Angela Shogren

Blueflag sketch

2011-06-26T08:43:00.002-05:00

Blueflag sketch, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

Charcoal on CP ~22"x30"

This is a quick sketch of the blueflags in the back pasture...even though I've painted it fairly true to life, I've decided that in the actual painting I'm going to rework some of the proportions a bit to balance the composition a bit. I also had been thinking of doing a square format, but have decided against it...there are willows everywhere around this and I'd like to add them in to emphasize the fact that these really are a wetland wildflower, and they really need more space of their own to show the way they drape.
So...rectangle it is!

By the way, I have no idea what happened to all of the photos in my previous posts...most were shared from my flickr site, and as far as I can tell are marked as able to be shared... Anyone else have any ideas?

More colors than you'd expect...

2010-04-03T08:51:00.003-05:00

Sphagnum moss, dead leaves and many other little plants covering a tree stump at the edge of the bog. I love how these rotting stumps become little worlds unto themselves!

This is from my walk out on the bog the other day at Lake Bemidji State Park...it's still very early Spring here (in fact, Spring has come much earlier than usual), so there's not much green anywhere but the bog was full of every shade of greens, purples, browns and reds imaginable. The textures of everything piling up, layering on top of each other, really makes for some interesting photos! Trying to capture it in watercolor will really be a challenge though!

Labrador Tea

2010-03-19T18:31:00.003-05:00

Labrador Tea, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

Labrador Tea or Ledum groenlandicum (botanical name) or Muskeegobug Aniibi (Ojibwe) is small, evergreen shrub...well, the descriptions call it a shrub, but it just looks like a little plant to me...that grows all around Lake Bemidji State Park's bog walk. Even with things still mostly frozen, there was plenty of evidence of it when I went to check things out today...the leaves were darker, a bit wrinkled and curled up more than usual, and there were no flowers of course, but other than that it really didn't look too different than it does in the summer months.

This plant is strongly fragrant in the summer - I wish that I had thought to smell it today, but it just didn't occur to me. It can be made into a tea that is said to be a medicine for colds, tuberculosis, weak blood (I'm not quite sure what that means - how do you know if your blood is weak?), stomach problems, kidney problems and a hangover...so the next Sunday morning that you find yourself holding your head and promising yourself that you'll never go out and have such a good time again, don't reach for the Bloody Mary mix...just brew yourself some Labrador tea! It's a very slow growing plant though, so be sure to only pick individual leaves, not the entire stem, when you harvest it...

...oh, and did I mention that it contains the poisonous substance Ledol? So if you should experience any cramps or paralysis, apparently that's to be expected...

There is a lot more info about Labrador Tea to be found at this site:

http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/shrubs/ledum.html

I've also been reading Wetland Plant and Plant Communities of MN and WI by Steve D. Eggers and Donald M. Reed, just to get some of the bare basics down about what I'm looking at.

My real computer is still down, so the photo above is actually one I took last summer. I wish I could show you how things looked today - despite the sudden drop in temperature and little flurry of snow we got last night, it was pretty mild out there today. It was actually pretty refreshing to be surrounded by so much and so many different greens when it's technically still winter here, even if it was mosses, lichens and evergreens instead of grasses and leaves.

I did get photos and a few sketches though...hopefully my computer will be up and running again one of these days (or, even better, I'll get a new one!) and I can show you how things look now.

"The adventurous state of mind is a high house...

2010-03-12T08:11:00.003-06:00

Pitcher Plant, originally uploaded by angiinwv.
Pitcher plant, sphagnum moss and some dwarf raspberry - taken at Lake Bemidji State Park

The joy of adventure is unaccountable. This is the attractiveness of artwork. It is adventurous, strenuous and joyful."
Agnes Martin

It has been too frustrating to have my 'real' computer broken down! I have to work on this little old laptop, but it's too small to download pictures onto and something is screwy with the typing part of it...I never know when whatever I've typed is going to suddenly disappear, or the cursor suddenly jumps to the middle of what I've already written...or all kinds of things...

I know - wah...people in the world are starving and I'm complaining about having to work with an inferior computer...

Well anyway, I figure I'll share the project I plan to begin this Spring...it's different than anything I've done and I'm both excited and scared about that! You probably don't know this, but Northern MN has some of the most unexplored and interesting ecosystems in the country in the form of our peat bogs. In fact, even though we have one of the largest within a few miles of us up on Red Lake Reservation, the locals here (including myself until a few years ago) don't even notice them. They're generally regarded as good for nothing and the efforts to drain them turned out to be utterly fruitless...which is a huge part of what makes them so magical!

I was part of a search and rescue team a few years ago up in Red Lake, and that's when I 'discovered' them for myself. We had to go out in this horribly difficult area, covered in moss and mud - mostly moss - and we never knew when a step was going to have us with our leg suddenly hip deep in the earth! But as we got further in, I just couldn't help but notice all kinds of little plants that I'd never seen before and suddenly the entire terrain started to look like something from another planet...or maybe fairyland. I was with quite a few older Ojibwe people and they pointed out this or that plant, told me what it could be used for or other interesting info on it...I was hooked!

I've always had a fascination with wetlands...I grew up with the Mississippi running in front of our house and a pond behind. Most of my 'secret' spots were out in the swamps around both. I am also crazy interested in decomposition, composting...the idea of life breaking down and then coming back again in a new form...

So, that's what my project is all about. This amazing wonderland that we have right here. I hope to spend a good part of this next year, especially Spring, exploring, sketching,photographing and researching what I find. Then, next winter I'll pull all this info into a series of paintings that I plan to show at our state park the following Spring. I'm going to include information about whatever I paint - scientific and cultural. I'm pretty excited!

It's going to be very different for me though...usually when I paint, the subject isn't really important - I mainly just focus on color and 'mood' and am more interested in finding out what people 'see' and feel when they look without really wanting to influence that. With this project I hope to do the same thing - I'm not planning to do detailed, correct 'botanical studies' with the final paintings, they'll still be painted in my style...but I very much care what people will come away thinking and feeling. I want them to know about and appreciate this fascinating area...and even if they still don't see the beauty in it, I at least want them to understand why I do...

...I really hope I'm up for the challenge!

Sunshine Award...

2010-03-03T06:54:00.005-06:00

The Sunshine Award is given to Bloggers for sharing their creativity and positivity and I feel so honored to have received it from not one but TWO of my favorite artists!

Marie Theron is an artist who is chronicling the history and sites of the West Coast of South Africa. I'm not really one to get excited by many landscapes, but there's just something different about Marie's - by really looking at them, I feel like I'm transported to a different part of the world, somewhere very warm and comfortable. I've been inspired by Marie to start capturing the things I find unique and fascinating in my part of the world in my 'Bog Project' (until I think of a better name!) that I'll begin this Spring!

Guy Magallanes is an artist I just can't say enough about! If ever someone deserved an award for positivity and creativity it's Guy! I don't even know how he manages to project so much cheerfulness and encouragement across the internet, but he does. His paintings are gorgeous and the thoroughness with which he explains his process is reason enough to visit his blog...but what I really love is that somehow his posts and comments always feel as though they're accompanied by virtual hugs!

So, I guess that the rules for accepting this award are:

Post the logo on your blog or in your post or both
Pass this onto 12 bloggers
Link them in your post
Let them know they've been awarded
Link the person who awarded you in the first place

So with this award, I've tried to find blogs that not only fit the criteria of the award, but are also somewhat new to me.
In no particular order, I've decided on:

Lori Andrews is a watercolor artist, mom, art instructor and her work is beautiful. She can paint cut glass (among many other subjects) like no other...despite repeatedly watching her many videos that she so generously shares on YouTube, it still just looks like magic to me! She's also hilariously funny and I find the fact that she manages to be a full-fledged, fully participating mom alongside a professional art career very motivating. I don't know how many times I've been told that I just have to wait...well, apparently not!

Ross Lynem is a Canadian artist who paints all kinds of things, but my favorite are his wonky, whimsical scenes of countrysides and villages. His use of color is bright and surprising and I really enjoy a chance to see the world the way he does.

Muddy Boot Dreams is not a new blog to me, but because I think of it as a 'gardening blog' when running through my list of 'artists' to award it's just never occurred to me...which is ridiculous, because Jen is an amazing photographer and the reason I visit is because her words and photos always give me inspiration for my artwork. Her home, farm and garden are a thoroughly enjoyable place to visit!

Susan Webb Tregay: Anyone who appreciates the concept of 'Free-Range Children' definitely deserves an award. Just visit, it's fantastic. =)

Sarah James, like me, is an artist and a mom. Her blog follows the development of her work as she works to reclaim her skills...but it sure doesn't look like work and if there's more she's waiting to develop I want to be there to see it! Her work is different, beautiful and it takes me a very long time to look at...I can't say exactly what it is that it makes me think of, but I always find myself just trying to figure it out, which makes it sound like cold 'intellectual' art but it definitely is not...you'll just have to stop by and see what I'm having such a hard time explaining.

Amanda Spencer. Just go be wowwed.

Jessie Marianello is a personal friend of mine from way back (well, not so far back) in high school, which I am so proud to be able to say! You have never seen pet portraits like these! In every portrait it's so clear how much time and effort Jess has put into getting to know each animal (and despite the title of 'Stray Dog Arts' she has all types of pets, even a cow!) as an individual personality. My favorite thing about her portraits is that they so easily could stand as works of art on their own - the work itself is enough to make you love a critter even if you've never met them - they don't seem to be created only for people who are already in love.

Sophie Ploeg is an artist in Gloucestershire. I enjoy her paintings of people, especially children so much...especially the many that are 'un-posed'. Her work somehow seems old-fashioned and romantic...and utterly the opposite at the same time. Her children are all beautiful but not just posed cherubs...their faces are full of thoughts and feelings. She paints many subjects and does them all well...but the children are my personal favorite.

Dorice is an artist that I met on the Contemporary Watermedia Forum...or maybe WetCanvas...I can't be sure. Anyway, her color choices and blending is wonderful and my favorite thing about her work. There's actually so much to love about her paintings, but the fact that they make me feel warm and happy is enough for me.

Ardith Goodwin is an artist full of faith, curiosity, optimism and talent. She uses many mediums to bring her bright and quirky visions to life. I never know what she's going to create next, but I always look forward to seeing it!

Katherine Cartwright is a simply amazing watercolorist, but her blog is a work of art in itself. I'm not sure that it has room for a blog award, but I have to mention it anyway. It is amazing. Somewhat like a book group for artists...her posts are interesting, full of information, observations and questions and the comments to follow become a very lively discussion between artists. Definitely a place where I read every single post and comment even if I can't get to it every single day.

Sascalia is a mixed media artist who lives in the UK. While I consider myself a 'more is more' kinda girl, Sascalia simplifies her work down to the very best of the simple elements in the most wonderful way! Her patterns, shapes and bright colors can help make any day brighter!

Enjoy!

Simultaneous Contrast...

2010-02-24T10:53:00.004-06:00

Pink Valentine's Lilies
11" x 12"
Watercolor on Fabriano SoftPress

"... is not just a curious optical phenomenon – it is the very heart of painting. Repeated experiments with adjacent colors will show that any ground subtracts its own hue from the colors which it carries and therefore influences."
Josef Albers

Picasa and You...

2010-02-20T10:35:00.002-06:00

Do you realize that when you post a photo to your BlogSpot blog it automatically goes into an album that's been created for you on Picasa? And that if you don't go in and make sure to adjust the privacy settings on it, it's possible for people to download photos of your work and even pay (not you!) to have them printed and sent to them?

I followed a 'for Dummies' type book to set up my blog and so this was pointed out to me, but I'm realizing that many artists don't even realize this account is out there and viewable by the public...the info was there when you set up your blog, but the print was very fine.

To find your Picasa album, click on the 'My Account' tab of your Blogger Dashboard. In the middle of the page that comes up will be a section titled 'My Products' - under this heading will be Picasa Web Albums. Once you've clicked on that you'll be taken to your Picasa account and may be surprised at what you find - a whole easy access point for downloading YOUR art! To correct this click on each album (you'll have an album for each blog that you've set up) and once there click the 'Edit' tab...a dropdown menu will appear and you'll want to click 'Album Properties'...from there click 'Share' and choose 'Sign in Required to View'.
(at some point of this process you may be asked to set up a Picasa account - just do it...you already have one, setting it up just means you can access it and change things)

This will, hopefully, keep your photos your own and more under your control.

You can also explore the Picasa site and decide if you actually want to use it for marketing your work...it's much like Flickr. I myself already use Flickr and Facebook and just don't have the time or inclination to learn the ins and outs of one more site, so I'd rather keep it private and forget it most of the time...but it only seems fair to add that I've heard good things about Picasa too.

I thought I'd at least point out that it's out there and your stuff is on it whether you've been aware of it or not.

The internet is such a great tool and I love using it - and if you're going to put your work out there it's impossible to let people have a good look at it and entirely keep thieves from being able to copy it...I just accept that and I think the exposure and the ability to really share with other artists is undeniably worth it...but, we should do everything we can do to protect our work.

So, in simple form, here are the steps to take:

Dashboard
My Account
My Products -> Picasa Web Album
Album
Edit
Album Properties
Share -> Sign in Required to View

Feel free to link to or copy this info into a post on your own blog. I think there's a lot of bloggers out there that don't realize this. Even if my blog was just full of pics of my kids, I'd want to know if they were all on a photosharing website somewhere.

Sure You Come for the Art...

2010-02-07T12:02:00.009-06:00

...but don't hide it! You know you come for the photos and stories about the critters and kids too!

Well, Guthrie Gator Farm has it's own blog now where I'll be posting more of that stuff. You can accesss it by clicking on the title above. It's definitely the place to see where I get much of my inspiration. So many artists and art lovers are nature lovers - in fact, I've found that if I have a plant question, it'll usually get answered faster in an art forum than it will in any of the many gardening forums I visit!

We feel so lucky to have our tiny slice of Heaven out here and we want to make it open to as many people as possible in as many ways as possible...so come on over and check it out! :)

We also have a page on FaceBook with albums of us, our animals and the garden. Don't worry if you don't have a Facebook account - you don't need one to look. :)

Iguana...

2010-02-02T11:55:00.004-06:00

Just a quick update on Mr. Iguana here...I've decided that I needed to show these impressive claws. So far I've really just blocked out the shape of his leg and foot with some pthalo blue and diox. violet in the shadows. I'm loving the way that it's beginning to look as though he is climbing out of the painting!

