
Well Tuesday we woke up to snow falling, which continued for most of the day. What a perfect day to start a crackling fire in the fireplace and settle into the studio! It was a day of progress but not completion…some days are just like that. Although I am please with the progress I also enjoy having finished images to share with you, those will have to wait a day or two! I worked on the tree piece that I started last Tuesday – the crackle paste had done it’s thing and was just waiting for some color to be added. Here’s a close up image of the crackle after I’d added washes of color to it:

I had to seal the painted paste with a couple of a layers of clear, hard, acrylic so that’s where I left off. So far the tree portion is looking great, which makes me a little intimidated to start working on the background colors! I am keeping the rest of the work in progress images to myself for a while, I’ll save them to post with the finished image. 🙂
I also started two more pieces similar to “Free to Be” that was featured in yesterday’s post. They started as a large image but I wasn’t happy with the black design so I folded it in two and squished the paint around, rather like a Rorschach test. Eventually I just split into two different pieces then added a black stenciled area and lines of white paint to both pieces.

One I am painting in yellow/orange/red hues and the other in teal/blue/grey. I should have them finished and photographed for tomorrow blog post, look for them then!
Another project I hope to make some progress with is a new mixed media wall sculpture. I went out to the workshop over the weekend with a nice 2 x 4 foot sheet of wood and cut it to pieces with the scroll saw. Previous wood cutting has been just geometric shapes or curvy organic pieces but I really played with it this time making a lot more intricately cut pieces than I had previously.

For some reason it seemed like every other piece I cut ended up looking like a bird! I’ve had birds on my mind lately, I can’t tell you why or what it means but I keep coming up with ideas for artwork that has birds in it. I’m sure there is some deep meaning in it all but for now I just recognize that it’s happening and go with it. Anyhow, I ended up with a large selection of pieces ranging from less than an inch up to a big “base” piece that is probably a foot wide and two feet tall.

Add that to the random pieces I already had in my collection I am ready to start constructing! One of the last things that I “intricately cut” was my thumb. It wasn’t a terrible wound and after a little first aid and a Sponge Bob band-aid I was good to go.

Although it was entirely my own fault I’ve been trying to blame my husband who, after I’d been cutting for a couple of hours, had to mention he was waiting to leave the house “just in case you cut your finger off and need help”. Less than five minutes later I was bleeding! Some things shouldn’t be given voice to! 🙂
As you read this I will very likely be back out in the studio working on these projects today, or others – you never know about me! Just picture me sitting in my cozy studio looking out this window at the winter beauty.

Peace,
Lynne