4 Generations

We in Ohio have been blessed with really good weather for a change.  We have not had much snow at all, other than a tiny dusting here and there - that is - until today.  Today I think we got nearly 10" and there is supposed to be a little more on the way.  It is January after all.  But somehow I had this irrational hope that it would hold off until, oh, say...about APRIL!  And then, be SPRING!  Ha-ha!

I've had a lot of little changes in my life this fall and have had to come to terms with some health issues, but overall, I'm a very lucky lady.  And I even found a little time to make some art before Christmas - most of which was gifted to others.  I did the little 8" x 8" painting here - done in acrylics and mixed media.  I gave it to my sister Carrie (who is a writer) and while it isn't an accurate snapshot of the women in our family, it is perhaps more "representational" of them.  I really love that primitive, flat-dimensioned look of the paintings done in the early 1800's so was going for that sort of look, but they were meant to depict, L-R, back row - my mom Patricia Louise Strachan Ryman, her mom, Mildred Elizabeth Irvin Strachan and HER mom, Carrie Minerva Mitchell Irvin.  The front row is, L-R - my sisters, Cynthia Lea Ryman Newsome and Carrie Ann Ryman and me, Diana Louise Ryman.  It was a lot of fun to work on and I think my sweet sis really liked it.

In 2012 I'm hoping to focus on more de-cluttering of my art stash, painting a room or two in the house and the more fun type of painting - on canvas.  I've always admired the looser, more "painterly" style some artists such as Mystele and Sharon Tomlinson, achieve.  So I plan to teach myself how to paint this way too.  I feel like my work is too up-tight and controlled.  One of my friends, Jean Field, recently suggested that I "use a larger brush" to help me achieve this look, so I'll start there.  Sounds so simple, doesn't it?  Ha! Wish me luck!

Enough is enough!

Have you ever had to have "the talk" with yourself?  No - not the S-E-X talk.  The S-T-U-F-F talk is what I mean.  That's when you have to tell yourself (sometimes repeatedly) that you have enough STUFF already and you don't need another pencil, pen, tube of paint, bit of ephemera, or whatever the stuff happens to be at the moment.  I've had this talk with myself over and over this year.  Expenses are higher, income is smaller (lost my PT income).  But the real breaking point for me is there is just no more space to put the stuff I keep bringing into this house!  And I live alone in a 3 BR house with a huge attic and full basement so there just is no excuse for this.  Also driving this new clarity for me is that I've been working all year, a little at a time, on cleaning out parts of my parents home in preparation for selling it.  I'm seeing the detritus of 50+ years in one home and while I'm tickled to find things my mom saved, like our letters to Santa, written 40 yrs or more ago, there are things that I'm wading through that just didn't have to be saved all these years.  Like every bill they ever paid.  Like every old DayTimer filler from 30 yrs. of business calendaring.  All this sorting through the bits of a lifetime is making me take a long hard look at my own home and the things I choose to save.  And, as  I discovered this afternoon, when I removed the cartoon-y band aid from the site of my flu shot, and I thought - "hmmm - I should use this in a journal layout - it would be cool to have this little bit of my DNA immortalized along with my thoughts for the day" - then I realized, ok kid, you definitely have gone OVER the edge if you are thinking about keeping a used band aid as fodder for artwork!  Yes, I know - EVERYTHING can be recycled or upcycled and everything is fair game for our artistic creations.  But enough is enough!  So tonight I am having "the talk" with myself, yet again.  Sigh.  I'd be interested in hearing how (or where) you draw the line on the "stuff" you choose to keep for your art.

