I’m really in the mood to paint but work and getting ready for the garage sale are taking up lots of my time. I’ve been getting up early so I have an hour or two before work for artsy play. I have to set a timer (usually for my music to stop) so that I don't lose my self in my imaginary world. When I create time often becomes relative. I may look up and it has been 15 minutes or just as easily several hours. On the weekends, I can think I am stopping for lunch only to find out it is really suppertime.
I’ve got an idea to try and capture that moment when you sort of become yourself. There is this quote “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” by Anais Nin that has been in the back of my mind a lot lately. (Aside: now she was an interesting lady) It is the same quote I referenced a post or two ago.
Funny how certain things stick with you. Usually there is something personal there -often exactly what isn’t necessarily apparent at the moment but only revealed when seen backwards throughout the filter of time and then it is so obvious, often an AHA kind of thing.
Well, I begin to collage on new elements. I use pages from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Around the World in Eighty Days”because I want to give the piece a feeling of both innocence and excitement. I play with some of my new supplies -a Tim Holtz stencil for texture and distress paint daubed in dots. I also drizzle on fluid acrylics and scribble on watercolor crayons.
The artwork is feeling a little better already. Next I have a painting that my talented daughter Autumn created for my Mom last Christmas. It has these ink and watercolored feathers that will be perfect for my girl’s hair. I scan them in to the computer, adjust to the appropriate size then print. I add them to the canvas with Matte Medium (Love me some Matte Medium!) I stamp out some text, real messy-like and play with its placement but the words I’ve selected are overwhelming the picture so I try several different ways of minimizing the words yet keeping its meaning. It takes quite a few tries before figuring out the right words and placement.
A few days go by and finally the yard sale is over. I can get back to painting again. I haven’t actually attached the text yet because I still need to paint the hair. First, I try a short red bob and black face paint.
The next day, I evaluate and decide I should stick closer to my sketch with a long braid but instead of a sun, I will add a flower in her hair and colorful little dots to the background. I also make the feathers brighter and attach antique lace to her dress.
I’m not loving the black face paint so I paint over her cheeks with white acrylics. I have to wait till the paint is thoroughly dry before I can continue to paint. It is always a bit scary when you make such a drastic change this far along in a painting. If I didn’t make the adjustment though I’d be settling for something I wouldn’t ever be quite happy with. It is also an appropriate part of the process. I feel like my girl is going through adolescence which must include a smidgen of awkwardness.
Once the white paint is dry, I have to add color to her cheeks, then shadows and highlights. I also have switched her eye color from blue to green. The canvas is almost complete. I finally commit to the wording (which has changed yet again) and attach the text and quote.
Only one more installment to go… Are you ready for part three? Won’t be long -I promise.
Music for Yesterday is Colbie Cailet's Try
Music for Today is Taylor Swift's Shake it Off
Music for Tomorrow is RaeLynn's God Made Girls
(YouTube is working again so here is music for all three posting of Adventure Girl at once -just incase it is a odd temporary thing and goes away again.)
