"Peace & Quiet" ($30.00)

( adjusted price.....$30.00)


This very chaotic background image almost went in the trash until I realized it was a great visual metaphor of the busyness and loudness of life. My objective then became how to contrast that by visually lowering the chaos...which is exactly what we all must do in real life to stay sane.

This piece is all about layering and using color to bring things together. I began by mixing liquid graphite (Derivan brand in a jar) with paste to create paste paper. It needed color so I glazed over the entire image with Liquitex Transparent Viridian. (Liquitex also makes a Transparent Raw Sienna and Burnt Sienna.) These transparent colors give an "aged" look, especially the Raw Sienna.

I knew that white would be the best color choice for lettering, but I also needed it somewhere else. White Gesso was my choice and I stamped it on randomly by applying it to a scrap of paper, removing the excess, and pressing it on the surface. Now you may still feel like there is too much going on here, but it was a great exercise in not throwing something away, but figuring out how to salvage it. This might be a spring board for another piece with less texture marks in the paste....and on it goes!

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"Prayer" (unavailable)

(unavailable)


This quote was on a list of quotes I had already written, but I had not planned on doing it yesterday. That all changed when a friend e-mailed me of the critical condition of their little one. This is for her and her husband as they grapple with the very real issue of life and death. My love and prayers are with them today.

My entire concept of design space and shapes has changed since I realized the power of "edge to edge". Even the first layer of paste paper was cropped so the expressive lettering extended from top to bottom. Even if an element does not go completely to the edge, the eye will automatically connect it if it is almost there. Expand your space by implementing the "edge to edge" concept.


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"Blind Spots" (sold)

(sold)


Everyone has had the experience of driving, needing to change lanes, and not seeing the vehicle in the next lane because it was in your "blind spot". Hopefully you've not had an accident doing this and you finally realized that small concave mirrors could reveal what was typically in your blind spot. There are other situations not as easily resolved. A good friend or a spouse and even your children can become your concave mirror because your blind spot is like the proverbial "elephant in the room" that everyone sees but no one wants to talk about or everyone sees but you.

I've often thought of letters as the stitching that connects two or more color shapes together. The tall skinny black letters in the background not only connect the color fields at the top and bottom but they create more shapes by extending to two sides of the paper. Thinking of lettering in this way can often help determine where to place the lettering. The white dots interspersed with the white lettering also form another connection between the top and bottom color fields.

"Decisions" (sold)

(sold)


Decisions are those pesky little things that begin the minute we begin the day. Just deciding what to wear can lead to a "meltdown" after the third change! The real "time wasters" are those decisions we make but don't complete. The person who can make and implement decisions quickly is the most productive.

This piece is on the borderline of indecision. The white and blue are cool colors but the brown is warm. They are both trying to be in charge. The design principle of dominance means that either the warm or the cool needs to dominate. I believe the cool wins out here but not by much. The piece would have a quieter feel with one or the other taking up a larger percentage of space. However, I like drama so I generally have them closer together in the amount of space they take. Dominance would create more harmony and less contrast. Think about it. The decision is yours.

"Rubato" (unavailable)

(permanent collection of dee day)


Rubato is a music term that often appears in classical music. It lets the musician know that the set meter of the music can be suspended to allow for a "give and take" in the rhythm. It is true that the circumstances of life call for that same kind of suspension of our set schedule in order to deal with unexpected situations. It's a very expressive word. I hope you like it!

This is the third piece in a series I've done with the same background color and a different flower in each. There is one more to go. The beauty of working with the same size and colors is that each piece in the series can be presented by itself or all together in a grouping. It's a wonderful way to use a parent sheet of paper that has the same background. Just get out your cropping"L's" or a black mat to locate the most dynamic areas. When I crop a large area I look for two things in particular....interest in all or most of the corners and an interesting or unequal division of space. Remember that shapes make up a painting, even if they are just abstract shapes of color or texture.

Think about doing a series. It will help expand your horizons.


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"Always Greener" (sold)

(sold)


It is human nature to think about how life would be if only.....Of course, the truth is, that everyone has their own set of obstacles and blessings. They're just different than anyone else's circumstances. To bloom where you're planted is a blessed state of mind!

