Embracing The Same~Ness: Circle~ing The Paper With WaterColors...

I decided to follow my inner yearnings and to dive, even deeper, into the waters of color (waterColor), and to continue to develop the same shapes/imagery by trying on new composition' arrangements ~ 'let's see what happens?' - attitude that would keep me more grounded in going deeper instead of, the usual, 'What could be a new technique that I haven't tried yet?' As expected, my 'boredom alert' kept on 'reminding' me, often not very gently, that the 'creative courage' is found in the mystery of new-ness, in taking more risks instead of less. And it finally hit me, I realized that my definition of 'creative courage' and its 'trail~blazing' qualities needs a dash of 'specific clarity' ingredient to work for me ~ so that I'm able to embrace the unknown not only by exploring its Depth, but also enchanting the wonders of its Breadth. Long story ~ very short, I kept on asking the same question, 'what if...?' ~ but this time I applied it to my exploration of variety through embracing the 'sameness' of elements... Unbeknown st to me, I may be in the process of creating a series of water color paintings ~ we'll see...

The funny thing is.... I've been priding myself of fearlessness and creative courage and initiative when it comes to experimenting with new techniques, mediums and strata, but perhaps that, so called, 'pride' ~ usually a blinding sense of hidden grandiosity, is the guilty suspect of my mistaken definition of 'creative courage'...??? And it is not about a 'right' or 'wrong' definition, as that is a very personal and intimate decision to embrace, but instead, it could be seen as a Creative Personal Coach, one that knows which of our atrophying creative muscle groups is in a desperate need of a workout... Perhaps, just like myself, you can relate to this metaphor ~ I have been staying clear of repetition in my art work to the point of wondering to myself if anyone has ever invented a vaccine for artistic boredom. Finally I've realized that there's an area in my creative self-expression that requires a heavy application of courage, of staying open to the unknown in the middle of utilizing the same elements of design to a new painting and it may just be a new opportunity for my growth. So, here I am.... waiting~out my insistence on 'new~ness' in my paintings, listening to the, often repeated rhetorical questions, 'do I REALLY feel like inventing the wheel...?' ~ I don't know, but adding more indignation to that sorry inner rhetoric by using, none other, than mostly round shapes of different lids, makes me laugh and adds a bit of determination in sticking up with my new found discipline ~ 'waiting out the usual b.s.' until a new painting is complete.

So, here's the scoop of the photos... begining with the above, I continued to work on the composition from the previous post ~ tracing numerous round lids and throwing in few square shapes just to aggravate the loud voices of my inner protest.... 'what 't heck, let's square the circles here and there and see if I can actually finish my painting while keeping my sanity at the same time....?'

I first painted the background by mixing and diluting few water color paint hues and immediately wiping of the still-wet paint with a Kleenex... herein lies the fun of preserving the translucency of a water color paint application, be it the background or the design elements' themselves, especially if layering is the outcome you're aiming at.

If you remember from my last post, I first used a very thin masking tape (1/8'' wide) as an initial element of my background, which in the end became a permanent part of the composition by adding an additional curvature and optical separation.

Someone commented on this photo by saying that it looks as though I photographed pieces of color glass stuck one on top of another... well, I didn't and I certainly did not plan on such effect, this painting felt like a natural 'extension' of my explorations of the main painting from my last post 'Autumn Flower' ~ exploring the geometry and shape relation to the exclusion of stamping and hand-drawn elements.

Next, I set out to go back and combine both, the geometric shapes and the 'organic' hand-drawn imagery from my first painting while ,with all my might, I struggled to expect the un~expected to come to life. As an alteration I employed two pieces of brown paper bag which I attached to the water color paper background with a double-sided sticky tape.

Next, I hand drew few flower~y shapes with a white charcoal pencil.

Above, I tried to 'tie together' both of the background materials and imagery by tracing round and square shapes with a black color pencil.

This is a finish background design right before a water color application.

After completing a heavy background wash with water colors, I used a Golden Acrylics Spray Varnish w/UVLS (Satin) to seal off the initial layers.

Once the varnish had set, I glued a piece of an old dictionary's entry with a Golden Acrylics Soft Gel (Semi Gloss) and upon drying, I proceeded to draw few petal shapes with a black water proof fine marker.

