A Long Overdue Update!

Wow, this was a long break from blogging! I was going to start again in September, but then we were preparing for a hurricane evacuation and Daniel's start of school. We ended up being able to stay home during Hurricane Irma as it had weakened to a tropical storm, but we didn't know until the last day. Luckily, we had no damage at all except no power for four days, which was nothing compared to what others experienced and are still experiencing.

I also spent the summer trying to understand the mind-boggling political situation in this country and the world. I will continue to keep my blog free of politics, but I did want to mention it here since it defined my summer to a large extent.

The paintings above and below were really fun commissions I worked on during the summer.

It made me feel quite powerless and so sad and angry to read about what this current US administration is doing and undoing. And then came the unbelievable natural disasters that were happening too fast and were too destructive to fully comprehend: incredibly strong hurricanes, earthquakes and now the deadly fires in California.

There was and is so much suffering so close to home and all in places we have visited. They are all places we love. And I have to say, this year's hurricane season was so unbelievable and so much more stressful as we often didn't know if we were going to be directly in the path. I'm so glad the season is finally winding down and the communities affected can heal and rebuild.

I noticed over the summer how my art was changing. At the beginning of the summer I still liked working loosely with acrylic inks and acrylic paint. I liked the element of surprise. Not so much later in the summer. There had been too many surprises that I had no control over and I noticed how I craved taking my time with my art and drawing more intentionally and realistically.

I found a wonderful young British artist on Patreon whose tutorials have taught me so much. Here's the link if you are interested. The golden retriever above I drew with charcoal pencils and my nephew I rendered with graphite and charcoal.

What I really want to learn is how to draw realistically with colored pencils. I followed Kirsty's tutorial for this kingfisher bird using colored pencils and solvent and absolutely loved it.

I used to think I wasn't patient, but that's not true. I am so enjoying these drawings that take me many hours to complete. I'm working on one right now that's going to take me a few more days until it's done. Again with colored pencils.

Thank you for sticking with me. I have missed our interactions. I'll do a few more blog posts with all the photos I've taking over the summer in our garden and a few knitting projects I've finished or am still working on.

In the meantime, I hope you are all doing well!!

❧ Silke

Art!!!

Wow! I can't believe a month has passed since my last blog post. It's been a busy few weeks with life and art and friends visiting.

All the abstract experimenting has led me to changes in my art. In this piece I worked with many, many layers of high flow acrylics and also using some of my stencils.

 What you can't see very well in the photos is the gold I used.

 Not just as paint with the stencils, but also gold-colored metal leaf at the end.

The result is a beautiful 9 x 12 inch portrait, somewhat mysterious and quite layered. This painting has sold.

The following painting is quite a bit larger (16 x 20 inches) and here I again worked with stencils, but this time using them with light molding paste to add texture and structure to the painting.

If you look in the lower right corner, those flower shapes are raised.

As are the flowers in the photo below. Such gorgeous texture!

I'm really enjoying working larger even though it takes much longer. And I love painting human portraits again in addition to my animal paintings.

I hope you are having a wonderful June! I'm spending much of it painting and I'll have more to show you soon!

❧ Silke

Stencils and Molding Paste

A couple of years ago I bought a handful of stencils ... and I keep forgetting that I have them! The other day I came across them while looking for something else and decided to experiment using molding paste with them.

One result you can see in this blog post from a few days ago.  And now again. I used the first stencil with molding paste and it worked beautifully.

After applying some paint I worked light molding paste (which I had tinted with acrylic paint) into two additional stencils.

The result is really fun and rather busy. It needs something else. Maybe a focal point.

I'm just not sure yet. Hopefully today will reveal the next step...

❧ Silke

Three Paintings in the Works

I'm always working on more than one painting at a time. Actually that goes for anything, really: knitting, crocheting, reading, etc.

The following painting is one I started a while ago. It's rather large and it has been sitting on my easel waiting for me to finish it. Sometimes I get intimidated at this stage in the painting when it's clear what I want to paint and I don't want to mess it up. One of these days, I'll get going again!