Come join the fun! New Directory of Artists

Sadly, Artsee Bloggers, an innovative concept to gather art bloggers together in one place with links to all our various art blogs, is closing down tomorrow due to the need for the wonderful creator, Geri Centonze, to attend to family matters.  I know what that is like and how those things can pop up with little or no notice.  Seems like so many more of my friends are dealing with parent-related care needs every year.  It's the age we have reached, I suspect.  Which translates to a certain age of our parents. Anyway, a big thanks to Geri for coming up with this great idea and many good thoughts and prayers are sent her way!  The good news is that another artist, Marcia Beckett, has taken up the idea and begun another directory of the same nature.  It is called Artists in Blogland.  I haven't seen a "had matter" yet, but it's early days!  Tea party anyone?  Gosh I'm silly tonight!  If you'd like to list your art blog on the directory - or if you'd just like a cool place to scope out a bunch of amazing art blogs check it out!

Been Painting Again...

June 2011 - 8 x 8 canvas

I started this little canvas about 2 months ago and didn't get time to touch it again until this last weekend.  I really had a nice weekend and enjoyed the relaxation of no tv, no computer, just hours and hours of painting in a couple of sessions.  I was inspired by a painting I watched artist Sharon Tomlinson paint.  She does such a good job with faces and mine sure need some work.  I followed her method of applying text from a book as a base, then gluing down pics of flowers from gardening catalogs to surround the central area.  Then I sketched in the woman shown.  Everything, including the flowers are painted over with acrylic paints.  Not too sure my flowers look like they did originally, but having a picture to start with gives you a range of colors and some placement.  If you get time, go watch some of Sharon's YouTube videos on "Morning Art".  She has a gentle voice and does a great job of showing her process step by step.

Some Time Ago....

Prompt - Shine

Prompt - Portals

Prompt - Fairies

Prompt - Haiku

Prompt - Hearts

....my Ohio art group "Art Gang Ohio" decided to do a project.  This was for 2010.  We decided we'd each create a piece of art based upon a word prompt for that month.  There were supposed to be 10 in all and I think I made it through about 5 of them before LIFE interfered.  We had also decided that we'd try to get our group project published, so toward that end, we agreed not to post any of our pieces until the project was complete since the magazines, etc. don't like for your work to have been seen online or anywhere else before they publish it themselves.  One of our awesome members, Lou McCulloch did indeed get us published  - a group picture of a number of our creations in an issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors!  This was a fun project and I'm sorry I didn't finish all the months of it.  But it did remind me that I don't do my best work when I have to produce on a schedule or along someone else's themes.  I have enough structure in my life otherwise  and find I really love the freedom that I have in making art - in just starting out with perhaps a color or a piece of something or other that inspires me. And then letting the work take me where it will.    Anyway - I've wanted to get my completed projects posted here to my own blog. Hope you see something that maybe inspires you too!

CPS - Muse Flash - Art Gang Ohio Projects

March Journal Spread

Yea!  This is the last spread in this journal.  It only took me 3 years and 2 months to finish!  I do jump around a lot - trying a little of this and a little of that, so I get to experience different types and formats of art along the way, but it is hell when it comes to actually FINISHING things!  So other than doing the covers for this journal, which I like to leave for last - this book is done.

This is another "a la Teesha" spread.  Lots of fun to do and all the pen work is very relaxing.
I am not a very laid back artist - guess I'm wound too tightly for that - but I admire the fun and freedom that comes through in Teesha's work.  Check her out here.

February Journal Pages

It's been quite a while since I've posted.  Much going on with my father and he has just recently moved into an assisted living facility.  Lots of changes but he is doing very well with it all and accepting everything with a lot of grace. Thankfully.

I have squeezed in a little bit of art - much of it a few minutes at a time on my lunch hours - sitting in the car - listening to a book on tape.

I started this little journal in January 2008 and this set of pages is the next to last ones in the book.  As you can see, I'm enamored of the Teesha Moore style of journaling right now so just had to try my hand at some pages.  I love the bright, funky colors and the sort of humorous and edgy way of depicting things, but most of all I love the use of pens for writing, lettering, drawing and doodling.  

