A new blog home!

It's up and running! A totally new blog for a new beginning! From now on ALL posting will be done at the
Wild Raven Arts blog. I'll be deleting this blog once I finish transferring the posts I wish to keep. If you want to keep following me, and I hope you do, please join me over on Wild Raven Arts!

I've already set up a place to sign up for the weekly newsletter, set my posting schedule (Mondays and Thursdays), and done two new blog posts.

Hope to see you there!

Kristin

Big Changes...

  Big changes being made to what I am doing and the way I am doing it.  I've done a lot of thinking about my terrible blogging and the why's behind my reluctance. It boils down to impersonal. I've kept my personality, my personal life, my personal goals, etc out of the blog and that just doesn't work for me. 

 As an artist I know EVERYTHING is personal. From the materials I work with, the colors I use, the music that plays and the art that gets created. I've a huge amount of work I create, but very little of it gets shared. I have a whole lot to say, but so many blog artists say to keep things from being to chatty and not personal, that I don't say it. But for me, that's just doesn't cut it.

Now I am saying: Screw that. From today on I am doing my blog my way. It's going to be personal, have my authentic voice and a whole lot more to offer. I'm not saying it's going to be this terribly long, boring, super personal blog. no. it's going to be an artsy, vocal, authentic ME place. And it's going to be regular  Twice a week you can expect to see me posting, read my personal thoughts and find out what I am up to.

Also, it isn't going to be here. I want to start from scratch. Within the next day or so I will be launching a new blog, totally revamped and totally me. I'll post the link here once I do.

Until then, wish me luck on my new, improved adventures. Love having encouragement when I decide to climb mountains and make great things happen in my life....

Tea anyone?

i've just finished this tea pot and cups quilted wall hanging. I've been determined to use the many UFO's (UnFinished Objects) stashed on shelves, in drawers and baskets around the house as holiday gifts by dragging them out and finishing them. These pot and cups blocks have been abandoned for too long to remember, so it was high time they made their way into a finished project! I made a few 4 patch blocks, added some borders and played endlessly with arrangement until it felt right.
This was going to be a reversable table runner, but ended up as a wall hanging after The Man suggested I add a way to hang it. In the spirit of keeping our holiday gifts handmade, I cut and stripped a maple branch for attaching the quilt to. Who needs dowels when branches will do? Plus, no dowel can compare to the uniqueness of a crooked branch!

The Holly Queen

Many years ago I made this ceramic mask to hang during the Yuletide Season. Being pagan I celebrate Yule, or the winter solstice, more so than Christmas. To me, this mask represents The Goddess in Her Holly Queen incarnation. I love the layering of colors, the greens over gold, reds over silver and the various flesh tones. The subtle layers don't transfer well to a photo, but I wanted to share my artful interpretation of a holiday symbol. Whichever winter holiday you celebrate I hope you receive many blessings and an abundance of joy!

Bird in Paradise

I think this one's done! Spent a bit more time on it, with music cranked as usual, and now it feels done. You never know though. I've been known to revisit a painting years later and take my brushes to it. Some people can't do that because they're afraid of ruining what they've previously created. I don't have that issue! What's the worst that can happen, afterall? You need to be able to take risks. In painting and in life...

New Painting

This acrylic painting in a large format was begun tonight. It had been a super high pain day for me so I needed to get out of my body for a while. Best way to do that is crank up the music, grab the brushes, paints and get to it!
The wonderful thing about having a creative soul is that, no matter how difficult things are to deal with, you can forget about it completely once you let loose and create. That's what I mean about "get out of my body". My pain levels are left behind, for a brief time, once I paint. Definitely a blessing.

Sketchbook Project 2013

 

  I finally decided to sign up for The Sketchbook Project, sponsored by the Art House Co-op. I'd read about it last year, but didn't end up signing up for whatever reason. Honestly, I don't remember why I never joined, lack of money perhaps, because this traveling sketchbook project idea really intrigued me! As things go, I totally forgot about the project until the other day when I happened to come across their web site again. This time there was no hesitation! I signed up immediately and am now awaiting delivery of my blank sketchbook.

  For days now I've been thinking of a theme for my book. I still haven't come up with one and have decided the theme will present itself once I have the book in hand.

  If you aren't familiar with the project, do check it out! You can look through the books that have been digitized, not all of them are, in the Digital Library area. You can also read all about the project, watch some videos or sign up to participate.

 I'll be posting updates, with photos of my book's pages, as often as possible. I can't wait to dig in and get creating. It's been ages since I joined anything of this magnitude!

Face Painting

The latest incarnation of this painting I've been working on for a while now. I've added more shading to the face, layered glazes, papers and transfers to the background and redone the nose, mouth and eyes. Every time I add or subtract something the work becomes less flat and more expressive. Like a good stew, the more you blend the ingredients, the richer the whole becomes!

Blech!

This is how I feel about getting up at 630 am on a freezing Saturday morning. Blech! But, my son has Boy Scout can duty this morn, where they sort all the returnables that've been donated to the Troop to help fund camping trips. So, awake I am. The mask is a hand carved and painted one from a tribe in Peru. Even at this icky hour I can still focus on cool art!

Cooking As Art

   Art comes in many forms and I for one believe cooking is an art! Especially when it's done with love and enthusiasm, the way all things in life should be done.   My son loves to cook and is becoming quite accomplished in the kitchen.

