A Little Bit of Art

Last year I signed up for Tam's year-long Life Book 2014 class (at willowing.ning.com) and this last week we had our first assignment. Tam had a meditation for us where we were going to meet our guardian for our art this year and then we proceeded to draw and paint her (or him as it were).

It was fun! I played in a different style for me. Tam is all about mixed media and layering and I had forgotten how much fun that is. I used graphite, watercolor crayons, acrylic, collage paper and more.

She came out almost a little magical and I like her! We also had to choose a word for this next year and I chose mine to be "peace." Last year there was a lot of internal upheaval that got me off balance and this year I am striving for inner peace.

And that is what I wish for you!!

❧ Silke

Seeing Myself

I'm currently taking an online class on willowing.ning called "Radical Wellness". Many participants are taking the class to eat better and lose weight, but my focus is different. I want to learn to love my body again - this middle-aged body - as it is! Not as it used to be or as it could be, if... - but as it is now. Who know that this would be such a difficult goal.

The journal page above is from one of the exercises for the class. The drawing is only loosely based on a photo of me and then the photo on the left of the piece was taken just a few days ago. I did an image transfer with it, which gives it that more transparent look.

That piece of artwork and my recent visit to the Frida Kahlo exhibit in Atlanta gave me the idea of doing a series of self portraits.

Just to learn to look at myself through my own eyes again - with kindness. To look at my face as a whole and not just notice the pimple on my chin (which magically didn't make it into my drawing...) or the lines around my eyes.

I want to release that critical inner voice that is forever telling me what is wrong with me, what I have to  change, what I "should be" doing.

On a different note, we were supposed to be in Florida (in the Tampa area) right now for a mini vacation, but decided to postpone due to Tropical Storm Andrea. And a good decision that was! We are getting plenty of rain here in Savannah from the storm and will through tomorrow. And now I have plenty of time for making art!

I hope my German readers and friends are not affected by the incredible flooding in parts of Germany. I've been following it on the internet over the last few days and hope that the flood waters will recede soon!

Wishing you all a beautiful Thursday!

❧ Silke

Feeling unsettled

With Ramses purring on my lap, I am thinking about yesterday afternoon and how unsettled I had felt. All afternoon. I had free time to do whatever I wanted to do ~ paint, knit, sew, nap, read, watch a movie, blog etc. Yet I couldn't find my place. Do you ever feel that way?

Another postcard soon on it's way to a new home

One of our neighbors stopped by for a wrench as they are moving the last things out of their house. It occurred to me that everyone immediately around us is moving. That in itself is not unusual here in the US, as we are a very mobile society.

What is unusual is that we aren't the ones moving. For the first time, we are the ones staying and I have to admit I don't know how to feel about that. Daniel and I have gypsy blood in our veins and have - up to now - moved about every three years, if not to a new town, then to a new house. We've now been here for six years and it feels odd.

Is this it? Forever more? Are there any new adventures out there for us? Of course, I know the answers to all of those questions - after all, all of life is an adventure and nothing ever stays the same. And the biggest adventure lies in going inward, not moving around on the outside.

But I guess for today, I am trying to figure out how to feel settled not just on the outside, but in my emotions as well. How to grow while staying in place...

❧ Silke

More mail art

Good morning, dear friends! Once again, it is early and quiet around here. It reminds me every time how much I have always been an early morning person. Somehow time seems to move slower when most around me are still sleeping.

I made another two postcards yesterday. This is one of them ~ the other I'll show you tomorrow. The colors just clashed too much to put them together. I'm having so much fun with these. Now I just have to have a dry day so I can spray them with varnish outside and then send them off!

I would like to send them directly through the mail - I love the thought of original art being mailed as a real postcard (and they are pre-printed as postcards). And I don't care if they become smudged on the way, but you might. Any thoughts?

I'm also working on a painting, a portrait after such a long time of not doing them. And I haven't gotten past the sketch phase yet. All is ready, but somehow I'm nervous to start. Fear of not doing it right? Oh, whatever! I'm going to get started on it RIGHT NOW!

Wishing you a wonder-filled day with many happy surprises!

P.S. I am turning on the letter verification on my comments for just a few days. I keep getting spammed every day. Blogger filters them out, but I still get all those e-mails in my inbox. I think turning on the verification for a few days will have them move on from here. Sorry about the inconvenience for you!

❧ Silke

Looking Forward

As I look toward a new year, I am always filled with hope.

