Day paintings day 13 and 14

So - back to the Fun-Day paintings! I'm just about halfway through the project. Here are the mini-paintings from yesterday and today. More small numbers for the next few days.

Enjoy!

Fun-a-Day painting day 12

FAD number twelve - watercolor and pastel

I'm still working through the Fun-a-Day painting series, and so here is yesterday's artwork. I thought the twelve needed some extra love, so I added the happy rays of light.

Enjoy!

Fun-a-Day painting day 11

Well I got this little number (get it? HA!) done last night, but most of today was eaten up by ridiculous amounts of snow removal. Living in New England brings you the joy of the 'Noreaster and some crazy snowfall - we woke up this morning to fourteen inches (all in about seven hours) and by now we have up around twenty. Plus it's still snowing. Our driveway is crazy crooked and somewhat lengthy, so the truck (with personal plow) got stuck twice and had to be dug out. Ah, the joys of snow! So I'm just now getting back to the blog.

Eleven is another special number in my life. My birthday is on the eleventh, as well as my Father's and Grandmother's birthdays. Actually, both my Father and Grandmother were born in November, so they were both 11-11 birthdays. To top it all off, it's 2011, so that a LOT of elevenage in my life.

For this artwork I originally just had the number with a triangle shape in the background - three points for the three birthdays shared on the eleventh. But this piece needed some pizazz, so I came up with the lotus flower motif to represent birth/rebirth. Much better!

For all you New Englanders (and other snow bunnies) out there, good luck with the snow, and stay warm!

Fun-a-Day paintings from the weekend

I've been continuing on my Fun-a-Day project each day, so here's a recap of the last few days work!

My Fun-a-Day paintings for the last four days

Day seven was another large piece. Seven is for the day I was married to my awesome hubby, Brian. We had an interfaith minister marry us, and she helped us pick a lovely passage for out ceremony. I incorporated as much of the text as I could write within the painting, overlaying a calligraphic numeral seven. It is referred to as the Hands Ceremony. There are several versions of the ceremony, but here is the one I transcribed in the art:

These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow and forever.

These are the hands that will work along side yours as together you build your future.

These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch will comfort you like no other.

These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief temporarily comes your way.

These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes, tears of sorrow and tears of joy.

These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children.

These are the hands that will give you support and encouragement to chase down your dreams.

These are the hands that will hold you tight as you struggle through difficult times.

These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it.

These are the hands that will lift your chin and brush your cheek as they raise your face to look into eyes that are filled with overwhelming love for you.

And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.

Are you crying yet? Ha! The other numbers, eight through ten are the smaller format, and are a little simpler. I'm working on number eleven right now - another big number for me. But more on that tomorrow!

Enjoy!

Yesterday's Fun-a-Day (day six)

I was in the studio working on several pastel pieces, so this little mini didn't get done until late last night. It's another mixed-media (watercolor, metallic ink and pastel). Just some little butterflies to make it interesting!

Enjoy!

Fun-a-Day painting Day Five

Just finished today's Fun-a-Day painting! As referenced in this post, I am creating a mini-numerical painting for each day this month. Today's painting is one of the larger (double-sized) formats. Five is a significant number - my Mother's birthday is in May, and it is the month I was married. In our wedding invitations I painted some little cherry blossoms, so they showed up here in number five as well. They were mostly painted free-form here, with watercolor and pastel.

Enjoy!
-Lisa

Fun-a-Day Providence

My sketches and Fun-a-Day paintings days one through four

My friend and fellow artist Liz Talbot clued me in about this creative event in Providence. Fun-a-Day is a month-long community art project. Participants create something (anything!) every day for a month and then display their efforts. The Providence Fun-a-Day 2011 event will be shown on Friday February 11th and Saturday February 12th at the West Broadway Neighborhood Association on Westminster in Providence.

So lately I've been playing the lottery a bit, dreaming of the freedom that comes with instant cash (or imaginary spending) and I try to select numbers that have meaning to me - birthdays, anniversaries and such. Because numbers have been on my mind, I thought I'd do a daily numerical painting, making small square pieces seating them into a grid. I wanted to keep the final piece square, so my grid will be larger than 31 squares, with some of them being double size to fill in the extra space. I chose significant numbers for the large squares when possible, similar to my lottery plan-of-action.

I have mini-paintings for the first four days, and today am working on a larger one for day five. I will try to post as I create new artwork each day this month. Should be a fun challenge!

Enjoy!
-Lisa