Sorry, I didn't photograph my meanderings in applying a multitude of acrylics colors to my painting.... the above is a finished work, 11x14 mixed media on paper, still awaiting its naming...

Soon, I gave into the temptation of 'variety' by settling on experimenting with a larger painting size, 18x24, yet still staying loyal to my circles... this time my cooking pots' lids were called to audition for a leading role in my emerging composition...

I first traced the shapes with a HB pencil and, later on, I went over them with a black color pencil in order to make sure that the outlines will survive the colorful 'flood' of watered~down pigment (H2OcolorS).

In my background development I used a mixture of different green values ranging from Green Gold to Sap Green and Phthalo Green in between, while sparsely leaving Cadmium Yellow and Zinc White deposits in the selected areas ~ making sure there's a distinct value range left behind...

.... you can see the dried background that also has experienced some heavy 'dabbing' off the wet paint with Kleenex

I begun my color exploration journey by first filling in the larger shapes with colors from the same family... bits of warm Yellow contrasting the underlying greens & light blues...

Next, I thought that after being such a 'disciplined disciple' of creative courage I deserve a treat.... how about a compliment.... why not complimenting myself with a complement(ary) color(s)... reds & pinks which will bring back the oranges and violets and then.... then... who knows who else will join the party...?

This is an up~to~the~moment shot of my painting... I can see some fine marker shape tracingS in its immediate future, followed by a generous coat of Golden Acrylics Spray Varnish w/UVLS (Satin)

What are your fun adventures and 'tough lessons' in embracing the 'variety of sameness'... be it through color, material, mediums, or the elements of design....?

Finding Art Supplies In Unexpected Places.... Cheap!

I feel like art making right this minute. Last week I bought myself, what's called an 18'' in diameter 'table round', but I will use it as strata for my next mixed media project. As I've alluded to in the previous posts, here again circular shapes are emerging. In fact I've been wanting to make a mixed media mandala on wood for a long while. If you'd like to save money on wooden surfaces I strongly recommend visiting a lumber yard of your local home improvement store. In my case, Menard's leaves the competition in the dust when it comes to pricing, not to mention art supplies stores ~ herein lays part of the reason of my postponing this project. I've been romancing a 10" in diameter round wood panel at DickBlick but its pricing close to $40 just made me re-think the purchase until.... I met my un-primed, solid wood 'table round' and was stunned with its unassuming sticker price..... $16.99! for almost twice the size of the one at Blick's.

Here's what I know, for now, about this, yet-to-be-born mandala on wood. I will start with coating it with two layers of black gesso, so the subsequent textures with have well defined shapes....and, as always, the rest will emerge on its own.

Can't wait to see what will happen!

P.S.

What's your latest creative fever? Which paint colors you just can't get enough of at the moment? (I listed my 'Top 3' on Facebook the other day)

I Just Love This Book!

I've been inspired with countless project ideas as I'm reading through a latest book by Patti Brady 'Rethinking Arcylic.' She and other artists share countless step-by-step processes of using acrylic paints and mediums. This book inspired me to start working on 'Grow' as I wanted to experiment with mediums and abundance of texture-creating ideas. I can't get enough of it, it's laying open on my desk and I'm ready to start pouring and pouring and pouring.... paints, mediums mixed with gels and pastes onto.... something!

This book is a creative feast for me. I went to Product Learning Expo last year and took a workshop on using acrylic gels and mediums, and it suffice to say that I was never the same as an artist afterwords.... it opened for me countless vistas of new possibilities in textures, layer creating skills, color building. My very favorite medium is CRACKLE PASTE and for me it is the best invention since microwave! Next on my list of my favorites - GLASS BEAD GEL, though I've done some experiments with it, I still feel I haven't even begun to know all its possibilities. Add to the mix an entire range of fluid acrylic paint + interferences tempting you to explore their metallic qualities under numerous light sources and angles. And that's what I call 'creative sustenance'!







I'm off to work on a new project for Creativity Portal...

Mandala Progress...

I've been working on my Mandala veeeery slowly and at the same time working on my business' corporate tax return - the least favorite activity in a twelve-month period for me. Period.





I found out today that my article describing a step-by-step project 'Modern Women' has been accepted and published on Creativity Portal and will also be featured in CP's ezine. I feel very blessed and grateful to be able to share my work with others.