I'm also working on the drapes of his dew lap...it's quite a challenge to figure out how to depict the folds of it using all of these little scales...but so far I'm enjoying it.

:) Wishing you all a creative day!

"It is so much better...

2010-01-27T15:54:00.009-06:00

...to make a big thing out of a little subject than to make a little thing out of a big one. "
Charles Hawthorne

I'm really enjoying this now. The totally 'unthinking' state that comes with the rhythm and repetition of painting all these little scales...well, I'm thinking it may be addicting. It definitely would have been easier to have painted this in a larger format - but, as usual, I didn't know what it was going to be about until I was well into the work.

I'm not sure how far I'm going to go with this...if I'm going to stop with his head and shoulder here, or if I'll continue down his back and legs. He has some wonderful spikes and very impressive claws that I'd really like to show off...hmm...decisions, decisions....

Well, we'll just see where it goes I guess! One thing I'm sure of is that this is only the first of many reptiles that I'm going to be painting. I get new ideas about how I'd like to depict their beauty and 'interesting-ness' every day!

The painting above is about 6" x 9", all watercolor, on Fabriano SoftPress paper.

Karol K on Flickr was kind enough to let me use a wonderful photo of his as a reference. I usually just can't paint from someone else's photo - I really need to have studied a subject in real life in order to paint it...but I know iguanas well and have had a chance to study them up close and personal many times, so I think that's why it's working. This photo grabbed me because of the position of his head and that look in his eye - he seemed like a guy I've spent a lot of time with and known well!

Not the Best Timing...

2010-01-22T07:04:00.003-06:00

...but how can you be sorry to have these little guys around, no matter the time of year? :)

Aren't they adorable?! They came as a wonderful surprise Tuesday evening. Sure - the temperatures are below freezing outside, so they're stinking up my sister's garage for the moment...but you just can't blame them...they'd have probably rather waited until Spring too!

Any name suggestions? I'm leaning towards Oreo for that little doeling (on the left) - she's black with a perfect white 'center' around her middle...but don't find it particularly original, so I'm very open to suggestions. The little tri-colored one on the right is a buckling, and while he probably won't be along for a terribly long time - I need something to call him! :)

Well, I just thought I'd let you know what I'm up to this week...it's been awfully hard to paint with these little guys distracting me all the time!

Hope your day's a creative one!

"Precisely the Least...

2010-01-16T14:50:00.004-06:00

Watercolor on Fabriano SoftPress Paper
about 9"x6"

...the softest, lightest, a lizard's

rustling, a breath, a flash, a moment - a little makes the
way of the best happiness."

- Friedrich Nietzsche

I just thought I'd offer some proof that I am working, albeit slowly , on something lately. I'm having a lot of fun with all of these bumps and scales - I definitely see myself painting a lot more creeping crawling things in the near future!

'Common Ground' Segment is Now Online!

2010-01-14T15:39:00.003-06:00

I just thought I'd update everybody on the status of the new show, Common Ground, which is all about the arts, culture and history of Northern and Central Minnesota.

It premiered on Thursday, January 7th, and I was lucky enough to be on its first episode demonstrating my painting of July's Joy!

Here's a link to the segment that features my friend, artist Terry Honstead (who was kind enough to let me use her beautiful studio), and I. There are two other segments to the show which you can also view by accessing the drop down menu underneath the screen on their page.

Hope you enjoy it!

2010-01-14T15:39:00.000-06:00

http://www.lptv.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=202&show=11&video=440

Common Ground on PBS

2010-01-05T17:15:00.003-06:00

Video provided by Lakeland Public Television

Common Ground is a new, weekly series on PBS highlighting the art, history and culture of Northern and Central MN. It debuts this Thursday at 7:00, and just guess who will be one of the watercolor artists featured on it!?! I believe that this episode will feature me, Terry Honstead and Jane Freeman! I'm so honored to be in such fabulous company. Check it out if you can! If you don't get this station, you'll be able to watch it on their website after it airs - I'll be sure to come back and post a link.
Here are links to Terry and Jane's blogs - you should visit and see the beautiful work that they both do!

You can also become a fan of Common Ground on Facebook by clicking here!

2010-01-01T10:14:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year's!, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

The Process of Creating 'July's Joy'

2009-12-26T11:47:00.008-06:00

As promised, here are some photos of the process of creating July's Joy.

I started with watercolors in spray bottles, generally spraying Hansa Yellow where I most wanted the light to be, then spraying Pthalo Blue and Quinicridone Rose around the edges, letting it all mix and mingle.

Once that had dried and really 'set' into the paper, I started on the underpainting. I used a photo that I'd taken of a daisy and a watercolor sketch that I'd previously done for the basic shapes - but I only very loosely followed this. Instead of doing an underdrawing, I just started putting blue (Peacock Blue from Holbeing - a combo of Pthalos Blue and Green), rose and green around the edges of the foremost petals and the center, also painting in some of the deepest veins of the petals. I was thinking about keeping things rhythmic and moving around the center. Alternately I used Quin. Red, Warm Orange and New Gamboge to paint the petals themselves.

When my shadow were all set, I went back through everything, petal by petal, wetting down whole shapes blending and lifting out much of the paint and softening many edges.
Thus, creating an underpainting:

I also began working on carving out all of those little petals that make up the center of the daisy. I added lots of layers of Quin. Gold, Rose, Blue and Green to do this, but again, I was doing more lifting of color than I was painting the petals in. I find that watercolors seem to work a lot like haircolor (in another life I was a cosmetologist) in that color lifts more if you add some pigment to the water. This process is hard to describe, but maybe easier to see in this detail of the underpainted center:

Then the easier fun begins, glazes upon glazes of New Gamboge and Quin Rose. I had planned on using Warm Orange, one of my favorite pigments...but it just wasn't quite right...it almost seemed chalky compared to the rest of these crystal clear pigments. I also added in deeper shadows around the flower's center and around each of those small petals.

It got really cold up here during the time I was working on this, below zero every day, and I found myself with this particular photo I'd taken of one of my sunflowers this summer in my head. It was an orangey pink flower with only a bright, blue July sky in the background and I decided that that photo felt the way I wanted this painting to feel. This painting, so far, just didn't look quite as bright, happy and orange as the flower in that photo was. So I took some more of my Peacock Blue and hinted at that July Sky around the petals, spontaneously spraying it with some clear water to add even more cool texture in there. It did just what I was hoping, pumped that orange up to a new level!

Here's the finished painting again.

July's Joy
22"x30" Watercolor on 140lb Rough Fabriano

If you're able to catch our spot on the new show 'Common Ground' about the arts in Northern MN (the exact date and time of the watercolor episode hasn't been set yet, but I'll let you know!), you'll know way more about what went into the process!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We really did around here. I found that being on such a tight budget forced us to be so much more thoughtful about the presents we got the kids and it seems to be the first year that we got everything just right! We got a huge storm the night before and it ended up being just gorgeous with the heavy snow on all of our evergreens. Luckily we weren't going far, just down the road to my Mom's house, so we really were able to just enjoy it all and not have to change our plans the way so many had to! It was a thoroughly warm, fuzzy day spent with family...my only regret was that, while enjoying it all I forgot to take photos! I got my camera out a few times, but just kept forgetting about it. Oh well, hopefully it was good enough that everyone will remember it anyway!

Now to start making resolutions for 2010!

=)

You can see any of the paintings above in larger detail by clicking on them.
You can also see this, and more of my artwork here.

Anemone Flowers

2009-12-22T17:19:00.003-06:00

"A good many gifted people would accomplish more in life if thorns grew on laurels, so they would be harder to rest upon."
Rush Middlecombe

Well, I haven't been resting much lately...I've been in finishing mode! With a new year approaching and a new big project in my head, I've been working like mad trying to finish up the many 'almost' finished paintings that I have filed away. The painting above is just the first in a line that goes back to 'MN Mud Monster' - anyone remember that one? It's the painting I started this blog on with a WIP, then I filed it away to give myself time to pull it out and look at it fresh...but I think a year should be quite enough time for that! There's probably about 6 others that have been set aside and are very over-due to have those last few touches put on...I'll have to take inventory here.

I want the slate clean before I start in on my 'Bog Project'...but more about that later!

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season despite the recession! Try to remember what it's all really about - I know I'm trying my damned hardest to!

:) By the way, this is one that is really probably best clicked on and seen close up - I think the best parts are probably in the details!

July's Joy

2009-12-17T07:19:00.006-06:00

July's Joy
22" x 30" Watercolor on Fabriano Rough

I was asked recently to do a demo for a new program that they're going to have on our local PBS station called Common Grounds and here's what I came up with. My inspiration came from two sources...a bunch of gorgeous orange daisies that my friend Ashley got me for my birthday last year and a photo I'd taken of one of my orange/pink sunflowers against a perfect July sky this last summer.

I finished this in record time - about 2 weeks instead of 2 months! It was stressful, but really good for me to realize that when I have to, I can finish a work with reasonable timeliness. I still prefer to work at my own speed though and am glad to go back to a slower pace - I like to have more time to just look at a painting between working sessions. It just seems to make it easier to see the painting as a whole, inventory what you've got and decide what it needs that way.

I can't wait to see how it looks on the show! Though I'm a little less anxious to see myself...I'll just have to trust that they did a great job editing because I know I said quite a bit that was not very well thought out! It's all good practice though, right?

:)
(you can click on the image to see a much larger version of this image)

Beginning to Feel Like...

2009-12-07T16:25:00.003-06:00

Anemone Flowers - Work in Progress

...this one is never going to be finished. Why is the finishing of a painting always seem to drag on forever? I'm sure I just have a few things left to 'touch up'...but then once I do, I see that something else is out of balance, or needs to be just a tad darker, brighter, etc...next thing you know, I'm having to put it away and hope there'll be time to finish those 'last few little things' tomorrow...

I did have a good excuse for putting this one away for a little while though. That's because I got the exciting opportunity to do a short demo for a new show our local PBS station is going to have all about Art up here in the North Country! I was a nervous wreck going into it, but it turned out to be a lot of fun!
They're not sure exactly how they're going to put the show together and when the 'watercolor' episode will air...but as soon as I know, I'll be sure to let all of you know!

Well, I'd better get back to work...if anyone has any comments or ideas about the painting above, I'd just love to hear them!

=)

2009-11-25T23:58:00.003-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Once an artist gets it...

2009-11-09T15:05:00.005-06:00

...in his mind that it's a blooming adventure, then, and only then, everything falls into place and starts to work."
Joseph P. Blodgett

Anemone Flowers - Step 4

Anemone Flowers detail - Step 4

Slowly, but surely it's getting there! I've sure been appreciating all of the feedback that I've been getting on it!

:)

"There's so much versatility...

2009-11-09T12:11:00.003-06:00

...in watercolour. You allow the paint to roll around, and then drop in some colour, just one that takes your fancy, and watch it explode into a shape that morphs into something else... lots of fun."
(Karen Phinney)

Anemone Flowers WIP - Step 3

I wish I had more progress to show on Anemone Flowers, but our household was struck by another bout of the flu and this time it hit me with a vengeance. I don't know if I've ever been so miserable!

But, we all seem to have recovered and hopefully our immune systems are better for it. I am really hoping that this is the last of it...since September, when school started, it seems like we've just gotten one thing after another. I don't know if I've ever spent so much of Autumn in bed!

Well, as you can see, I think I've finally gotten my main shapes laid in. I haven't been working directly from one photo in particular or directly from a sketch (though I did sketch out some of the individual flowers). I've actually just been feeling this one out as I go along, even more than usual. I put in the flowers first, then a few groups of leaves, then some of the buds and stems (which as I look, I think I probably need more of) and now I'm filling in around the edges and underneath, more into the background.

Here's a detail from the lower left corner, where I've begun to add more leaves:

Anemone Flowers - detail

And from the upper right corner:

Anemone Flowers - detail

I've been glazing many very thin, very wet layers atop one another, so working from those corners in just seems easiest to keep from dragging my sleeve through where I've already worked.

This painting is turning out to be all about different levels of transparency and layers. I'm having a really great time with both. I brightened up my flowers with still another glaze of New Gamboge and am loving the salmon color against the teals and purples of the background. I'm not sure how much they're resembling 'anemones' by now, but hey, I never claimed to be a botanical illustrator!

As always, I'd love to hear what you think!

=)

"One Cannot Have Everything the Way He Would Like it...

2009-11-04T09:00:00.001-06:00

...A man has no business to be depressed by a disappointment, anyway; he ought to make up his mind to get even.
Mark Twain - from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

I want a studio - I want a studio so badly I can taste it.

Not because I want to get away from my kids, my husband, animals to feed, dishes to do, laundry to fold...wait...that is actually sounding pretty good...

But no, in some ways I actually thrive on the chaos around here and try to put it into my painting. Nothing beats having my daughter surprise me with a "Whoa - cool!" while noticing what I'm working on or my son asking how I was able to get something down the way it is.
No, the reason I want a studio is merely practical - I want to be able to leave my things out and set up without fear of them getting ruined or worrying about the baby deciding to dip his Cheerios into a nice big puddle of lead white paint (actually it was Quinicridone Gold - thank God!).

I was especially wishing for a studio as I looked at the giant piece of Fabriano paper that I had left over from a class I taught a few years ago. This paper has been painted so many times in my mind's eye - too many times actually, which was why it was still rolled up in my closet, waiting for me to finally make up my mind as to what was finally going to qualify as the best idea to put into action on it...

or had been rolled up in my closet, I should say...because it wasn't anymore. It was pulled out into the middle of my bedroom, still rolled up, but obviously had been stepped and sat on by a delighted George Thomas - who was supposed to be in his play pen.

I coulda cried. I'm pretty sure I did cry actually.

However, watercolor teaches me every day that the best thing to do with a disappointment is to work with it - don't bother trying to fix what can't be fixed and don't use it as an excuse to give up until some 'ideal' comes along.

Then it hit me! When I was a hairdresser we had a saying for when we made mistakes - "Call it texture!".

Got carried away and chopped a chunk off too short? Do it on the other side too and Call it texture!

Chemicals sit on somebody's head to long and hairs start to break off? Call it texture!

Ok, you can only take it so far, but the basic premise is sound. In most cases, as long as you do something evenly around someone's hair it will look intentional - whether it originally was or not.

So what did I do with that paper? Rolled it up in every possible direction I could and...

Sat on it!

