Gadgets and Faces

Today...

I thought I would tackle a face....my face... since it was giving me so many issues the other day....

why give up?   I am the determined type... :)

I'm not sure why I decided to be so whimsical with the hair....just went with it.

..and just to make things fun...I remembered a little watercolor gadget-thing that I had put off to the side...in my art box.... 

thought I'd bring it out and....

here it is...you can load the reservoir with watercolor and it acts kind of like a watercolor pen/brush...

Kinda fun....but filling it...I just dumped the mixed watercolor water in there and lost about half of it...because I couldn't be bothered to figure out a better way...

and then I loaded it with a purple color...I had no real intention of using (lack of planning)....it just looked pretty.

I loaded the finer brush with a bright yellow....still not my first choice, but I figured...why not.  

sometimes interesting things happen when you are stuck with limited choices.... you make due...and sometimes really cool things evolve.

so...hey....purple and yellow....I can work with that.  why not.


So I started...doing really cool things with the yellow.

and once in a while...just to surprise me and add fun water marks....the pen/brush unloaded drops of color...     I liked it...


                               I went with it.

and then continuing...layers and layers...

and towards the end....I started to use the purple....  (both flat brushes and round ones were used).

and then....that was today's painting....that took about an hour or so....

shot clock....

have little ones waiting.

and so.....

Peace


and

<3

Green Bottles

a gathering of colors for the painting in this post....



the other day... I walked by my favorite green bottles outside on the table.  sun...shining through them...all mesmerizing and brilliantly green...

Here is the picture again...I posted it somewhere else as well...but here it is....

This picture inspired me....to paint.  

The shadows....all illuminated with green watercolor-like marks on the wood....amazing.  

the green is so soothing and lovely in this picture... 

So then....

I got started....

and then.....

and then hoping for some cool effect...I threw a bunch of salt on the paper and continued to layer....

But...not really liking that....salt can be really cool or it can be too much... 

(also, alcohol can make some cool effects)

:) 

I tried to remove some of the salt...

and...I know I still have more to do to these bottles....but I'm happy with them for now... all light...and sparkly and lovely bright green.  

and actually....

the picture is pretty cool too....just like this...

I'm sure this is something I'll try to paint again...  it's just....so many things that could be done to this...maybe next time...more abstract....less is more kinda thing.  

I'm sure we walk by things all the time...things we should just stop and soak in...   


Peace....

and 

ripples of love...and inspiration... 

  

Me

Oh...

right...



Maybe I should introduce myself a bit...the person behind the stuff here...all this stuff...art, philosophy, life, linguistics...stuff.

and so.....

 My name is Kelly...I have a PhD in Linguistics...and recently I've gone back to painting... a lot...so you will see my projects here...as I progress through them and share my process.


thank goodness for digital music...and no more CD cases.  :)

I am your CD collection's worst nightmare... Bob Marley is in The Cure...is in the Smiths...is in...Crowded House...is in...some soundtrack to some movie I only like one song on....is in....and so on...and so on...

I know....  that is completely adorable...and doesn't drive anyone crazy.   I think it's a great way to sharpen the memory...and totally get surprised when you open U2 and maybe English Beat appears.  It is a pleasant surprise...  :)  and maybe I didn't really want to listen to U2 anyways.

I also like to memorize all the bulk food numbers...I never write them down...just to test my memory.  and impress the cashiers when I can list them all...because at first they look at the bag and...ya- I know...they're thinking "god...she didn't write the number down....what the fuck"  and then...VOILA! I say..."umm, ya- the number is 1116...bam..."  that's right...I memorized it.  take that.


I always have music playing...dancing...singing....playing guitar....painting...thinking of ways I can create every single day... thinking of books to write and illustrate...linguistics research on intonation...loving people around me...and making people smile...random acts of kindness...no longer trying to figure out the meaning of life...because...it is really quite simple.  it's just love.   and that is all.


just making an impact on the world as a tiny happy ripple....  
  

:)  

so anyway...

I guess that's all you need to know for now...    



peace....  and <3 

colors...and water

In between painting flower petals for my cherry blossom paintings...I've been doing other watercolors....



