day 28

29 faces

for the last painting of the month here is

an attempt at painting my handsome son.  

there is a resemblance but i will have to try again

and again.

alex and me this summer at the chicago museum of art

later today or tomorrow i will create a collage 

of the paintings  done this month.


we are all different people at different times in our lives.

when we look back, we see the collage of ourself, the fabric that makes

up who we are.   i am thinking of creating a journal which will include

some of this material.   now i am an artist but  i wanted to tell you

a little known fact about me~~

i used to fly airplanes.



have a lovely weekend


today, once again  i am linked with the artists at paint party friday

day 27

29 faces

i found this piece of painted paper in my drawer.

probably a random experiment left for better days.

the more i looked at it, i began to see a face.  

i lightly penciled her in.

then painted in a loose style.  i've been wanting to practice

working with values and colors.  i don't think this was 

successful as far as that goes.  

there is a fine line between being overly critical  and analyzing  

for learning purposes.  i don't usually get too tied up in heavy 

personal criticism because there is always  another painting to try again.

and we know the drill....

practice, practice, practice.  

XO

day 26

29 faces

every journey begins

with the first step

how far away from home

can you be and still be home?

day 24

29 faces

my first encaustic attempt.  i have collected encaustic supplies 

over a period of time.  i foresee many more hours of fun.

“Negative results are just what I want. 

They’re just as valuable to me as positive results. 

I can never find the thing that does the job best 

until I find the ones that don’t.” 
― Thomas Edison

day 23

29 faces

wandering through life

i find myself

day 22

29 faces

did i really commit to 100 faces?  i have been

at it since january 12th so we'll see.

i started with this collage and painted canvas that was in 

the closet.  you can't see that much of it is painted gold

i really liked the colors but did not know where to go with it.

i added more layers, paint, pastels, collage, pencil

and think i am finished for now. 

day 21

29 faces

only 8 more days.  i was all set to be sad when the challenge is

over.  but i found a new challenge....

100 faces

that should keep me going for a while 

:))

day 20

29 faces

i recently heard patti  la belle sing a marvelous rendition of 

somewhere over the rainbow.  i have not been able to get the 

tune out of my head.

today i painted an image of patti la bell 

in a chagall style.  

day 19

29 faces

i painted her while having my morning tea.  she has a

flower made from the acrylic skin from my palate.

i am debating whether she is a blonde or 

brunette.  for now, she will sit on my easel

and steep.

* * * * *

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough 

or a book long enough to suit me.” 
― C.S. Lewis

day 18

29 faces

lyrics from somewhere over the rainbow

someday i'll wish upon a star,

wake up where the clouds are far behind me

where trouble melts like lemon drops

high above the chimney top that's where you'll find me

oh. somewhere over the rainbow way up high

and the drew that you dare to, why, oh why can't i?

day 17 

29 faces

i love the faces that appear from my non-dominant hand.

did i say appear?  does that mean i don't have control 

of the outcome?  sometimes i think it's true.

view on my two blocks from home

“The creative process is a process of 

surrender, not control.” 

― Julia Cameron

day 16

29 faces

pencil sketch 

“The way anything is developed 

is through practice practice practice practice 

practice practice practice practice practice and more practice.” 
― Joyce Meyer

day 15

29 faces

a non dominant hand self portrait on deli paper

glued to a journal page.  this is the beginning of the journal

spread.  it was done in a group of five.  each of us

gave a prompt one at a time.  we added the prompt

to the pages in our own style.  the self portrait was my prompt.  

from here the group will continue giving a prompt every other week.

we will work them on the same spread until we feel it is finished.  the 

first time we went around for twelve prompts. 

since we all live in different cities we are thinking of posting our work somewhere.

if you haven't drawn with your non dominant hand in a while

you are in for a treat.  try it, won't you?

day 14

29 faces

monoprint of the traditional japanese talisman,

maneki-neko

often seen in the entrance of places of business, shops and  restaurants

to beckon customers and good luck.  the calligraphy is an 17th century

coin signifying wealth.