Repeatedly. And once I'd done that on all sides, in all directions, I took the whole thing and scrunched it up into a big ball...then got it wet and stretched it over a gessoed canvas that I still had around from my oil painting days.

The painting is turning out lovely...probably moreso by the ease of painting on something already deemed 'ruined' from the start more than anything.

Here's the first couple of layers to the underpainting of it:

Yin Yang Daisies WIP - Step 1
30" x 40" Watercolor on Fabriano Paper

I've done big, loose swaths of New Gamboge, Hansa Yellow Light and Quinicridone Gold wherever I want to see the light hitting the petals.

When that was dry...

Yin Yang Daisies WIP - Step 2
30" x 40" Watercolor on Fabriano Paper

...I started going through and putting my darkest shadows in, making sure to tip my canvas around to get a sense of movement in them. I'm going much more loose with the shadowed daisy on the right...I have something of an idea forming in my head about the balances between things, with the darker sides sometimes being more interesting...

That's what I have so far anyway.
I'm also still making progress on Anemone Flowers and will post an update soon. I try to never just work on one painting at a time. Keeps them from getting too precious and it helps me to let washes thoroughly dry when I need them to if I have another painting to work on in the meantime.

Hope you're all having a creative day!

=)

7 Blogs...

2009-11-03T16:38:00.002-06:00

Part of winning a Kreativ Blogger Award was passing it on to 7 other deserving blogs and it was hard! Not to come up with 7, but to narrow it down - there are so many wonderful blogs out there to learn and be inspired by!

Here's 7 of my favorites:

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Kreativ Blogger Award!

2009-11-01T16:41:00.003-06:00

I am honored to have been awarded with a Kreative Blogger Award by Billie Crain, who shares her wonderful artwork and more on her blog Art by Crain.

There's a lot to learn and be inspired by over there, so if you haven't already you should definitely check it out!

So, along with this award comes a stipulation that I share 7 things about myself that you probably don't already know. Here goes:

I worked as a hairdresser for many years, and what I learned about hair color actually factors very strongly into my watercolor work. I was also a make-up artist for Elizabeth Arden.
I dropped out of high school for a year - but went back and did two years at once when I was a senior in order to graduate with my class.
I originally went to college for art, but soon switched my major to biology which I am still just passionate about (though I never did finish my degree). I would have been very happy employed as a scientific illustrator.
We raise heirloom turkeys on our tiny Guthrie Gator Farm - I just love them! I also have chickens (laying and meat birds), Nigerian Dwarf goats, a Vietnamese Potbellied pig, an Arabian horse, a cat, two little dogs, guinea fowl and geckos!
I went to equestrian school and used to train dressage horses.
When I was little, I was on the official Minnesota Jump Roping Team.
I have a couple of tattoos and used to wear my hair short, spiky and platinum - and have numerous piercings, including a ring through my septum!

Now I have to find 7 blogs to pass this award on to...I'll have to peruse for a little while!

Artists have wild desires...

2009-11-01T13:01:00.005-06:00

...and a terrible hunger to achieve... Without it they haven't the juice for striving or loving. But desire also can make them greedy and turn dreams into unrealizable obsessions.
(Eric Maisel)

Now that winter is really setting in up here I can hardly believe how incredibly hungry I am to paint! It always happens this way, that my focus narrows down so tightly on painting once so many of the other things I love to do - gardening, riding, being outdoors, etc - are off the table as options. Lately though, it feels a little harder to contain than usual. I just have so many colors and ideas in my head stored up from summer that want to get out! =)

Mostly, I'm just enjoying it - have actually started 4 larger paintings in the last couple of weeks - but I'm also trying to not make myself unbearable to be around - and desperately trying to stay a responsible and attentive parent and spouse. It can be a hard balance to keep a lot of days.

Here's a new shot of Anemone Flowers:

Anemone Flowers WIP:
Step 2

I've added more leaves, and more unfocused flowers to the background. I'd originally intended to add a lot more flowers, but I don't think I will. I may, in fact, take out some that are already there - I'm just not sure that they're looking right and might be taking away from the 'interesting-ness' of all those negatively painted leaves. I don't know - I'd love to hear any opinions about it.

I am really loving my pthalos and 'working backwards' on these leaves. Painting around the foremost leaf with different combos of pthalo blue and green and some Quid. Crimson, letting that shadowed area dry, then painting around another - letting the shadowed area keep the second pushed back - and so on, is just proving to be a lot of fun to watch happen. I really like seeing just how much depth and dimension you can achieve with cooling off the color and unfocusing things without changing too many values.

I'm also having a lot of fun just letting the water mix and carry around the pigment even more than usualon this one. I really have to use a lot of water if I want to use so many thin veils of color and still let that interesting background texture shine through.

So, what do you think? More flowers? Less?
I'd also love to hear how the rest of you balance things when you have an intense desire to block out the whole world and just create...but really don't have that option.

Happy painting!
=)

(Click the title of this post if you would like to view the progression of this painting on my Facebook page)

"One compositional element suggests...

2009-10-25T17:16:00.004-05:00

...and asks for another. This is what makes the activity interesting."
(Robert Genn)

This is a preliminary sketch for a painting I'm working on right now of anemone. I'm working from reference photos I took a few weeks ago in St. Paul. I loved the overall look of one of the photos, but not the way the individual flowers and leaves were grouped together. I had a lot of photos to work from, so I sketched out many individual flowers and referred to them when putting things together into my actual painting.

This is what I have so far

I started with putting in a background with a lot of texture, then laid my main flower and leaf shapes on top of that, had a look - then added in some looser ones around the edges and between. I'm using a lot of negative painting for the leaves. I love pthalo blue and green for this as I can put layer on top of layer with them and they stay perfectly crystal clear.

I painted in the darkest veins and shadows on my flowers, then washed the foremost ones with a warm yellow to really bring them forward.

Here's a detail

I also decided that I wanted the foremost flowers to be a bit more 'solid' looking, so I'm putting a thin glaze of Chinese White (I don't want to hear about rules - don't believe in 'em!) over some of the petals, which I'll paint over again. You can see where I've started this in the 'orangier' flower in the detail above.

Here's another detail showing how I'm starting to work out the centers:

That's what I have so far.

What do you think? I always appreciate comments and critiques! =)

"The process of drawing is...

2009-10-20T14:41:00.002-05:00

, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

...before all else, the process of putting the visual intelligence into action, the very mechanics of visual thought. Unlike painting and sculpture it is the process by which the artist makes clear to himself, and not to... the spectator, what he is doing. It is a soliloquy before it becomes communication. "
(Michael Ayerton)

I definitely need to get back to doing more drawing. It seems that lately I've been painting directly onto my paper without much of an underdrawing, if any at all - and I enjoy painting that way, it's exciting to watch the paint just flow onto purely white paper. You can never be absolutely sure of where it's going to go and from there you just have to work with it. I love that.

But, I found this old sketch book of mine, and I'd forgotten how much I used to enjoy drawing. Plus, there are things you work out in a drawing that are so helpful once you go to paint a subject - even if it's in a different scale or you alter the style slightly.

You really just see an object completely differently once you've drawn it. Definitely not a new flash of brilliance on my part - we've all heard it a million times. Still, sometimes I just need reminding that it's true for me too.

Hope you're having a creative day!

=)

"Flowers became my focus...

2009-10-11T11:32:00.004-05:00

Ladyslipper 2
Watercolor on Fabriano Paper

Click here to send this image as a postcard

...only because I wanted a medium to express colour. It's not that I have an obsession with flowers - there just seems to be an endless variety of shape and form and colour." Bobbie Burgers

I have had reason to show my paintings around quite a lot lately, and have been surprised to hear people say things like, "Now let's see your flowers!" instead of paintings, artwork, watercolors or any of the other things I would expect to hear. I'm not delusional, I'm well aware of the fact that most of my paintings are of flowers, but I guess I think of my subject as being color more than anything else, then shapes and the line - and as I am planning a painting and thinking about the colors I want to use, what would look and feel good at this moment and going through the thousands of reference photos I have (of everything you can imagine - people, machinery, animals, landscapes - everything) I nearly always seem to land on one of a flower that makes my brain go, "Here it is! This is the base to build everything I want to express on!"

I suppose it shouldn't surprise me - but it still does.

There are many other things I like about painting flowers that I could honestly give as reasons to paint them - I find their combination of tenacity and delicacy amazing, I'm surrounded by them in the summer and feel so lucky about it, wanting to share that with everyone - and I miss them desperately during our long winters which is when I do most of my painting. I also like the idea of taking such a traditional watercolor subject and portraying it in an untraditional way. Plus, I know them so well that even though I see each and every flower as an individual and I enjoy getting to better 'know' them while working - for the most part I'm not so interested in getting to really 'know' my subject better - I'm most interested in what my pigments are going to do in reaction to me, the water and each other. I don't want to give away that focus to making my subject look 'right' also. I guess these are all sub-reasons, if there is such a thing, but none of them feel like the honest reason.

I have so many paintings in my head that I am just trying to find space and time to do - and many of them are not flowers. I hope people don't feel they were ever mislead if I agree to let my paintings be referred to as my 'flowers'...for now.

On a side note: I'm still enjoying the wonders of Facebook and have set up a Facebook Page for my artwork. It would be great if you came and visited, you don't have to have a FB account, although I highly recommend getting one. I wish I had done it sooner - it's such a great new way to communicate. :)
My Facebook Page

With Apologies to Elizabeth Groves...

2009-10-08T23:14:00.005-05:00

Elizabeth is a wonderful photographer who displays her work on flickr. Although I usually paint from my own photos, Elizabeth had one in her photostream that really caught my eye. I emailed Elizabeth and asked for permission to use it which she was kind enough to grant.

I actually did 3 paintings inspired by Ms. Groves' photo, this small study, a larger study and a full sheet painting.

In April, pressed for something to post I chose the smallest of the three and forgot to give her credit for taking the beautiful photo that it was based upon.

I truly apologize.

If you click on this post's title it will take you to Ms. Grove's photos on flickr. You should check them out - they're very charming. =)

"Begin where you are;

2009-10-01T08:13:00.002-05:00

Bittersweet Nightshade - Watercolor and Ink, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

...work where you are. The hour which you are now wasting, dreaming of some far off success, may be crowded with grand possibilities. "
(Orison Swett Marden)

Lilacs and Hummingbird HawkMoth

2009-09-23T08:07:00.002-05:00

Lilacs and Hummingbird HawkMoth, originally uploaded by Angela Shogren.

When the bee comes to your house, let her have beer; you may want to visit the bee's house some day.

~Congo Proverb

Well I Started With This...

2009-09-16T12:50:00.007-05:00

...but then one of the wonderful people on the watercolor forum at Wet Canvas pointed out that distracting purple circle making a perfect bull's eye (my wording - not theirs) right in the center? I don't know how I missed it, but there it was.

So here's my attempt to fix it:

ForestEdge Zinnia
10.5 x 13.5

Initially I was just trying to do something with that one spot - but then everything just started to seem very unbalanced and my eyes were going wonky from having 'specks' of dark everywhere, so I worked further on trying to create more of a flow of dark shadows for your eyes to follow.

How'd I do?

"If the work begins to look labored...

2009-09-12T12:15:00.002-05:00

Lotus 2, originally uploaded by Angela Shogren.

... or inferior, drastic action is taken. I destroy the offending painting with wild swathes of paint. Most satisfying! What comes out of this spent energy is often an excellent painting."
(Ann Zielinski)

This seems to be a very fitting quote for this piece! I've been working on this painting forever - or it feels like it anyway. I had based it on an ATC I'd done, and therefore thought it would be pretty straightforward and simple - but of course it wouldn't agree to just be a copy and had to just become it's own thing. But that's why we love watercolors. right?

I actually almost tossed this - I had originally masked out the center (after painting it) because I wanted to add some splatters, drips, drops, etc without affecting it - and the paper must not have been dry (or something - it's such weird, finicky stuff) because what I got was a big, gray, gooey gob of yucky stuff stuck in my paper! Tried everything I could think of to get it off and finally ended up sanding it, then using a few layers of super diluted yellow acrylic paint over that - then sanding again to get some of the 'acrylic shine' off of that - then painted it with more watercolors.

I'd really love some feedback on it - I've been working way too hard on it to be able to see it with any kind of objectivity anymore!

"Imagination is Usually Regarded...

2009-09-07T15:24:00.002-05:00

, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

...as a synonym for the unreal. Yet is true imagination healthful and real, no more likely to mislead than the coarse senses. Indeed, the power of imagination makes us infinite. "
(John Muir)

"Colour is Uncontainable...

2009-09-04T14:37:00.003-05:00

Crayons in the Sunshine, originally uploaded by Angela Shogren.

... It effortlessly reveals the limits of language and evades our best attempts to impose a rational order on it... To work with colour is to become acutely aware of the insufficiency of language and theory – which is both disturbing and pleasurable."
(David Batchelor)

Brown-eyed Susans in the Sun

2009-08-24T09:33:00.006-05:00

Brown-eyed Susans in the Sun, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

It's looking like a pretty gray, dreary day weather-wise so I thought I'd post something bright and happy - and I know they're actually called Black-eyed Susans, but I've always called them Brown-eyed and it's my painting so I can call them whatever I want! :)

Hoping to finish the lotus painting that I've been working on today. I've had some terrible masking fluid issues with it, but have tried to use it to experiment with some different ways to work with mistakes. It's too bad though - I was loving it, was just about done - and then the mf that I'd put over my COI to protect it turned into a big, gray, gummy mess - tearing the paper in some places even!
It'll never look right in person, but in a photo it might look alright. We'll see I guess! :)

"To Make a Wish Come True...

2009-08-22T11:01:00.002-05:00

Lepidoptera Luminescence - 3, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

...whisper it to a Butterfly.
Upon these wings it will be taken to
heaven and granted, for they are the
messengers of the Great Spirit."

~~Native American Legend

"O Tiger-lily,' said Alice...

2009-08-17T11:29:00.004-05:00

Wild Lilly, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

...addressing herself to one that was waving gracefully about in the wind, 'I wish you could talk!' 'We can talk,' said the Tiger-lily: 'when there's anybody worth talking to" ~Lewis Carroll

Well, this isn't a tiger-lily, although those are blooming beautifully in my garden right now, so I should get out and sketch them - it's a lily I just found growing, wild, around the edge of a trout lake that we fish up here in MN. I wish it would talk to me, because I'd really like to know what it was doing there - I've explored the area I found it in many times, over many summers, and never seen anything like it. In fact, I've never seen a lily with an upturned head like this growing wild anywhere. Not that I'm an expert, but it really looked wonderfully odd just growing in an open spot amongst the trees.

