See Saw Margery Daw

The work becomes important when the meanings contained are greater than what the artist had in mind when he or she created the work. Ambuity helps the work transcend itself. Audrey Flack Art  & Soul

That's the general feeling nowadays! Up and down. Media makes it more confusing! Trying to keep busy and not let my thoughts run away. This week flew!

One of the most difficult parts of creating for me is after the first starts is how to continue! Especially now with my new journey into more intuitive painting love just picking up the paint and following the prompts... and then I just freeze... total blackout!

Well took myself in hand! Added paint, oil pastels, even some white charcoal! Not the best of photos!

Dreaming of New Lands

Acrylic and Mixed Media

19.5" x 19.5"

Cartridge Paper

Brayed color start on cartridge paper

Acrylic 19.5" x 19.5"

After the prompts

The Underpants

Should I have just left well enough alone?

Small and Bright

Week 8 on PYHAS was all about landscapes. A lesson with Sherry Woodward.  A lesson in acrylics, layering, color-mixing, and abstraction. PHYAS2019 has my mind in a whirl! Sometimes I don't remember what I posted and where I learned what. It's a rollercoaster ride! But FUN! So here are a few that were put aside. One I did post you can find here.

I did deviate from the lesson and tweaked with my favorite neocolor I wax crayons!

All Paths Lead to the Monastery

8.5 x 9 " 

Acrylics on cut canvas with Caran d'Ache wax crayons

Available At Artfinder

In the Dark the City Lights Glow

8.5 x 9 " 

Acrylics on cut canvas with Caran d'Ache wax crayons

Available at Artfinder

Let's Go Downtown

8.5 x 9 " 

Acrylics on cut canvas with Caran d'Ache wax crayons

Available at Artfinder

The hills are alive with the sound of music!

The hills are alive with the sound of music
With songs they have sung for a thousand years
The hills fill my heart with the sound of music
My heart wants to sing every song it hears

Richard Rogers Oscar Hammerstein II

I am sure this was not the music that my grandson was listening to when he was watching the beautiful mountains in Nepal last April. 

Listening To the Mountain Music

47.5 x 23.625 "

Oils on Wrapped Canvas

Transfer Photo

Painted on an old image with a very light burnt sienna leaving a section for transferring the photo image. Done mainly using oil sticks, about time because I have had them for 2.5 years. The sky was done with regular oils with cold wax, mainly with my silicon spreaders. I loved the looseness that I could get with the sticks but to fill in the sky was a problem. I learned a lot and will definitely use them on a smaller substrate. They are great for getting in the sketch.  

A male portrait exercise Week 9 HYHAS 2019 Instructor Muriel Stegers  Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway! What a title! Whoever thought I would be painting a male portrait without a reference!

WIP

11.6 x 16.5

Acrylic Paper 300 gm

Acrylics

Muriel is an excellent instructor! Lots more to do to this. Acrylics are not my favorite medium but slowly learning to layer and enjoy. This was after video #4!  #5 to watch and tomorrow another lesson!

Have no idea how to make this smaller 

Two Little Boys and Hope For the Future

My weekly trip to Jerusalem has changed this year and I now travel to Neve Shalom where my daughter has moved into their new home. Uri,10, just got this very complicated board game of Dragons & Dungeons which is not for my head, invited his friend Walid from across the street to play with him. Just two young kids playing on the floor together. No big deal! Well, I think it's a BIG deal because Walid is Arabic and Uri is Jewish! One small step for more understanding and a better future!

My daughter's home is just below that Dome in the image from the site., facing the Trappist Monastery!

I certainly have been lacking at blogging of late.  PYHAS has kept me busy weekly. Some I have posted my Instagram account.

Last week we had fun with abstract landscapes and scratching tools and the use of alcohol! Didn't succeed with the alcohol. Will try again.

The Silence is Broken with the Sounds of Bells

8.5 x 9 " 

Acrylics on cut canvas with Caran d'Ache wax crayons

Can be purchased at Artfinder

Lost in a Forest Day 22

Day 22  30 in 30

Mixed media on watercolor paper. Continuation of the main theme of "jail" from a previous post.

 On this, I put down fence marks with my wax crayons and added brayer marks! Some collaging with torn tissue paper prints and doodling with Inktense pencils.

Not Able to See the Wood from the Trees

9 x 7"

Sketchpad Watercolor Paper

Acrylics  Collage Inktense Pencils Neocolor I Crayons

My Haunted House Day 21

Day 21  30 in 30

Mixed media on watercolor paper. Continuation of the main theme of "jail" from a previous post.

