Art at Last!

After four months of deciding to move, finding a place, selling the other place, moving, trying to settle into our new home…. I have a studio and I’ve finished a tiny bit of art!

This was a plain gray board with only the lettering on it. I bought it for a narrow space in our bathroom in the old house, with the intent of making it colorful, many months ago. The only thing I had done was the pale aqua wash. Turns out it doesn’t quite work in the space I had planned in the new house, but it’s still in the master bath, opposite the toilet, helping start my day on a bright and positive note.

Here is the before:

Plain plaque with only the aqua wash (it was gray).

Partly done:

Finished:

Tarted up. (Collage, washi tape, acrylic paint)

 

In its place to help start my day.

Chloe felt bad that I wasn’t doing much art, so yesterday she insisted we collaborate. She drew them in Sharpie, and I painted the middle one.

Art by Chloe and Jill, now hanging on her violet wall. (Acrylic and Sharpie.)

One of the best things about our new home is the studio space. Since I share it with a 10-year-old, it’s not very tidy, but there’s enough room for both of us and I have plenty of storage. (Chloe also has a drawing table in her room, but we keep messy work in the studio.)

Studio (that was intended as a utility/mudroom, as far as I can tell). Good natural and artificial light, easy to clean.

Finally, a Finished Painting!

Started last fall, this painting turned out to be tougher than I imaged from the original pastel sketch that inspired it:

“Cosmos,” preliminary sketch, pastel on paper, 12×12

And the holidays got in the way, followed by husband’s surgeries (three) and normal life with a 10-year-old granddaughter, who lives with us, and a dog, and all the other activities that keep me away from art.

The smaller one was also supposed to be a preliminary sketch, but I finished it after working out the color challenges on the large one. The color blending was difficult, especially at the boundary between yellow and violet, which (as I know from art school) are complimentary colors and, when mixed, turn neutral–beige.

“Cosmos 2,” acrylic on canvas, 12×12

The titles are homage to Carl Sagan.

“Cosmos,” acrylic on masonite, 24×24

The paintings are for sale. They are brighter than they photograph. Email me at jillybeans@gmail.com if interested.

Nine Cards from November Swap

Fall’s ihanna swap yielded only nine cards. The ninth, from Italy, took a very long time, so I’m still hopeful number 10 may come from some remote location like Fiji or Australia. Here are the nine:

 

Stitchery from Italy.

 

From Minnesota, a sweet little (real) bag spilling bits of (fake) jewelry.

 

Life questions in a collage from the U.K.

 

Self-portrait in paint and stamps from South Texas. (I digitized her image for her privacy.)

 

Collage seascape from California, one of my all-time favorites.

 

Whimsical collage from Germany.

 

Another from England, an upbeat collage that changes “impossible” to “I’m possible.”

 

A whimsical collection of gerunds in collage, from Sweden.

 

Finally, an amazing little packet from California, tied up in a mesh bow:

 

Fall Postcard Swap

Here are some of the cards I sent in the most recent iHanna swap.

Shiny puffy hearts (water color pencil, glitter paint, paper)

 

Pride of Barbados (marker)

Doodle #25, Flow (water color pencils, glitter paint, paper, marker)

Doodle #24, Sparkle dots (water color pencil, glitter paint, paper) The sparkle dots were added after my granddaughter accidentally splashed some sparkle paint on it.

I addition, I sent several that were variations on the Skybluepink poem in the last post, except that I used several photos of a real sunrise we had recently.

I’ll post images of the cards I receive after they’ve all arrived. So far I have two.

 

Skybluepink poem and postcard X4

The title that my poetry group liked was “Something Else My Mother Was Wrong About,” but I decided it was too snarky and kind of like the invented run-together word.

All are water color with type on a vellum overlay. I’d love feedback on your favorite version. If you’d like one, send your mailing address to jillybeanswiggins@gmail.com. International requests are welcome.

 

More B(loom)!

I posted B(l)oom a while ago, and decided to do a series, working square this time.

B(l)oom 2, acrylic, 12″x 12″

 

B(l)oom 3, acrylic, 12″ x 12″ (This is my favorite)

 

B(l)oom 4 (tropical), acrylic.12″ x 12″

These pieces are for sale, $50 each or $125 for the series. Email me if you are interested: jillybeanswiggins@gmail.com.

Cool Cards from the May Swap

A little behind after travel and the granddaughter finishing the school year, I’ve scanned the postcards I received in this spring’s iHanna swap.

Marieke, Netherlands (made with hand-dyed fabric):

Kristen, California:

Dori, Iowa:

Valerie, U.S. location unknown (the card was damaged and the postmark unreadable):

Anna, Sweden:

Anke, Germany:

Pam, North Dakota:

Cynthia, Florida:

Sandra, UK:

Carol, Nebraska:

The Swap is On!

After I received the list of people to send cards to in the latest ihanna swap, I addressed and stamped all my completed cards–then got sick and didn’t get them mailed out on time. But they’re all on their way now (and I’m still trying to recover from one of the worst flu-type + intestinal viruses I’ve ever had. And now my poor hubby has it.)

These went to Sweden, the U.K. (2), Israel, California, Mississippi, New York State, Illinois, Maryland and Missouri.

Red Poppy Happy (collage)

 

 

Sundrops (acrylic on canvas paper)

 

Spring Morning Blunn Creek (water color)

 

Mood Swing (water color)

 

Mood Swing II (water color)

 

Invitation to Summer (collage)

 

Texas Spring/Summer (acrylic, collage)

 

Cry Wolf (collage, based on “The Wolf is on the Hill” from the Beck Song Reader)

 

Bird, bee and flowers (collage)

 

 

B(l)oom

Only one painting again last week. Actually there was another, but it was a graduation gift (a 4×4-inch canvas, requested by the grad’s mom, so that the young woman will have a sort of “quilt” of small canvases to take to school). I neglected to shoot a picture of it, but it’s a lot like this one, and will be A.’s own private piece of art.

This is the first of a series of “B(l)oom” (A’s little painting is “B(l)oom” zero) the title being a play on “bloom” and “boom,” take your pick (or do both). The next will be on square canvas as I continue to explore my longtime love for explosive color.

B(l)oom, 8×10″, acrylic

Must get back to finishing some cards for the postcard swap that starts May 1.

Some I Have to Keep

I’ve been working on post cards for the iHanna swap in May, but sometimes I make one that I can’t bear to part with.

There is a tree outside a window that reflects beautiful leaf shadows and apricot light on our living room wall when the sun reaches it. I took a photo, then tried to render it in a way that captured the magic of that ephemeral light.

After it was finished, I decided to mat it and found the perfect yellow frame, so now it hangs on the wall near the spot where the actual light comes in. I used a vellum overlay, inking in the branches and filling in the color with water color. That is laid over another layer of water color underneath, which I think gives it more depth. The “happy accident” that happens in art is that the ink, which I thought was permanent, ran when I painted in the water color. It blurred the edges a little, just as they are in the photo, even though it was unintentional.

Apricot morning light (ink and water color on vellum over water color on paper)

Here is the photo of the actual image.