A sun or moon in the sky is a favorite recurring theme of mine. Here are postcards from March 2018 that show you some more examples of sun or moon (even I don’t always know which is which, or maybe, both at the same time?)
The postcards from March and April 2018 were made from little sketches that I took out of the various notebooks I’ve got going. I have paper in every bag or purse I have and I draw in all kinds of circumstances, with no order or theme.
I cut out sketches I liked and added to them to make these postcards. The postcards are from spring 2018, as I said, but the sketches themselves, well, they could go a couple of years back. You can see I also added more sketching, such as the audience for the band concert, in some cases. That was fun, to extend the story the original sketch was telling.
I have always loved tags, can’t tell you why. Here are a couple of tag people talking.
Postcard, 3/18.
Here are some postcards done in pen and ink. I added some color to a couple of these, too, with markers.
They were done in March 2018.
Two postcards depicting space people. Two different kinds of space people. I imagine there are lots more varieties of beings out there in the cosmos, but these are the ones who let me make a picture of them.
Postcards from February and April, 2018.
I like to take real-world images from magazines and add drawn elements to them. I also like to take drawn elements and set them into a painted background. I also like to put the drawn elements into a background and then figure out what is supposed to be going on.
Oh dear, you see how quickly things get away from you.
These postcards were done in March 2018.
Art Diary. A weekly wrap-up of art activities. For earlier posts, search under the category Art Diary.
Art is out in the world.
Saturday, May 19, and Sunday, May 20 – We were at the Tile Fest all weekend – you saw the set up on Friday. Here’s a little wrap up.
Saturday was a miserable day, weather-wise. It rained all day, and much of it came in downpours that pounded the tent roof. It was also chilly and really just…miserable uncomfortable.
I made one trip to the bathroom through the rain and came back soaked; I had to change my shoes and socks (Note: always take extra clothes to a show. Always). Since we have had a lot of rain recently, the ground is saturated and the water ran down the hill through the tent when the deluge got heavier (you see the straw put on the ground to soak up mud). You also can see everyone wearing coats and long pants. Show attendance was light and sales followed suit.
Two bright spots. All of us vendors are friendly with each other, having come to this show for years, and newcomers get gathered right in. We support each other and make jokes about the weather and so on. It helps.
Number two – the show organizers have the tradition of putting on a really nice dinner on Saturday night – this year we ate inside the Tiles Works building. It allows us to relax and talk to fellow vendors, and the food is always good. We all really appreciate this consideration, and this year it cheered us all up after a pretty long day.
Sunday, the weather really improved! Sunny and about eighty degrees.
I’m showing you the bathroom building. It’s made of concrete, like the Tile Works and Fonthill, Henry Mercer’s home, which is a short walk away. Anyway, it’s like a little cave of a building, and it always makes me laugh.
Attendance was better on Sunday and we were all more comfortable.
But I think the show’s momentum, for me, and for others, too, never really recovered. I believe that Saturday is generally a more active and buying day, and we lost that with the weather. I’ve had better sales years, but, overall, I was satisfied. Plus, I stress, this show means a lot to me in meeting fellow tile makers, renewing friendships, and just being in a show where people care about each other.
When it was time to pack up, we did so, and got on the road home. The orange cooler is the marker for where we spent the weekend.
Monday, May 21 – How this week will go is an unknown for me – I’ll be getting over being gone all this last weekend and then getting ready for the long show coming up. Here is a postcard I made and sent last week. The story is, my friend Steve sent me the card with a space drawn in it, saying – Make art here. So I did, and then I kept on going. I sent the card back to him last week but I thought I’d show it (hoping it has made it to his house by now!)
I used to exchange a lot of mail art. Not much now, but I see it happening again in my future. And, if you happen to read this and want to send me something, I will send back, yes I will.
Tuesday, May 22 – Odds and ends and then some inspiration. That was today.
First, I took some tiles I had set aside from the show. Let me explain – there is nothing wrong with these tiles. I like them ok. But seeing them in my display, well, I just wasn’t loving them, and I don’t like to exhibit or sell things I don’t love.
Sometimes people buy these things before I remove them, that’s ok. People often like pieces that I don’t, because my attitude toward a piece is not necessarily how “good” I think it is. It’s hard to explain my criteria, let’s leave it at that.
Once I’ve decided an item is not up to par, it is doomed, in its present state. If it’s a painting, well, it may get a remake or be entirely obliterated for a new start. Tiles, not so easy. They are what they are.
Anyway, I pulled these out, marked out my name on the back, gave them new names, and voila! Art to be left out somewhere in the world. I think I always knew I was making these items for this purpose, and trying to sell them never felt right. OK. Rebalancing things.
Note: I like that flower tile a lot, but, it is the last one of a group, and they never get the attention they deserve in a show. As take-away art, they are on stage alone – the star.
I’ve also been itching to paint, and I’ve had the idea of making something big and colorful and abstract. No theme, no idea, just paint and see what goes. I got hold of the largest board I have right now, 24″ x 20″ (wish it had been twice that size, a size I never do, but somehow that idea appealed to me…but anyway, this is what was on hand).
I gessoed it black. And I also pulled out some of those 6″ x 6″ squares to use up extra paint (I anticipated a frenzy of painting, you can see). I chose 2 each of black and white gesso.
All right. Here is what I ended up with at the end of the afternoon. The large painting:
The small ones.
OK, I feel better now. I’ll let these sit and see what happens next to them.
Last thing today – I have this page in my current Large Artist Sketchbook to work on, if I want to, maybe tonight while I watch TV. It is certainly a conglomeration hoping to cohere…
Wednesday, May 23 – I worked some more on this painting. I think it is close to being finished, that’s what I said at the end of the afternoon.
I also arranged some more of those 6″ x 6″ small boards on my table, two gessoed white, two black. This time I painted random colors and shapes on the surfaces, the same for each color, two different sets. Take a look.
Now you see what a difference the gesso color makes. With the white, I will need to do more layers just to cover the white. The black, different story, the color is richer from the start. I have the feeling I will be using this black gesso a lot.
Later I’ll do something with these boards. For now, I was just wondering what the results would be.
I finished this page in my current Large artist sketchbook. I have been hanging on to this page for some time. Done! Now I have only one more page left in this book. What do you know about that. I was surprised myself.
Later in the evening, I had the larger painting upstairs for me to study, and suddenly I had to do some more work to it. Here it is:
I think this painting is done. Or maybe not. In any case, done enough for me to paint its edges and take it to the show tomorrow? Yes, I think so. Now I’ll stop writing and get that little task done – plus load the car and so on for tomorrow. Thank you for reading.
OK, that’s it for this week! Thank you for coming along with me.
