collages 76-85

Collage #84 - "Red No. 4"

A couple of rainy days this week meant I had extra time to spend indoors working on collages. I'm only a few days behind schedule now.

Springtime visitors

Hyles lineata

Warm weather is bringing out lots of wildlife! Thursday I spotted a hummingbird, so I made a sugar-water mixture and hung the feeder up. At least one hummer has been back to feed from it.

About a year and a half back (September 2016) I found a Rustic Sphinx moth resting on the brick exterior of my house. Yesterday I found a different large moth - a White-lined Sphinx. It wasn't as large as the Rustic sphinx, but was still pretty impressive.




Tonight I captured a Carolina Wolf Spider that had got in the house. I released it into the back yard; there's probably more food available for it outside.

collage 67-75

It's Day 83 of 2018, so technically I'm a week behind schedule. I feel pretty good about it though, because yesterday I was two weeks behind.

There has been enough sun and rain lately to cause most outdoor plants to turn green and everything's hurtling forward like the "Summer" movement of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons". I can't pull weeds fast enough to keep up with the new ones popping up every day. I've been having a good time listening to cardinals, grackles, woodpeckers, and my favorite mockingbird singing while I work.

Today's posting is three different batches of work.  They look decidedly different to me, but I don't know that anyone else would notice.

The first two were made while I was still on schedule and was just beginning to spend more time outdoors. 

I had the worst time with these three. They were a real struggle, but I began to get more comfortable by #4. I think it may have been because I finally heeded my own advice and stopped putting so much pressure on myself to catch up. I was just desperately throwing stuff together and wasn't all that happy about the work.

Finally I started having a bit of fun with some crayons and lots of small paper scraps and ended the evening on a positive note.





















I was in the same groove this morning and fueled it with some good coffee and great music from Radio KCSN.

collage 61-66

I didn't notice that I'd accidentally made a leg wearing a shoe until after this piece was done.

I'm only 2 days behind schedule, although it feels like more. We've had some warm and pretty days and I've been spending some time outdoors, tidying up old leaves and new weeds. I've also been working on some lined pinch pleat drapes to go in the window of the dining area, my first attempt at such a large project. If all goes well I'll make a 2nd set for the living room. My new worktable is a major asset to the project.                                  

I've  been playing with dark tones and neutrals, mainly because I had a new pile of clippings from a couple of old magazines I decluttered. I mostly like the results.

cards 54-60

Funnel Cloud #1

It's not getting easier to come up with ideas for collages. This week was a struggle.  I did have some fun playing with ink.

It's getting to be tornado season, and both these ink splotches reminded me of funnel clouds.

Funnel Cloud #2

new worktable

Since the beginning of the year I have been using my dining room table for both sewing and collage-paint-ink experiments, as well as for eating meals. It finally became obvious that it wasn't a good situation. The table would become cluttered with all my art supplies and boxes of clippings and I would have to clear away everything so I could spread out my sewing things. Then I would have to clear away the sewing things before I ate. So that was one thing.

The other thing was that working on my sewing projects was taking a toll on my back. I would spend hours bending over a too-low table and have to suffer with a painfully stiff back for several days before I could get back to work. Then it was a vicious cycle of more bending, more stiffness, more delay.

I had seen some folks online who had made workspaces with some 36 inch tall cubicle storage units and that seemed like something I could put together quickly. I still had two old 24x80" doors I removed from a closet and I thought they might make a good table top. The doors are temporarily held in place with a couple of clamps, but I'll screw them to the storage units once I figure out the table's permanent location.

still plugging away

A few daffodils and jonquils in my backyard bloomed this week. I felt spring had arrived and smiled all day. I got a few collages done.

A day or two later more cold weather, wind and rain arrived. I had no ideas for collages so I occupied myself with ink experiments. 

Cards #47-53. I seem to be working in small batches every few days now instead of the daily sessions I did at the beginning of January.

Me at the beginning of the week

Me a few days later

This collage started as one thing, became something else, and finally became covered with black paint when I didn't like any of the results. I got some practice lettering with my new nib.

My version of color swatching.

LEFT:
Red & Bright Red
Yellow & Golden Yellow
Blue






BELOW:
Blue, Turquoise, Grass Green
Red & Yellow

LEFT:
Red & Grass Green

Red lines were made with Speedball nib dipped in Red.

I drew over the outer lines with a Black Pitt pen.