Art at KSU

 I just had to share this. KSU has a brand new performing arts theatre that will have it's grand opening later in October. In the lobby of the theatre is currently being installed, a commissioned work from Cleveland artist, Olga Ziemska.  I think I read that the funding came from an Ohio arts grant.  You just have to look at her blog - Olga Ziemska - and see the pictures - most from her studio - of this work in progress this summer.  Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page because there are some "other" posts in the middle. This artist worked with dance & theatre students here at Kent State to pose for the outlines of the figures. She is using some gorgeous pictures of Northern Lights as her inspiration for movement and color. Each figure is cut from a sheet of clear acrylic. She evidently raided our KSU photo archive for the pictures our photographers have taken over the years of students, plays, dance performances, events around the campus, and anything else she found that was colorful and depicted life and art at the university. Ziemska is using five sizes of clear acrylic cabochons and adhering pieces of the photographs to the flat sides of each cab. Then the acrylic figures are filled with waves of the colorful cabachons to complete each piece. The figures will be laid out along a wall in the lobby of the theatre. It's hard to tell from the photos, but I suspect she is going to use some sort of suspension system and maybe, I hope, back lighting. It will be interesting to see how this artist completes this installation.  I can't believe that those figures would just be screwed to the yellow wall, but that's just me.   I may go over to the theatre on my lunch hour Monday to see the progress of the installation. Our dept. photographers are taking pictures of the process too. For some reason, this work is just speaking to me and  I can't wait to see it finished. Of course, all those luscious blues and greens and purples are right up my alley! Enjoy!

A little Journaling

Wow - it's been quite a while since I posted anything.  Busy, busy.  Plus any art I've had time to do has pretty much been for an art group project we have going this year that is sort of secret for now.  More on that in a few months....

I did take some time recently to work on the last two pages in a little art journal - altered book that I'd started two years ago and never quite finished.  I really enjoy the style of journaling that Teesha Moore teaches so thought I'd give that a try on these pages. It really is a relaxing way of working - no planning ahead of time.  Just brushing on some acrylic paint for the background and when that's dry, adding some strips cut from various magazine pages to make the border.  Add a little shading with some of the newish Pan Pastels and a focal figure - made up of several different pictures from magazines.  I added a saying I'm fond of and a lot of doodling with my milky pens to add the finishing touches.  I really like the result and think I'll try another page or two or three...what do you think?

Assemblage gift

 My first try at some assemblage.  I'd had this in mind as a gift for a special friend for some time - and had laid out the various pieces on my desk in the basement studio, but just never got around to completeing it.  My friend Gina's 30th birthday this month was the prod I needed to get it done.  And my fledgling experience recently with making cold connection rivets with copper wire helped me assemble it.  You need to know about some of the components - the antique brass stencil G, the metal stamped "IRON" and the 20 and 15 that are part of the ruler "arms" are a nod to Gina's blog IronG 2015.  Gina is a triathalete and is in training for the 2015 Ironman.  Whoa!  Pretty big goal - and I have no doubt that she will make it!  Back to the assemblage - see her crown?  It is supposed to be a cupcake.  Yeah - hard to believe that a hardcore athlete like Gina has a cupcake addiction, but she does!  But she is really good and after eating the cupcakes (unlike me) SHE goes out and runs it off!  The little legs are from a computer board scavenged for me by a friend at work and cut on my bandsaw.  I'm betting Craftsman never thought their saw would be used for some of the whacky things that I cut with it!  Anyway, it was lots of fun to make and Gina got a kick out of it so I'm a happy camper.  Hmmm....I have a bunch of those brass stencils......

What a nice way to start the New Year!

My friend Dawn (from Art Girl Designs) and I played with some metalsmithing on New Year's Day and we each finished one pendant.  What a fun time to be able to relax, visit, experiment and learn from one another as we worked on this new medium.  We'd both been collecting tools, sheets of metal and all the other bits and bobs needed.  We'd each invested in a good DVD to get us started and took our time watching and reviewing before getting started.  I'll let Dawn show you her beautiful pendant on her blog.

