Week 25 - in the Studio

Like I mentioned last time, I learned to deal with some big disappointment and move forward. The time I spent in quarantine wasn't wasted as I was able to focus on some office work. 

My business coach is a big fan of a planning and content app called Notion. I've known for some time I needed something far more robust than my paper calendar , something that would hold everything from daily tasks to long term plans.... So, after watching some YouTube videos (and, trust me, there are lots of videos) I downloaded the free version of the app and while resting in bed, I started to build the systems and populate the templates I had chosen. Some of the things I love about this app are its ability to be on all my devices and I am work with both home and art all in one...

My approach is to do a big "brain dump" of every idea I have in my head and then move those ideas into different areas and populate them with tasks or just let them sit until I'm ready to use them. If you are looking for something like this, do some research and see if it fits: https://www.notion.so/

I also finished and posted a new YouTube video, Colouring Cloth: https://youtu.be/1meoNgaZe6M Check it out and leave a comment. If there's other topics you'd like to see covered, let me know.

In Colouring Cloth I focus on creating the cloth I use for my totes and sketchbooks, using raw art canvas - super inexpensive and so versatile to work and paint on. I think my technique in the video is loose enough that you could adapt and change it up for your style and mediums. You can also adapt it for other fabrics and by using textile focused products and I think it would work for clothing.

A couple weeks back I mentioned that I've been working with circles - I think one could spent their entire art life just focused on this shape - are you tempted? I designed more Thermofax screens for my Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/FabricImagery?ref=seller-platform-mcnav&section_id=5879181

Speaking for circles, the grandies and I played with Spinner Art again, I love what they made and we turned some of them into cards:

I guess I'm feeling better now, I did have an Open Studio last weekend, it wasn't very busy and so very HOT outside. It gave me the opportunity to tidy up a bit and make some of my Art to Carry totes - the video I mentioned above is how I create the fabrics that I use.

Do you like the little labels I had made? I found a designer on Etsy and they make them from ultra suede - lots of colours and sizes, I'd recommend them: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/SpottedZebraCA?ref=yr_purchases

So, I guess after the last blog post, I'm back on my art track...how about you?

Week 15 - in the Studio

Ups and downs this past week! The grandsons were visiting during March Break so it wasn't too easy finding time alone....

So we did a couple art projects together and had fun learning about "spinner art" - now I need a new salad spinner! After a couple YouTube videos, it was easy to tackle.

We needed:

• card stock cut into circles to fit the inside of the basket - white and black paper
• inexpensive craft/acrylic paints - we didn't use my Golden paints!
• salad spinner, I have a cheap Ikea one so didn't feel bad about using it

Put the paper inside the spinner and dribble a few colours - just a little, we used too much!

Put the cover on top, make sure it's secure.

Turn the spinner handle one way a few times and then in the opposite way.

So simple...

And so much fun! We dyed T-shirts as well but no photos!

I did get some canvas painted for sketchbooks and totes - happy, spring colours! I'll be putting them together next week - an easy but repetitive job.

I spent this afternoon learning about WaterColour Grids with Wendy Welch, online with the Vancouver Island School of Art https://www.vancouverislandschoolart.com

Nothing fabulous was created but I did learn a lot and saw some possibilities for collage and maybe cutting some of them with my Scan n Cut - particularly this one, no redeeming qualities otherwise!

I quite enjoyed this one - one colour and then lightening and darkening and using analogous colours:

Wendy mentioned other artists who used grids in their work: Paul Klee, Ralph Lemon, Agnes Martin and Gunta Stoltz - a weaver during time of the Bau Haus whose work I find particularly intriguing!

You can see more of her designs here: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search?q=Gunta+Stölzl&sortBy=Relevance&pageSize=0

Here is a couple more I made:

And that's about it! How was your week?