Shapes and Blobs

"Here's to finding peace in the act of redefining success.Here's to finding true, fulfilling joy in simply being present to what is good and beautiful in this life." Morgan Harper Nichols

Last evening I sat at my table in front of my big window and painted as rain and thunder was rumbling outside. We've gotten quite a bit of much needed rain so it was a welcome sound....and I do love a good thunderstorm.

It was a good reminder of how relaxing watercoloring can be.  Just simple shapes and blobs with no particular plan in mind other than winding down my day. Just what I needed.

And today I played with circles for ICAD #24.  

The background was done on the gelli plate and the connecting circles were cut from painted papers. 

Just Because

The Voice 
by Shel Silverstein

There is a voice inside of you
That whispers all day long,
"I feel that this is right for me,
I know that this is wrong."
No teacher, preacher, parent, friend
Or wise man can decide
What's right for you - just listen to
The voice that speaks inside.

My inner voices are whispering about this and that right now. I'm hearing more questions than answers...but I'm listening.

I found a vintage book at a thrift store that had fabulous cursive writing and nice thick pages....and I recently discovered that it took watercolor really well.  I used a swatch of it yesterday on my card....and decided I would cut some strips today for a simple weaving.  

I set up the warp on a piece of foam core as wide as my index card using straight pins....and weaved in plain word pages.      

After gluing it onto the card I added a few stitched X's....just because.  

ICAD #23...soft and simple. 

Begin

I have been savoring the end of this color spectrum puzzle. Even though it's all solid colors....it's surprisingly doable. I've worked from top to bottom and have just two rows left.  

I'll take my time to finish this one before I head out of town. Then when I get back I'll get to begin another one! 

As I look at this photo I'm kind of chuckling because I still haven't put something in the fabulous frame Clarke gave me. 

I started this card yesterday...but didn't finish. I wasn't sure I liked it....I thought I might abandon it and start over. It started with a green gelli print background...where I added circles cut from one of Melodee's napkins. I added more paint and marks that just didn't seem to be working yesterday....and I didn't even take a photo.

But this morning I decided to just go with it and make it work. I scribbled around the napkin circles....whitewashed some of the negative space and added a butterfly focal point.  Now it's ICAD #21.

And today....I took another one of the chunks from my fern prints...and made a simple quilty collage with some unexpected accent colors.

Just begin. Then finish it up and move on. 

Circle Play

Today is the first official day of summer....and boy did it feel like. It got up to 93 degrees today...and the dew point was a soupy 74. Paul and I stayed tucked inside most of the day....even for happy hour. 

But rain lilies love the heat and humidity....lots of new buds coming!

I pick this wispy little bouquet every year...goat's beard and coralbell.  

They bloom at the same time and make such a whimsical and pretty combination.  

This little garden at the end of the rock wall is kind of wild.  It transitions into the woods...so I don't want it to be as manicured as the rest....and it's where the goat's beard lives. 

That round piece of driftwood is on of my favorite found objects...that story is here: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2018/11/found-object.html 

Dotty posted an art piece that she did while on vacation that was inspired by the watercolor circles I painted for ICAD day 7.....and that tickles me.  In her next post...Dotty referred to this "backdoor art"...when you use an idea from another artist as inspiration and make it your own. We all do it....and Dotty have batted ideas back and forth a few times.

I absolutely LOVE Dotty's watercolor circle play! 

The colorful circles are loose and playful...and the wonky outlines paired with the touches of print are just the right touch. They almost have a childlike cartoon quality to them...which is something that is hard for me to do.

They kind of remind me of my watercolor cranberry thank you note where I added text and snippets from a catalog.

It's one of my favorite cards that I've made....so I think it's pretty clear that I need to do more circle play! And..work on being a little more loose.

Dotty's circles inspired me to go right through the backdoor and revisit my ICAD #7.

I outlined the circles and added some text. It probably could use more text...but already it's SO much better!  Thanks Dotty!

ICAD #20 is a little patchwork quilt of cutouts from recent gelli prints. In hindsight...I wish I would have stitched in black for interest. It's just so so.

But it was a few minutes of cutting and stitching....and that's a good thing.

