Musing
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Adventures in Colour: dyeing & density
My first dyeing experimentFirst the dyeing I hadn’t dyed anything since I tie-dyed a shirt at daycamp. But as I started scaling up my liquid acrylic experiments I wondered if dyeing could help. I love the colour harmonies I get when I use a coloured background. Lots...
Trying something new: reluctantly then enthusiastically
Things are a bit different around here these days. For the past couple of months I’ve been experimenting with liquid acrylics and raw canvas. This wasn’t something I particularly wanted to try. It was a technique someone suggested because it lends itself to my...
Doubt: maybe it’s helpful, essential even
workbench in my studio Last month’s blog post I made it all sound so easy and inevitable—how I’d bring an earthiness or groundedness into my work. I just reread that post and it made me laugh. It’s so neat and linear and upbeat. Right now upbeat is not the prevailing...
Dreaming of Mud: how I start new work
detail from Earth Star, mixed media collage As soon as one group of paintings are done I start wondering what’s next. Lately I find myself wishing for more earth, more grit into my work. This is an idea that comes from analysis, critique (by myself and others), and an...
Make It Weird: what I’m looking for in my work
Studio thinking chair with art journal and fountain penAfter most painting sessions I sit in my thinking chair and write. Sometimes I engage with problems in a painting—and note ideas of how to resolve the piece. Other times I note something I see in a painting that...
Depth and the Dilettante: balancing my creative urges
WHEN I WAS A LITTLE KID my brother sat me down and played the album Aladdin Sane for me and I was hooked. The music was good, the lyrics intrigued, and of course the album art was fascinating. Later I came to admire his adventurousness in his ever-changing music, but...
Alone in the Studio: getting closer to myself
I love meeting folk at an art fair, hearing what collectors are looking for, finding out what they see in my work, and sharing my inspiration. But the challenging and often joyful work of creation happens when I’m alone in my studio. As I work away, with no one...
Sharing: an integral part of my process
Then... In my teens and 20s I wrote poems and stories, made visual art—but I didn’t share my work. I had a few poems published, but I found creating and sharing stressful and confusing. The vulnerability of it all was too much for me and I didn’t have any support. and...
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