I'm Doing What I Love

Waiting 30 x 24 Acrylic on Canvas

My Painting from Flora's Bloom True E-Course is being showcased, along with 11 others, on Beth's Do What You Love website. See all the beautiful work here. Thank you Flora and Beth for opening up a whole new world of painting.

Shoyu Chicken

A delicious recipe a good friend passed along to me loaded with flavor.
I think it's a Hawaiian dish or maybe Philippino.

Shoyu Chicken

1 - 1½ lb. chicken, bone in (thighs work well, skinless is fine, but boneless breasts don’t do well in this recipe)

1 cup shoyu (soy sauce)

1 cup sugar (for thicker sauce use ½ c sugar & ½ c brown sugar)

3/4 cup water

garlic, at least 2 cloves minced (jar is ok too)

ginger, to taste 1-2 cloves (or use ground, generous dashes)

chopped green onion

toasted Sesame seeds

Rinse/clean chicken & place in a large pot or pan. Add shoyu, sugar, water, garlic, ginger, & green onion. Bring to a boil. Lower heat & simmer about 45 minutes to an hour. Sprinkle w/ sesame seeds. Serve over steamed rice.

I cheated a little on this one. I only had boneless breasts so I cooked them in the sauce for about 20 minutes and realized that wasn't enough time for the sauce to thicken. I removed the breasts and kept them warm then added a little cornstarch and water mixed together, turned the temperature up and let it reduce and thicken. I thought it was very good with little effort. Enjoy!

What's Happening in the Studio

Accomplishing a little painting and a lot of self-doubt.

This one is headed for the trash, but not before I do a few more crazy things to it.

I added every color of paint that was sitting out as I cleaned up the art table and topped it off with drops of acrylic ink. Now I have an interesting background and a clean work area for tomorrow. This was actually fun and I like it.

Want to start using my journal for more than lists and notes. Art is always on my mind, and playing with tools and techniques while I watch TV in the evening is a great way to keep growing and learning. This is watercolor and ink.

Another journal page playing with Neocolor II water soluble crayons. Acrylic craft paint flowers on top.

More water soluble crayons.

Flower doodles with pen and pan watercolor paint.

Be You

"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are."

-- Joseph Campbell

Inspiration at Work

I have been seriously blog challenged lately lacking ideas, new work, or time to get anything up here. It's been weighing heavily on me, so I thought I would simply add some photos of things that catch my eye at work. I work on the Sales Floor at Michael's Arts and Crafts and have the opportunity to roam the store and check out all the cool stuff. Even if I don't know what to do with lots of it, it's still fun and inspiring to imagine the possibilities. I take stock of shapes, patterns and the way things are layered. Often there's so much information, it just puts me on overload. So here's a few items that caught my eye yesterday. Enyoy the Day!

A Heart Right Under Her Nose...

 

 

I'm always amazed at the interesting places I find hearts when I take the time to look around and see them. I never noticed that my dog, Maggie, has a heart-shaped nose until my son, Scotty, took a super close-up shot of her face and there on the computer monitor was her heart-shaped nose staring right at me. And my super-duper heart scouting daughter, Paige, found the heart-shaped dirt spot on the end of the DuraFlame log package (if you squint your eyes, you can really see the heart). Finally, I learned how to make origami hearts at our last Girl Scout Meeting. So Cute!

Finishing Up...Finally!

#13 in 50 Painting Series and also #2
 in Flora's Bloom True E-course

Sadly, Flora Bowley's Bloom True E-Course is over and after about 7 weeks I haven't even finished one painting. What happened? Life, I guess! Thankfully Life has resumed a normal pace again and I have been slowly pulling this painting together. My first painting underwent a re-do and is back to square one so I haven't included any photos of it yet.

I still struggle with letting go and letting the brush paint freely...I overthink and analyze everything. I have a long way to go in this intuitive process, but I am really enjoying it more than anything I've tried so far. I am going to continue in this direction and see where it leads me.  

The small flower painting below I started a while ago. I've been adding to it with leftover paint from my palette at the end of my painting sessions. I don't remember where I was headed with this pieces, but now it's getting new life in a Flora-esque way.

#14 in 50 Painting Series
10x10 inch

Riches in Stitches

So bummed about this!
Put my hand through the dining room window yesterday...now I can't paint.
Already two days behind in the Bloom True course, but so anxious to paint.
It got me out of work today, so I'm catching up on other stuff.
Perhaps tomorrow I'll have better grip with my ring and pinky finger.
Have a super day!

Bloom True E-Course Week 2

Totally loving Flora's E-Course!
This is one of my two canvases with 4 layers finished.
This one still needs the black and white layer.
Really had fun with all the mark making and brush playing.
It was hard to just paint without thinking about it at first, but it got easier
 and I found myself letting go and just "messing" around (literally)
and not worrying about what I was doing.
If I didn't like it I could add another layer or two to fix the dislike.

Canvas #2 with the black and white layer added, giving it a graffiti look. I like it!
Can't wait to move on to the next layer.
I'm really having fun "playing" with the paints to see what they do and what
they look like on top and next to other other. I'm even using colors I wouldn't normally use
since I know they will most likely be covered up.

I get up every morning at 4:30 so excited to see the next post in Flora's classroom.
Thank You Flora for sharing your experience and insight!

#4 More Progress

Sometimes the viewfinder of my camera helps
me see what needs to be done in a painting.