Patience

With just a day and a half of pressing....the other two ferns I collected at the pond were stiff enough and dry enough to play with on the gelli plate. I wish I would have had that third one to add to the mix...but I had fun with these two little guys today.

I used the "go to" blue/green color palette and made a whole row of prints. And this isn't even all of them.

My favorite print came from one of my favorite tried and true techniques. I rolled a subtle ombre of greens and blues....and with the paper taped to the table at the top....carefully lifted the paper and pulled the ferns off...then put the paper right back down to fill in the white spaces with the ghost print. 

It's not the best composition...but I intend to cut it up.

....and the pieces and parts are excellent!

I love that I was able to get some definition of the insect holes and negative spaces. It's amazing what you can get when you're patient...paint in the light of day...wear your glasses...and use a reasonable amount of paint!

This one was just using up paint...and I added the circles in the corners just to fill in the spaces. I used a junk sheet to start with...so there's a lot of yummy texture. A junk sheet is a piece of paper I use over and over to clean off the plate between prints.

And I thought the scheme of this one was pretty....and again...LOVE those holes.

   

I had intended to make a card using cutouts from the prints...but that will be another day. 

It was an afterthought to print another index card....and this time I outlined the print with a fine line black marker to become ICAD #18.

Practice patience! 

Now these ferns are covered in acrylic paint...

so I'll be able to use them again and again.

And just to come full circle...this is the ghost print on deli paper from the late night printing mess.  Dotty asked if the branch like veining on my card was actually the imprint of the texture in the fern.  It wasn't.

A ghost print is the paint trapped under the stencil or fern in this case.  You can see the shape of the fern...and all the excess paint around it with the veining. So it's just magic of the gelli plate along with the excess paint and the slick surface of the card! 

Pieces and Parts

Some wabi-sabi up ferns along the pond caught my eye on my after dinner walk last evening. I was quite smitten with insect holes and the patterns in the negative spaces.

It would have been so easy to just walk by...but that's not what I do.

I brought a few home and pressed them in a catalog to dry out a bit. But late last evening (never a good idea) I pulled one out and took it to the gelli plate. I had a pre-painted green index card and thought I would pull a print with dark blue paint.

I faced a number of problems: the fern wasn't dry enough and really too limp and fragile to work with...I didn't have my glasses on...and I used to much paint...so I assumed it was a flop. I would be more patient and wait for the others to dry out a bit and try it again another day.

But in the light of day...I took a second look.  It's not what I was hoping for...but it also had some interesting pieces and parts....so it became perfectly imperfect ICAD #17.

If this were a print on paper it would make fabulous collage fodder all cut up....some of the pieces and parts are pretty wonderful. 

Just look at that feathery veining on the right....it looks like tiny tree branches.  That's the magic of gelli plate.

Purple Pride

I was inspired by this adorable photo Patty sent me....

her Proud Purple Pig was her caption.

And here's a little purple a the pond.

So in honor of the Purple Pride Pig...I painted purple between my squiggle lines....

...and colored in my day 16 ICAD (I painted the acrylic swirl last evening) while enjoying a beautiful afternoon on the patio. 

A while back Christine had asked why I sometimes use gesso on my index cards. It's works as primer for the surface so certain media will stick better. Today I tried to watercolor on right on the manilla card ...and it just beaded up. That's why I use gesso. So I switched to markers and colored pencils.

ICAD # 16...celebrating purple pride! ✔

I've mentioned several times that another creative daily practice for me is trading photographs with my sister-in-law Alyson every evening. It's a great way for us to connect and celebrate the beauty of the seasons.

Just a few days ago she commented on my Instagram posts where I used the Unfold App....so I hooked her up. So now we're creating Unfold montages for each other that capture our moments of the day...often including a little video. 

It's such a simple app...and we're both having a good time with is.

Here's a montage for today celebrating purple pride!

Out Of Practice

Subtitle: Maybe It Counts

It took me a long time to think of myself as an artist. I always knew I was a crafter...and I sometimes called myself an assembler. But artist was a stretch. 

Although I did eventually give in...as of late I don't feel much like an artist.  This time of year I'm a garden putterer....a committed committee and community member and an avid and loyal observer of spring. And all of that brings me joy. So for right now...all of it is part of my daily creative practice.