In real life it was much more pink - in fact, I think I've previously posted a photo of it - but I couldn't resist going to town with these blues and oranges - they looked so exciting together. And I just love Daler-Rowney's Warm Orange - I've never found a shade like it in another brand nor been able to recreate it through mixing myself. I like to use it whenever I can.

I got home late last night from having a wonderful weekend in the Twin Cities! My friend Nicole married her girlfriend and it was gorgeous with the most wonderful ceremony. The pastors that married them were a husband and wife - I've never seen two pastors officiate, but it was great how the worked it. I also really enjoy weddings where you can tell that the officiator has real love and enjoyment for the couple they're uniting, and this was one of those. :)
We stayed with my sister-in-law and her husband, and that was great also - when it comes to being a great hostess, DeeDee really has skills! She had 4 adults and 5 children invade her small home and she not only found comfortable places for us all to sleep, she had dinner all ready for us to eat on the run to the ceremony and a FEAST of a breakfast to see us off. And her house was all clean and tidy looking already before we even left. She's amazing.

We spent the afternoon at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, which also was wonderful. It has really come a long way from the menagerie it was when I was younger. I got a lot of great pictures - especially of butterflies! - that I can't wait to download and go through! Unfortunately the battery on my camera died before I got the picture I was really excited for - of the tiny blossoms on the cocoa tree - which was frustrating beyond belief. I'm thrilled with my new camera, but am so disappointed in this battery. To buy another one (in order to be able to switch them out) is fairly expensive, and I just think the basic one really should last longer than three hours, especially since I wasn't using the flash or any of the 'extras'. Today I'm writing a letter to Sony - this just doesn't seem quite right to me.

I hope everyone else's weekend was as fun as mine! Now I'm out to the garden - we've finally gotten some hot weather and it seems to be trying to make up for lost time - or at least the weeds are!

Have a creative day!

If Nothing Ever Changed...

2009-08-13T12:30:00.004-05:00

Lepidoptera Luminescence - 2, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

..., there'd be no butterflies.
Author Unknown

I like this painting much better in person - the darks of the wings are actually full of dark shades of green, which I just cannot get the camera to pick up for anything. I'm really enjoying working with lots of thin layers to create really dimensional darks lately. It's also helping me to figure out which of my colors are most transparent and least likely to create mud. I'm especially loving the pthalo's as you can well imagine.

The quote above is one that I'm trying to hold onto. I recently lost my job at the Youth Shelter, which I loved, but have become less enamored with in the last few months. I'm experiencing a strange rollercoaster of emotions about it - everything from relief to hurt to absolute panic to anger and I have an unbelievable amount of frustration that I didn't get to choose for myself when to admit it simply wasn't worth the emotional toll anymore. But, truth be told, I probably would have never come to that conclusion on my own, the idea of quitting has always induced so much guilt in me.

Yesterday I had a good moment though when I suddenly realized I could throw out the frumpy wardrobe that I'd bought for it! When I'd started, years ago, my boss had given me a 'talking too' about my clothing being too casual (for playing with kids? or watching them sleep?), but as he wouldn't really give me any specifics as to what he did or didn't want me to wear, I've just been buying the 'girl equivalent' of what he wears - khaki's and polo shirts - for the last few years. Yuck - I now have a closet full of clothes that I'd never normally choose. Very glad to be getting rid of those and going out to find something pretty!

But - back to painting - I'd like to know what everyone's favorite transparent color is! Today, mine is pthalo green - I love how it never really combines with the color underneath to form a new color, it just looks like a layer of green tulle over a satiny slip, with the underneath color shimmering through. I especially love it over Diox. Violet!

I hold no preferences...

2009-08-09T11:57:00.002-05:00

Red Poppy, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

...among flowers, so long as they are wild, free, spontaneous. Bricks to all greenhouses! Black thumb and cutworm to the potted plant!
~Edward Abbey

Ok, so I can't agree completely with the quote - I would give my left foot for a greenhouse! - but I love it anyway. :)

Dandelions, Indian Paintbrushes and Poppies are my favorites, not only for their beauty - not even mainly - but for their determination, strength, ability to stand alone in a crowd of conformity and their free-spirited natures! And that mystical quality they all seem to have that will stop the most rambunctious child in their tracks with a need to study these interesting plants further.

:)

Flow is...

2009-08-06T17:18:00.001-05:00

Lepidoptera Luminescence Series, Monarch - reserved, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

... being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi)

Serpentine Series #4

2009-08-02T15:19:00.001-05:00

Serpentine Series #4, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

I'm really enjoying the little surrealist landscapes of this series! This one feels like it coulda been plucked from one of Tim Burton's nightmares! :)

On my easel this morning...

2009-07-31T12:58:00.001-05:00

Lotus WIP, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

I'm working on this with the idea of expanding on a couple of ATCs featuring lotus blossoms that I've done lately. I'm trying to keep the feel of the ATCs, working quickly and intuitively.

I'm unable to work very long at a time, both because of the realities of life, but also because I'm working very thin and wet, enjoying watching colors mix and mingle within a section, and then I like to leave at least a day of drying/staining time before I work over or too closely around that.

The approach I use to staying 'fresh' is to throw away any plan or ideas I had from a previous section and start each one with new eyes and decide anew each session what this painting needs now, from where it is at the moment without too much worry about how I want it to look in the end.
I keep it cohesive by sticking to a fairly limited pallette.

I think I'm just about done - probably within one or two more painting sessions. We'll see! I'm really having a good time with it. This is so much closer to the painting that I used to enjoy most, but have somehow lost in the last year or two. Nice to come back to it.

:)

Life is about not knowing...

2009-07-29T13:25:00.003-05:00

Single Lotus - reserved, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

... having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.
(Gilda Radner)

This is what I'm trying to focus most on lately - getting something, anything, on my paper and then working with that. I'm trying to work quickly - not in a conscious effort to stay 'loose' (loose vs. tight painting has never been an interesting argument to me as I've never felt a strong pull towards either) - but in an effort to see what happens without over-thinking.

I've also been trying to do a lot of my painting from memory/imagination or old sketches so as to let go of preconceived ideas of color and line and just see what my hand comes up with.

This lull between 'planting time' and 'harvest time' at our little farm is so nice - but almost over - and so I'm trying to make the most of it and get all of the painting and posting in that I can. :)

The Serpentine Line...

2009-07-28T21:30:00.002-05:00

Serpentine Series, #2, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

...or the line of grace, by its waving and winding at the same time different ways, leads the eye in a pleasing manner along the continuity of its variety.
(William Hogarth)

"Enthusiasm is not an emotional state..."

2009-07-24T13:16:00.004-05:00

Lotus Blossom ATC, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

Lotus Blossom ATC
Ink and Watercolor
2.5" x 3.5" on 140lb CP Paper

"...It is a spiritual commitment, a loving surrender to our creative process. Enthusiasm - from the Greek, "filled with God" - is an ongoing energy supply tapped into the flow of life itself."
(Julia Cameron)

Just finished this little watercolor up yesterday using a triad of Pthalo Blue, Hansa Yellow Light and Quinicridone Magenta. I really like it, and, more than that, I loved how I felt while working on it. In fact I like it so much that very early this morning I started a larger painting based on it and found myself enjoying that painting more than I've enjoyed a larger work since I don't know when.

I really love what these ATCs are doing for me. They're helping me to realize that, while I haven't lost the need to create, it's been quite awhile since I've felt real enthusiasm for working once a larger painting has been started.

Most importantly, I think I've realized why.

I characterize myself as an intuitive painter and I don't really believe in art having 'rules'. Knowing that that makes me sound flakey - let me clarify. I believe it's helpful to know them once you've come to a point where you have a handle on how the paint, brush and water work together - but they should only be referred to when you're conflicted in the planning stages, or find yourself unhappy with how things are looking - they should never override anything that looks or feels right to you.

First trust your eyes... then check by rules. Many times something else is happening, and the rules will not apply.
(Sergei Bongart)

If I have a motto when it comes to art, this is it. I strive to keep it in mind whenever I paint, and find it often applies to the rest of life as well.

But I just realized that I've actually been putting a lot of effort into making sure I have enough values, that I have a center of interest, that it's in the right place, it's not being competed with, it's got the strongest value contrast, my composition encourages your eye to travel around, but stay within the boundaries of, the painting, etc, etc, yada, yada, yada - without even being aware that it's displacing what's actually important to me. The things that make me feel that passion about whatever I'm working on.

Color and line.

Communicating something wordless, I'm not even sure exactly what - but that's why I paint in the first place. Because there's just something that I feel in each color combo, the way a line flows from thick to thin - something I don't have words for.

The Element of Surprise

That wonderful surprise you get after being in 'the zone' and just letting your hand, water and pigment work their way around the paper with minimum interference from your brain.
That moment when you come back after it's all dried and just find out what the creativity Gods have given you, then and only then deciding whether to accept the gift as is, or make some adjustments.

And then trying to figure out why I created what I did. I don't usually know a reason for my interest in a subject or how I portrayed it until I see the finished project and have had time to study on it awhile. Sometimes I never completely figure out why, but I enjoy the thought process.

I love all of that so much and I just didn't even realize that it was missing until I found that that was all I wanted to focus on when giving myself permission to do anything with these little ATCs.

Well, that enjoyment is back and I'm loving it! Had so much fun working on that painting this morning and can't wait to get back to it. Haven't felt that for a larger painting in quite awhile.

Not that I consider it time wasted - I do think that some hard work on the rules will only improve my work in the long run. But, it's time to dial the importance down a few notches, put them back where they belong - in the back of my mind, not the forefront - and get back to what is actually important to me as an artist.

I'm glad to have some balance back.

:)

'Twas Lost, But Now Is Found!

2009-07-21T22:42:00.002-05:00

Hibiscus, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

I'm so excited to have found this! I did it years ago (another one from my 'iridescent phase that I seem to be revisiting) and was so happy with it! it always makes me think of my dad - he just loved hibiscuses, even though he really wasn't a 'flowery' type of guy. I haven't been able to find it forever and was afraid that maybe I'd given it away in a desperate moment of needing a gift or something!

But then yesterday I was looking for something on my desk and there it was! Gives you an idea on the state of my clutter - but still - I'm sure it hasn't been there this whole time. It's been missing for YEARS!

I'm kinda wondering if a certain little girl hadn't 'borrowed' it at some point and just realized she had it.

Well, I'm just happy it's found.

:)

Thank you Margaret...

2009-07-20T08:49:00.005-05:00

LadySlipper ATC
Watercolor on 140lb paper

...for introducing me to this ATC thing!

If you don't already know Margaret Storer-Roche's work, you have to check out her wonderful blog, Water Blossoms. She creates these wonderful, whimsical little works that never fail to inspire me.

Margaret has been helping me to understand how to go about creating and trading Artist Trading Cards, and I must admit that I'm finding them incredibly addictive! ATCs are little works - 2.5" x 3.5" - that you create with the intention of trading them with other artists. I haven't gotten the chance to do a lot of trading yet (though I'm very excited to start!), but I'm finding that these tiny paintings are doing wonders for reminding me what I love about watercolors and art in general. They're such a non-intimidating size that they're perfect for trying out new techniques or remembering older ones that I haven't used in awhile. They're also the perfect 'warm up' to re-connect my hand and brain before diving into a larger work. They're small enough to do in the car, in a waiting room, en plein aire...

...and my favorite part? Aside from size, there really seem to be NO RULES! You can create them with anything, on anything! Perfect for freeing up all those hidden ideas that your right brain has been dying to release!

If you haven't given them a try, you should. At least give Margaret's blog a looksie to see what she does with them and to view the amazing cards she's recieved from artists around the world!

Happy painting!

Artist Trading Cards

2009-07-18T13:53:00.003-05:00

Gourd with Blossom ATC

Watercolor on 140lb ColdPress Paper

I've been trying out this ATC thing - really finding it to be a lot of fun!

Sold!

2009-07-15T15:18:00.003-05:00

Thunderstorm Light 11"x14" on 140lb CP, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

This painting now belongs to Catherine Johnson of Mountain Home, Idaho!

Katie has worked as a framing for many years and had very specific ideas about how she wanted this done, so she bought it 'as is'.

She's promised to send me a photo of it framed up and hanging - I can't wait to see what she does with it!

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T11:49:00.002-05:00

Wild Lily, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

We're off to the beach! I hope to get some great reference photos and do some sketching!

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

MN Summers are Just too Short...

2009-06-28T17:11:00.001-05:00

Tommy Helping Me to Water the Flowers, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

...to spend much time on the computer!

Seems in one day I can either garden and blog, paint and blog or garden and paint in addition to all of the other things we have going on, especially with Jade, Noah and Tommy to play with!

Hope you all understand and are having as wonderful of a summer as I am!

Valentine Lily

2009-05-21T12:28:00.003-05:00

Valentine Lily
9" x 11" Watercolor

I have been playing a lot lately with the transparency/opacity of different pigments and having a lot of fun with it. I've also been interested in the color red and the blending of different colors that don't seem as though they would go well together - but manage to in nature all the time. It was quite difficult at times to blend the reds, oranges, yellows and purples that made up the petals of this very dark flower - but it had to be done because I could see them all!

This is a painting of one of the beautiful lilies my husband gave me for Valentine's Day. It started life as a painting of some very transparent leaves, but gradually built it's way up to this. Paint and time is never wasted as long as something is learned - but if I were to purposely do this again I would do it much differently. That red flower is covering quite a bit of paint and many leaves and smaller flowers that I quite liked the look of. I like the idea of using layers and showing the background through the foreground in places - but next time I will definitely plan better.

Well...probably. Sometimes (like in this case), you just never know what a painting is going to want to be 'of' until you get going. :)

Playful Paisley Pattern

2009-05-10T09:13:00.004-05:00

Watercolor and Ink
9" x 11" or so

This was just a fun exercise to figure out exactly how transparent some of my pigments are and how they work together.

I like to make these 'coloring book' type pages for myself - they're easy to do anywhere and take a minimal amount of thinking. They're great as a warm-up if I know that I should paint, but I can't figure out what yet.

Hope all the Mom's out there are having a great Mother's Day!

Happy painting! = )

Starting to Get it Figured Out...

