A paying job
I’m re-designing the garden collage for my first commission (a request from a co-worker who saw some of my paper-crafting). I decided that I don’t want it to be just a bunch of flower beds but I want it to be more original. I reminded myself that it’s not a masterpiece, it’s a $25 collage, and if the buyer doesn’t want it, I will sell it to someone else. So I’m working on new sketches.
Also, I’m doing some color sketches with markers in prep for a series of Art Squared pieces on the theme of trees. I love them so far and can’t wait to paint them.
I bought some Daniel Smith’s black gesso and will be experimenting with that as a ground. I also just got the 12-color set of Createx monotype paints to try monotype printing. The technique I’m going to try will be painting on freezer paper and using my marble rolling pin to transfer the paint to watercolor paper. I can’t wait to try it!
My next purchase is going to be a block printing press. I want to try block printing as well and I can also use it for small monotypes.
K is being surprisingly supportive of my new obsession. I expected her to complain about the art materials in the kitchen, and roll her eyes and think, Here we go again! but she actually doesn’t seem to mind. I took her with me to a Daniel Smith demo once, and she was bored silly, so now I go alone, which is fine by both of us. She has offered to model for me.
Speaking of art demos, there are two coming up on the 22nd that I wanted go to, both at different locations. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get to both of them, but fortunately, I’ve changed my mind about one. The first is an intro to monotypes (absolutely necessary!) in Seattle, so that’s all good. The other is about encaustic art, which is painting with hot wax and looks really interesting to me, but after reading an article on the process this morning (while exercising– that’s three days this week! Go, me!), I’ve decided that any artistic process that involves heat AND generates toxic fumes is not something I’m prepared to get into. I will stick with nice, cool, water-soluable paints and drawing materials.
I really, really, really want to go to this workshop on monotypes with acrylics (acrylics dry really fast and I would love to know how to use them for printing) and this one on faux encaustic with acrylics, both later in the year and at various locations and fees. The monotype workshop can be done as cheaply as $100 for a one-day session, which is fine, but the faux encaustic is only available once in August as a three-day workshop and it’s $315. And I also would love to take the acrylic collage 3-day workshop at the Pratt Fine Arts Center, but that’s in May and is $210. Guess I’ll just stick to the free demos and voracious reading for now.