first i made a wire form

so you can see the size

after printing it in black ink on the press i colored it in with these acrylic pens.  

it was like paint by numbers.

i made another print and am thinking i might 

paint it in an untraditional way.

day 13

29 faces

after the weekend workshop and another day

of journaling here with friends, my once

organized studio is in lovely piles.

not a surface to be seen.

i cleared enough space for my little japanese journal, 

my lovely fw acrylic inks, a few pens.  i sketched a face with my 

non dominant hand, and used the pens with a loose  sketchy hold.  

i have not used dip pens very much but i do like the splotches of ink 

that blob out at unexpected times.  kinda like those things

you blurt out (and wish you could take backat times).  

 but you make the best of it.

after all, it's all a part of you and the process of life.

and once it's out, it's out.

i liked the blobs so much that i did some intentional drips.

so here is my face of the day, a bird on it's nest and a few stars

for a long time i journaled in a coffee shop each morning.  i created an art travel kit

for supplies. after enough people have told me that they have adopted some of my ideas,

i thought i'd show you here what i take with me.

i carry everything in this eagle creek quarter cube.  it has two zippers 

which i find convenient.  i've had it for years.  it's soft, washable and durable.

btw, i also pack my clothes in eagle creek half cubes.   i am a bit of a packing 'expert' 

and often help friends to pack for trips.  i know, tmi

you get a sense of the size.

all this fit inside.  amazing.

list of contents

pink container is a qtip container from bed bath and beyond.  it has a
cardboard tray.  i put 1/2 pieces of caran d'ache in it.

tombow roller tape

mini tape

child's scissors

rubberband

plastic bag for trash

washi tape

credit card, sequence waste, coffee sleeve for texture

empty creamer for water

pencil sharpener

disposable gloves

cork backed 6" metal ruler

blender stick--can't remember the proper name 

pencils and charcoal pencils 

black china marker

few sharpies with various tips

pit pens (not shown)

stick eraser and kneaded eraser (not shown)

water brush

stabilo marks all pencil

black pentel color brush

tim holtz mighty mister

a note on the caran d'ache neo color IIs.  i use them as crayons,

to make a watercolor affect by dipping them in water and coloring

or paint with a brush.  there is so much pigment in one stick

that i bought a large set with my friend lorraine and then broke the sticks in half

for each of us.  i can carry around a lot of color in a little pack.  now people

who are pristine with their supplies cringe at the thought but i love the

used feel and look of supplies.

i hope this is helpful and

if you have travel supply suggestions i'd love to hear.

day 12

29 faces

today a face painted only with 

credit cards as taught to me by

the talented and innovative jacki long.

i wonder what she is thinking...

The most beautiful thing we can experience 

is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. 

― Albert Einstein

day 11

29 faces

after spending the last several days 

painting in journals

my fingers itched to rip and paste

to create this face 

and

a poem by one of my favorite poets

“Despite the enormous evening sky 
spreading over most of the canvas, 
its moon no more 
than a tarnished coin, dull and flat, 
in a devalued currency; 

despite the trees, so dark themselves, 
stretching upward like supplicants, 
utterly leafless; despite what could be 
a face, rinsed of feeling, aimed 
in their direction, 

the two small figures 
at the bottom of this picture glow 
bravely in their carnival clothes, 
as if the whole darkening world 
were dimming its lights for a party.” 
― Linda Pastan, Carnival Evening: New and Selected Poems, 1968-1998

day 10

29 faces 

sweet angel, after misty mawn

a monnochromatic journal page

in my little japanese altered book

Sometimes I need
only to stand
wherever I am 
to be blessed.