2009-05-08T18:39:00.003-05:00

Orange Daisy
9"x11"
Ink and Watercolor

So, I'm finally finding time to get some painting done - but painting, then taking and uploading a pic, then finding time to blog about it is quite another thing! One step at a time I guess. = )

I have decided that I'm just going to have to employ the same strategy I had last summer - work small and simply enough to be able to do it anywhere. I have what I call my purple 'studio-inna-bag' that has nearly all of my art supplies in it and I bring it everywhere. We live quite far from town so there's actually a lot of time sitting and waiting between different activities (no quick runs home between things) and that's time I might as well use.

I really enjoy working larger - it feels so much more satisfying, to me, to finish up a full sheet painting - but I'd rather sacrifice those full sheets than sacrifice painting entirely! This will just have to do for now! : )

Blueberry Study

2009-04-24T14:51:00.005-05:00

Blueberry Study (painting inspired by a photo taken by Elizabeth Lynch of Grove City, OH)
5x7

This is a study I did for a much larger painting, just trying to work out the composition. To try something new I randomly gessoed areas of the painting first and did the painting while the gesso was still the slightest bit tacky. It gave it a bit of a 'fresco' feel - it was interesting to watch the gesso suck up and soften the paints, and the different ways the pigments worked together.

I like to try different techniques like this once in awhile and find new possibilities.

Well, I'm still not over the joy and wonder of getting to be awake during the day and spend time with my family --- but I am definitely getting antsy to get more painting done! I had envisioned things much differently than they actually have turned out. I had this lovely image of getting kids ready and out to the bus, then kissing my husband goodbye as he leaves for work - thus having the daytime hours free to schedule as I see fit. But, that's not exactly how it's been going. Suddenly my husband has been scheduled for this strange shift that doesn't start until 2:00 in the afternoon! I don't know if any of the rest of you can paint with your hubbies around, but I just can't - especially not now when it's still so novel to be able to actually just spend time together. We still have so many projects we're behind on, and so much to do outside with the animals and the garden - it seems a shame to 'waste' any time that we're both home and could be getting them done.

Then, just as Jimmy's leaving for work, the baby wakes up from his nap and wants a snack - after that it's just about time for the big kids to get home, make dinner, and so on.

I know it's doable - if I was able to work full-time and paint, I certainly can figure out how to stay home and paint --- but I sure haven't got it figured out yet.

Still thoroughly enjoying myself! But not feeling like much of an 'artist' at all!

I'd sure take any advice or ideas anyone may have!
:)

Amber's Poppies

2009-04-09T09:55:00.005-05:00

Amber's Poppies
11"x14" Watercolor

I took a photo of poppies in my sister's yard one summer and loved it. Have been looking at it and working out how I would go about painting it ever since.

And then got working on it...enjoyed every second of painting it...and this was the result...

...which I look at now and realize looks almost nothing like the photo.

In thinking about my painting process I realize I didn't follow my carefully thought out plan at all.

I was completely unaware, even though the painting took me many different sessions to finish.

Which I love.

This is definitely why I paint.

Well, it's been almost a full week of getting to live like a normal human being - sleeping at night (or trying to - I'm finding it kinda difficult to get used to) and being up and moving during the day - and I am loving it. The simple acts of making sure Jade and Noah eat their oatmeal and have their gym shoes before putting them on the bus and then being alert enough to really hear about their day when they get home, make dinner for my family....it's all been absolutely delightful.

One thing that has surprised me is that I am not getting any painting done at all. I thought it would be hard to get myself to do anything else, but it's been just the opposite. By the time I've gotten the big kids sent off, fed and played with the baby, made sure he's gotten his naps, taken care of the critters, gotten a walk in, made dinner, worked on 'house-projects' (and boy-oh-boy, with Mom having been pretty much out of commission for the last 3 years there are a LOT of 'house projects' that need doing!), put kids to bed, visit with my husband...well, so far at about that point I look at my paints and realize that I am just too tired. And I think, for a little while, I'm going to just let that be okay.

I've realized that what I'm going to need to do here is schedule painting in, probably in the later morning when Tommy pretty consistently seems to be happy playing on his own in his playpen. That will take some getting used to since my creative juices seem to flow better at night - but I don't think it will be too tough of an adjustment. I am excited to get working again - I've recently joined Facebook and am amazed with the emails and inquiries I've gotten about my paintings - and I will, but I'm going to give it another week before I push for it.
It has just been too long since I've gotten to really enjoy being a Mom, a wife, a friend and even since I've really been able to enjoy something as simple as taking a walk outiside in the sun (!) to not just revel in it for awhile. And that's exactly what I'm doing!

Plus, we do have our little farm here and it is Springtime - there is a LOT to do. My garden...oh you just would not believe the mess! We have a new pasture to set up for the horses and want to get fenceposts set in as soon as the ground is soft enough - and before it gets baked and rock hard again. We're planning to try some heritage breeds of chickens and turkeys this summer (oh - the sketching possibilities!) and need to get some things in place for them as well.

So, I'll still be visiting and commenting out there in the blogosphere - but I'm expecting my own posts to get a bit sporadic for a few weeks.

I'm sure you understand!

Have a wonderful Easter and enjoy Springtime!
:)

Eggplant Blossom - Finally Finished!

2009-04-02T10:33:00.006-05:00

Eggplant Blossom
16" x 21"
Watercolor on Fabriano SoftPress Paper

Well, instead of carefully masking and spraying a vignette, I decided to wet the paper, spray and splash in some Ind. Blue, different greens and Diox. Violet, let partially dry and then do some more spraying and splashing. I also scrubbed out some of the edges and re-did others.
I thought it needed a few more subtle blooms, drips and smudges and like it much better now. I also think it gave it more of a look of having dappled light coming in from the top left corner, which was what I was going for when I began the painting.

What do you think?

(You can click on the painting if you'd like to see more of the details in a larger version)

Eggplant Blossom - almost done!

2009-03-30T23:18:00.003-05:00

Well, slowly but surely this painting is finally getting finished. As you can see I've added some veining to the leaves and washes of blue and purple to them and some of the background stems. I'm not at all happy with the way the center of the top blossom has turned out, but have decided that the mistake was made in the beginning and no amount of fiddling is going to make it anything but worse.
All that's left to do is to let it completely dry, mask off the blossoms (or part of them anyway) and spray a dark vignette around part of it.

I'm so glad to be close to putting the lid on this one! I have a few paintings on the backburner that I'm just itching to finish and even more in my head that I'm anxious to start painting!

Tonight was supposed to be my last overnight, and I was all set to celebrate with coffee with a great friend in the morning --- and wouldn't you know that we'd get a freak snowstorm! Schools have even closed early for the day because of it! So, I'm snowed in and not getting anywhere, and since I still have a couple of project to to finish up I'm going to have to go in tomorrow night. Figures! This has been the strangest Spring!

This can't be good news for those fighting flooding over on our ND border! I am ready for this white stuff to be gone - but I hope it melts slowly for their sakes!

Something for Noah...

2009-03-28T12:09:00.004-05:00

My 9 - oops! 10 (he just had a birthday) - year old son was born to be an artist. From the time he was born he has just would get lost in whatever he was watching, feeling, hearing or tasting. Whenever I got he and his sister similar presents they were almost sure to trade - not because he likes 'girly' stuff, but because the 'pink' version of things always seem to be made from luxuriously soft materials and have beautifully blended colors vs. boy things which focused so much more on being solid and lifelike. And he really is all boy, loves to get dirty and even though he's 4 years younger than Jade, he could catch a ball well before she even had any interest, is excellent at sports, loves his match box cars and legos. He's just also the one who remembers exactly why I like one pen over another, understands exactly why I have to buy the 'artist grade' paper - just from the feel, not even because he's worked on it --- and his opinion on colors is as valid as that of any 'real' artist I've ever met. He's always interested in watching me work and always wants to know what's been worked on when he wasn't around. His favorite game is to go through this book of masterpieces I have that explains each painting/artist and in the back has a bunch of little elements from each - he loves to look at them and then go through and find them in a 'Where's Waldo' kinda way. His favorite artist is Manet - I mean, how many 10 year olds, especially in Northern MN (no art museum field trips up here) have a favorite artist?

He has recieved art supplies and books for every birthday and Christmas. He especially loves books about drawing dragons or other fantastical creatures...

But asking him him to draw, paint or do anything to actually use any of these things is like asking him to let me cut off a few of his toes! Not even if I sit down and do it with him, not if I let him make every decision about what we're doing - I have found no strategy that works at all. But he still likes to get the supplies!

It is exactly fitting with our family to just study and observe - not do - until absolutely sure we know how. We are not a people who is at all comfortable doing a 'first draft' - but this is getting a little extreme. And maybe he's destined to be a collector, gallery owner, agent or any of the other 'appreciater's' of the arts...I don't know.

Anyway, that's the very long explanation for the painting above being something so far from my usual subject manner. I was trying to get him interested, trying to show him how easy it could be (the sketch was just shapes - circles, triangles and ovals - linked together) to do.

He seemed to love the painting. Was not inspired to pick up a pencil or brush at all.
Oh well, I still have hope for someday... :)

2009-03-27T18:54:00.006-05:00

Here's some more little doodle-paintings that I've done lately. These are great for playing with color combos!

With this last one I was playing with warm vs. cool colors - trying to see if I could make the bottom petal look like it has ripples - hoping the pinks/reds would make parts come forward and the greens/blues would look further back.

Should have a chance to do some 'real' painting over the weekend (keeping fingers crossed)! Also hoping to get out and get some photos taken. It's been pouring rain and snowing all week up here so I haven't been able to play with my new camera as much as I'd hoped.

But I am feeling so lucky that our little house is up on high ground with all the flooding that's going on. I'm going to make a point not to complain about anything else for a good long while! The other day I had to try 3 different routes before I was finally able to get home due to roads being flooded over or washed out. It's better now, but it still took 2 tries this morning - I was almost home when I hit a road block (sides of road were gone - even under edges of black top) and had to backtrack 10 miles to get over to a parallel road and try to come from the other direction.

This is nothing at all compared to what they're going through in Fargo or Grand Forks (3 hours to the west of us) - but it's just strange because we're not an area that normally floods at all.

I came across this very strange site this morning:
All of the trees and brush in this entire field were wearing 'skirts' of ice. It took me a bit to figure out what was going on, but I finally figured out that the field must have entirely flooded - then froze - and then the water went down. I stopped to snap some pics, but the air was filled with these deafening cracks and I just had to get out of there. I suppose it was just the ice breaking off, but it was freaking me out on an otherwise calm, sunny morning.

Praying for the folks to the West and North.

Treasure!

2009-03-24T23:38:00.004-05:00

I've finally gotten a new camera and I absolutely love it! It's a Sony DSC-H50 and I can't rave about it enough. It was exactly what I wanted in a camera - there's plenty of room to learn, everything can be done manually - but you don't have to because the automatic settings are fantastic! There's an automatic Macro Lens built in which is amazing - I can't believe what a difference it makes with my floral photos, and there's a smile sensor which is like magic and makes taking pics of the baby so much easier. Really, I could go on and on.
The only complaint I have is tiny - it's uncomfortable to hold sideways to take 'portrait' shots - but even that I'm getting used to.

So, now that I have it I have been on a mission to search for 'Signs of Spring' - I'm so excited about the snow being nearly gone. While out clomping around looking the other day I stumbled across these gourds in my garden and it was like finding treasure! I didn't get the plants in the ground until very late and I hadn't thought any of the fruits had matured enough to dry. Wrong! These are perfectly light and rattly. My other artistic endeavor is gourd-craft --- I love to do pyrography on them and then turn them into birdhouses and feeders. But, after our terrier decided to chew up 3 nearly finished pieces in a row I just got disheartened about the whole thing and haven't done any all winter. I was just thinking about the fact that it's spring and I really wish I had done some new houses and I've been trying to convince myself to pick it up again. Finding these was just the motivation I needed - they're much smaller than any other's that I have and that makes them the perfect non-intimidating canvas!

Now just need to get them scrubbed up and started!

I also think the photo above may make a nice reference for a watercolor - minus the black plastic of course - don't you? I need to experiment with some new colors - I almost never use browns.

Have a creative day!
:)

Bunchberry

2009-03-22T10:36:00.003-05:00

Bunchberry
4"x6" Watercolor

This is just a tiny painting I did at work the other night. It was actually supposed to be one of my 'doodle' paintings, but I liked it just as it was.
I am getting pretty tired of these little postcard sized works and really want to get back to working on something more substantial - but these are easiest for now. They're good for instant gratification if nothing else!

Have a creative day!
:)

With time and patience...

2009-03-19T04:11:00.002-05:00

Pansy Doodle, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown. (Chinese Proverb)

I haven't had much of a chance to post lately - it's been all I can do to keep my eyes open at all when I'm not at work.
But, the end is in sight! As of April 1st I will be rejoining the land of those who get up in the morning and go to bed at night! I can't wait!

So, I ask for your patience as I just try to get thru these last couple of weeks of working overnights. Once April roles around I'll have a much easier time fitting in painting and posting!

Patience may be a virtue, but quitting is an art. (Evan Harris)

Eggplant Blossom - Back on Track

2009-03-10T15:10:00.004-05:00

Ok, I'm not hating it anymore. Or, well, I hate less of it at least.
I figured out that I actually cared that the background of this one look somewhat like what I imagined it would. Sounds silly, but that's totally new to me. Usually, when it comes to backgrounds, I may have an idea of what it will look like, but I'm mostly just happy to see how it turns out. Not so with this one I guess.
So, an important lesson was learned. From now on I'm going to analyze my feelings about a painting, or part of a painting, more before I dive in. I try to avoid having too much of a set idea - but, if I do, I need to do more drawing before I begin painting.

Well, to correct my mistake I went through flickr and looked at every picture of eggplants that I could find, painting in hand. As I saw a leaf that might work, I sketched it in. Then I scrubbed and scrubbed the edges out of what I had and filled in with a more opaque mix of greens and blues. I'm still going to put another dark glaze over and add some veins.

I also filled in more of the foremost stems. I am really hating the lower left ones. Rhonda pointed them out to me last time I posted, and she was right - they lead your eye right out of the painting. I have lifted and scrubbed as much as I can and cannot get the outside lines of them to budge. I'm thinking that once I've finished the painting I may cover the blossoms and spray a dark vignette around the outside edges. I'm not quite sure. I can't seem to lighten them, so all I can think of is to make the area around them darker to keep them from standing out so much.