Yesterday, I played with more molding paste applied through a stencil, which turned out so beautifully. I am not quite sure where to go from here, but maybe today that'll become clear.

And here is the third piece in progress. Here I applied light molding paste, which has a more porous quality than the regular molding paste. Again, I'm not sure where this is going to go. Abstract pieces are so much harder than anything representational. At least for me. But also lots of fun because there are no rules.

I hope you will have a beautiful Tuesday!

❧ Silke

Abstract Painting with Texture

I'm still painting in an abstract style and doing a lot of experimenting. Here, I first prepared the canvas with molding paste applied through a stencil.

As you can see, it gave me a lot of raised texture! Once dry, it was really fun to work on with high-flow acrylics.

Again, I limited my palette to three colors: phthalo turquoise, quinacridone magenta, and green gold - probably my three favorite colors! At the end I also added a tiny bit of iridescent pearl in some of the textured areas.

The result is a very vibrant and interesting painting.

I hope your start to the week is beautiful!

❧ Silke

Abstract Acrylics

Lately I've felt in a rut with my art and a little stuck only painting animals and then I realized that I can branch out however I would like to. So I have entered an abstract art phase, where I am free to just follow colors and shapes and experiment.

With these four paintings, I wanted to use a limited color palette: Phthalo Turquoise, Nickel Azo Yellow, Transparent Red Iron Oxide, plus Titanium White.

And I wanted to paint a series of four, working with big brushes and a palette knife.

All similar yet each distinct. I painted over old canvases, which already had texture on them making the paintings even more interesting to me.

Right now I'm working on a new abstract painting that has a lot of texture I created with molding paste and stencils. I'll post it as soon as I finish it.

It's been a while since I posted to Paint Party Friday and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's awesome art. Head on over to check it out!

❧ Silke

Acrylics, Watercolors and a Commission

Today's post has a hodgepodge of my art, all of them animals but some are rendered in acrylics and two of them in watercolor, which is a fairly new medium for me.

The next two are the watercolor paintings, which are similar to my acrylics and at the same time much more delicate.

And this last painting is a commission that I painted for my client's sister of her four pets. I sure had fun with this one!

I still have a charcoal drawing to show you and also some of my latest abstract art. Sometimes I feel the need to just experiment with colors, shapes and different mediums.

In the meantime, I hope you are having a wonderful Thursday!

❧ Silke

So much is happening...

I haven't posted in a while, not because I have nothing to show, but because there is too much going on. Just the thought about writing it all down, finding the photos, getting it all organized seems overwhelming. But here I am!

I've been painting a lot. These are just some of the paintings of the last month. I'm finishing a medium-sized commissioned painting, which is looking really fun. I can't wait to be able to share it with you.

These are all small paintings, which I love to do. I'm also working on three larger ones and I'm sure I'll get more in the works. The ideas just keep coming!

I've also been reading a lot, taking a bunch of online classes, knitting, crocheting, cooking and baking. My life is so full at the moment that I don't find the peace of mind to write it all down. I hope that'll change soon...

I will need to do a separate post for the crocheting and knitting projects I'm working on and have finished lately. They are so much fun!

I want to show you what's growing in our yard - spring has sprung in a big way in Savannah. I want to tell you about some books I've been reading and classes I've been taking.

I need to do a post about a beautiful charcoal drawing I did. As an aside - as much as I love color (and you can tell I do), my other serious love is charcoal. In a big way!  

I'm also always experimenting. Here with high-flow acrylics on watercolor paper.

And here I was playing with watercolor. It's so much softer than the acrylics. I'm not very good at it yet, but I love it!

Lately, I've also felt the nudge to try my hand at oils again. It's been a few years and I had such a good time with them!

In other words I feel so inspired at the moment! Everything seems to open up a new world for me, weather it's looking at a flower in the garden, crocheting a blanket one stitch at a time, reading a great book, baking bread, getting my hands black with charcoal or allowing color to permeate everything.

Life is so good! And I sincerely hope for you as well!!

With love and gratitude,

❧ Silke