I have been also putting some energy into creation and booking of a workshop for this fall tentatively titled 'Creating A Personal Mandala For Self-Enrichment And Balance.' Once everything is scheduled I'll post the details.

In the meantime I am looking very much forward to the next month's Artist Way group journey.... it is a spiritual chiropractic adjustment for me.

Blessings,
Tatiana

Where I Am Now...

March 8th is an International Women's Day and, for me, it will forever have a connotation of yet another 'great Communist idea.' I still have those memories of women receiving gifts at their workplaces: 'a-must' of 3 red carnations bouquet + one pair of pantyhose (an item marked by a serious scarcity). However, to me, it always felt that it was a day for men's celebration, as crowds of drunken men 'honoring' women's day were frequenting the streets. That's my little reminiscence about times past...

I started working on a mandala project. It is not a perfect geometry, 'let's copy the Tibetan Buddhism' designs mandala. I try follow an intuitive process of expression here, very similar to what Carl Jung did throughout the years in his private life and psychotherapy practice called 'Active Imagination.' The initial design is very intuitive, mostly drawing and erasing in-the-flow , letting shapes emerge without much thought for the design from an aesthetic standpoint.

Next I will begin to fill-in-the mandala. I feel that mixed media, collage elements, with a possible addition of some found objects, is what the mandala 'wants.' I'll try to let it happen by taking my ego out of the way as much as I can. It always takes the pressure of 'making' something, and making it 'good enough' to call it art.... My intention is to just stand aside and observe as the Mandala will be BECOMING...

On a side note, I am putting together a Mandala Creation workshop for the fall. Once I have more details I'll post them in.

"Modern Women" Series - An Altered Art Keepsake

The buttons helped me to change direction with this piece. Initially I wanted to use short lengths of ribbon and some stickers, but the bag of buttons kept 'calling my name' and I found a sheet of collage paper from a last year's workshop I took. Once I saw those old newspaper classifieds-style images I laid the stickers aside and pulled the bag of buttons closer...

The image on the piece is an ad for a sawing machine company and I have another one depicting a hair product for women. I want to create another couple of altered tiles to complement the first piece and use similar theme images.Since the size of this altered art composition is only 4x4, a small gessoed board, I think having 3-4 pieces in a series will create a strong theme and bring all of them into a stronger unity.

The entire project has been published on Creativity Portal. See a Step-by-Step instructions here:

http://www.creativity-portal.com/howto/a/tatiana-kuzyk/altered-art-60-minutes.html

Morning Treasure Finds...

I treated myself this morning to an early, spontaneous artist's date at the Land of Infinite Possibilities - my local Hobby Lobby. One of the things I love about that place is that a $20 bill can go a long way and bring back countless delights for my inner artist child. Hobby Lobby is a place where a question such as, 'do I really need this?' never enters my mind. Of course I 'need' yet another custom printed designer sheet of paper! I may not know yet when and in which project it will meet its destiny, but that's NOT a reason to leave it at the store.

One of my cherished founds this morning is a small bag carrying about a half a pound of assorted buttons. I didn't even know you could buy buttons 'by the bag,' but it must have been an artist who embraced that divine idea. Now my imagination is running wild with possibilities.... buttons on a painting? On a mixed-media piece? A buttoned-UP collage anyone??? Perhaps a mandala design? Now that's what I call a 'creative sustenance,' and it comes in a quiet physical form, too.

What's your favorite treasure spots? What nurtures your imagination?

Work In Progress...

I started working on this piece over the weekend. I wanted to experience rich texture and color play and I begun to apply coats of Cobalt Teal with a palette knife. Next, my very favorite 'friend in a jar,' Crackle Paste came to play. How the world was able to survive this far without the miracle of crackle paste? On Monday I started to layer paint on dried crackle paste, as a base I used a watered-down Raw Umber. Later I added more layers, this time with a bit of glaze of more dimensional look and some translucency, of Green Gold, Quinacridone, Iridescent Copper.

Lastly, I added accents of Glass Bead Gel mixed with few drops of Iridescent Copper and Interference Oxide Red.

I feel that right now this piece has a well developed base of color and texture and I'm waiting to see how it will progress forward. I'd like to add even more dimension with heavy gels, but I eventually I'll let it go where it wants to...

I prefer to use Golden brand, especially when it comes to acrylic mediums. I love my Dick Blick store, it always turns out to be an unplanned 'Artist's Date'.