Here are some ATC’s from June 2018. I combined painted backgrounds, scraps of drawings I made here and there, and some words. I choose the words at random and I am always surprised to see what sense they make or what story they tell.
I do believe the title of the post says it all. If I did, well, here they are again. The first one is done in acrylics and ink – another one of those where the random paint inspired the next step – and it ends up being a face.
The second one was a little drawing I made some time back in pen and ink, and now I made it into an ATC, because I liked the look of it and didn’t want it to get lost.
Artist trading card, March, 2018.
Art Diary. A weekly wrap-up of art activities. For earlier posts, search under the category Art Diary.
Saturday, October 20 – Last night I did some sofa art/paint color brochure drawings. I started on this large brochure:
I’m creating people in the columns with their various body parts inspired by the paint names. Going to be kind of crazy.
When I’m finished I might cut out the columns and do something with them, or even cut out the squares and mix and match. I’ll have to see what develops.
This afternoon, after a day of doing a lot of errands, I packed up clay for tomorrow’s show. It’s a very nice show, held at a local arboretum, and running from noon to 4 PM, more of an outing than anything else. Which is fine with me. I did the show last year and had a great time. I don’t need to take a lot since the show is such a short one.
Sunday, October 21 – Today we participated in the Insider Art Show and Sale – we are insiders because we are members of the Arboretum. This event, which is very low-key, coincides with the open day for the mill and the Bloomfield Farm side of the arboretum, which are only open once a month.
We arrived, along with our friend John G., in plenty of time to set up. It was a very cold day for this time of year, about 40 degrees F, and with wind gusts of 30 MPH, it was just…cold. We decided not to set up the tent, as did pretty much everyone else, and we used the provided table. They make everything very simple for us here!
I took a quick walk around the education building. It’s designed to be very green, with a green roof and other features. I am always fascinated by how the equipment parking barn…
…looks like this on the other side.
I got my table set up. I did not bring a lot of work to this show. Just enough to fill the table.
Part of the appeal of this show is the demonstrations: Blacksmithing here –
and the ever-popular animals from the local agricultural high school. This year they brought two two-month-old pigs and two sheep. The little pigs ran around like crazy for some time:
and then, worn out, they fell asleep.
The crowds were lighter than usual. The weather was a real impediment.
However, I enjoyed the show – I like talking to the other vendors, as there are some crafts you don’t often see in other shows, and I enjoyed the weaving and woodworking demos… and of course the animals. But I did have to stay all wrapped up all day (shout out to my sister, who made the hat I’m wearing…)
This show was the last one of the outdoor season for me. And I think it’s time to be inside from now on!
Monday, October 22 –Â I finished my sofa art paint brochure last night – I might decorate the photos in it now, don’t know…
In the afternoon, I worked on more Minuscule illustrations.
I notice that my sketch book that I use for making quick estimations for the actual drawings is filling up. What can I do with these little vignettes, I wonder? I’ll set that thought aside for later.
Tuesday, October 23 – More illustrations for my Minuscule book. Guess what – I reached story #75 and so I have a picture for each story. I will scan the remaining images I have in process, put them in the manuscript, and get to work on the overall corrections for the book. Pretty soon I think I will have a finished product! I feel good about this because I’ve been writing the little stories for a year and illustrating for several months. It’s been a project of getting a little done at a time and I’m looking forward to finishing and seeing how my first illustrated book turns out.
Wednesday, October 24 – In the aftermath of finishing the Minuscule work, plus the work I did for Fictive Dream and the September Slam, I’m ready to do a little something different. These two projects were a lot of drawing! I think collage, clay, and painting might be on the table for a little while now. (Then again, if I get an idea and I want to draw it…I can’t be held responsible for what happens next.)
After a project, I like to clean things up and have everything clear. This afternoon I spent some time going over the many, many fragments of drawings and the extra drawings I did for the Minuscule work. I have a LOT of leftover stuff – you may remember that I often made 3-4-5 versions of an illustration before I was happy.
I sorted out scraps and partial drawings and whole drawings and oh look here are some I colored with markers a little while ago…
I put them in envelopes to keep them better organized for when I want to work.
I have a lot of partially done postcards and ATC’s that might fit with some of these items.
And some I think might use in my Large Artist Sketchbook. It all just depends. I also dragged this sketchbook out of the pile – it’s one where I’ve practiced making ink figures, you’ve seen it in the past.
Maybe it might like to be a version of Artist Sketchbook. I added it to the box I’m storing all these pieces in.
But I still have all those little painting things sitting on the table, plus two partially finished paintings, not large, 11″ x 14″. I have a feeling I will be working on these first. If for no other reason to clear the table!
Friday, October 26 – Over the last few weeks and months, I’ve been reflecting on the directions I want to go in my artwork. It is time for change in my art, as there have been many changes in my life, especially in the last three or four months. A cycle is ending and a new one beginning, I feel.
It is all good, don’t get me wrong. I am ready to do some things differently. One decision I’ve made is to stop doing artwork for selling. I am not stopping doing art, and I’m not stopping shows – I’m stopping doing artwork specifically for sale. It’s a matter of how I frame things in my mind as well as the kind of work I do. It’s a form of retirement, I think – but I see it as freeing me to do some things (some of which I haven’t even imagined yet) that I might have restricted myself from in the past.
I hope to spend time on new pursuits out in the world which I think will enhance my art explorations, and I want to do more writing/illustration projects. I have lots to look forward to, I think.
Now for this Diary. I created it to encourage myself to a more disciplined approach to making art – I needed to do a lot of work for my exhibit this summer and to catch up on making clay work. Both of these goals have been met. The Diary’s purpose has fulfilled itself, and so this will be the last edition of the Art Diary with its weekly round up.
You will be able to keep up with my doings, I feel, with my art posts, as always – I will keep you up to date with my projects, images, paintings, clay figurines, shows…you name it, just as I have always been doing.
I have enjoyed chronicling my work in this weekly Diary, but I no longer need or want to do so in this way. It’s important to know when things have served their purpose, I think, and when to move on. Thank all of you for reading it and for all your support and comments.
OK, that’s it! Thank you for coming along with me.
And that extra one is a little weird. Artist trading card, May 2018.
I think this artist trading card is something like the “Thinker” statue, maybe.
But someone is missing a connection here, maybe, is that what the hidden face is trying to say?
Artist trading card, March 2018. Mixed media/drawing/acrylics.
Artist trading card, March, 2018. Stencil technique, outlined in India ink and then in white gel pen.
