New Roads

This morning while checking my mail I opened Chris Lalley's blog and aside from her lovely painting was a quote that I really connected to.

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there."

Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

I feel that I am traveling roads that I don't know where they are going, in hopes that they will take me to where ever I am going.I just hope I will know when I get there! Speaking of roads I have to mention Frost's beautiful poem The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

Yesterday I was feeling out of sorts. Maybe I was incubating something. Rested most of the day reading, watching TV, napping. In the evening felt up to tackling my dancing lines project. I had already cut them into four parts and they had been in my view all day.  The question rose, still in bed I remembered that at one time I had bought a small, and I mean small, set of gouache paints. They seemed a good choice for the situation, although I had never painted with them. I bought them in the anticipation of an artist that was to make a webinar on gouache that never materialized. So I took them out of their hiding place, took a few of my Rosemary Ivory brushes, and with a small jar of water on my side table went to work. It was a juggling act but worked itself out.

These are all  18 x 21 cm. Two I rotated and two were kept the same. Click to enlarge and view in the light box.

Bottom Left

Bottom right

Top Left

Top right

These are the four in  their correct positions

Reminder of where I started

before cutting

Hope to be traveling a new road some time today. May take them outside in the sun.

Dancing Line Part Three

Remember Dancing Line part 2. Well thought I about to cut it into smaller parts. Not just yet. Bought pen and ink at the store and decided to try my hand on this piece. Took to the pen very nicely. But whoa and behold some creatures started to come out of the woodwork. Actually I liked them so I did some more crayon work,

Not to get too attached I will be cutting this evening,

Dancing Line  III WIP

35.5 x 42 cm

Black and White

Extreme Composition Lesson 4 Variety Variety Variety

Lesson 4 is all about variety. The first exercise was to make as many marks on a paper with no background, using crayons, ink, paint, cutouts etc. Now I  have to go back and doodle more on some of the marks.
There were questions to ask oneself.

• How difficult was it not to repeat elements?
I found it quite difficult, I have to increase my library of mark making.

 • Do any of your collections look like interesting compositions in themselves? Or do they all look disjointed?
Very disjointed

• Are they fun to look at?
Yes in a way

• Did you discover any new ways of making marks?
Yes

• Did you use processes or materials that felt uncomfortable to you? 
No, not really. Tried pen and ink which was new for me.

• How difficult was it not to paint a background or connect the elements with some unifying principle?
Slightly uncomfortable.

Next part is to make three distinct marks and connect them in various ways!
I made 3 pages of marks!!! Click to enlarge!

 Bye for now!