Plenty of time to paint today, we're in the middle of a blizzard. I was supposed to chaperone a trip for Jade today, but it was cancelled. I'm hoping this is it for winter. It's supposed to warm up and start to really melt this weekend. Anyway, I'd already taken a few days off for the trip and am not at all sorry to just get to stay home instead. I'm finally feeling better and feel like I can actually get something accomplished today.

The birds are having a fantastic time at the feeder. Jim ordered my birthday present from Amazon this morning - a new camera! But I wish I had it already, the birds look so cool flitting around with the snow swirly all around them. I know our old camera is not up to capturing the shot with all that movement. Oh well - I still hope that it won't be until next year that a snowy picture like this presents itself.

:)

Woo Hoo!

2009-03-10T14:15:00.004-05:00

March06 036, originally uploaded by juliemaealbrecht.
Left to right: Nicole, Julie and I

Well, that's weird - I had text between these two pictures, it's there if I edit, but it doesn't appear in the actual post. I've had this happen a few times and can't figure out why for the life of me.

Anyway...

My beautiful friend Julie just called - she is getting married this fall and she just asked ME to be a bridesmaid! I'm so excited! You just don't get that many chances to dress up once you grow up (if I'd have realized I'd have definitely made a bigger deal over prom!).
And Jules is one of the most fashion conscious girls I know, so there's no fear of getting stuck buying some ugly giant-bow-over-the-butt-poofy-sleeved-pepto-colored number!
She's going to look so beautiful! She has the most amazing thousand watt smile as it is - I can't even imagine how sparkly she's going to be on her wedding day! I wonder how welding goggles would look with our dresses?

And she is marrying such the nicest guy - Anthony...hmmm...I better figure out what his last name is! Anyway, he's adorable and he seems to realize how lucky he is to have won over such an amazing woman. I'm so happy for the both of them!

We're going shopping for dresses on Saturday! Woo Hoo!
:)

(The top pic is of our friend Nicole, Julie and I - not totally fitting for the top of this post, but it's my blog and I just love this pic! The bottom is, of course, the happy couple.)

First Painting in a Gallery!

2009-03-09T14:16:00.005-05:00

When I joined Northern Artists Group I was told that I got to hang one painting in the local Artists Co-op Gallery. I've been hmming and hawing forever trying to decide which to bring in, wondering if I have the hanging wire right in the back, getting shy about going in with it - and basically doing anything to procrastinate on it.
I'm not sure where that fear comes from - has anyone else experienced it? I've sold paintings here and there to people I know and I've donated some to charity auctions. It just felt really different to bring it in, put a price tag on it and see it hang with other artists on the wall. Wonderful - I had a hard time containing myself (kinda wanted to call everyone I know and have them just come in and witness it) - but completely different than posting them online. Don't know why. But, it made me happy anyway.

I'm still not feeling great. The pains are gone (except for a dull, yet constant, sinus headache) but I am still just miserably exhausted. I sleep as long as I can stand to, but even once I'm awake I just don't have the energy for much of anything.

I did have my birthday party on Saturday night and it was great even if I was tired. My friend Nicole and her girlfriend, Meghan, showed up as a surprise. They've moved to Minneapolis and I hadn't seen them for quite a long while. My brother in law made an amazing chicken soup with dumplings, everyone else brought a little bit of something and it was a fantastic time. I felt very loved. I think 33 is going to be a good year.

I finished the bio I was reading of Shel Silverstein - A Boy Named Shel: The Life and Times of Shel Silverstein. I thought it was excellent, but wouldn't recommend it if you like to think of him only as a sweet, lovable children's author. He was so much more interesting than that! He's my son's favorite and Boy Named Sue is Noah's favorite song, so he kept wanting me to read it aloud to him - I'm pretty open with the kids, but had to do some editing on this one. I was just to tired to have the conversations that would have stemmed from reading every word!

Well, my daughter won the opportunity to attend a writing conference and I agreed to chaperone. We are supposed to leave at 7am tomorrow despite a blizzard warning (forecast says we're getting at least a foot of snow!). She's so excited, and I was also (took the time off for it weeks ago), but now it's starting to sound stressful and exhausting. I can't say I exactly hope it gets cancelled - but I wouldn't be at all disappointed if it were rescheduled!

Wish me some luck with it, whatever happens. I'm hoping for some good sketching opportunities at least!
:)

"How Heavy is a glass of Water? - 8 oz to 20 oz? It really doesn't matter, it depends on how long you hold it. If I hold it for a minute, no problem. If I hold it for an hour, I will have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you will have to call me an ambulance. In each case it is the same weight, but the longer I hold it the heavier it becomes. That's the way it is with stress. Life is short, enjoy it."
Pamila Ross

Too sick to blog...

2009-03-07T11:13:00.002-06:00

Yuck - I don't think I've been this sick since I don't know when. Sore throat, explosive sneezes and splitting headache. Plus my lips hurt - how weird is that? Well, not so weird I suppose since everything hurts somewhat.

Anyway, I had a blog post all set in my head to put down. I also had enlisted my darlin' daughter's help to set up an account on Facebook, but I am just not up for it.

I may change my mind later, but for now I am going to curl up in bed with a biography of Shel Silverstein that I've been wanting to read, a box of icy pops and listen to Click and Clack (Car Talk) and all my other favorite Saturday MPR shows.

I need to get feeling better quick because we're celebrating my birthday at Green Cheese tonight!

I am happy about at least one thing though --- the weather is beautiful and you can even see a few spots of actual ground in our yard (which the birds are going nuts over! What are they finding?) - so there's hope that spring is on it's way!

"When she woke briefly during her last illness and found all her family around her bedside: Am I dying or is this my birthday?"
Nancy Astor (1879 - 1964)

2009-03-06T14:22:00.002-06:00

Pisces
5"x7" Watercolor

Eggplant Blossoms WIP - Step 6

2009-03-04T16:25:00.003-06:00

Well, I decided to add some darks and more stems and that was going well - and I wish that was where I'd stopped. But instead I decided to add in some leaves and I am not happy with them at all. Not quite sure where I'm going to go from here. I may just scrub out the background as much as possible and make it all dark. I'd love ideas!

For now I think I'll just work a bit more on those blossoms. I'm not liking the center of that top one.

2009-03-03T13:10:00.006-06:00

A page from my moleskine

The stoical scheme of supplying our wants by lopping off our desires, is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes.

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

Wow, this really spoke to me when I read it in my sidebar this morning. I have just been stressing over what to do about my job lately - it's become clear that I can't continue to do it, but I haven't quite brought myself to quit either because I can't figure out how not to do it either if that makes sense - I really love the security I get from having a salary, sick days, etc. I also really, truly love the work itself and, actually, there's quite a lot I love about working overnights - but the toll three years of this crazy schedule have taken, not just on me, but on my entire family...well, it's really become clear lately that it is not worth it.
Mr. Swift here has put my feelings so much more clearly into words than I ever could. I suppose that's why I'm a painter, not an author or poet!

So, now that that's been made clear I suppose I can continue on with my day. I'm hoping to have these Eggplant Blossoms done by tomorrow. I've added more darks than I'd originally envisioned, but it's turning out alright. I am having a bit of trouble getting the centers to look right - if I can't get it soon I may have to post a pic and ask for some advice.

I also have a sick baby to deal with - again. A few days after visiting Grandma's preschool class the other day he broke out with red polka dots everywhere. We were sure he had chicken pox and I even took a few days of work off (and frankly I was glad to have him get it now rather than deal with it when he's older or get any ridiculous vaccine) - but today they all seem to have faded considerably, some have even disappeared! He sure seems to be sick - cranky, sleepy, and won't eat much. I think we'll probably have to go visit with Dr. Bock tomorrow and see what on earth is going on.

Hope you all have a happy and creative day!
(Wish me luck for Thursday when I talk to my boss - so scary and exciting at the same time!)

What a frustrating morning!

2009-02-28T11:58:00.015-06:00

Last night I was finally able to get some work done on my latest WIP by bringing it over to my Mom's house where there were plenty of people to help me keep Tommy entertained. I was so happy that I would be able to take a new photo to post and to do some more work on it this morning...

Everything started off so nicely - Tommy woke up in a great mood and Jimmy stayed a little later than he should have so we could have some extra baby snuggle time before he had to dash off to work. My friend Tracey came over early (while Jimmy was doing his dashing) to pick up Jade, who's going to do some work for her today, and we sat, had coffee and nice conversation for about an hour or so.
When the two of them left I thought, "Well, Noah's still asleep, but what can I do with this baby so that I can paint?" And, very UNtrue to form, Tommy fell back asleep almost immediately after getting his first bottle.

I was so excited to begin, got my paints moistened up and ready, put some Eva Cassidy on, made sure there was a good fire going in the woodstove, was set to go...and then realized, with a big, fat "Doh!" that my painting was still sitting in the front seat of the van after being brought home from Mom's last night! The van that Jimmy dashed off to work in this morning, in such a rush that he didn't notice it. The van that is currently our only running vehicle - leaving me home, 30 minutes from town, with no way to go get it. Do these things happen to anyone else?

I've been really trying to enjoy the quiet anyway, but I just don't do very well with plans changing. That's why watercolors are good for me - I really need to learn to 'just deal' when it comes to life the way you have to when you get a big unintentional bloom in the middle of a petal.
I briefly entertained the idea of working on 'MN Monster' (another WIP I have going), and maybe I will later, but that is just not what I'm in the mood for right now.

Oh well, there's always work I can do on the computer. Creating this 'web presence' that we're all supposed to make such a priority right now can sure take a lot of time. I'm not sure how much of that time is spent because it's actually necessary and how much is spent because it's just plain addicting though.

Well, I haven't been able to work on much of anything substantial this week, but I always try to at least get some doodling in. It's really important to me to at least keep the channels open between the creative parts of my brain and my hand. If I don't, it seems to take forever to get them back.
Plus, my brain likes to think these things anyway, often thinking them right over the top of whatever I need to be thinking about, and doesn't like to stop until I actually get some of them out onto paper.

Here's a couple more. I don't find either of these particularly interesting to look at now, but they sure were fun to do. I really find calligraphy addicting.

Well, now Noah and Tommy are both up, wide awake and wanting Mom's attention. I think my chance for productivity is pretty well lost. I guess there's always the chance that Noah will feel like painting with me while (if!) Tommy takes a nap this afternoon. Maybe by then I'll be able to convince myself to get this Snapping Turtle painted!

Happy painting!
:)

Guthrie Gator Poppy

2009-02-25T09:09:00.010-06:00

Guthrie Gator Poppy
18" x 24" Watercolor

Send this as a postcard!

This was my first larger painting - well, I've done some giant abstracts in the past, but this was my first large painting that was actually of something.

It was actually so much easier and enjoyable to work large than I was expecting it to be. Generally I liked it better than working small - and was surprised to find that it went more quickly. I still am unable to do it very often - it's too hard to transport the big ones back and forth to my 'real' job and if I'm stuck only being able to work at home - well, paintings just don't get finished very quickly while I'm here.

What I was doing with this painting was playing with getting the petals to look extra especially transparent by making the leaves and stems especially opaque. It worked I think and I love the effect. I'm going for the same thing in my Eggplant Blossom WIP that I have going on now.

I was also going for an extreme inner glow for the center of that flower. What I had in my mind was the way these flowers look in the early morning when the sun is just starting to come out and clear away the fog that settles over my garden. I was visualizing this being the first flower on the edge of my perennial bed that gets hit by those sun rays.

I used a lot of Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus Watercolors for this. I enjoy them so much. This was also my first 'real' painting using Opera. It is such a fun color - truly makes me happy just to look at it (which negates it's fugitiveness to my mind), but I have to admit that I like Alizarin Crimson better.

I'm really trying to fall in love with the Quinicridones instead of these fugitive pinks - but what happens is, as I try them I just fall in love with them also -- and then I just want to buy more paint!

Eggplant Blossoms - Step 5

2009-02-19T18:07:00.002-06:00

Well, I've put in the background and I must say, I'm not thrilled.

I dropped in a couple of different blues and yellows, wet into wet and then some sea salt (looking for a 'dappled sunlight' effect) and, while I love how it looks on it's own (the colors, etc) I think it takes away from the painting as a whole.

SoftPress paper dries very quickly so working wet into wet doesn't leave much time for stepping back and assessing the whole picture. From here on out I'll have to remember to build that step in.

I'm tossing a few different ideas around about what I want to do next. Haven't quite settled on any particular one.

Another thing about this SoftPress is that it also lifts very easily right away, so I always like to give large spaces a few days to 'cure' before I do anything else anyway.

I'd love ideas, input or opinions from anyone who may have something to share!

Eggplant Blossoms WIP

2009-02-16T11:03:00.004-06:00

Thought I'd post an update of the work I've been doing on this painting.

The top flower is almost finished, except for the center. The bottom still needs quite a bit of work but it's coming along.

I've started to put in some of the background and I think I need to do more before I know exactly how I want to proceed.

I think it's somewhat in an awkward stage right now, but for the most part it seems to be turning out alright.

I would like to make the bottom flower a bit more solid and dark I think.
I also plan to make the stalks and branches quite a bit more solid - will probably use more opaque paint.

Thanks for looking!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T11:06:00.006-06:00

Or, as my friend Julie might say, "Happy Pink and Red Don't Clash Today Day!"

I love that we have a day that is officially all about celebrating romance, and yes, I even loved the idea of it those years when I was single and lonely. I don't care if Hallmark made it up - if so, good for them. I just don't think we can have too many holidays, period, and I just especially love this one! (...and Christmas, oh, and especially Halloween, and, being Irish, I looooove St. Patricks Day, and then there's Mardi Gras which is sooooo much fun....)

My favorite Valentine's Day ever was actually spent with the guy my best friend was dating - how scandalous does that sound?! Wade Clisby - he was actually a very good friend of mine (I'd introduced them).
Anyway, I was going through a horrible divorce from my first husband, was incredibly miserable and Lori (my bff) had to go out of town. Wade happens to be one of those rare guys who loves to spoil a girl and loves Valentine's Day, so he was really disappointed that she wouldn't be around.
So, he decided to take me out instead and we'd just do all the cheesy, traditional stuff. It was fantastic! I bought a gorgeous 'party-type' dress - black velvet, rouched (is that the word for the bunchy stuff?) on the bustline, spagghetti straps, empire waisted with pink and red roses swirled all through the material. Oh, to be a size 5 again - I desperately miss enjoying getting dresses as much as I enjoyed putting on that dress!
Anyway, I was a hairdresser, working in the mall at the time, so that's where I got ready and he was picking me up. We were having a fantastic snowstorm, almost white out conditions, so he showed up in a big black pick up (there's something especially romantic about riding in a pick up to us Minnesotan country girls) and took me out for a fancy steak dinner at a restaurant that I never even think of. We had the best time, he payed for it (which I wasn't expecting at all - the whole night had really been both of our ideas) and then we went out dancing.

