Time to Throw in the Towel....really.

or in this case, throw out the block of wood. I am at an impasse that has no forward movement with this one. I had set it aside for quite some time, and kept generating ideas to change what I had done (that wasn't gelling) as well as new elements to incorporate (which weren't gelling).
Something I recently did to it  was to scribble some wax onto various areas beneath the tree canopy, and go for a crayon resist look. My thought was ....rain...storm...darkness, etc....that would show up in the background once I had applied  blackish wash, and hopefully bring together some of the elements in the bottom section of the piece. I'm still really liking the tree canopy, so I didn't want to disturb that, but the mermaid was not coming along-regardless of whether I tried to pencil or paint her in. A last ditch effort was made to actually cover her up- and I got allot of smeary stuff going on instead. Lastly, the black tint wash was applied....which did nothing but make this piece look like  it was left out in the rain, and then dumped in a puddle.

Too bad. It' s a real nice block of wood, and a real nice idea. Yet with each new idea that I had, each new expression that I thought for sure would really change the piece for the better, it just muddied it up even more. Still,  I think each of the elements, in and of themselves, are like mini artworks. But in bringing it all together, for a cohesive whole ...well,  I just couldn't work it out. I think a massive scraping is in order, so that I can at least save the foundation and the' heart 'of this- for something better and even more beautiful and creative. It would be a shame for it to be firepit fodder.

I'm heeding the work's main message..... really.

Combining Words and Art

The following 'quickie' drawings I completed in July. They are exercises that  I've been doing for awhile now that combine my art and journaling; craftily  called "Raw Art Journaling" by Quinn at Quinn Creative. Please check out her sight for daily inspiration and beautiful artwork. Reading about what she does helped me to get my own feelings expressed in a way that was concise and quick - no Picasso or Neruda stuff going on here; just a simple way of expression that always pleases...me.

The one above was created from some thoughts I had from a post earlier on this blog....in January, I think, about inspiration.

This was created as a result of thoughts from some of my older journal writings, and extrapolating from thoughtful emails that I had both sent and received. The color version really popped for me, but.... I needed to see it in black & white too. I like both equally.

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I think this one is my favorite. It is simple, with few colors and the stipple technique in the petals is just the ticket. The message is to myself , and I am still learning...learning to begin.

progress and a new direction

I had been thinking that the skull motifs would really work in the girl and goat painting after my last post. I decided to add a few to the bottom before I put the skull lanterns in the background. We'll see where it goes.

 

 And flaming snake lady is making progress.