I haven't really painted people...a lot....I'm not sure why.... but... so lately I've been painting... people...meaning...me.   Just playing with color...and shape...and maybe I'll work up to other parts too...like faces.  You really have to nail a face....especially if people know who it is...if you don't get the face right...it just looks completely wrong.   At least these parts are more forgiving... and yes...this is me.

and just like in the other one ( I like this one better)... I used the flat brush..I love that thing.

Here are some close-ups to see the brush strokes.

and here you can see all the layers close up...and the sketch marks...I love to leave in my pencil marks...and...I also like to leave a lot of white of the paper in my watercolors.


Here is a close-up of the other side.

and voila....there it is...   




as always...


peace and love.   <3  

Light and Art...Cherry Blossoms (the sequel)

HI.  

                                    I hope that this painting is not like most sequels...

Now that I kind of feel like I have a handle on the small painting... I'm going to jump into the large one...


                                            because....that's what I do.  I jump into stuff...excited for the awesome potential of this next painting.  and why not jump into stuff?   jump...  :) skip the planning.  :)  you can't plan for everything anyway.

Things I wanted to change about the small one...I'm going to do in the large one... or ones...I have two large canvases just begging to be painted on.  Begging.


One thing I wanted to change for this next big one, was the amount of painting done in the previous attempt.  I felt like I totally over-painted it...because I was having fun painting...and I got a little out of control.

I want to preserve watercolor marks...and streaks...and all the beautiful variations the paint makes on a stretched canvas... I want them to shine...I want this to feel very....simple...and transparent.

and my new favorite color...as mentioned before is some kind of cool iodine-ish pigment...that has a warning on the label- which was just brought to my attention....that it contains something in it that has been identified in the state of California to cause cancer....mmmmm...bummer.

and also...something that I don't normally do...is to use a flat brush.  something....I am really getting into...

so my two new best friends.... that weird gold-ish- iodine color...and this flat brush.

I also want to talk about the watercolor below....

I totally used my flat brush on this watercolor....and I love the brush strokes...and the overlapping of color...seeing the broad brush strokes....reminds me of gluing and layering strips of tissue paper...which would be totally fun to do...all transparent...and playing with colors interacting...hmmmm.  I might just have to do this again...with tissue paper...that would be fun...and a bit experimental...huh.  yup....I'm totally gonna do that.


                                     ** oh man.... I just got a ton of ideas...all at once. **
                                             

I also love how using the edge of the brush makes a really cool point...on the strands of hair...I'm pretty much just using this 3/4 inch flat brush for everything lately...

I also love the splashes of yellow...that just makes it....awesome.



and here is my painting company...

Blue...the puppy.

As with the other post...I will update this painting as I progress....   :)


July 28th....

still working out the branches...this is one of the large canvases.

I took off all the masking fluid....and good thing I did....because the masking fluid on the other one- well...I'm having problems with it...I might have to get all...chemical on its stubborn orange ass.

Now...ready to cut out more flower petals.  :)

This is me... all happy with the results of the day....it is a great feeling to make progress.  smiling and happy with something going right.... what a satisfied feeling...thank you flat brush.. :)  you rock.

Next thing I gotta do is get some lights going so I can see the effect as I build the flowers around the light space.  I can't wait to hit the canvas with the light.... can't wait.






peace...and love...and all that.  

Love

Maybe it's the venti iced latte talking....and I'm taking a break from cutting out flower petals... 



Today is filled with LOVE... and cherry blossoms. 


Here goes.... 


                                                   LOVE YOURSELF.  




I'm not going to get too....like....crazy here...but...I think I realize now...the importance of this... loving yourself thing.  It is pretty important... 


You are a rock star....do rock star things.  I'm not talking about burning mattresses...I'm talking about letting your soul burn...ignite...set yourself on fire....be weird....do weird stuff (my son wore his Nemo costume to the grocery store....why not?)  

You have this one life...   hit it.  


                              Do something different today... because....why the hell not?  


(below is my...why the hell not...seriously...it is liberating doing 'why the hell not' things)  

Look at yourself and just fill yourself with LOVE...when you love yourself...you send that energy out...and that's the greatest thing you can do... :)   

Oh...Hi.  I love you, because you kick ass.   

and this is not narcissism...this is pure....love...and self appreciation...so that you can spread love all around you...it is totally necessary...mandatory.  

appreciate the crap out of yourself...and surround yourself with others who rock and appreciate the crap out of themselves.  

