Art Diary. A weekly wrap-up of art activities. For earlier posts, search under the category Art Diary.

Art! Art! More Art!

Saturday, April 14 – On Friday night I drew a scene in my ongoing Large Artist Sketchbook in pen and ink, while I was watching TV. I meant to take a photo in the black and white stage but I didn’t get to it. So on Saturday I colored it and here it is:

Well, things are on a slant in this picture, due to the fact that I was half-lying on the sofa when I drew it and didn’t have as good a view of it…as it obviously needed. Oh well.

I glued in some people and all of a sudden the picture had a story.

This book is almost filled up. I’ve been doing a lot of art in it lately. I added this page, collage work (not done on the sofa but in my studio) inspired by scenes I’ve been greatly enjoying from a fellow blogger’s site, Jessica’s Nature Blog. I won’t tell you more, go and look for yourself, but here’s a landscape from my point of view:

and here is a selection of the papers I used. Many of these are old book pages that I painted with watery acrylics – the soft old papers absorb the paint so beautifully.

Sunday, April 15 – I checked on the terra cotta clay tiles I cut the other day. They are drying nicely, and they have firmed up enough for me to clean up their edges with a small damp sponge. By doing this now, the clay is actually stronger then when dry – it then becomes very brittle – so I can wipe harder and make nice smooth non-sharp edges. By doing with a wet sponge rather than sanding the bisqued tiles later on, I also avoid creating and breathing in a lot of dust.

Then I cut tiles from my remaining white clay. I’ve used up all my clay now – I’ll be needing to buy more to make anything else.

I then zipped up to the studio and got out my sketchbook again, randomly gluing in leftovers from yesterday’s collage work, plus some other papers, plus a little paint. I’ll see what develops from this beginning later on.

I worked on my two paintings. I think the reading lady is finished. Pretty much, anyway.

The other one, we’ve decided, is a waterfall. We’ve narrowed the scene orientation down to two ways. Here’s how I worked on it today, yellow part at the bottom, and then the opposite, blue at the bottom. Getting close to finishing this one, so I’ve got to decide…

And I don’t like to waste paint on the brush. I usually slap it on to postcards or ATC’s – the latter are what you see here. I’ll save them and they will show up later on in my art practice, transformed or added to.

Monday, April 16 – A dreary day, with pouring rain, ultra-pouring rain! I’m staying home and doing chores etc., today.

I decided to take the opportunity to put my initials and date on the back of the small tile group I recently did.

This step is the last one in getting these tiles finished. With the help of my cat, Paul Drake, and Perry Mason,

and Sharpies (I say the plural here because it’s a foregone fact that the rough clay will destroy at least one, wear it down right to nothing, so you’ve got to have a group of them) I got this job done.

Tuesday, April 17 – I pulled out some little boards I bought a while back. I think they are Claybord and I have a shoebox full of these ATC-sized boards covered with a scratch-into-able surface. I bought a ten-pound supply of various sizes and used the other choices up – these are what is left and they’ve been waiting for their turn. I feel like embarking on a large series of something very simple (kind of like those 2″ x 2″ clay tiles I recently completed).
Here’s a look at the materials.

I was not sure what I wanted to do with them besides using acrylics. I chose about 15-20 pieces and I started putting color down. As I worked, I decided I wanted to do some faces and some landscapes. By the end of the session here is what I had.

Wednesday, April 18 – The two larger paintings have been sitting upstairs in my living room, “resting”. I brought them downstairs to work on a little today. The lady reading continues to evolve – guess I wasn’t done with her yet – but she still maintains her essential theme and form.

The other one, well, I chose the orientation with the blue at the bottom, and I have decided it is a picture of a waterfall. So, what you see is a waterfall, just making sure you know it! I worked on it today as well. It has now reached a stage in which it needs more rest and and it is making me uneasy. So more will be done to it.

I also worked on the tiny paintings. Now we have people:

and we have houses in landscapes:

and we have trees.

I never tire of these themes. I believe that the landscapes and trees are close to finished. The people, I am planning to give them faces and details with India ink, next time I get a chance.

Thursday, April 19 – I don’t usually do any art on the same day as I do a Poetry Marathon session, but – I started looking at the larger painting (it’s been sitting upstairs in the living room where I’ve been eyeing it for improvements) and I was just going to do “one little thing” to it, and ended up working on it for about an hour plus.

I did feel better about the direction of this painting when I was finished.

Friday, April 20 – I worked on both large paintings this afternoon. They inch toward completion, but I think I am REALLY close (have I said that before?).

I got out those ATC-sized paintings I was working on earlier in the week. For the portrait set, I added details with India ink and acrylic inks. I will post individual photos sometime in the future so you can see them better, but here is a group shot:

After looking over the landscape and tree groups, I liked them as they are, so – they are finished. Once again I’ll post close-ups in the future.

I went down to the basement to check on the tiles. I believe they are ready to be fired. You can see they have a different appearance than when wet – they are paler and chalkier-looking. Terra cotta and white clay are shown here.

Another test for dryness is – you put the item to your face. It will feel cold at first, always. Then, if it is dry, it warms up. If it still has water in it, it will stay feeling cold against your cheek. These all are showing the signs of readiness for the kiln. Not cold! I will try to get them and the sculptures in there next week.

Thanks for reading!

See you next week! Thanks for following along with me.