In this piece I chose to not do a literal interpretation of the meaning of the quote. This is totally abstract which means that it summarizes the essence of the meaning in as few elements of design as possible. The one clue clue that there is a fence is the dividing line between the quote and the large green area. Green obviously represents the grass and the brown could be symbolic of cowhide since the first part of this quote was originally written in reference to cows.

It's exciting to speak visually in an abstract way by conceptually starting with reality and reducing everything down to it's essence. Great exercise to try!

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"Time Out" (sold)

(sold)
Everyone has an internal critc. And even though it is good to assess progress in a given area, a constant negative internal voice can actually stop a free flow of creativity. The solution is to stay positive and use time constraints to shut down this internal negative voice.

Those of us who attempt to create artwork can easily get derailed and become fearful about exhibiting or even showing someone what we've done. This is unfortunate since the only way to improve is to keep on keeping on. There is not one single area of life where this is not true.

What I have learned from posting everyday and from coordinating four exhibit change outs per year at my church is this.....deadlines are a good friend! Artwork gets done when the passion to produce exceeds the fear of failure. Try giving yourself a specific time limit to produce something. If all you haves is 30 minutes....then do that. This will do wonders in shutting down your internal critic because your focus will shift on simply getting it done. The only way you can fail is to stop trying!

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"On the Edge" (sold)

(sold)


Just thinking about different meanings of the same word creates some funny quotes. This one falls into that category. No interpretation needed!

Having a paste paper session can yield some surprising textures for a background. In this particular piece I had decided to mix liquid graphite with the paste followed by expressive writing with a shaper tool. I was surprised that it looks embossed. After thinking about it, I realized it is due to the slight shadow cast when the paste is pushed around...so it is important to use a tool and enough pressure to push the paste aside. It is also important to have the right amount of paste. Too much paste and it will not be subtle enough. Too little paste and it will not be convincing. The reason it's important to analyze these unexpected outcomes of experimentation is so they can reproduced and become a part of your repertoire. Thinking is a huge part of creating art.....especially in mixed media.

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"Attention to Detail" (SOLD)

(sold)

Even though tending to details can be laborious at times, it is the very thing that can propel us forward. The secret is to choose which details are important and which ones can be deleted.

One of the most important principles of design is contrast. In this piece there is contrast of line....straight and curved. There is contrast of shapes...varied in size.   Some of the others are contrast of values, complementary colors (cad. scarlet and olive green), edges (crisp and diffused), direction of lines (vertical and horizontal), texture (smooth and course).  It is great to have harmony by repeating design elements, but contrast is what gives art a "power punch".

The one area I chose to subdue was the lettering. Lothar Hoffman gave lettering artists a wise piece of advice. If the background is busy and dynamic, keep the lettering simple. If the lettering is extremely dynamic and expressive, keep the background quiet.

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"Pedestals" ($40.00)

(adjusted price.....$40.00)

With an exhibit coming up,  I've had my mind on pedestals. So this quote emerged out of that word association and how people that are placed on pedestals don't always end up with a spirit of humility. This is why many in the public eye tend to go down a wrong path. Pride goes before a fall.

Division of space in a piece is still one of my first considerations in creating a piece. This piece does not have as strong a division as some of the others because the division is created by lines and expressive writing in the background rather than by a strong value change. The lesson here is to keep the division of space soft and muted if you want to keep the viewer's attention on one image exclusively. It also creates a quieter mood.

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"Clarity and Definition" ($30.00)

(adjusted price......$30.00)


Since I am an early riser, it is generally dark when I get up. Even with a lamp on , many of the objects in the room are in deep shadows. Not until the sun comes up can I see clearly enough to distinguish the edges of everything. The meaning of this quote can obviously be quite literal, but it also has a deeply spiritual meaning as well. Think about it.

Every oil painter on the planet would "cringe" at using pure white in a piece of art. But there is a "piercing" quality about pure white that I like. I wanted that quality in conjunction with this quote, but if you want to stay on the straight and narrow, try tinting your whites with a bit of color. Even a touch of blue would have made a big difference in this piece.

Begin to notice all of the "whites" in your surroundings and then try to mix that color. A great exercise to try!

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"Detail of a Flower" (sold)

(sold)

It's an exciting time of the year when flowers are blooming and colorful arrays appear in flower beds and pots. It's a time of renewal in God's creation.