I think sometimes...people get too busy to just give themselves the attention they need.  

I know... it is easy to say....LOVE YOURSELF...but how can you do this?  

especially....sometimes it is hard to love yourself...like when it's summer...and you smell like a dirty pirate hooker...and can't stand your own smell....

do it anyway...  :)  love all of you.... your smell...your curves...everything...because...it feels so much better than anything else...and it's the greatest thing you can do for yourself.  

Things to do: 

1.  Kick ass
2.  love yourself
3.  share your kick-ass things with the world- because you are amazing and have amazing talents to share.  
4.  take care of yourself and your needs....others can wait a bit...because you are always making time for others- you need to give yourself some attention.  :)  


Let yourself ROCK your life...and give yourself permission to honor your needs.    

Like right now... 

                            now. now.   


I need to paint...and spread some love.  

and soon...

I will be back to cutting out flower petals...



just...

love yourself.   

that is all. 

and smile.... and eat chocolate... but stay way from jalapeño cheetos ...those things are laced with crack *you have been warned.   


#cheetos
#chocolate
#selflove
#germanyrocks 

Art and Light...breakthrough

Ok...


So...I left my painting today....kinda of discouraged...and now...I'm working on a breakthrough...


At least I am working through these technical issues with the small one...so I can learn when I hit the large canvases.   (note to self...buy masking fluid-don't use glitter glue....ever.)

So...this next stage will require me to create a whole bunch of cut out cherry blossoms...


which in itself is a technical challenge.

These took about 10 minutes to paint...just a quick sketch.  I'm not sure I'm ready to paint these x 16 for each painting...  :)  plus cutting them out with an Xacto.  The adventure continues.


July 23, 8:00 a.m.

just working some things out... cherry blossom research.  :)

July 23, 3:30 p.m.

maybe "breakthrough" was spoken too soon.  I have been having the hardest time with this thing...

Here is the latest....transformation...

I think it's time to take off the masking fluid and figure out the next step.   This small one is a total practice canvas....and if it doesn't work out...I'll just recycle the canvas and do something else with it. Total learning experience...I've been trying to work out this concept for awhile...

The original piece of art I saw...apparently was metal- with cut out metal flowers....and since i'm not using metal...i'm having a hard time getting the effect I want.   hmmmmmm.


July, 23...4:13 p.m.

Ok...so now....I'm thinking about getting totally experimental on this canvas....yes....things are about to get real....

crazy....

I'm thinking....some kind of modeling gel....and.... yes.  I'm gonna break out the gel and the titanium white....

I know....

July 23, 8:53 p.m.

and...the latest...I still have to work out the size of the petals and more details but....things are turning around...

I took the sheet of watercolor watermarks and cut them into petals... just playing around right now...nothing is committed...but....  here:

Like I said....things have turned around....I'm totally not finished yet...but....I am much happier with the direction things are going...

yes.... 

and it is always fun just rubbing off the masking fluid.  

July 24, 4:00 p.m. 

Here is a close up of what the petals will start looking like- the previous picture had petals that were too big...and now...I'm using an Xacto blade to cut out the stamen of the blossoms- and add extra opportunities for light to shine through.  :)

I am hoping the next time I post....I will have a LOT MORE petals cut out...and I won't cut myself- and bleed all over them.




Peace... and wish me luck.

<3

New Project...light and art...the process

So...

I am starting a new project....and I will update this blog showing the progress of it...  :)



To start...I like art that has many functions...pottery is awesome because you can use it every single day...and it brings some beauty into your life.

Paintings are great...and make a place look pretty...but it's also nice if they can work a little as well....after hours.  :)

enter.....

light installations.

Paintings are great on a wall during the day...but what about when the lights go out?  What about then?    I sound like a salesperson....I am going to stop that right now.


First step....practicing...

Cherry Blossoms.

ok...done.



next step...

Planning...the planning stage is the stage...that I loathe...it kills my creative momentum sometimes...

I do not like to prep rooms for painting walls...I will avoid this...and when I do it...it is a horrible mess of tape....

I do not like to wrap gifts....I am horrible at it from the first fold of the paper...and again...it is a horrible mess of tape...and folding.