Hope for a yet better year, for more joy, more happy moments, more moments savored to the fullest, for more connections with friends and family, more creative projects, more marveling at the beauty of life, more dog noses kissed and cat ears scratched, more time spent in nature, more peace, more good news shared, more gifts given, and the constant awareness of infinite possibility!

More postcards soon to find a new home!

I wish all of that for you! And with gratitude for a year spent together here in the blog world, I wish us all a most amazing 2013!

❧ Silke

Grateful!

I was simply overjoyed by your comments on my last blog post and all the good wishes for the new year. After such a long-ish break, I wasn't sure I was still on anyone's radar... I am grateful to all of you!

 

I've started making some fast and small art, a tag and a postcard in this case. Some people like to paint in their art journals, I like to make my art in a format that can leave home and live elsewhere.

Send me an e-mail (link is on my sidebar)  with your address if you'd like to get one of these small creations in the mail (snail mail that is) at some point. I will be making many more throughout the coming months. They'll all be different, so let yourself be surprised by the one you receive...

It's just a small token of my appreciation for your friendship!

It is a cold morning here (cold for Savannah, that is) and I know that many of you are dealing with winter weather and huge amounts of snow. Stay warm and cozy and safe! 

❧ Silke

Cassie - Finished Painting

When I first showed you my sketch of this painting (which has since been changed a bit),  Scriptorsenex remarked that she looked like she'd be blond with blue eyes. Turns out, he was correct!

Meet Cassie or as Daniel called her: "Sassy Cassie."

I loved watching her appear on my canvas. There's something very special about her!

Cassie
8 x 10 inch painting on wrapped canvas

Available for purchase in my Etsy shop.

I am sharing her with the wonderful artists over at Paint Party Friday. If you haven't visited there yet, it's well worth it!!

And with that I wish you an excellent and creative day! I might be finishing my little still life today...


P.S. The pretty papers showing through, I bought here on Etsy.

Lara - Finished Painting

Lara is quite different from my other paintings if simply for the fact that she has blond hair!

I am so enjoying painting these women at the moment! Each one of them is different and with none of them do I know how they will look in the end.

It was the same with this one. And I'm so happy I am painting on collaged papers again - I did this in the very beginning of my painting life three years ago and then sort of got away from it. I love texture and the depths I get from a layer of papers.

Lara
11 x 14 inch acrylic painting
available for purchase in my Etsy store

My friend Cathy (Artsy Butterfly) inspired me to share this painting over at Paint Party Friday. And because her hair looks very fluid to me as it blows in the breeze, I am also entering her in this week's Illustration Friday Exhibit.

I'm already on to the next painting and can't wait to show you!

P.S. I loved all your comments on my previous post about coffee or tea! I am drinking tea right now, but I think later this morning I'll go by my favorite cafe in town (on my way to the print studio) for a latte...

Altered Art

Taking Off

Mixed media painting on 11 x 14 inch wrapped canvas.

Do you remember my duck painting from here? Well, it obviously was nowhere close to being finished. I used to ask Daniel how he knew if a painting was finished and he used to tell me that you just know. And he's right. This one stayed on my mind and I needed to play with it some more.

I totally love the texture and composition of this latest version. I look at it and keep seeing different things. And the gold... I don't think you can see it all. Some of it is gold watercolor powder, plus some of the fiber paper contains thin gold strips. So pretty!! My old love of paper and color is taking a new form...

Now I am off on a little jaunt through blogland. Hope to see you there...

More Art

Tapestry 

mixed media painting on 11 x 14 inch wrapped canvas

There's a lot of texture in this piece - different papers of different thicknesses and layers of paint. In the end, the richness of the color, the gold and the texture reminded me of a tapestry. And then there seems to be a big bird. Daniel asked if I had painted a duck...

I'm working on two more art journal entries and on my next painting already. And I hope to visit you all in the next couple of days!! I must find out what you've been up to...

Art Journal - The First Pages...

Yesterday, I played with my first two art journal pages (I'm showing you the background I had created and then finished pages) and returned to my first love:

Faces! And it was so much fun -- seeing what they would look like, each one different and each one a surprise. These are simple and done fairly fast - more like little sketches really.

It felt so good and so familiar. I missed this.

Progressing in my art techniques had somehow taken the joy out of painting for me. When I first started out, I was so much more carefree in just painting and experimenting. Because I didn't know anything, every painting was a success. These couple of pages connected me with that feeling again and I am so grateful!