Working in mixed media has become a way of life for me. One of the reasons is the unique characteristics of different materials. In this piece....paste paper is the background using paste and acrylics. Once it dries, you can layer anything on top of it, including oils. (You can place oils on top of acrylic, but acrylics cannot go on top of oils.) The "Bird of Paradise" was painted with gouache. The reason I chose gouache was the fact it can be reconstituted with water and better blending can take place....even better than with acrylics. So there you have it. Just a few reasons to perform with the entire symphony ready to go rather than performing with one instrument. I will say, however, that there are some very accomplished soloists out there! It's all a matter of preference.

"Manana" ($30.00)

(adjusted price....$30.00)

Time always marches on with amazing regularity whether we're ready or not. So out of the mouth of that great philosopher, Larry the Cable Guy, comes these words...."Get 'er done"!   I cannot improve on that bit of wisdom!

Paste paper is one of those activities akin to finger painting. It's messy. It's fun and it yields surprising results. Of course, I never use it in the traditional manner of creating patterns with various "combing" techniques. Here, I took liquid graphite, mixed it with some paste and created some erratic lines and spaces. And the additional layer of red followed by black, grounds the piece. For all of you"smudgers" out there....you can create some smudge marks by dipping your finger into the diluted graphite and leave your mark. Great fun for a Saturday afternoon...unless, of course...you're still struggling with that one-liner that says, "Art is something you do when everything else is done." It's time to kill that lie and do it anyway!

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"Creative Energy" (sold)

(sold)

Creative energy generally rises up from a quieter, more reflective place within us. It is important to allow time and silence to come together and make room for this to take place. You don't even need to be an artist to do this. The process applies to any endeavor.

This is a softer version of implied shapes with the contrast closer together in value. There are definitely times when the mood of a piece calls for this. Even the black shape is softly defined by diffused edges except for the lower left hand corner. I hope you can see the difference in mood from some of the previous postings. By focusing on value contrasts (wherether they are close together or far apart on the gray scale) and edges (sharp or soft), you can clearly control what mood you want to communicate visually.

"Garment of Reality" (sold)

(sold)


Our minds can play tricks on us and make us think things that are not real. It's called rationalization. I have this cascading fabric occupying most of the space to represent the dominance of reality. Responding correctly to truth results in real change taking place.

It has taken me awhile, but I am now a firm believer in creating my pieces a bit larger than they need to be. It allows for some creative "cropping" at the end. So before I even committed to posting everyday, I had (2) mats cut with a 6 x 6 opening. If you work in many different sizes....go buy a large black mat and cut it to form (2) "L" shapes. Most everyone knows this already, but some may need a reminder. It never hurts to go back to the basics. Even people who are quite accomplished keep working on the foundational things. Having (2) cropping "L's" is basic.

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"Cotton" (unavailable)

(permanent collection of dee day)


Being a native Texan and living most of my life in this state has given me a love for all things Texas. This means that I will be posting a more light hearted quote with a Texas flavor from time to time. This is the second one.

Recently I had a conversation with a prominent oil painter in Austin about the process of creating art. She made the point that you must show up everyday. That resonated with me and was actually the number one reason for creating and posting a painting a day. It doesn't mean that every painting turns out well or that I "feel" like doing it everyday. Some days I would rather sleep or go have coffee at Starbucks!

What I have noticed after posting (44) times is that something always happens when I show up to paint and write. The biggest surprise of all is that some of the more successful pieces happened when I felt like being a "no show". The moral of this story is that something always happens when we decide to work on our work. It will not happen any other way.

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"One Big Detail" (unavailable)

(permanent collection of dee day)

Have you ever wanted to do something, but first you needed to complete a long list of other things? This quote and the many different colored compartments describes those moments for me. It doesn't relieve the problem  but it makes me feel good to express myself...and then work on my priorities.

Layering techniques will often require me to seal one layer to move on to the next. The color in this piece is gouache. The black gesso would have mixed with the colors and created a "hot mess" had I not sealed the color. Two light coats of spray acrylic coating (not workable fixative) will seal but leaves a surface too slick to receive another layer. Mixing (1) part gel matte medium plus (2) parts water with a palette knife will alleviate the problem. If the surface is still repelling....keep brushing with one hand and drying with a hair dryer in the other. Apply one more layer of the medium and then you will be good to go. If you want a surface that has some "tooth" to receive pastels, then use clear gesso (Liquitex). Have fun!