I usually just want to jump into the thing and figure it out as I go.  I have an idea in my head...of this project...

and most times...the jumping into it...and then figuring it out thing...produces something so amazing...that I wouldn't have wanted to plan what I was thinking in the beginning....that the road to get there morphed my ending to something...utterly....exquisite.   So...anyways...the take away....go with the flow and be flexible...being set on one direction is incredibly limiting.   :)

I'm excited...

and I will post the getting there....here.

Where was I?

oh yes....the Planning stage... or rather....time to percolate and anticipate the jumping in moment...



----------------

The jumping in....

Sunday...July 20, around 1:47 pm.

my office....under the threat of sprinkles....but painting outside is just the best....

the canvas is 36 x 48.

I don't really care where....as long as my canvas lays flat against somewhere...

natural light...and feeling the sunshine and the breeze is...sublime.  

That is half the battle...sitting down in front of a canvas in a dedicated space.  

Now...

to jump in....

and commit.  

The branches are going in today...to get a feel for the space and start planning the attack of the masking fluid.  I love putting on the neon orange of the masking fluid.  LOVE IT.


July 20, around 2:10 pm....and....I'm out of masking fluid...shoot.

guess I will have to wait until tomorrow to get more....

This is a total example of jumping in with no plan....

-  I ran out of masking fluid- which totally makes me stop...which is a good thing.  now I can sit back and percolate some more....

this totally makes me evaluate and react to what I just did.  I had no plan- so I just kinda started applying the fluid- listening to music and just going with the brush strokes.

and wherever the masking fluid is...that's where the canvas will be without paint...and the light can shine through.   I haven't totally worked this out...so- I'm happy to have this bright orange all over the painting so I can figure out how much light I want...and where... once dry- the masking fluid just rubs off...

and it may look like a huge mess of chaos right now...but...that isn't what I see.  I see the awesomeness that will come later...that is my determined goal.  :)


and.... to percolate....this is the part where I really gotta start dealing with and working out the technical issues.  If I stay here too long...I have a canvas sitting in the basement covered in masking fluid for months.


July 21, 12:30 pm.


Back..with more masking fluid...and more canvases...


I am going to work on the two 36 x 48 canvases and a smaller 30 x 30 canvas...

masking fluid... applied.

and now...I have to go rescue a dragonfly from the trampoline screen.   I am a super hero....


--------------

I am back to the blog updates...having just saved this dragonfly from death and despair.  He is enormous!

Anyways....

Back to the painting.  I have three canvases covered in masking fluid...I'm not sure I have covered them to my liking...and I might need to get more masking fluid- or maybe I am procrastinating...and getting nervous for the next jumping in point.

I need to work out what style I'm going to commit too in the next stage...and I also want to go get the lighting figured out so I can see what the blossoms will look like.

I also bought some paint for this project today....

I love this Golden stuff that acts more like watercolor than acrylic.   It is smooth...and translucent and bleeds like watercolor.  I am a big fan.  I want the painting to have a lot of watercolor qualities...so I need to be really careful about how much paint to use...because- although it runs like watercolor...it does not layer like it...and so- when I get a cool "watermark"  I need to leave it alone...I can't keep applying paint on top.  This project is going to go incredibly fast once I start painting...there is no room for fu*king with it...


July 22, about 1:30 pm

The arsenal:

Before I start...it's really bugging me that I have no more masking fluid...and I just want to add a little bit more....crap....hmmmmm.  what to use......hmmmmmm.

It turns out....this glitter glue....not a good option.  I thought it would rub off....being crappy kid's glue.   and it turns out.....ummm...no.  

Moving on....and learning.  If you want masking fluid...just buy the damn masking fluid.  

And I'm ready to start..although I have no idea what's going to happen.  I discovered that instead of buying burnt sienna...I picked up something that looks like it...in the bottle....easy mistake...in a hurry with kids...

and it turns out...

it is amazing....kind of bright like iodine.  :)

and now.... to start.

It looks pretty cool so far....

and then....


Things took a turn....

This is absolutely not where I want to go with this...but it is a necessary step.  Sometimes things get worse....before the brilliant breakthrough... I'm waiting for the brilliant breakthrough...

it will come....

I am sure of it...


Check back with fingers crossed.


What needs to happen to this is....time...patience...and a whole lotta determination...  :)  I got this...