    This Monkey Bread, which isn't your run of the mill, easy to make type of Monkey Bread, we made together. It was a great way to keep our minds off of Jimmy, the love of my life, being in the ER while we waited to find out what was wrong. Waiting's never easy, but that type of waiting's torture!

   Anyhow, always remember to make life's moments count. Something as simple as making Monkey Bread can be a "moment" when it's done with love and enthusiasm.

Painting

I added some more paint to this face. I know most people would do the underpainting of flesh tones first, but I've never done things like most people! I'm more of a fly by the seat of your pants, running amok type. Just ask anyone who knows me. Anyhow, the addition of layered acrylics adds more depth and definition. The more of this your achieve, the less "flat" the face becomes.

Mixed Media Work

I've been working on several mixed media pieces the past week. This one's inspiration is 'The Visitant' by Theodore Roethke, a poem I came across in a library discard. The image of the woman at center is a packing tape transfer. Love the ethereal quality of tape transfers! At right is a face done with fluid acrylics, Neocolor II crayons and gel pens. She started out as a stencil called Eva by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. Love how you can use her stencils as a jumping off point for creating fabulous painterly portraits! I don't feel quite finished yet, definitely needs more layers to tie it all together.

Journal Pages

  As usual it's been too long since I blogged. Not going into the boring, medical details of what's been keeping me from doing so. Who wants to hear that? Certainly not me!

  I'd uploaded these journal page photos back in August, with every intention of posting them right away. But, it didn't work out the way I'd planned!  

  All these pages are from the journal made out of old file folders, scrap paper and heavyweight paper. The pages are staggered, with varying sizes,  lots of folds, creases and pockets. It makes for a much more interesting journal, both to work in and visually!

  Most of the border images on these pages are created from copies of previous pages I've done. I print them on the laser printer and cut into strips. I think it makes my pages unique and clearly reflects my style!

 The spread above contains transfers. On the left I did a gesso transfer. On the right a gel medium transfer. Both backgrounds are painted using gouache and watercolor. I typically use acrylic paint on my pages, but decided to try something different this time. 

The page below was painted with gouache also.I love the vibrant colors with a hint of softness.

Here you can see how the various page sizes offer a peek into what came before and after. I think it makes the journal more interesting and visually striking. It also makes you want to peek just around the corner to find what comes next!

A close up of one small page, which is actually a flap. 

This one has a fold in it and has been stapled into the journal with decorative metal staples. When folded you can only see the imagery, not the writing.

Another section where you can see how the different size pages reveal bits and pieces of what's contained within. Again, I love the vibrant colors of the gouache, especially the greens! The file folder edge is covered in decorative tape. It looks great and adds stability.

A combo of watercolor and gouache was used for this page. I like the goofy image at the top coupled with the vintage advertising image. The right hand side border is a portion of an older page I photocopied.

Get Lost!

  One of the workshops in the 21 Secrets online classes is titled Get Lost. The course is hosted by Aimee Myers Dolich and, in my opinion, is great fun! The entire course is journal prompts, which I always love. These two pages were done from course prompts. There's a great spread I did, but I used one of my largest journals so getting a decent photo of it is tough. It doesn't fit on the scanner bed and the phone camera doesn't capture enough detail. I'll try to get it with my nice digital camera because it's a spread I'd love to share!

 I spent a good 45 minutes scanning in journal pages this afternoon so there will be lots to feast your eyes upon soon! 

  I've been riding the icky health roller coaster these past few months. On top of the usual Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome I've loads of neurological problems, still undiagnosed. Loads of speculation, but no firm conclusions yet. I'm grateful for the love of my life, Jim, for his support and strong arms. Without him this amusement ride from hell would be a whole lot rougher.  Love that man and thank my guardians for bringing him  into my life when they did. Life may be handing us a bunch of Jokers, but I just keep drawing crowns on them and turning them to Kings and queens. That's what any artist would do, right?

  

Journal Painting

I call these paintings on masonite 'Journal Paintings'. They're mixed media, many, many layers of paint, images, writing, ink, papers, whatever... Essentially a journal page in larger, framable format. This one was started months ago. The upper, final layer of text was just added.

Framed Art

A few months ago I'd gotten this mail art post card from one of my nearest and dearest friends. It's been displayed on a shelf since, but today I came across this awesome frame and thought the two would look perfect together! I love how the silver frame corners accentuate the details of the art. In my eyes, you don't need to spend a lot on art to make a statement. Here, an inexpensive frame and a mail art postcard create a stunning work of art. P.S. Thanks Raine for the postcard xoxo

Nature's Beauty

I love these insects. They are one of the coolest ones Mother Nature designed. Part hummingbird, part flying lobster, at least to my eyes.The Hummingbird Moth or Hawk Moth is pretty special. They come around constantly and especially love the purple butterfly bushes. At times there'll be 10 or more of them at a time. I happened to capture this one digitally while it feasted upon the nectar in my goose neck loosestrife.

Doodle Dreams

This is what happens when your neurological system shorts out, causing serious visual disturbances. You end up sitting up in bed, watching The Walton's & drawing portraits of the odd creature you see sitting next to you!

Froggie's Visit

The dogs evidently have a pet frog. This little guy was swimming in one of their water bowls when I put them out this morning. I've been seeing lots of frogs & toads lately. A good sign since they'd become quite scarce, which had scientists concerned for the state of our environment.

Seahorse Fountain

Got this for my birthday last year. I love hearing the splashing water, especially when sitting outside on a hot, summer night. It relaxes me totally!