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"New Growth" ($30.00)

(adjusted price.....$30.00)


If you have ever gone through a dry spell creatively, this quote will mean more to you. Even the black behind the green is a visual metaphor of a dry spell. We can also see this in the trees that looked so barren all winter and now have new growth. It's refreshing and good...a process to embrace visually and experientially.

Gesso is probably still on the minds of those who attended the Yves Leterme Workshop. It's extremely malleable. If you have some shaper tools (those things that have different rubber tips on the end), you can carve into gesso after you apply it to the surface and before it dries. It will give you some dimension (as in the leaves). The possibilities are endless and something you might want to try.


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"Hope" (sold)

(sold)


Hope is belief that something good will happen and when it does, there is joy. Waiting is never fun but often yeilds the good that has been hoped for.

This is another paste paper design with a great deal of movement in the curved shapes. Even the placement of the butterfly at the edge and at an angle gives the feeling of movement. However, the lettering is straight. A wise instructor called Judy Melvin taught me that when there is that much movement in the background...keep the lettering straight ranther than allowing it to follow one of the angled lines.

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"Surprise Endings" (sold)

(sold)


Anytime we make plans, there is a chance that our plans will "morph" into something different than our original vision. Be open to this process and let it evolve. You might have a surprise ending that exceeds your original plan!

I have departed just a bit into the realm of paste paper. So many wonderful textures can be isolated and cropped into dynamic backgrounds. By adding my favorite cadmium scarlett, I have once again made use of the complement of lime green. Notice the shapes created by the lime green and brown. The very best compositions have interesting shapes whether they are planned or happen spontaneously.

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"An Action Step" (unavailable)

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This piece is a metaphor of the contrasts between the messiness of actually getting something done and the polished end result as represented in the overlapping "O's". Everything else is self explanatory including the steps in the upper right hand corner.

At first I only used blue, white, and graphite. It was rather depressing until the orange was added. The complement of the dominant color will always add a spark to a piece of artwork. Using a complementary color also adds one more color contrast to the piece.

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"The Road Less Traveled" (unavailable)

(unavailable)

The road less traveled is generally the one which requires more faith and discipline. The benefit is that there are many more possibilities and treasures on this road. Something to think about...especially in the spiritual realm.

The darks in this piece are like punctuation marks that lead you visually to each point of symbolism. The small bits of color represent the possibilities and treasures on the road less traveled. (I'll let your imagination connect the other dots.)

This piece was definitely inspired by the Yves Leterme Worshop and the many erratic lines he uses to cordon off his design space. It is subtle and fits beautifully with other touches of graphite...like deliberately leaving in the lettering guidelines. The observable point is that there are many ways to divide space.

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"A Good Friend" ($60.00)

(adjusted price....$60.00....mounted on 1.50" depth clayboard)


There are friends who have the ability to translate our incoherent thoughts into a coherent whole. They can give the kind of feedback that encourages and comforts. If you are fortunate enough to have such a friend, you are blessed with a great treasure.

If any of you have done any kind of watercolor technique, you may already know how valuable it is to have a box of kleenex close by. You can use them to wipe the tears away if things are really going badly, but I use them to blot with. For instance, after applying paint to the chair cushions (a dilute solution), I blotted a bit of it (not all) to achieve a slightly different value. The color of the chair cushions is also a favorite. It's not red or orange but a strange combo of the two called cadmium scarlett (Windsor Newton Gouache). The coolness of the white is a good counter balance to the warm colors. Have fun with the kleenex technique....paper towels will not do!

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"Opportunity" ($60.00)

(adjusted price....$60.00....mounted on 1.50" depth clayboard)

Our thoughts are either positive or negative. Belief is always preceded by a positive thought which in turn opens the door to possibilities. This process could also be called opportunity. In spiritual terms, it's called faith.

For those of you who like purely realistic imagery, this piece may leave you undone. My desire is to interpret my vision with a touch of realism and a lot of abstraction. The visual language of an artist is the elements and principles of design. If you take line, direction, shape, size, color, value, texture....and apply to them the principles of unity, dominance, contrast, gradation, repetition, and alternation....you have a virtual smorgasbord of design possibilities. With that said, there is a subtle reference to a door image here.....kind of ? Everything else is a total abstraction.

One last thought....letters are abstract.

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"Examine The Process" ($40.00)

(adjusted price....$40.00)


In every endeavor, process can be a friend or foe. It is always good to analyze our steps in achieving a goal because it can save hours of time. It also helps to know people with the gift of administration who can throw you a "lifeline". I wonder if I could have one of those types to be my personal assistant!

