Day Twenty-Eight

Yep, it was bound to happen...I fell off the wagon! However, I did have some technical difficulties and technical difficulties were not predicted... I'm going to try to make up those days but for now, I'm just getting myself back on track. This little mixed media piece is inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright.

"Pieces of FLW" - 4"x6" - Watercolor, colored pencil, pen, and acrylic glaze.

Day Fifteen

Coffee is important to me. I love good, dark, robust coffee with complex, layered flavors. Yep, I'm one of THOSE people...a coffee snob I guess. The ONLY ways to have coffee are from a French press, a pour over filter, or an espresso machine in my opinion. We got rid of our coffee maker in favor of the French press at home and we've never looked back. The Husband was skeptical at first but now he's a convert. At work, my office mate and I make coffee in a press every day and we NEVER use anything from a giant tub. It's a ritual of our morning and the work day doesn't feel right without it. So, to honor the morning cup of joe...

"Morning Cup" - 4" x 6" Watercolor and colored pencil

Day Thirteen

This is the last of my mini encaustic trio and they need to stay together, so this is it...and it's my favorite of the three, but then again, I have a thing for white on white abstracts. In real life it looks a little like cake frosting with a hint of sparkle. Again, this is the same piece, just shot in different light to allow you to see the actual texture.

"Yesterday's News" - 5"x3" Encaustic medium, wire, and paper

Day Eleven

Ok, the weekends are tough because I'm usually so busy and I try to avoid technology as much as possible...I almost forgot about posting this! Before I head off to my evening adventure I'll post this piece, it's an old one...my very first encaustic actually...tiny format and it was created during an encaustics workshop...(in case you're just tuning in encaustic medium is a mixture of beeswax, damar resin, and pigment...or sometimes no pigment) It's a wonderful medium to play with but difficult to control, so you have to leave your expectations at the door when you're first starting. This one is a mini collage with some of my other artwork, an actual juniper branchlet, and print-outs of a haiku I wrote. I don't love it...but it's historical for me, I guess.

Untitled Collage - 5" x 3" Encaustic medium, juniper, paper, ink

Day Nine

I'm pretty sure I have maybe 6 readers but still...I want you 6 lovely souls to know I LOVE YOU for coming here to see these little exercises in vulnerability. If I knew who you were I'd hug you and thank you in person.

This is not easy for me...to put stuff out there that sometimes doesn't feel finished or great or polished. I'll say it again, it's all about the PROCESS for me but when I post something I'm proud of it's a sweet bonus. This little landscape painting is something I'm really proud of as is, and I may use as an inspiration for a much larger piece later. (this is part of the reason I'm doing this...the creativity snowball...creative momentum, and I HOPE it can inspire someone else to get working too, on whatever it is you create!)

"Sublime - Into the Woods" - 6"x4" Watercolor and colored pencil on watercolor paper

Day Five

I'm getting this one posted early today so I don't forget. It's going to be a busy day of driving to the Outer Banks of North Carolina...I have to work a concert for my day job with the symphony.

This is a continuation of the PeopleGrams...I am truly having fun drawing these. This is a very good thing, to have fun again while drawing. I'm even smiling as I type this...no matter what is going on in other areas of my life I can find a safe and lovely harbor in creating.  SHE is my favorite so far...

"She 01-PeopleGram" 6"x6", Black marker on Bristol board

Day One

This is a little birch study- stylized of course. I was inspired by the facets of color that actually show up in the seemingly white birch bark. I must confess I did this while I was at home visiting my parents in Illinois this week. The color reproduction will be largely dependent on your monitor settings, but in real life it's pretty bright. 

"Color Birches", 4"x5", watercolor and colored pencil on watercolor paper.