 

The sort of oval pendant in the photo here, that has the vintage picture, was my first piece.  I learned some things I wanted to try:  making rivets with a piece of copper wire, texturing the metal, and cutting a frame using the jeweler's saw.  The most valuable lesson though was the one hardest earned - if you want to add a chemical patina, that should probably be done before you start to rivet the layers together!  Duh!  It makes it tough to do once a photograph is in place, but I did manage to add a bit of liver of sulfer using a Q-tip.  

The second, more rectangular necklace is one I did a day later, on my own, but still using some of the same techniques.  On Dawn's advice I bought some hardware cloth - the one used was the 1/8" grid - and by pounding, was able to create a nice gridded texture on the copper.  I played with the metal letter stamps I've had for years and never used once (adhering nicely to my New Year's resolution to begin using stuff I already own!) to create the word "LIVE" on the little brass piece.  Then held the copper and brass layers together with copper wire rivets.  I decided I wanted to add some more brass, so drilled holes and inserted the tiny little brass hardware I had bought from Volcano Arts some time ago.  I can't wait to play some more!

Happy Halloween!

Yes, I know. I'm a couple days late. Oh well, better late than never, I say. I started this little painting two weeks before the holiday with the intent of making it into a print for cards for family and friends. But circumstances changed and I invited the whole family to my place for Trick or Treating. It suddenly hit me that that meant I'd best get my butt in gear and CLEAN my house - not to mention finishing some projects outside before the cold weather sets in. So my little paint got set aside and wasn't finished until Nov. 1 after all the festivities were but a memory. It was a sketch first, then I washed the background with watercolor and finished all the details with acrylic paints. Every one of these little paintings teaches me a thing or two about how the paint works, and about how to control it better. Also I still need to learn a lot more about shading. But I'm getting better each time, I think. Guess I'll be ready for Halloween next year! It was fun to do it and am now thinking of images I can draw and paint for a little Christmas scene.

Doodle Bug Squirrel

Yes, I'm still squirrely! Kent State University's 100 year anniversary will be kicked off at homecoming on October 10 this year. For anyone who's been around the Kent, Ohio campus, you'll know that black squirrels are a beloved icon there. So we've mounted a squirrel decorating contest to help celebrate. There are two sizes of squirrels - 30" and 8". My contribution - "doodlebug squirrel" is one of the smaller size. It was doodled using a fine point enamel paint pen. I just had to get my ladybugs in there somehow. Can't wait to see the other entries! If you're in the area, be sure to stop by Tailgate Alley at the Dix Stadium from 1 pm - 5 pm on October 10 and vote for your favorite designs in each category!

Funky Furniture

Painting some funky, fun furniture pieces is my new "thing". I bought this small white set of drawers at a friend's yard sale this summer. It was white and painted in a nice little country scene. I had seen some funky painted stuff on the Web and just had to try my hand at it with this piece. It was a lot of fun to do. I did the front first and as you can see, I got a little too "detailed" with it. Those that know me, know that is my normal state of being. Ha-ha! I decided if I wanted to finish this any time soon, I'd need to lighten up on the sides and top, so they are a little less intense. And I have to say - I really like them the best. Good lesson for me. Less detail - good thing. Next I'm tackling 4 of those old metal patio chairs that have the tubular, curved legs that let you sort of bounce when you're sitting. I think they are from the 40's and 50's.....good winter project!

Journaling (cont. 4)

Well these are some of my latest pages. Anyone who knows me knows I love the Wizard of Oz and now all the prequels to that story written by Gregory Maguire, like "Wicked", "Son of a Witch" and "A Lion Among Men". So of course, I had to have an "Oz" page in my journal. Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West is my favorite character....

