Acrylic Ink Sketches

June 30, 2008

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Doing some sketches for new ideas. I love using these acrylic inks by Daler-Rowney, especially the pearlescent ones. And who could resist with great names for colors like Waterfall Green, Galactic Blue, or Hot Mama Red?

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Filed Under drawings, mixed media, painting, process | 3 Comments 

Open Space, New Projects and Fear

June 28, 2008

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When I redid my office, I wanted a blank slate — with big project tables and open space to think up new projects. Then I saw a documentary about the architecture of a traditional Japanese house, and I understood what I had been striving for. There is no assigned function for rooms. The objects that are brought into the space define the function of the space.

Here’s one of my project tables, a little cluttered, but flexible space to work. Glass shelves held up by glass bricks, a piece of rusty metal for a magnet board. I’m thinking about painting the wall with magnetic paint (actually it’s not magnetic, it just makes the wall metallic so that magnets stick to it. Anyone tried that stuff?) But I don’t want to hang art on it. I like the white wall, like cloud, like a dream that hasn’t yet developed.

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On the other project table, I’ve brought in a small pin board to study my research. The internet is great for research, I especially am loving Flickr for inspirational photos. Photos like this or these. I don’t copy the photos into my art, only use them as inspiration for things to draw.

Working with new ideas is fun, exciting, but also scary. I wonder if I can really make my crazy ideas work… they seem pretty good in my head, but when I try to write about them or make them real, not sure how well that’s going to work.

Filed Under Inspiration, process, studio | 3 Comments 

Postcards from the Past

June 27, 2008

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These are some old postcards from my collection that have always intrigued me. I’ve always been fascinated by old monuments and far-away places, so I’m excited to get started on a new series…Today!!

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Filed Under Inspiration | 2 Comments 

ThreadLines 2008 deadline approaches

June 5, 2008

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It’s fun to get snail mail these days when most everything comes by email. The best part is looking at all the beautiful stamps and interesting postmarks.

The entries are starting pile up for the ThreadLines 2008 exhibition. Tomorrow should be another heavy day for the mailman, since it’s the final deadline. I told him not to worry, next week should be much lighter. He said he still likes our building best, because it has a friendly dog.

Do you recognize your stamps?

Filed Under exhibitions | 4 Comments