It was so perfect, so much fun --- and no, it didn't end with any kind of attraction or romance at all. Was just two good friends spending one day focussed on what makes the other happy. It ended in a very genuine hug.

He lives in Canada and is married. Our correspondence is down to Christmas Newsletters by now. I often wonder whether his wife is the luckiest woman in the world or whether the important component of that 'date' was the fact that we were just friends and thus had so much less pressure about everything.

Do you notice that guys want to give you some kind of huge eventful circus for things like birthdays, V-days, etc - they put so much pressure on themselves to do something worth a LOT of points - and then, if it's too hard, isn't working out (or is simply not possible) to do - they just do nothing? As if that doesn't send us as big of a message as the circus would. Drives me crazy.

How often have you heard, "Well, I'd planned to...but...."? I mean, it's not difficult, it doesn't have to be creative - if you actually can't think of anything scan through almost any movie starring Meg Ryan, Sandra Bullock or John Cusack and do that for Chirssakes.

Guys, it's easier than you think :
Flowers-Chocolates-Jewelry-a Card-Lingerie-Dinner-Movie-a Selfless Act - just pick 3, any 3, and go with it. Geesh.

Luckily I caught it yesterday while there was still time for him to salvage it this year. It might have involved running to the next town over (the one with the open all night Walmart) at midnight, but I woke up to chocolates and a card. Then my ex-husband called from Las Vegas to let the kids know he got married. Fitting in a movie this afternoon - without kids. It's not exactly a circus, but I'm happy.
:)

By the way, the heart above was inspired by Margaret Storer-Roche's (Water Blossoms). Her's are absolutely amazing - if you haven't yet, you should definitely check them out!

Sorry for the awful photo and not doing an update on my WIPs lately - I am having huge problems with my digital camera. Really need a new one!
(My birthday's in 2 weeks...hint, hint...to any family members who may read this!)

Another Day Brightener!

2009-02-10T09:32:00.006-06:00

California Poppies 2
11x14" Watercolor on 140lb Rough Paper
Send as a Postcard!

We got the start of an ice storm yesterday and it was supposed to get worse, but instead it got really warm and everything is covered in gray slush! Yuck! It's about a foot deep on our road and I was positive that I was going to get stuck coming home this morning.
It is also drizzling and foggy - very strange weather for early February in Northern MN!

But, an instructor I used to have always said, "Don't ever let the weather determine your mood" (not sure if it was his saying or if he was repeating it - anyone know?) and I think it's good advice. Here's what I'm choosing to start the day focusing on while I dream about Spring!

I love to paint the California poppies from my garden - and yes, I know that the California state flower comes in shades of gold, but the ones in my garden really are all different colors. Pink and Yellow, Red and every shade of gold and orange that you can imagine.

I love their leaves nearly as much as the actual flower, and I especially love to paint them. They're the prettiest silvery blue/green and the ends look as if they were dipped in pink paint.

This was actually one of a few studies that I did for a larger painting, but I actually like it better than the final painting.

I need a different name for it though - calling it California Poppies seems to confuse people (because of the colors) - anyone have any ideas? A lot of my floral paintings are actually based on a person and, to me, feel almost like portraits - but this one just doesn't happen to be, so that doesn't help.
I'm terrible at coming up with titles!

In Case You've wondered what I look like without the hat...

2009-02-09T17:37:00.007-06:00

I thought I would post the portrait that my friend Avery did of me this weekend!

My daughter, Jade, had her big dance show on Saturday and while we, of course, never tire of watching her dance...
well, there were a lot of teams there and it got to be a pretty long evening.

I let him and his sister use my moleskine to pass some time, so he was kind enough to draw me!

Here are some more doodles that I've done lately. I haven't had much time to paint so I've had to content myself with my sketchbook.

This last one reminds me of these bad dreams I used to have. They weren't really about anything in particular, they were more just an overwhelming feeling of chaos and over-stimulation.

Monarch Butterflies - and a Little More Done on Eggplant Blossoms

2009-02-08T16:31:00.005-06:00

Well, I've had precious little time to paint this week, but I thought I'd post an update of what I have been doing. I've been able to paint a bit at home, but am way too busy playing catch up at work to even thing about painting while there. I mostly have had to content my 'creative moster' with playing around in my sketchbook.

This is a sketch I did from some different reference photos I'd taken of a monarch sipping on some tasty milkweed. I'd covered the page in graphite and then 'drawn' in the butterfly and flowers with an eraser. I then went back through with different markers/brush pens and done the coloring.

I was inspired by an episode of Nova, The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies (which you can watch online if you are so inclined), on the monarch butterflies' annual migration to Mexico.

At one point, in what feels like a different life, I was actually majoring in biology and it is still something I'm just passionate about. What really gets me is all of the seemingly impossible, magical things that happen in the natural world. I've been thinking of taking some of these topics and illustrating them out in watercolor - maybe putting them into books using blurb or something along those lines.

We're so lucky up here to be able to see the monarch's life-cycle all around us (well, except when the milkweed is taking over our horse pasture). Was thinking that I might as well put it to good use!

And here's the little bit I've been able to do on my Eggplant Blossoms:

Eggplant Blossoms - 3, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

Such a great quote...

2009-02-04T14:02:00.003-06:00

"Painting should be an invention, a journey, and the outcome should never be completely certain. The finished painting should be as much a surprise to us as it is to the viewer."
~Mary Whyte

I just read this in my latest issue of International Artist Magazine (my favorite!). Mary is an amazing portrait artist and was being asked about finding the balance between stagnation and satisfaction in her artwork.

This is so important to my own feelings about art, but I have never been able to put it so eloquently!

On my easel this morning...

2009-01-31T10:35:00.006-06:00

16"x21"
Watercolor on 140lb Fabriano SoftPress

Eggplant Blossoms WIP, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

Continuing work on these eggplant blossoms.

At this point I've sketched in lines with pencil onto my watercolor paper.

I couldn't decide where to start, darks or lights. Felt the need for both to have some structure to go from so I did washes of lemon yellow, gamboge and burnt sienna on the centers.

Greens are combinations of Lemon Yellow, gamboge, peacock blue and Ind. Blue.
Then used Cobalt Violet, Peacock blue and Indanthrene blue for the darkest darks.

Have let the Cobalt Violet bleed into the yellows in places.

On the petals (actually, I don't think the purple is technically petals, but I'm sure you know what I mean):
I did some washes of gamboge, then am going over my pencil lines with many different shades of red, pink, purple and blue. Usually going from one pigment to another within a line.

Some lines I'm leaving very calligraphic - others I'm softening and blending colors out into the petals.

Despite the many lines, I'm working with very wet paint and very quickly and loosely.

Not really turning out the way I'd imagined - but better.

I love that.

Not at all art related...

2009-01-30T10:45:00.004-06:00

Tommy, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

but too exciting (to me) not to post about it!

I came in from work this morning, freezing cold and miserable (wouldn't you know that I would have car problems in the middle of nowhere the ONE day in forever that I wear a skirt and heels and have borrowed my phone to my mom!) about to start complaining - and Tommy looked straight at me, gave me a huge smile and loud and clearly yelled, "MOM!"

His first word!

I'm pretty sure I wasn't even in the top 5 of the other two's firsts!

Noah hardly talked at all, and until he was two all he said was "bird" and "butterfly"

--- and Jade's first word was, "Dad" of course, and for some reason she insisted on calling me "Bob" until she was almost 4.

They managed to gain some interest in me eventually, but still it feels so good to finally have a kid who notices I'm around right from the start!

It's going to be a good day, I can tell. :)

(BTW: They're both perfectly capable of using the word now - unfortunately it's usually shrieked, hollered or screamed and followed by, "Have you seen my...!" "But EVERYONE else gets to...!!""Noah's/Jade's bothering me!" etc, etc)

Eggplant Blossoms - From my Sketchbook

2009-01-29T05:58:00.003-06:00

Eggplant Blossoms, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

I have been playing in my moleskine so much lately that I haven't even opened my 'real' sketchbook in ages. Took a look in it today and found this sketch from the garden last year.

This is what I'd written about it at the time:

"I really couldn't tell where the petals started or ended - decided to go ahead and just draw it all as I saw it, even if it didn't seem to make sense."

And I remembered how fun and meditative it was to do all those tiny little lines without worry about them being 'correct' or not. Also remembered how much I was looking forward to painting it - but for the life of me I can't think of why I never did. I do remember thinking a long time on what purple I would use and not being able to decide.

Which is why it's funny that I happened to stumble on it now - what I was thinking about at the time was that I needed to look for something where I could use the great purple I'd mixed up from Peacock Blue and Opera Pink. I wanted it to be something larger, but that I could do quickly.

This will just be perfect. It's my own sketch, so I think I will just blow it up and transfer it (guilt free) to my wc paper. I'm thinking it will be a good one to do on SoftPress since I won't do a lot of glazing.

Does anyone else ever use SoftPress from Fabriano? I just love it.

I'm excited to have a new project. I've decided to just set 'MN Mud Monster' to the side and just study on it awhile. I've done something with his eyes that isn't quite right, but I like, and I'm not sure how exactly to proceed.

I'm tired of all the tiny paintings I've been doing lately. Plus they are absolutely killing my neck. I think I'll just tape this to the window and try to work vertical.

I think this is a good drawing - if I start with it, it should be hard to mess up the painting, right?

For Emily, with much appreciation...

2009-01-26T19:29:00.004-06:00

Iris 5x7" 140lb CP, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

Done mainly in Dr. Ph. Martin's Liquid Hydrus Watercolors.

I love to work with these paints! Love the feel of them, love how they move and mingle together and I especially love the range I can get from them - from soft to soooooo incredibly vibrant.

And, you can't tell from the photo, but there is the tiniest bit of iridescent medium on the top edges of the petals. They seemed to really benefit from just a little bit of sheen.

This was a lot of fun to paint - especially all those tiny calligraphic lines in the beard!

About a month or so I was just stuck in a mood about my artwork and couldn't bring myself to be happy with anything I was doing. I'd not been able to convince myself to do any painting and was trying to at least do some sketching every day, but that wasn't making me happy either.

Then during our weekly get together at my sister's a friend of hers caught sight of my sketchbook and started filling me up with so many compliments I thought my head was possibly going to swell up and float away.

I'm sure she had absolutely no idea how much I needed to hear exactly what she was saying, but she sure had great timing.

Anyway, she kept asking if I ever painted purple irises as they were her favorite. I hadn't, but I'm always meaning to.

So, in appreciation I sat down and painted this for her in appreciation.
It was so fun to paint and was exactly what I needed to get the ball rolling again.

Then, of course, I didn't see her forever.

But, this last Saturday she stopped out and I was able to give it to her. She loved it! And of course she'd had no idea how nourishing her words had been to my starving creative self's ego.

Was very fun to paint, but more fun to give away. Well worth the couple of hours it took to paint.

Just some doodles...(alternate title - One of the Many Ways My OCD Manifests Itself)

2009-01-25T16:33:00.013-06:00

Here's some of what I do when I need something to do with my hands. Generally when my brain needs a rest from paperwork at work or when I have to wait somewhere for too long.

I'm not always happy with how they turn out, but if I thought too much about making them look any certain way...well, I think it would defeat the purpose.

.

I sometimes do them with watercolors too. It's a great way to try out new colors or see how they mix together and is a fantastic way to use up scraps that don't really work for anything besides bookmarks anyway.

Hosta Blooms

2009-01-23T16:38:00.005-06:00

Hosta Blooms

10X14 inches on 140lb CP

Send as a Postcard!

I'm pretty proud of this. I painted it this last summer and it was my first try at white flowers and I envisioned them on a light background - wanted to see if I could still make them stand out against it.

In most of my paintings I'm hoping to hear 'bold', 'interesting' and am even happy with 'fun'.
In this I was trying to think 'delicate'.

Have to give the composition kudos to Mother Nature - this is simply how it was growing - all I can take credit for is noticing that it was interesting.

Sometimes you just have to go with something totally whimsical...

2009-01-22T11:40:00.001-06:00

Watercolor Doodle 3x11 on 140lb ColdPress, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

or at least I do.

Did this to give my brain something else to think about while Tommy was sick.

I used a triad of Holbein Peacock Blue, Holbein Opera and W&N Naples Yellow. You can make a lot of fun colors from just these three.

A co-worker saw it and liked the colors so much that she asked that I make a larger version for her to buy!

A couple of small ones...

2009-01-21T10:21:00.003-06:00

Bittersweet Nightshade - pen & wc from a page in my moleskine

Hawkmoth and Lilacs, originally uploaded by angiinwv.
Hummingbird Hawkmoth and Lilacs
5"x7" on 140lb SoftPress

I will have to have another go at this one - I'm trying to figure out how to show that his wings are 'whirring', not merely transparent.

My excuse for not painting this weekend...

2009-01-19T14:30:00.002-06:00

Tommy in Hospital, originally uploaded by angiinwv.

I try to get to work on my larger paintings on the weekend, when I'm home, but we ended up spending all weekend in the hospital with a sick little baby, so it just didn't happen.

I did get a little bit of some wc doodling done, but will have to photograph and post it later

After spending all day Friday at the Walk In Clinic trying to get tests done they finally decided that they better admit him rather than wait and see how long it took for him to become dangerously dehydrated.

We spent the weekend there and after an IV of saline and electrolytes he perked up immensely, but is actually still pretty sick.

Officially he has 'gastroenteritis' which basically means 'stomach bug of unknown origin'.
They figure it's a virus and it does seem to be getting much better on it's own.

Still, with diapers to change every 10 - 30 minutes I don't think I'm going to be getting any real work done any time soon.

Finished the Grays/Negative Painting Exercise...

2009-01-15T12:07:00.006-06:00

Apple Blossoms - An Exercise in Negative Painting

Well, this will make nice bookmarks I think.
I'm not sure what exactly happened - I was painting away, thoroughly enjoying the way the colors were softly mixing on the paper --- and I somehow missed that I had one giant petal in almost the center of my painting that was completely out of place with the rest.