The whole swine flu outbreak and the concern over it becoming a pandemic has had me really worried, so doing a spread on it helped me deal. The middle set of pages are a blatant plagarism (or is that only when it is the written word?) of a Zettiology artist/goddess - Teesha Moore, art work. I'm not intending to sell it or anything, so hopefully my "copying" won't be frowned upon. I really just admired her style and wanted to try my hand at it. I'm also NOT a fan of orange, so that seemed the perfect color for me to force myself to use. I really like how it turned out. Of course I had to do a bunch of doodling in the dresses and in the edge borders, but that is just me. Any chance to doodle.... Trying this taught me a number of different things and I love, love, love, her style of writing in her journal pages. So fun and interesting.

Art Journaling (cont. 3)

The copper cobweb page is a tip in. Something I had never tried, but had admired in other artist's journals. The delphiniums are from my garden and yes - they were really that blue Decided to try painting some on the reverse of the pages. I also tried my hand at a crackle technique on these pages too. See the yellow peeking through the navy, night sky? On the pages with the painted flowers, you can see, (if you click on the picture to see the larger size) that I glued down some tiny blue/green and copper round bits. Those bits are actually the waste left over from computer boards being created and holes punched. My sister Cindy, and BIL Kelly, kindly brought these (and other types) to me after learning that I used all sorts of leftovers to create art. They told me that what looks like copper is, in some cases, actually GOLD. Whoo hoo! Maybe I should insure my book..... :-) The lime green page is one I did after my baby sister, Carrie, told me she was considering becoming a Druid. So of course I had to investigate it and learn what I could about it. Sounds like a perfect type of religion for her. It reveres all that is of the earth - wind, sky, water, trees, animals. And it's primary tenet seems to be doing good things for and to one another. Be the good example you want others to be. Very interesting.

Art Journaling (cont. 2)

I had to journal at least one page about Obama. I had admired him for several years ever since seeing him on a talk show. He just made so much sense and was very unlike the normal "politician" that we are all sick of. Was so tickled when he actually decided to run for President and even more thrilled when he won! Hope that he keeps his word now and helps our country get back to being the highly esteemed nation it once was. The page with the lady in blue with the waving hair is my attempt at doing the style of art journaling that I've seen Susan Shie do on her journal quilts. I knew I'd never do a whole quilt like she does, so took her style to my art journal pages instead. It was fun, but (and I know my friends won't believe this of me) way more detailed and intense than I normally like to do! Give me a mindless doodle any day!

Art Journaling

I've been working on this art journal for more than two years. It started out to be a journal that I'd use for my art group and the monthly prompts we'd agreed on. That went out the window pretty quickly for me and it turned into the place that I captured cool quotes and sayings and practiced different techniques and looks that I admire from other artists. I only need to finish one more spread and then the covers so decided I'd get some of the pages scanned and shared here now. See what you think.

Susie art

Have you ever seen the wonderful, folksy quilts created by
Ohio artist, Susan Shie? She calls her art "outsider" and boy does she have a definitive style all her own! She has been "out there" and way ahead of the pack for as many years as I've been quilting (25+ oh my!) When I was doing all the traditional quilting stuff, Susie was making some fabulous pieces with super heavy quilting, thick battings, and lots and lots of embroidery, beading and mirrors. Now that I'm into some of the more "artsy" quilts, Susie has moved on ahead again and is creating huge narrative journals on her quilts. They are still very folksy in form with whimsical figures and pictures all over them. And Susie's painting them with the use of an airpen, which is similar to an airbrush, but with far more control. Anyway, I just love her journal quilts but know I don't want to invest in the equipment or time to do it her way, so I sort of improvised and created a small 8 x 10 size piece on card stock. It was my friend's birthday so I decided to do it using all the "aging" quotes I could find and turned it into a birthday card for her by scanning and reducing it to a card size afterwards. It was a lot of fun to try.

Sample Art

Here is a samples I did using some of the new rubber stamps from

Art Girl Designs. The stamps are deeply etched red rubber and come on sheets

that are 6" x 9" or there abouts.