I call them angels in training. Even if this is the only entry in my art journal, it was already worth it!

By the way, I was really tickled by the comments yesterday by all of you who also don't journal, but still collect black books. It seems that there are many of us...

P.S. I just wanted to mention my giveaway! If you haven't entered it yet, click on the photo in my sidebar and then leave a comment in the post that comes up!

New Painting!

Breaking Open 

acrylics and paper on canvas

2 x 4 ft

These photos really doesn't do the painting justice at all and it doesn't truly show it's size properly. This is the biggest painting I have painted so far - 2 ft x 4 ft (61 cm x 122 cm).

I got to use Daniel's easel, which I had set up in my studio and really enjoyed the process of painting standing up and with big brushes and long strokes. It really involves your whole body, which is such a new experience for me. I love it!

(You can click on any of these photos to see a larger version.)

So, my plan for this painting was to paint many layers of luminous paints to experiment with color a little more and to use interesting papers to create an abstract painting. Well, that didn't go as planned. I did paint many layers (at least 25 I'd say) and loved the effect, especially where I added a little iridescent paint, I added gorgeous papers, but then I saw the first flower the background and the plan for an abstract painting went out the window.

Although I have to admit that painting flowers was never something I wanted to do. Ever!  But then, two more flowers were added and when I stepped back to survey the painting, I saw the face. It was right there in the background - they eyes and the mouth just needed a little more definition, but it was all right there.

And when I began to paint the face, my heart started beating faster and that was the moment I knew I was connecting with my painting. Right then you know that you are not just putting paint on a canvas, but that the painting is speaking back to you and changing you. I think that feeling is why I love painting so much!

Now with it finished (I think), I just keep starting at the painting and marveling that I actually created this. It still amazes me!!

Well, friends, it's been a busy week here and I haven't been able to check with you as much as I wanted to. I really miss you!! Hopefully this weekend...

Another Maiden...

Do you remember the Summer Maiden (15 x 22 inches, mixed media painting) I painted about a year ago. My dad took her to Germany and had her framed for my sister (it was so much fun seeing my framed art at their house this summer!).

Well, my dad kept saying how much he loved that painting and so I decided to paint a similar one for him. I was curious if I would be able to sort of make a copy of a painting. Of course, I didn't want to make her exactly the same, and so I had fun making her similar, yet giving her her own personality. What do you think?

My dad got her framed while I was still there at the most wonderful little frame shop in their village.

And he got my first couple of paintings framed as well - they all hang in the guest room where I stayed, along with a beautiful piece of artwork from Daniel. How fun is that?!?

I haven't painted anything yet since getting back, but I've been knitting up a storm and will show you all of that tomorrow!

In the meantime, I hope you are all having a most wonderful weekend!

"Echos from Times Past"

Echos from Times Past

14 x 18 inch mixed media painting on canvas

Another new favorite of mine! She turned out so differently from what I had originally planned, but I love all her layers - and there are many of them: molding paste, collage papers, acrylic paints, tissue paper, an image transfer of a graveyard photo Daniel took in Ireland, and pieces of a letter written by my favorite great uncle. He was a Franciscan priest and married Daniel and me in Germany 20 years ago this week.

As I get ready to visit my family in Germany later this month, I find myself thinking often about those "times past," and I am sure this painting was much influenced by that.

"Echos from Times Past" is available as a 5 x 7 inch print in my Etsy Shop.

"New Beginnings"

New Beginnings

8 x 10 inch mixed media painting on canvas

Here my latest painting: "New Beginnings." This was the strangest process yet. Let me explain!

When I was visiting galleries last week with my friend, the paintings that truly made my heart skip a beat were all very layered and mostly abstract. It made me realize how much I love layered paintings, even if the layers are no longer visible at the end.

So, I sat down at this heavily textured 8 x 10 canvas intending to paint a very intense (think bright reds and blues), very abstract and layered painting.

I started and allowed myself to just go with the flow and this is the end result. Very tender colors, a very introspective and a little bit sad woman, collage elements, and a little stamping - not at all what I had had in mind. The handwriting is that of my sweet grandmother's and the flower in her hair is a dried hydrangea flower from our garden.

When I look at her, I can see not only the many layers of my painting (there is an entire finished portrait underneath this one), but also the layers in her personality ... and in my own.

She is available as a 5 x 7 inch print in my Etsy Shop.