14 finished

(11x15, mixed medium)

14 paintings finished (two are being re-used from other shows), 6 more to go. I finally caught up with myself over this week. Painting this much has been a bit crazy (read: major ups and downs in outlook), but fun... yesterday I really played with some new techniques and came up with the one pictured above.

I started by dying the paper with black tea, which was a little tricky. On my first try I was carrying the tea outside to work in the sun and dropped the pan, spilling all over the living room floor. And because I was wearing flipflops, I slipped in it and fell, cutting my hands up on the brick fireplace mantel. Ouch. There was cursing and crying. And then I recovered and tried again, this time leaving all the doors open so I wouldn't have to fumble with the handles. And that worked.

So I dyed the paper and then dried it in the sun. After that I drew on it and painted (finger painting!) and scribbled. Got some feedback from a friend and then did a little more. I like how it turned out. A little different from me, but it was fun.

(and I got a call from the gallery saying that my show was actually in gallery #2 - there are a lot of events going on in the building opening night and another artist is showing in gallery #1. There is also going to be a yoga movement act/thing going on in my space, which I am not sure how to feel about. Maybe it will be fun and draw people in. Or maybe it will be a distraction and no one will look at the art. I'm trying not to be bummed. Maybe it's a good thing.)

Have a good weekend, friends. I hope it fills you up.

xo

*update, 3pm: The gallery owner called again later this morning and explained a little more about the yoga thing... she said the thought was to show the performers my work and then they would create a routine based about their reactions to it. And she asked if I was comfortable with that... if not -- that was okay. And I felt a lot better hearing that explained and now can't wait to see what they do. How totally interesting! Can't wait! (I'll try to get some video for you.)