Evolution of an Abstract Painting

Abstract painting is an interesting thing for me. It requires much more patience than painting an animal or a human portrait. And knowing when it's "done" is a feeling rather than a conscious decision. For me it's the ultimate practice in letting go and surrendering to the process. And it's playful and FUN!

Here's where I started out. I applied light molding paste to the entire surface and then started with three colors plus white.

I could  have stopped there, but it just didn't feel complete. And then I started playing. I wanted more color and more mark making. The following photo shows the "almost finished" stage. I was almost there, but it needed more.

And then I arrived here. This feels balanced to me. I look at it and my eyes roam and observe and don't want more or less. It has depth and light and gorgeous color (much more stunning than the camera was able to capture)!

I wish you a colorful and playful start to your week!!

❧ Silke

My Week in Paint

I can't believe another week has passed. This one was a little tumultuous for me and I discovered something interesting. Art has become not only what I like to do, but it has become my way to get back to center and to work things out in myself. 

I used to think that words were most important - talking about things or writing about things, but for me that's not the case. I feel most whole when I go beyond words into shapes and color and intuition flowing freely.

In fact, I have noticed that words can be so inadequate to describe anything. But before I painted, words were all I had. I'm glad that changed.

Ok, enough of the deep talk and back to color and paint. Here a little something about a new technique I tried after watching this video by Annie Hamman. In it she demonstrates how she created a very subtle texture for an angel wing.

Basically, you rub an oil bar (like a big oil paint crayon) all over the stencil you want to use. Then you take a rag with mineral spirits and wipe over the stencil onto your canvas or paper.

It leaves behind a very thin and delicate layer of whatever stencil pattern you used. I was looking for something to bring texture to this alligator I am painting (still in progress) and this was perfect!

It took a while to dry, but today I will spray it with fixative and work on it some more. Fun!!

Linking to the ever inspiring Paint Party Friday!

Here's to a peaceful week. May yours be filled with sunshine, hope and much love!

❧ Silke

Color! I love it!!

Good Friday morning, everyone! Or afternoon or evening, depending on where you are. We are having a rainy day, which is perfect for blogging and painting. I have been busy this last week. I am trying to get one painting done a day or at least paint everyday, which I have been able to do to date.

These are all small paintings and my goal is to stay loose. To do "my" intuitive backgrounds and then to see what I see and paint that without overworking it. I am having FUN with this! So, the moose above came from the background below. I saw it immediately in the shapes. Can you as well?

The sea turtle came from the shapes below. The colors reminded me of the ocean and I wanted to preserve that very dark edge on the bottom. The color is so gorgeous! When I got finished with this one, I had to laugh at the expression on the face. He does not look pleased!

The backgrounds above were on small Gessobords (5 x 5 inches) and when I turned them and looked at them, I saw the following animals in them.

The beautiful pattern the colors made while drying in the painting above, reminded me of feathers.

The gorgeous reds in this one wanted to be preserved for sure! Out came this sweet orangutan baby. I just want to hug it!

This one was so obvious to me when I saw the two dark circles in the shapes of the background. It makes me smile.

And then this beauty! I loved some of the shapes and wanted to preserve them. I did have to gesso over some of the background because it was so dark, but tried to preserve most of it. He is a thoughtful fellow and maybe a little sad, but so sweet!

Now for something different. I'm taking the year-long Lifebook class with the inspiring Tamara Laporte and about 25 other first-class teachers, and this was the first lesson. We had to paint ourselves with the spirit animals that will accompany us on this journey. Anyone who knows our critters is probably not surprised to see a cat and a wolf. It was fun using my high-flow acrylics on paper - a totally different experience and look. I'm sure I'll try it again!

So, this last week, I got some of my hair dyed blue. It seems to be just a superficial fun thing, but for me it was so much more. My whole life I have practiced "fitting in", "being normal", and "not being seen."

Becoming an artist has shown me how futile (and damaging) this has been, and I needed to get rid of that thinking in a big way. In a way I couldn't hide (or wash out). In a way that everyone will notice. In a way that not everyone will like (particularly in a way that not everyone likes). In a way that pushes way beyond my own comfort zone. I needed to make a commitment to being me. In a small, but for me quite significant way. So, here I am!