The first layer where brayer marks of color. Added a tissue paper Gelli print. Found 2 tutorials on printing on tissue paper; Carolyn Dube and Gelli Arts so now I have a bunch of tissue paper prints.
The one here reminded me of a landscape so I pasted it whole. Added marks with my Inktense pencils and what do you know a haunted house appeared, thought at first a jailhouse. Whatever!
I am really having fun with this method of exploration and doodling.

Is It already Halloween

9 x 7"

Sketchpad Watercolor Paper

Acrylics  Collage Inktense Pencils

Look who took over my "studio divan"

Looking closely at the open page looks like a cat!

Pity I didn't see that before I started doodling!

click to enlarge

Are We Really in August

This summer is certainly going fast. Last lesson in our intro into oil painting. Our mentor Ariel Asseo,  How to layout the colors on our palette, the importance of putting out all our colors, 2 of each primary, 2 whites and a brown. How to read a reference landscape photo and lots of other tips along the way.

I brought a few photos and chose, in the end, one of the rolling fields of Heval Lachish that I shot. Really miss these views. Views that I see traveling back from Hamai Yoav Spa.

Again working on a heavy gessoed paper that I painted a foundation of burnt sienna in acrylic. I am really enjoying working on gessoed paper.

Oh How I Miss You Hevel Lachish

Oils on Gessoed Paper

20 x 13.75 "

Next week we have a month of "Mixed Media". Not the kind that you are used to like collage, drawing, and painting etc. Asked to bring in unconventional supports. Will keep you informed!

More Tissue Paper

... a habit that some artists might relate to. I like to start a painting off in a mess and then try to harness and control the thing.  Robert Genn 2004

I was just reading  The Painters key newsletter Ordering Chaos and it just seemed to jump out at me.
Starting out messy and putting things in order.  Just what I am doing, although I don't always get the "order" part.

Today I literally played with my tissue paper. Format was heavy watercolor paper with gesso. Wanted to see how this medium worked with layering the tissue paper. Had a LOT of fun and liked what came out. Thought of adding paint to them but I think I'll leave them alone for the time being.
The yellow did not photograph well it is much brighter.

Dead Sea

42 x 56 cm

Tissue Paper collage

Watercolor Paper

detail

Cutouts

42 x 56 cm

Tissue Paper collage

Watercolor Paper

Detail

No Paint Today

Whoever wants to understand much must play much. (Gottfried Benn)

Today at workshop I went back to kindergarten! Hurray!!!

Because Heleni wasn't able to come but had made sure the facility would be open, we worked alone. Only 6 -7 showed up so it was an intimate workshop, I started two new collage paintings and this week brought them to class for critique and further work.  Heleni said they were done. I think I can work some more, but Heleni many times stops me, mainly because I sometimes ruin them. This is a dilemma for me because in the online course I am taking there is a different philosophy. Later when I post these collages I will talk more.


Now back to kindergarten! Among some of the formats that I always lug along where formats in corrugated cardboard. I also had my new set of colored tissue paper and lots of collage material. Remembering about lesson 6 which is about formats and proportions thought I would start to tackle this.

Cut some of the formats into different proportions, decided on one composition format, landscape. Cut and pasted some magazine pieces on each. Then thought, what am I going to do with all my colored tissue papers. Decided to paint with them. Rip, cut, glue I was having a time! These are WIP.  On format 1  I pasted some transparent paper in an attempt to bring the bring that section together

Format 1

26 x 36 cm

Corrugated cardboard

Detail format 1

Format 2

25 x 26

Corrugated Cardboard

Magazine collage

Here Heleni stopped me. 

Format 3

13 x 36

Corrugated Cardboard

Detail 

Format 3

Format 4

36 x 13 cm

Corrugated Cardboard

Detail  Format 4

I loved the way I got variations of color with the overlapping of the tissue paper on each other and on the magazine pieces. Have to learn to control or perhaps not.

Veil of Gray

This was done several months ago on a piece of masonite. Used a piece of netting. Bringing it into class I was told that it was much too busy. It was left aside for a few months and then decided to cover it in gray with a brayer and lift off with  paper, a veiling technique I learned from Dotty Seiter. I had often scraped, sanded,and rubbed with baby wipes but never tried a plain piece of paper. The piece has a lot of texture made by use of a palette knife. The sky looks lighter in real life.

I scraped areas to let some of the color come through, But now looking at the WIP I think I can bring some more color back in,  Another project for another day! Will keep it ins eye view. Appreciate any thoughts or advice.

40 x 30 cm

Oils on Masonite board