The focus in this piece is strictly color and texture. The truly hard edges are only found in the lettering. Everything else is either scratched into or scumbled and then softened with alcohol. I also used prussian blue for the darkest dark. The contrasts of color are well represented with contrast of light and dark....contrast between warm and cool....and contrast of saturation (intense or diluted). It is fun and instructive to play with different color combinations on a 4 x 6 sample paper and jot down a few notes. That's what process is all about.

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"A Sanctuary" ($30.00)

(adjusted price...$30.00)

Some of the best places to be alone and connect with God are in the midst of His creation. This piece was inspired by a photo taken at Coronado Bay near San Diego.

One of my favorite things to do is "imbed" the lettering in the artwork. That was done here by writing with the corner of a credit card into white gesso before the drawing and painting took place. It's fun and worthy of experimentation.

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"Beginning Of The New" (unavailable)

(permanent collection of dee day)


At first this may seem like a very simplistic and obvious quote. However, it does have a deeply profound meaning when thinking of decisions that are life changing. The visual metaphor here is a seed planted in soil that eventually produces a flower. It's akin to a  metamorphosis....created by making a right decision.

I began this blog experimenting with all the ways I could use liquid graphite. One of the results of my experimenting is the discovery that the graphite in a tube is a finer grain than the one in a jar. (Derivan is the manufacturer.) It can be used like a watercolor wash or with a dip pen as in this piece. It knocks down the intensity of color and gives an "aged" appearance. The white gesso here receives it beautifully. It is available at Jerry's Artarama in a set of (12) tubes in varying tints for $34.00. If you like an aged,  historical look, you might want to give this a try.

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"Til The Cows Come Home" (unavailable)

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Part of this quote has been around awhile. I just added a bit of a twist. I guess if you've ever tried to round up cattle....you know what it means first hand. The "X" marks the spot where you think the cows might be in the pasture. Anyway...I can't be totally serious all of the time!

The horizontal band format rides again. When layering, it is very important to allow some of the previous layer to show by removing a bit of the edge, stamping, or scribbling with the corner of a credit card. When stamping into acrylic paint like I did here, that simply gives you the impression. You will then need to remove the remainder of the paint inside the image (in this case the letter "X") to come up with a clean image. Obviously, stamps with tons of detail will not work. You could also carve away an abstracted image with slivers of your credit card. It's worth a try!

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"Window of Time" (unavailable)

(permanent collection of dee day)

Beauty has an arresting quality that causes us to stop and take notice.  A breathtaking view can cause us to stop the car and whip out the camera. There are many things and persons that reveal the divine hand of God or the unbelievable skill that compels us to stop and take notice. The window of time is open for such moments. Enjoy them today.

Anytime I go to an art store, whether I am looking for a white tube of acrylic, oil, gouache or even a gel pen, there is a scarce supply or none at all!  Every artist needs white and lots of it.

White is a cool color with the power to lighten every other color on the wheel or provide amazing ethereal effects.  Notice how artists working in every medium use white.  You might receive a new motivation to push the limit on this amazing color.

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"Ask" ($30.00)

(adjusted price....$30.00)

If I should ask you what your plans are today...more than likely you would begin to think about your schedule.  Questions do that.  They cause you to stop and think of the answer.  With that in mind, it only stands to reason that if you ask the right question...you will secure the right answer.

Everything in this piece is a bit "over the top".   However, one of my motivations with this daily post is to experiment with many different things that are on my mind.   Some of you will like this and some of you won't.   One of the things that would have quieted this down is to have increased the negative space. (In this case the black areas.)   The positive is definitely taking over.  The improvisational lettering would also have been more effective with more contrast in size and spacing.  Oh well....tomorrow's another day!

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"Focused Thoughts" (unavailable)

(permanent collection of dee day)


Intentional thinking sets up the motivation and the plan to live with purpose. What will our motivation be today to set a plan in motion?

A triangle shape is like an arrow that can serve as an indirect way of leading the eye where you want it to go. The most obvious one in this piece is found in the shape of the architectural element which leads the eye to the quote. There are several others created with the erratic pencil lines. Paintings are made of shapes whether the work is abstract or representational. Observe how other artists use shapes. It's very instructive.

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