Sometimes You Just Have To Cover It Up

 And that is just what I'm doing on this piece.  What you see on the right is what it was and I've done several layers and keep thinking -- surely I can make this work. Well, I had several good compositions and decent finishes but didn't like them so I also did a lot of sanding.  Finally, this morning, I decided it's the color.  I just don't like the green and so I decided to sand again and use totally different colors.  That's started on the left.  Hopefully I can come up with something I'm happy with.  Still a long way to go before it's done.

DeStash Bash Done, Time To Plan For Retreat

 And I'm pleased to report that this piece has gone to a new home.

I was able to sell some good art supplies at a very reasonable price to several artists in need.  It felt good for two reasons -- one, more gone from my studio and two, budding artists got some good supplies at bargain prices.

I will be heading up to my annual art retreat next week. This is the view from my perch at the bar where I do my morning journal.

Since the bash my time has been spent figuring out what I want to work on and deciding on the necessary supplies.  We also spent a few days on Mackinac Island.  Marshall did the Chicago to Mac race again this year and we took his son up so they could spend time on the island.  Didn't turn out as we expected but a good time anyway.  In addition to time with all three of my guys we spent some time with my niece Shannon and her husband who were there staying at the Mackinac Island Yacht Club.  All good.

Still Sorting and Finding Surprises

 I had totally forgotten this one that I had tucked away.  I still like it though it is totally different than anything else I've done.  Women at the Well, it's small, a bit over 4 x 6 inches. No idea what I'll do with it but for now, I'm enjoying looking at it.

Sorting and keeping track of my son as he first did "The Hook" and this weekend "Chicago to Mac" sailboat races.  Moms never stop worrying about their kids do they?

The Art Tribe Is Back at The Gallery Uptown

 

So what's an Art Tribe, in this case a group of artist friends who get together occasionally for lunch or wine and cheese to chat about life and art and sometimes to talk about doing a show together. In the past we've done some collaborative pieces but this year we did something a bit different, our theme is Beauty in the Ordinary. The Tribe members, Carol Cousineau, Bette DelVecchio, Barb Fugazzotto, Sandy Meyer, Annie Morgan and I, each did individual works.  Margaret Benefiel is another Tribe member but couldn’t participate this year.  She’s with us in spirit.

You’ll see paintings and collages along with scarves, table runners and assemblages and some surprise pieces. 

The exhibit is up now and the reception is Friday July 11, 5:30 to 7:30.  Hope you can come see, it's a great show!

Almost at the end of The 100 Day Project

 It's been fun exploring different ideas and I've been good about keeping track of what I've done each day.  I'm feeling fairly confident that I will be able to continue this practice of an hour of play before getting serious about a project.  Here is some of this weeks play -- flowers drawn with non-dominant hand on scraps of paper.

 

I think the last few days of the project will be spent trying to decide what my next series will be.

Redoing Space and Some Paintings.

I am so easily distracted. I keep finding things I had forgotten about or have been ignoring and then start working on the "find" instead of the clutter clearing.  This piece is one that I have been ignoring. I had buried it among a bunch of papers that needed sorting.  I knew why it was buried, it needed something but I had no clue what so I finally just threw more paint at it without giving any thought.

The old horizon line is obvious and my first thought was "sand the whole thing back" but the more I looked at it I began to think maybe this can go somewhere. What do you think?

Something a little different

This week I spent a little time every day working on a face.  At one time I did these often and usually in a recycled book that I had made into a journal.  This one is one a plain page in a sketchbook.

The image is from a wetcanvas weekend drawing event and I think I've done a drawing of him once before but that was a long time ago. He was fun but I prefer doing this type of drawing in an altered book sketchbook.  I may think about going back to it one of these days.

Meanwhile, I continue to work on the clutter clearing and am making good progress.  As I work on that and see different things in the studio I'm really wanting the space clear so I can get on to another project.  Three quarters of the way home!