Montserrat Orange + Peonies

Remember the rainbow spectrum of luscious oil paints I received for my bridal shower?

I made something with them! It was a long overdue painting for our super talented wedding photographers Ashley and Philip Colhouer. The first attempt didn't work out how I wanted it to, which led to the delay.

I thought something graphic and sweet would be perfect for their adorable little girl. Here are the progress shots leading up to the most final image. I'm tempted to go into it one more time, I think that it's a little flat, but overall, I feel that it's finished.

Oil paints are really wonderful. It's like painting with butter.

I think I'll consider this finished. I don't want to delay more, and don't want to mess it up.

I like how writing makes you feel more confident about your endeavors over time.

Color Study No. 1

The summer before I met Mike, I had fully intended to try oil painting. It's one of the mediums I have not really tested out. The not being able to use water issue seemed hard to wrap my mind around at the time, especially to someone who mainly works in water based mediums. Then I started dating a painter, and became friends with an astonishing number of painters. Hearing about their trials and errors with oil paint, along with the level of expertise that came with years of practice ended up deterring me in some way. It felt so foreign, that I stuck to other mediums that felt more familiar.

As I've been painting and drawing more, and want to try new things, I'm thinking of trying out oil paints once more. Using oil based inks for gocco printing and linocut seems much easier to comprehend now. Months ago, when I told Mike I didn't know where to start with oils, he suggested I try some color studies. That sounded like a good idea, so I filed it in my brain and carried it around to revisit later.

One day in February, I returned from work and the light was just setting as I stepped into my apartment. It made the room glow pink and orange, and there were pieces of sunbeam littered throughout the apartment. If there were a day to capture some color, this seemed like the day to start. I tried to get the color of the pink shadows, and the sunlight shining through my now almost dead begonia.

So I did. I decided to make a 5" x 7" color study, and to try to focus on the colors and isolate the shades to communicate what I had seen. I decided not to try to overthink it, so that it did not become a chore. I'll keep the format the same, and it will probably stay pretty true to horizontal rectangles of color on a vertical frame. It's helpful to have some limitations in my opinion. Endless possibilities can seem paralyzing sometimes. Anyone else ever feel that way?

I will only paint colors that I see on the same day, but can use whatever medium and will try to keep it loose.

I want to have a goal of how many to make. I'm at about thirteen right now, but am still deciding how many I want to create. One hundred seems too small, five hundred too large, and I'm partial to odd numbers.

So far, I'm enjoying this project, and am finding myself noticing the small bits of color, even if it is a piece of trash on my sad little sidewalk. It's also forcing me to practice mixing colors instead of just using ones that I have, even if they nearly match.

Oil paints will be used, that's a promise. (wink)

I wished it could stay wet, but that's not what watercolors do!

Color on My Mind

I can't stop thinking about shades of turquoise, grey, fluorescent yellow, blush toned pinks, and warm purples. I even cleaned up my studio wall and just hung up these felt squares to get them out of my head.



Okay, and hot pink, ugly-pretty shades of green and mauvey purples.



Color study projects are in the works. The thoughts just need to finish stewing.

Pink + Orange

In the last apartment we lived in, we repainted every room. The ceilings were around 16 feet high, so this was no easy task. There was cobalt teal, purple, green, and a bathroom called "Oriental Orange" which was realistically Glow in the Dark Pylon Orange. (It looked slightly better than it sounds...) After repainting it all white when we moved out, I decided that I would not paint until I had my own home. I got burnt out on making it mine, and leaving it.



After almost 3 years in my current apartment, I've been slowly getting over this. I'm not repainting the place or buying a couch or anything, but I'm beginning to care again. Like my favorite style guru's Stacy and Clinton, it's time to invest in myself. That means enjoying my surroundings, and ironing my clothes like a grown up!



Mike was in Indiana this week, so I took some time to do my quarterly cleaning out of the closet to donate and trash. I organized, I repotted the houseplants, and even bought a flat file at Ikea for my studio area. It's a simple start, but is making me really happy.

I bought these magazine holders in plain white, and thought I'd enhance them a bit. I painted with acrylic paints for the first time in nearly 11 years. 11 years. Watercolor and inks are not the same. There's that meditative quality of making these marks with paint. I think I need to raid Mike's oil paints afterall...



I mixed some different pinks and oranges that would go well together, and created a pattern on the one side to make them go together. I love lots of shades of similar colors. When we do get hitched (probably next summer), I'm telling the gals to wear different shades like this. Because isn't one color just boring? (wink)



If it hadn't been for the gorgeous weather, the Art Star craft fair, bike rides and an invitation to my friend's pool, I don't think I would have left my house!