And here is where I play, which I hope to do a lot of this coming week.

I am once again linking to the fabulous inspiration over at Paint Party Friday and at Creative Every Day. Hop on over to see some amazing art!

Of my little paintings, one has sold already and one more has been bid on in the auction. If you want to check them out, click here to see my gallery at Daily Paintworks. All of them are very affordable!

With gratitude and blue in my hair,

❧ Silke

Off the Hook!

Dear Friends (somehow this opening always reminds me of "Dear Diary"...), something interesting has happened in my life lately. I let myself off the proverbial hook.

Come Play with Me
Acrylics on 12 x 24 inch canvas

I am one of those people who is very hard on themselves. As lenient as I am with everyone else, I never cut myself any slack about what I'm doing, not doing, thinking, not thinking, changing, not changing etc.

At the end of last year I had enough! I decided that I was going to be as kind to myself as I try to be to other people. I noticed that I'd never treat anyone else the way I treat myself. I'd never talk to anyone else the way I talk to myself.

I added coarse molding paste and glass bead gel to this painting.
You can see both quite well in this detail photo - the glass bead gel toward the top and the molding paste on the left. 

So I gave myself a heartfelt apology and decided that I was good enough and kind enough and considerate enough and pretty enough and and and. You get the idea.

I cannot tell you how relaxed I feel this year about everything. Apparently being critical with myself was hard work and took up a lot of my creative energy. Now I watch others do the usual beginning-of-the-year fasts and cleanses and 30-day, 100-day challenges, vowing to turn their life, eating, bodies, habits and whatever else around this year. I don't feel the need to do any of that (and I have in the past).

I have goals for this year with my art and my list of 100 things I want to do, but even about that I am feeling relaxed. I am trying out a daily schedule to figure out when it's best for me to paint and to do everything else. Some days it works, some days it doesn't. And that's ok!

Most of all I have goals as to how I want to FEEL this year. And I want to CELEBRATE what's working in my life, which is pretty much everything! I am creative, I am happy, I am healthy, I feel good, I am painting every day, I get to spend my days with Daniel and our pets, I get to cook and eat excellent food, I live near the ocean, I get to travel, I get to connect with all of you and so much more. SO much more!

And in that spirit I celebrate all of you! May you have a beautiful, relaxed and sunny day today with some fun surprises sprinkled here and there. With love and gratitude,

❧ Silke

Time is flying. And new art. And observations.

Dear friends, I have so much to tell you and time is just flying by these days. I bought some soy milk the other day with an expiration date sometime in December and was momentarily dumbfounded. Until, that is, I reminded myself that we are nearing the end of October.

What?! Didn't this year just start? This happens to me every year - suddenly we are in a race to the finish. Oh well, fall is here, the weather is gorgeous and all is very well.

Today, I was driving home from running some errands and as I was looking out at the beautiful landscape I suddenly felt this burst of joy bubble up. And right then I realized that I have found my mojo again. I had lost it. Almost completely.

Last year (2013) was so full of anxiety for me that it took this long to recover. I had lost all trust in life. All of it. I was constantly braced for bad news. And I held all of that tension inside. Not a good way to live.

Tucker approves!

This year through vigilant attention to my thoughts, loving care of myself, doing things I enjoy, giving myself permission to actually do the things I enjoy and not feel guilty about it, through taking my attention away from fear and guilt and noticing the beauty that can be found even within the frailty of life - I found my way back to my inner core of happiness. It was always there but I think the tension I held inside of me cut off my access to it.

And I think this joy is bubbling forth into my paintings. They make me happy - painting them and looking at them and sending them into the world. This pretty little dolphin sold as soon as I posted in my store. It's already on its way to its new home...

With much joy and happiness, I wish you a most wonderful week!

❧ Silke
P.S. How do you like my messy studio with all the color and paint everywhere? It makes my heart very happy!

