Finding the Sweet Spot: My new Infinity series

I painted two new pieces today! I was trying to figure out just the right spot to work. The Whitlock Gallery, located in the cool old warehouse space behind the Art Forum at DuPre’s Antique Market, is a fun place to set up to work on my larger pieces.

The color is hot over here, cold over there...

This spot looks good.

Leftover pizza is essential fuel for creativity.

Two swipes and I'm tempted to call it done.

I want more drips, so I add more wet paint.

These two paintings are actually tests for my larger piece, Yellow Infinity Flower. I’m going to try two different finishes on these, one gloss and one matte. I can’t wait to see how they turn out.

I picked out new flower bulbs for my garden this week. I love the yellow daylilies getting ready to sprout from the garden right now. They are my “infinity” flowers, coming back again and again, through drought and flood. They are the inspiration for my new series.

Shelley, The Destroyer: My creative reign of terror

Ok, maybe my title is a little dramatic, but who doesn’t love a good drama? A fringe benefit of creating my art is that I am entertaining people. I have been blogging for almost 5 years now, hoping my audience will find me.

I had the great honor this month of being found by Charlotte Pietrowski with the Marietta Gazetta. She has become a fan of my altered books, and she wrote a wonderful article about them for her website. Click here to read “Marietta Artist, Shelley M. House Destroys Books.”

Charlotte has inspired me to get more pages from my Liquid Topaz project printed so I can share them with a wider audience at the Art Forum. Thank you Charlotte!

"Liquid Topaz, page 107," 7x5inches, mixed media, copyright 2011 Shelley M. House.

The Mystery Star

The last of my stars is complete! I call this one The Mystery Star:

I am going to try making hearts next, in anticipation of Valentine’s Day.

Both of the kids helped in the creation of this photo, titled Ring of Fire:

Of course, that Johnny Cash song is the first thing to come to mind. But a little Googling revealed that Ring of Fire is also the name of the large area around the Pacific Ocean basin where most of the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. Which of course reminds me of another song.

Trivia time: This is my 200th post in WordPress. My very first post was in April of 2007.

Waiting on a Star

I’m still waiting for my second batch of clay stars to dry. I changed the design a little, making them thicker so the points won’t break off so easily. But that means they take longer to dry. I’m getting impatient to start some new stars. I found a big bag of marbles that will look great pushed into some clay. I need more room to work. The kitchen table just isn’t big enough any more.

My goal is to turn this room into my working art studio:

I’ll keep you posted on how this goes. I imagine I’ll find some nifty things in there to use for my art projects. If I think of it as a Treasure Hunt, I might not even notice that I’m cleaning … right?

Beachside Doodle

I sat down to doodle some trees, and this is what I got.

The colors reminded me of a beach instead. I can’t remember the last time I was at a beach. Maybe 1999? Back then, 2012 seemed so far away.

I’ve been reading a lot of lists of resolutions and predictions for 2012. Barney Davey’s list of Three Words for 2012 inspired me to share my “Buzzword for the Month,” or week, or whenever I think of a better buzzword…

Portability — That’s my magic word of the moment. I need to gather my collection of portable art tools so I can create wherever I am, at any time. I have a goal to produce a lot more art, and I rarely have hours to spend working in my studio. I can take advantage of every moment if I have the right tools with me. My new Wacom is much smaller than my last one, and I think I found a pen setting that is similar to the brush pens I like to use, so I plan on bringing it with me to all of my favorite doodling spots.

Chasing the Sun, Catching the Stars

Friday was the kind of day when I find the sun peeking in the windows in interesting new ways. The sun was coming through the blinds to make stripes on my plant for just a few minutes.

Then I found the trees reflected in some caramel.

Lunchtime was a special treat. The Big Mac is a beautiful thing!

I found this stripey star out in the play area.

I’d been thinking about a new project involving stars, and this fun little outing was just the inspiration I needed.

It’s been a long time since I’ve worked with clay. It’s so much fun! I wish I could take more photos while I’m working on these new stars, but my fingers get too messy to touch the camera.

I finished 4 stars yesterday, and have 3 more in the works right now. I look forward to hanging them in the gallery this week, along with a brand new large print.

Christmas Doodle

Happy Holidays! I’ve been playing with my new Wacom tablet, having fun doodling. I’m not sure how over a month has gone by since my last blog post, but these things happen. I received a good supply of coffee and chocolate today to see me into the new year, plus I’m looking forward to a fresh start with some new art.

Crashing Into Canvas: Gamboge Daydream

I spent yesterday imagining the words “Coffee House” stenciled across my painting in big letters. I’m not sure I still won’t do that, but before I could add any color today, a poem came to me. When I start rhyming, I have to write it down.

Meet me at the Coffee House,
Make it half past nine.
Meet me at the Coffee House,
We’ll have a lovely time.

I was happy to see my sepia Tombow brush pen worked pretty well on canvas.

Then I was ready to warm things up with my Gamboge yellow watercolor.

Other blogs in this series:
A Challenge! Crashing Into Canvas
Crashing Into Canvas: A Splash of Coffee

Crashing Into Canvas: A Splash of Coffee

I’m getting set up to start my first painting on canvas. There’s nothing to be afraid of, really. Canvas isn’t really much different than paper, except for all those holes…

I pulled together what painting supplies I have around the house — brushes I had stashed away, a cup of strong coffee,

and some paint. I have only a couple colors in acrylic, and a few watercolors that haven’t dried up yet.

My fish spied on me from inside the mouth of his dragon, wondering if I was ever going to start painting.

Did I take a lot of photos to avoid starting my painting? Yes. Yes I did.

But eventually I got around to it. I started by making my canvas less white. I tried coffee first, but it wasn’t dark enough. So here is my splash of burnt umber watercolor –

I’m not sure what this will turn out to be yet. I’ve been daydreaming about adding random splashes of color, but I really want this to look like something recognizable when I’m done.

Other blogs in this series:
A Challenge! Crashing Into Canvas
Crashing Into Canvas: Gamboge Daydream

A Challenge! Crashing Into Canvas

I’ve been challenged to paint on canvas, something I’ve never done before. I already conquered my fear of white paper. So, what will I do now about my fear of the blank canvas? I’ll keep you posted!

Other blogs in this series:
Crashing Into Canvas: A Splash of Coffee
Crashing Into Canvas: Gamboge Daydream