―Mary Oliver, Evidence: Poems

day 9

29 paintings

i made a promise that i would paint each day.

regardless of what life presents.  yesterday was a full day of workshop with seth apter

and then a birthday celebration afterwards.  i don't know about you, but i am spent after

a full day of painting and yakking with friends.  that is a fatigue in a good way.

so this morning before i run off to another day of the same, i hunted in my closet

of lost paintings and found this metallic painted board.   i gessoed over it

but you can still see there is a flower and some thick black acrylic

i squeezed from a needle tip bottle.  i never liked it.

the strong lines actually lent itself to this painting of the craggy 

faced zen monk poet ikkyu who i mentioned in an earlier post.



“Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, 
just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.” 
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

day 8

29 faces

a quick pencil sketch.  i tore it up to use for my book 

to be made at  the workshop.  i'm so excited

to attend the workshop!

i hope your weekend is  a lovely one.

for those of you who are suffering from the weather,

please take care.

XO

day 7

29 faces



i love the sound of a  flute and even more, i love to hear a shakuhachi

bamboo flute.   you would recognize the haunting tune in japanese music

as that  from a  shakuhachi.   from the 6th century the instrument was used

predominantly by komuso zen monks who wore a woven basket

over their head to represent the absences of ego.

komuso monk in a contemporary parade



today i painted a version of a flute player after a picasso

over the echo of music and drums from a
distant village

the single clear tone of a shakuhachi brings a
flood of tears

startling me from a deep, melancholy dream.

ikkyu, 13th century zen buddhist monk

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

this weekend i am looking forward to attending a two day workshop

with two icons of the art journaling world,

seth apter and orly avineri.  here is how the workshop was described.


We can all be found somewhere on that same dirt road, kicking up dust, gradually revealing, feverishly working toward finding new ways to form and mature. We build substrates from which we obtain our creative nourishment and the courage to inscribe our visual stories...constantly seeking where everything outside of us ends and where we begin.  


how could i resist this?  plus i will be meeting up with

old and new art pals.


wishing you a lovely weekend




linking with paint party friday

day 6

29 faces

i have gessoed around one hundred pages in my little altered japanese book and

added a little piece of collage on each page.   they are ready for the next 

step.  today i was inspired by a 1940 etching by melville kelly of a hawaiian islander.  

his work has a distinctive island feel.  i recently have been inspired by looking

at the art of others and using them as a reference image.

painting this made me think of the don ho song, i'll remember you.

 i looked it up and discovered it was  written by ho's childhood friend,

kui lee who died of cancer at a young 34.  on the night don ho learned that his friend

was ill he listened to the tune over and over for four hours so that he would

get all of the nuances correct.  ho could hardly get through the song without

chocking up the first night he sang it and the audience was in tears.

after reading this i was even more touched

by the song.  here are a few lines.

i'll remember you

long after this endless summer is gone

i'll be lonely oh so lonely

leaving only me to remember you


i'll remember you

your voice as soft as the warm summer breeze

your sweet laughter, mornings after

even after,  oooh, i'll remember you.

day 5

29 faces

this morning i started with an unfinished early collage 

sitting in on a closet shelf.    i find knowing i will paint a painting a day 

is a soothing thought.  i know that i will spend

whatever time it takes to discover what painting 

will emerge.  there is no conflict, only a focus and 

willingness to be with the process.

after more paper and glue

and then completed.

according to the authors of creative collage techniques, 

collage was first used about 200 bc after paper was invented

in China.  but it wasn't until the 10th century in japan that it became 

widely used by calligraphers to accompany their poems.

i like thinking that perhaps some of my ancestors where early

collage artists and poets. 

a poem by hermann hesse

translated by robert bly

sometimes

sometimes, when a bird cries out,

or the wind sweeps through a tree,

or a dog howls in a far off farm, 

i hold still and listen a long time.

my soul turns and goes back to the place

where, a thousand forgotten years ago,

the bird and the blowing wing

were like me, and were my brothers.

my soul turns into a tree,

and an animal, and a cloud bank.

then changed and odd, it comes home

and asks me questions.  

what should i reply?

sunset from redondo beach looking at palos verdes where i live