P.P.S. We bought that bright red and green vinyl table cloth in Oaxaca, Mexico, one of the most creative places I have ever visited! I was reluctant to go at first not speaking the language, but we've been back four or five times since and it is one of our most favorite places in the world. :)

Commissioned Painting

After the first horse I painted, I received a commission to paint a second one. I often have had trepidation about commissions when the client has too clear of an idea of what they want. It makes me worry I can't make it happen correctly and it stifles the creative process a bit.

But this client was a dream. She had no restrictions and advice whatsoever, which allowed me to paint using my intuition and going with the flow of the painting.

She told me about the young woman this painting is meant for and I kept that in mind while I was working on it. I had such fun with this!

And she loved it! Which was the icing on the cake!

Linking to Paint Party Friday. 

Happy Friday, everyone!!

❧ Silke

A Surprising Direction

You know all that playing and experimenting I have done lately with abstract layering and acrylic inks? Well, I had a feeling something was percolating beneath the surface and it was.

First was the pig (click here if you missed it), which I shipped off to Norway yesterday and now it's cows that are making their appearance. Beautiful cows with their gentle eyes.

For the very first time since I started painting in 2009, I feel like I've found my very own voice. My very own style. And the subject matter is so dear to my heart.

Growing up I spent several summers working on farms, both small and big.  One of them had about 15 dairy cows and I loved them. I learned to milk them by hand and by machine, I drank their milk (the best I ever tasted), I learned how to herd them out to pasture and bring them back in and I helped with the birth of one of the calves one night. I named all of the cows and talked to them and scratched their heads every day.

But what I loved most of all where their intelligent and gentle eyes. Beautiful animals!!

Cows
30 x 30 inch acrylic on canvas

In my Etsy Shop.

I love this big painting! A lot!!

And the next painting is already in the works... Wishing you a beautiful and creative Tuesday!

With lots of love and gratitude,

❧ Silke

Funny Thing...

So, I always admire paintings that were somehow inspired by a quote or a poem. Then, the other day I read part of an E. E. Cummings poem that stuck in my mind:

notice the convulsed orange inch of moon

perching on this silver minute of evening

Doesn't that sound lovely? Like it could make for a very deep painting.

I started with just abstract layers of lots of color and, of course the orange inch of moon, although I'm not sure about the convulsed part.

And as I progressed, I suddenly got an image of a pig stuck in my mind and it wouldn't leave.

Probably because I follow the delightful antics of Esther, The Wonder Pig on Facebook. Esther started out as a miniature pig, except she wasn't and is now a 500+ lb delight to many of us on Facebook.

Even growing up though, I spent many summer vacations on farms and loved all the animals I encountered there. For some reason, pigs and cows always made the greatest impression on me.

So, here it is, one of my larger paintings. My colorful pig. She makes me happy just to look at her!

The Observer
20 x 24 inch acrylic on canvas

In my Etsy Shop. 

Linking to:
Paint Party Friday
Kitty Art Friday

Sunday Sketches

Oink, oink!

❧ Silke

Not sure what to do...

So, I was rereading my last blog post and almost deleted it because I think I'm repeating myself. At least to me it seems that way. I feel that way about most of the things I post anymore. Not about the photos or the art, but about my writing.

And I don't know what to do. I've kept this blog going for over five years and I have loved it. Lately though, I spend most of my time feeling bad about not visiting your blogs more often, about not blogging often enough, about not having it be interesting or varied enough.

Much of my active posting is happening on Facebook these days. Is that where I should migrate all together? Blogging isn't that much fun without visiting your blogs actively and I don't seem to find the time for that as I used to.

The free time I do have, I spend painting or knitting or making jewelry. I know I can't be the only one who wonders about keeping on with blogging. What do you all think?

Maybe I should just change the format of it for a while. "Talk" less and show more. Take photos like I used to and show those. And keep showing what I create.

Emergence
18 x 24 inch acrylic on canvas

I see some blogs with very little writing and more photos and art, who are participating in daily challenges and I wonder if I would like that in lieu of hearing myself talk all the time. It would keep everything simple as well, which might be a good thing right now.

The other side of that though is when I participate in challenges, I want to visit all the blogs who do as well, which would not really solve the time problem.

I just don't know. Truly I don't.

What do you think?

❧ Silke