I guess if I'm going to go with the 'minimum planning' approach I'm just going to have to accept a big goof like this once in awhile. I was so focused on the negative shapes I just didn't see this happening. Too bad though, because I really like the rest of it (especially that droopy flower in the lower right hand corner.

But, it will make nice bookmarks and I did learn some things. Viridian and Rose Red do make beautiful grays - but Viridian is hell on brushes. I'd forgotten how gritty it is - it almost makes my teeth hurt to work with it. I used up my tube on this and I am actually not sure that I'm going to order another one any time soon.

And I think that I may have finally snapped out of my funk.
It's -30F out with the windchill, and I think I am ready to do a real painting of some bright spring flowers.

And of course, I've still got to finish that Snapper painting. Just his face left! Of course that's the hardest part for me - it's been so long since I've done anything with a face. It's feeling a bit tedious at the moment and I think I may have to set it aside for awhile to save my sanity.

Awakening (Sunflower in Watercolor & Ink)

2009-01-09T03:20:00.005-06:00

Awakening (Sunflower in Watercolor & Ink), originally uploaded by angiinwv.

Black Ink, W&N and Hydrus Liquid watercolors, 11" x 14" on 140lb ColdPress.

When I saw this flower growing it instantly made me think of my 12 (at the time) year old daughter, her friends and the weird stage of life that they're in.

This was a bud, just yesterday, and by afternoon it will be a full and beautiful flower - but this stage it's at now, where it's just beginning to stretch, is so odd...

...but beautiful...

... and so incredibly interesting.

************************************************************************

I was just discussing, via email, teenagers with a friend of mine. It made me think of this painting (done a couple of years ago and one of my favorites).

Plus, I just discovered the Blog This button on my flickr site and really wanted to see how it worked!

2009-01-08T22:35:00.004-06:00

WIP
Apple Blossoms
7"x 9"
Watercolor on 140lb ColdPress Paper

Started this on Tuesday, January 6th as an exercise in negative painting. Was feeling kinda stuck in a rut and thought I'd try to approach a subject differently than usual - maybe shake some of my creativity loose.

I also just discovered the beautiful gray that Viridian and Deep Red Rose creates and wanted to do something with that. Also thought that, since I was making rules about how I was going to do this anyway, I might as well challenge myself a bit more by picking a triad of colors and sticking to it.

It's rare that I set real 'rules' for myself before starting, but I try to do this every so often. Even though I primarily believe in letting an artwork go where it will - it can't hurt to do things completely different once in awhile.

These often become artwork - but I consider them more along the lines of exercises in the beginning.

Kind of strange I suppose that when I want to create a 'real' piece of artwork I play and slop paint around and when I make an actual plan for how I'm going to work I can't take it too seriously. The thing that doesn't change though, no matter what I do, is I don't let myself get too set on what it's going to look like in the end.
It's always gotta be an experiment. I'd rather just find out what I've got once it's finished.

Anyway, on to the WIP -

The colors I used were : Viridian (W&N) , Deep Red Rose (Hydrus) and Cobalt Violet (Hydrus). I put each into a small, plastic cup, very weak, watery consistency. Also pre-mixed a gray from the D.R. Rose and Viridian - as neutral as I could get it. Added a drop of Gum Arabic to each.

So what I primarily worked from was a line drawing that I did of crabapple blossoms.
I decided to only look at one section of the drawing at a time, and one (corresponding) section of my wc paper and block in just the negative space with my gray. \
No drawing, not even with the brush at this point - just paint smudged onto paper with a floppy brush. I didn't take into account whether one section of the picture was lining up correctly with the one before it - I was trying to only pay attention to the shapes of the negative spaces.

I worked from the outside edges of the paper in, and for something different I worked wet on dry for the bottom section and wet on wet up top and down the sides.

Once that was completely dry I worked on the outer most leaves, no pre-mixed gray this time, just randomly dipped my brush from one color to another and let them puddle and meld together on the paper. I did my best to stay away from any detail (so difficult for me) at this point. I also let the paint glaze over most of the negative space around them - still puddling and mixing at will.

Not much point in looking to my drawing for reference at this point. I (purposely) didn't pay much attention to where I put those negative spaces, so I had to get creative with how the leaves were going to fit together.

I did that to a point, let it dry and then moved on to the flowers. I needed an idea of where the foremost flowers were going to be in order to proceed. This was the hard, but fun part.

I went back to the negative painting - my version of it anyway. Using a fine rigger brush I randomly dipped into the different colors, painted the outside of the petals and then quickly softened the outside edge.

I just love to paint white flowers this way. It almost seems like magic the way they start to emerge and form almost by themselves with such a tiny amount of paint.

And that's where I'm at.

One of the biggest challenges I'm having is working with this gray. I am having the hardest time keeping the pigments mixed. Partly because the Viridian is heavy, but I also am sure it's due to mixing a tube paint with the Hydrus - they just each have their own consistency.
It's hard for me to remember to stir it up before putting it on paper, thus I'm constantly getting a grayish green or a grayish pink - both pretty, but not the smooth, soft gray that I wanted.

Always learning. I almost never mix my colors before I put them to paper - I generally let them mingle in the painting, so this is new for me.

The biggest joy was taking it out and looking at it in the morning under sunlight. I worked on it in the middle of the night under terrible lighting, as usual. I love taking paintings out later and being surprised by how much more vibrant and bright they are in the sun than they seemed to be while I was working.

I am really having fun deciding how I want to fill in that white space with subject - such a different way to think. So much easier to put in the subject and fill in whatever space is left with background.

More on this one later...

More on 'MN Monster' WIP

2009-01-08T04:17:00.011-06:00

Work in Progress

Minnesota Monster
Watercolor on 140lb Fabriano Rough Paper

Well, despite my teething 7mo old (5 teeth in 3 weeks! Can you even imagine?) I've managed to get enough done to bother posting another step.

(You can find the first part of this process here)

It didn't turn out as I was visualizing and I actually had to hold back from tossing it in the woodstove - was definitely my first impulse - but I just put it away, facing the wall, and let it sit a few days.

Now that I look again I don't mind it at all. No, it didn't look the way I had visualized - but I just had to remind myself, again, of the goals I have with my painting.
It is of absolute importance to me to not have too much of a set 'plan' for what I'm doing.

I definitely learn so much more, and have such a more enjoyable experience, if I just let the 'creativity Gods' guide my hand most of the time.

I love the self-discovery aspect of art, and I experience it best if I just think as I go along without holding too tightly to a set course of action.

So, what I've done is taken the masking fluid off of his right leg and done some work on that. I had planned to finish the background first, but decided that I really needed to do some more work on the turtle before I knew exactly what else I wanted to do on the bg.

I used my rigger brush and made tons of tiny wrinkles on his leg. I switched between different jewel tones and let them blend into each other as I went along and just haphazardly 'scribbled' around.

This sounds tedious, and I suppose it could be, but this is actually my favorite kind of work. I love lines, love calligraphy, and it actually went fast as it required no thinking at all on my part. Was perfect work to do while listening to kids tell me about their school day and let me know of their many schedule changes and such.

While working I randomly sprayed water on places I'd been. I was getting carried away, as usual, with how many lines I was putting in, but once I started I needed to keep it up for the whole leg. So, I sprayed water in order to make some of them fuzzy and keep a 'painterly' aspect to it.

As soon as it dried I mixed Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna for a brown and washed it on along with Cobalt Violet, Ultramarine and Perm. Rose. I used more brown and let the colors run together.

Unfortunately, they ran together and mixed into one color more than I wanted them to. I wanted to see more distinction between the colors. In retrospect, for what I had visualized I should have done the Violet, Blue and Rose first (maybe separately) and then let them dry a couple of days before glazing the brown over it in areas.

I also had expected the lines to soften more than they did. I used a very concentrated mixture of staining colors because I didn't want them to soften too much - but I erred too far on the side of caution.

Oh well - live and learn.

And now that I look at it again I like the 'mud' I created - why shouldn't a turtle be mud colored? It's pretty fitting actually.

Once the paper was dry, I took a clean, thirsty brush and quickly wiped all of his scales again (previously coated with gesso) - leaving some color to stain them, but keeping them lighter and smoother looking.

So, over-all, I'm glad I didn't toss it in the fire. I suppose I wouldn't have any finished paintings if I always gave in to that impulse. It seems every painting hits an 'ugly stage' at some point. Best just to wait it out.

I need the stimulation of having to think and problem solve throughout a painting anyway. If I spend too much energy planning on how I'm going to execute a painting (instead of just having general goals of what I want to convey) before I start, I'll get stuck in that stage and never actually get to work. And if they turned out exactly how I initially visualized them I'd lose interest pretty quickly.

I am hoping to finish this over the weekend, but we'll see. Between Jade having a dance performance, Tommy's teething and keeping my resolution to not let Noah get lost in the mix now that he's a 'middle child' - well, we'll just have to see.

My next posts will more than likely be about some of the smaller works I've been doing in between the stages of this larger project.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T16:15:00.004-06:00

I wrote a long introduction to myself and my art yesterday as I set this up.
It was a thoroughly appropriate beginning to a new blog --- so of course it was promptly eaten by the CyberSpace Monster.

The idea of writing it all out again seems like a great reason to put off --again-- actually getting started on this blogging endeavor. I've already put off for over a year since I decided to start one.

So, in the interest of 2009 being a year full of courage and self-discipline (and absent of procrastination thinly disguised as perfectionism) I'm just going to jump in and wing it...

(and I still have a lot left to learn about this whole blogspot arena - I can edit this later when I think of something better, right?)

What's on my easel now...

2009-01-01T15:52:00.007-06:00

Work in Progress
Minnesota Monster
Watercolor on 140lb Fabriano Rough Paper

I've been working on this for way too long. It began as a fabulous picture that Amber (my sister) took while on a camping trip. I've seen these guys on a pretty regular basis my whole life and, after watching one chomp a shovel handle apart when my dad tried to remove it from under our car where the dog was terrorizing it, I tend to think of them as amazing but ugly and vaguely terrifying.
Yet, in this close up shot she got, he seemed to have all of these amazing jewel tones glowing through his muddy coloring and in the mossy spots on his shell.
His face also seemed to have this amazing...not exactly stubbornness...what's a more positive word for stubbornness?
Anyway, he seems to be saying, "I've been who I am for a zillion years. Since before you were a gob of cells in a puddle of primordial sludge. Get out of my way."

So, that's essentially what I'm trying to grasp in this.

I've also got a few personal painting goals for this one (but, these, and those above also, are always being re-thought out depending upon what's happening in the painting).

I generally paint very high key, using color effects to bring out certain parts instead of values. I like to paint very flat - somewhere between an Oriental and a stained glass kinda look.
In this painting I decided to try employing some really dark darks and light lights.
I want to keep most of my usual flatness - except in that right (his right) leg and the right side of his shell. those I want to really bring forward.

I also don't care much about reality and, while I try to keep my subject recognizable - that's about as much as I care to stick to the 'original' details that God put in. I have less leeway when it comes to something with a face.

I'm also using more earth colors than I ever have and am kind of muddling through how to use them while keeping the brightness of the jewel tones that I love.

I am definitely a 'more is more' kind of painter - I'm not interested in losing that.

I wish I had taken pictures from the beginning so that this could be a true work in progress, but better late than never I guess. I'll just have to explain how I've gotten to the stage I'm at.

I first drew him out on a full sheet of 140lb Fabriano Rough paper with a number two pencil.

Then I put a couple of layers of gesso on his 'scales' (that's probably not an accurate word for what these are, but the best I can think of), some of the lines on his shell and randomly throughout. Just to give more texture.

From there, I used my brightest colors of Hydrus watercolors to shade the 'scales'. These paints are so supersaturated and stain more than any other brand of wc I know of. I'm hoping they'll give me that 'glow through' effect that I'm looking for.

I masked off the foremost grass. I want the feeling that you're laying on your belly - or maybe a smaller creature (I mean that you are the smaller creature - not that you are laying on a smaller creature!)- looking up at this monstrous beast.
I then did some washes in the background and the turtle, letting it drip, run, bloom or whatever as it gets to his right side. I like to leave as much of these kind of effects in as possible - they're the beautiful thing about watercolor, and I'm not at all interested in fighting them.

I want to, at least initially, do washes on the background and subject at the same time.

When doing the washes on his body, I went in and did a quick wipe of the 'scales' before they dried completely. The gesso keeps the paint wet longer than the paper - I didn't want to bring them back to white, but I wanted them to stay a bit lighter.

I then masked off his right side - I want that edge to stay clean and crisp against the back.

More washes.

Then I did something that, right now, I wish I hadn't.
I masked off more grass. I tend to get carried away with calligraphic lines and wanted the option of going in and putting in lighter pieces afterwards - well, I wasn't thinking about how fast the Hydrus dries, and I had meant to spray some water on those masked pieces to prevent the edges from getting so harsh. I did get carried away, and when I remembered about the water, it was too late.
When I removed the mf I had way too stark white, standout blades, especially in the top left (our left) corner, where I'd wanted more blending and atmosphere against his shell.
This is why I should never over-do the masking fluid --- it means that I've planned too much, which is not how I like to work. I like to see what the paint wants to do and go with it. Hard if there are harsh masking fluid edges everywhere. But, at least I learned something. And, watercolor is not as unforgiving as we are always led to believe.

So, I softened them as much as I could, painted more - and still didn't like it. In a fit of frustration I brought it to work, stuck it in the giant sink and blasted it with the high pressure sprayer. Then I took a rag and scrubbed the heck out of the grass, sprayed some more, scrubbed some more. Now I'm kinda loving it.

And, that's where I'm at. I'm having a hard time finishing this piece (and another I have going) because they're so big. I'm really enjoying working big - but I don't really have anywhere to work on them because I generally get most of my painting done at work. I work alone on an overnight shift and it works out pretty well to get my things out, do some painting - do 'actual job' stuff while it dries, do some more painting or glazing when it's time for another break - and so on.
These are hard to bring back and forth to work, thus they are taking forever.

Another, more justifiable, reason that it's taking so long is that I like to give those layers a chance to really set into and stain the paper in between sessions. I don't want them to soften out and blend in too much during the following washes and glazes.

Hoping that doing this as a WIP will help me stay motivated to find more time to actually get it finished.