more 365/3

This week's endeavors continue around my two challenges - #28patterns with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer and my work for Jane Davies' class.  One is mindless fun, the other is thoughtful, challenging fun.

#49- 50 - patterning for a few days..... all made with my usual 4x6 index card, micron pens and inktense watercolor pencils.

#51 - 56  classwork for 100 drawings on cheap paper.  This week's lesson scaled back and had us focus on creating monochromatic pieces with minimal variety (the exact opposite of last week's). Once again I had fun playing with the bright colors I love and learning so much! thanks Jane!

Some of the papers - stage one!

It was challenging to make these interesting in their subtlety. Some of the detail isn't showing up through the scan, but it's pretty close.  I made lots more of the red/orange/pink ones, a few more yellows and a couple of the beige/sand ones - the red palette was my fave -the color seemed to glow and was so rich.

365 /3 - pattern

Working on 2 challenges this month - keeping up with my 365 creative efforts for the year and working on pattern-a-day for the month of February with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer.  You can see lots of cool patterns via Instagram, #28patterns.

#35 - I'm making my pattern explorations on 4x6 index cards.....they've become a favorite go-to size for experimenting thanks to Daisy Yellow and her ICAD project.  Now I always have index cards sitting around to doodle/scribble/write/experiment on!  The last few days I've found myself drawn to exploring grid layouts.

#36 - a little collage and more grid explorations (below)

You can follow me on Instagram - tpurk13

week 39 (part 1) of 365/2

Sep 22-28

Here's what I've been playing at lately:

#265 - practicing some lettering in my moleskin

#266 & 267 - more of my 4x6 lettering play/practice

#268-270 - I have a plan - a Christmas gift plan - to make a gratitude journal for a few family members.  I thought of it in the spring but, of course, I'm only just now starting. In order to finish it in time, I've had to simplify my plan a bit.... I'll share progress now and then....here are some border pages drawn on bristol - think I'll be adding some journaling lines.

Have you started thinking about making holiday gifts yet?  Only 12 weeks to go.....

week 9 for 365-2 (part 1)

February 24- March 2

365 days of artsy work and play continues:

#55 - I bought an online booklet from Helen Williams because I absolutely love her loose, organic style of zentangling.  Her book is about how she achieves her wonderful flower 'flipped' petals and winding ribbons (and includes helpful video links). I did some experimenting in my moleskin (remember, this is first efforts :)) worked on this a bit over several evenings in front of the TV which is probably why my lines aren't all that straight! :)

#56 - some progress on my dyptych acrylic painting.  What a process this has been!  I always thought abstract would be easy....what's so hard about painting a few circles or squares or random lines/shapes in pretty colors?  Well, let me tell you - it's REALLY hard to get a pleasing composition, an effective use of color, develop a focal point, etc.  Here's where I am now (Jane Davies, you're my hero....I'm workin' on it!)

I actually have an idea of where to take it from here....maybe I'll find time this weekend to pull it together a bit more.....

#57 - I also made some progress on my 12x12" square canvas abstract mixed media

Not real happy with the sharpness of these pics so I think I need to find a brighter place of natural light - it's just so gray here lately and certainly too wet to go outside...... But, you get the idea, right?

#58 - some doodled postcards to go out into the world.

Thanks for checking in with me.......

ICAD STARTS

Finally, something other than collages here.....Tammy has started her summer of ICAD creations again so for the months of June and July she's encouraging us to make a little piece of art every day.  You only need enough to fill an index card (3x5 or 4x6 is up to you).  Simple doodles or elaborate drawing, sketch of your back yard, practice your lettering, stitching or painting - it's all up to you. Make it quick so it fits into your busy summer days.  Check out more details at Daisy Yellow ....

I participated last year for the first time and found it wonderfully invigorating to be pulled to my art room or to grab a pen and doodle....every day.  Hope you'll join in the summer fun.....(or winter if that's what's going on in your hemisphere).  Don't be surprised if lots of my ICAD production is collages .... double duty, right?

To start with, no collaging - a doodle and then because time is short today, a quick scribble with my new oil pastels.  I picked them up for a pittance at a yard sale yesterday.

vacation doodles

I'm so out of the habit of posting after being on vacation a couple weeks that I keep forgetting to share stuff. I was putting away some of the art supplies I took on vacation and realized I hadn't shared any of the doodling, drawing, playing I'd done on the trip.  I took a sketchbook, my Inktense pencils, some markers and pitt pens.....

Also played around with my lettering and some dangly fun.....

Then it was time to brush the rust off my zentangling - haven't done any in months so forgot lots of the patterns I used to know, but these are fun anyway....

This one was playing with a new Zen pattern I found somewhere - love the shell like shape (appropriate since we were in the Caribbean).

This weekend I'll scan in and show the collages I managed to make using just ephemera from the trip.

lettering practice

I took a lot of art materials with me on vacation this time because we drove and we had room in the car.  Plus I was taking Jane Davies' collage class and needed supplies.  But, once we got to the resort and I pulled all the materials out.......all I wanted to do was practice my lettering.  So I did.  These are all done on 9x12" paper in my sketchbook.

The first two swirly ones and the bottom doodled one I made using my parallel pen.  I'm still not as smooth in my strokes as I'd like to be, but I'm improving.  All the doodles and the lettering in the 'you are my happy' were done with Pitt pens and colored with Inktense watercolor pencils. A perfect project for vacation and really portable.

We had such a relaxing vacation but on returning home we've been a bit overwhelmed.  Dan found out he's been downsized - ah, stress!  We've been in Seattle, at this job, for two years and now we're back to the ranks of the unemployed and feeling a bit.....discouraged, worried, uncertain, etc.  For those of you who have also been in this position, you know what I mean - it's a ball of emotions that are hard to untangle.  So much negativity - and we are NOT negative people.  I obviously drew the 'don't worry, be happy' BEFORE we found out we were unemployed!  :)  We'll work on it though (the don't worry part).

So, my mind has been on other things other than the blog and art.  But, today I found myself itching, twitching, fantasizing about making art. So I'm going to use it to put my worries out of my head for a little while - I have some strong WIP collages from my class, my ALAW project is about ready to show the next stage, I have mail art to make, I have a rosy botanical to make for a couple of challenges - I feel better already!