"Just move one step in the direction of your soul's longing.
Do not worry about where it leads.
Don't try to imagine the specifics of what you will eventually create; it will come."

-- Ann O'Shaughnessy

A quote from todays Bloom True e-course by Flora Bowley...so fitting!

"We do not remember days,
we remember moments."

-- Cesare Pavese

Fast and Fabulous Dinner

I put this in the slow cooker early yesterday morning and when I walked in the door from work at 5:30 the smell was to-die-for. I just microwaved white rice and dinner was ready in 20 minutes. Delicious!

Slow Cooked Pork with Salsa, Cilantro & Lime  

1 jar salsa (16 oz.)
1 package dry taco seasoning mix or 2 T. homemade mix
½ red onion, diced
1 lime, juiced
3 T.  chopped fresh cilantro
1 ½ cups frozen corn
2 to 3 lb. boneless pork loin roast, sliced into 5 to 6 pieces about 1" thick

Rub pork pieces with taco seasoning. Place the salsa, remaining taco seasoning, and onion into a slow cooker, and stir to combine. Add the pork and stir to coat with the salsa mixture. Cover the cooker, set to High, and cook until the pork is very tender, about 4 hours. If desired, set cooker to Low and cook 6 to 8 hours. Stir in lime juice, cilantro and corn during last hour. Shred pork with 2 forks and serve over white rice. Serves:  6

Note:  The pork broke apart easily with a spoon, no need to shred. You can also use 3 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts instead of pork.

Work In Progress



Here's the progression of my final assignment for Wyanne's Paint Free Class (named #8 in my 50 Painting Practice Series). I was starting to become way too attached to this concept and became afraid to do anything for fear I would ruin it. So I just stood there, staring at it, not knowing what to do next. I knew it wasn't finished and thought it was looking a little boring. I want my paintings to be interesting, and this just isn't.

So I got brave and just started making marks.

Again, I stood there gazing and staring, baffled at what to do next. I spent more time just standing there than painting.  I decided to just do something, whether it's right or wrong. So I took away the abstractness (which I love) and made it cute (which I'm not so fond of)! Unsure if I ruined it, decided to put it away and come back another day when I'm less judgemental about it and see the possibilities.

So I moved on to #4. The first layer of this collage was a piece I started last spring in Paul Gardner's Mixed Media Workshop. Didn't really like it (big surprise huh?) and it just sat there waiting for me to be brave and just do something with it. So a few weeks ago I painted some designs over the first layer. Being my critical self, didn't like it, so there it sat a while longer.



 So I messed around with it a little more.

Added some statements.

Then added some really watered down paint with drips and swirls to the top. This is on watercolor paper that doesn't lay very flat anymore because of all the collage materials in it, so the watery paint pooled in certain areas where it looks muddy. The brighter circles are where I applied masking fluid and have now removed it. So there's my under painting.

Yesterday I started to play with it adding some trees, flowery pods and color. I'd like it to have a landscapey feeling, but not in the traditional sense. I want it to be more fun and interesting and not really make sense. That's hard for the left brain person I truly am!

Why?

Why can't I get anything finished?

Why do I jump from technique to technique before giving them a chance?

Why can't I just enjoy the process and not be in a hurry?

Why do I think I need to sell a painting before I call myself an artist?

Why can't I like what I paint?

Why can't I paint in a style that I like?

Why does every one's art look better to me than my own?

Why, Why, Why?

While looking through some "draft" posts I had written a while back, I came across this one that caught my attention. I was clearly feeling frustrated with the whole painting process and doubting why I even paint at all. With my never-ending focus on the end result, I second guess every mark and judge the painting before it's finished. With those habits working against me, how do I even stand a chance? So needless-to-say, I too often quit and start something new, creating this cycle of never finishing anything.

That's why I am totally committing myself to the painting process through practice, practice, practice. I need to embrace the process regardless of the final product whether it's good or bad. I do hate the thought of posting a "bad" painting on my blog, but this IS my journey. It wouldn't be real if I only posted the good stuff, now would it?

I think it comes down to fear. Fear of looking amateurish. Fear of looking like a beginner. I want to be a seasoned artist, but I'm not. This is who I am, a student struggling to find her way. Counting the days until Flora's Bloom True E-course for more guidance on the process.

Bloom True E-Course

This is one of my experiments in Flora's style of painting.

I LOVE Flora Bowley's work and have been trying to attend one of her workshops for a few years now. Since I can't seem to make that happen, I just signed up for her brand new e-course "Bloom True." I'm soooo excited...can hardly wait! She also has a book coming out in May...so looking forward to that too!

This course is another step in my quest to focus on the process not the product. Just finishing up my last painting for Wyanne's "Paint Free" e-course. I made the mistake of envisioning the final painting and now it's not unfolding as I envisioned...but I'm going with it and seeing where it ends up. So far I'm liking it!

It's funny, I read an article in CPS Jan/Feb 2012 by Tiffany Teske "The lessons I learned by making art," and she described me perfectly. One of her lessons was to let go of perfection because it's impossible to accomplish. In her teaching experience, students who are perfectionist (that's me) often give up before they have put in enough time and practice to improve. The happy painters are the ones who embrace their mistakes as learning experiences and make a lot of art.

I'm slowly shifting to a non-perfectionist way of thinking and developing an attitude of discovery. It's a very hard shift to paint with an attitude of "freeness" and "fearlessness" but I'm committed to it. So in between working on paintings for Flora's class, I'm going to continue my 50 Painting Series. I have about 7 pieces started so far.