journal page

hello friday!

this week i started a collage series at a workshop 

held by kathy leader.  the prompts were to first use

three colors of acrylic paint, then to one, add collage, 

to another, use a complimentary color and the third,

do your choice.  here are my three.

this is how the center piece looks after i worked it. 

i can't wait to incorporate the other two pieces 

so that all three the piece can be hung together.

(the color on this single piece is more accurate)

i admire picasso's tenacity to work the same piece

over and over again until he liked it.    the norton 

simon museum in pasadena has a series of his 

lithographs that shows this process so on a 

clear day, i visited.  i must say that this is one of 

my favorite museums.   not only is it beautiful

but it is just the right size for a visit and i love the

impressionist selection.  this time, though, i only

had enough time to see the picasso exhibit.  

here are a few picture.  i will post more in the future. 

i am inspired by van gogh.

and could not miss this special exhibit of 

his bedroom borrowed from the chicago institute of art.

oh, the colors.  i wish you could see the  vibrancy !

i would love to hear who inspires you!!

i am posting today with paint party friday, 

a weekly online community of artists

hosted by eva and kristen.

i took advantage of the  unseasonably warm weather this 

week and met a friend early in the morning  at the manhattan beach pier

for a sketching session.  we sat on this bench.

this was our view.  the hill in the background is palos verdes 

where i live.

my watercolor of the morning.   i am used to the brilliant

colors that acrylics offer and and finding my way with watercolors.

afterwards we walked to the end of the pier and watched the surfers.

they surf adjacent to the pier.  you can hear them talk to each other

while waiting for a wave.

the water was so clear that you could see the bottom.

as i left a woman was just starting her day.

a few posts back i showed van gogh's 

mulberry tree that i was to copy for my art class.

here are a few pictures of the process so far.

this is where i am as of now.   i am reading letters that van gogh 

wrote to his brother theo.  it was a particularly torturous time

in his life.  his brush strokes reflect his state, very wild.   it is a 

challenge to reproduce it but i have learned that patience and layers

of paint help.  

and lastly, for this week, i want to share a journal spread.

today, as every friday, i am posting along with friends at 

paint party friday.  click and visit some of the wonderfully

creative folks who share their works there.

this week zoomed by and felt like there was little time

for creating.  but when i looked back,  i did more than i thought.

acrylic, peace and security

i will be presenting a project for my experimental group

next month.  this was practice run on what will be done.

there is still some tweaking to do.  hopefully it will be a fun project.

i ran some prints on deli paper  for collage sheets

and i started sketchbook skool online.  this is 

the first drawing i did while sitting at my morning

coffee shop.  drawing with only a pen feels a little like being

naked in front of almost strangers.  i admire those who sketch 

and paint a record of  their days.  i started once before to draw and 

hope being in skool will be an inspiration to continue, though truthfully,

i am not sure it is 'me.'  i look forward to adding some color.  one step at a time.

so i was a bit all over the place creating in familiar and new ways.

today i am channeling my inner van gogh at the norton simon 

museum in pasadena.  i am excited to see his mulberry tree in person

as i plan to paint a copy of it in the near future.

how was your week?

it's friday and i am linking with friends at paint party friday.  

i will be posting a pay it forward art exchange in the next few days.

stop by if you are interested.  until then...

have a lovely weekend