But it does feel awkward to actually try and create as of late. I feel out of practice as I try and take on even a simple index card. I think it's just a phase...and think all creatives go through it. 

But maybe it counts as creative to just cut up a beautiful photograph of a begonia and mount it along with a scribble flower on ICAD #15.

And maybe it counts as creative that I got out of bed at around 11:30 last night because I couldn't stop thinking about using the same idea I used on one of my index cards....this time in my watercolor journal.  

I thought I might make the time to paint today and I wanted the acrylic paint to be very dry. 

I haven't painted yet....but sometime soon I will.

I do love these acrylic squiggle lines and I think it will be fun to watercolor in between them.

And maybe it counts that on a whim I randomly glued a row of catalog cut-out bottles into my art journal. I love these bottle....and they've been knocking around the studio for years. And now looking at this photo....I can see there is something creative that is possible with these two pages.

I do actually believe it all counts....and all important parts of my daily creative practice. Especially if  there's joy. 

The Rest...

...of the backyard tour.

Paul and I spend a lot of time in the backyard on the patio...so I thought I'd give you a few more views. The other corner of the patio by the tree is where I have most of my hummingbird plants.  They like the plants...but they also still visit the feeders so I keep a few small ones filled.  

I know condo life is not for everyone....but I do love my neighbors and there is a good amount of distance and privacy between us and our next door neighbor Anna. And I also love this view down the row of backyards...and they are all great people!  We're pretty lucky!

My favorite plant in this corner is called humminbird's lunch....and it's the one they snack on the most.

This is also the corner where the yellow daylilies and the Bowman's root live...and they are both amazing right now. 

And...this is also where my rain lilies pots live although they would really like more sun.

This is where Paul and I pause...talk...read...stitch...and watch the birds. 

It's a nice spot any time of day....so it's a good place to land for almost anything.

I started this card this morning...then never got back to it. 

I punched cloud squares from my big box of photos....and it was going to be the background for something. But maybe this is where ICAD #14 will land....it's growing on me just the way it is.

Handle With Care!

I got some treats in the mail today....and it made me chuckle that the package said fragile HANDLE WITH CARE!  I'm guessing it was a repurposed package...but it cracked me up based on the contents.

Melodee sent me some fun and festive napkins to use in my art making....and an interesting article from the New York Times. She had seen a post I did a while back about napkins....so searched her stash to add to my art fodder!

The article was about artist Marcin Rusak who makes vessels and furniture encapsulating dried wabi-sabi flowers into resin. The most interesting part of the story is that if the plant had any artificial color...it naturally expelled it during the process.

Thanks for the fun mail Melodee!

I finished yesterday's ICAD late last night....and stitched together a quick collage for today. On the quote card I had done the black squiggle lines ahead using acrylic paint in a fine line applicator.  Once it was dry I colored it in with colored pencil and added the quote. I do like the concept...and next time I'll use watercolor.

I keep thinking I'm going to have time in the studio...but spring keeps calling me....and I'm answering.  The weather has been spectacular and it feels wrong not to be out in it.

When it gets hot...that's when I get tucked inside my studio with my AC.

I had a delightful swim early this morning and did some pool chores. And I've made the rounds in my gardens over the past couple of days. Everything is edged....weeded and watered. 

I'm so happy with the gardens this year...and from here on out they will pretty much take care of themselves.  With just a little weeding and trimming once in a while.

I've written about my special potato rock in the photo above....

but I haven't mentioned my newest potato...this might be a yam. We found it while we were up in Perry visiting Patsy and Brian and we're pretty sure it's a tumbled brick. So I guess that makes it a sea brick.

For now it lives on the corner of the patio along with my mosquito from one of my sister gatherings and Connie's tiny stone bird bath.  Which...by the way...I do get birds drinking from it.

That story of the sister mosquito is here: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2015/08/bonding.html  

Speaking of sister trips...we're having a sister gathering in Minneapolis at the end of the month and I'm pretty excited. Becky and Angie will be missed....but Nancy, LaVonn, Marilyn and I will have a wonderful time!

Here's a different perspective on that corner garden.

I might continue the patio tour tomorrow....it's out summer happy place and brings us a lot of joy!