. . .searched fpr texture

and texture-making tools yesterday. While I waited to have a prescription refilled, I wandered over to a scrapbook store just to check out the goods and see if I could find anything that would be good to use in making marks on canvas. I know, I know, I practically have a scrapbook store in my basement; I sure didn't need to buy anything else. But I had already checked out everything in the drugstore and I was bored and didn't intend to buy anything anyway. And, quite frankly, I'm a little sick of the circles and dots that appear in all my art. I need something else. . . All I found was a tiny little bottle of white ink on sale 40% off. I will use that in this cool little writing instrument that I recently discovered. There's a little cup at the end of the instrument that you fill with a few drops of ink or watered-down acrylic paint, and you can write with it or make all kinds of scratches and marks. Most everything in the scrapbook store was pretty or sweet, and I can't do pretty or sweet. I couldn't really find anything funky enough. The store had a huge area for teaching, with tables and equipment all set up. I thought about asking them if they would be interested in having me a teach a class on how to make your own collage paper. But then I remembered that the store sells mostly paper, so why would they want to have their customers make their own paper? So I didn't ask.


Recently I have had the thought of adding some rusty elements to my small experimental paintings, with a view toward integrating that into my larger art someday if my experiments work out. I was looking for my stash of rusty washers when I came across an old set of tiny carving tools, like for making your own rubber stamps. The kit included numerous different sizes of those little curvy knives, and a old dressmaker tool. I remember using it when I was learning to sew, about 150 years ago. After you pinned the pattern to the fabric, you inserted a piece of carbon-like paper between the pattern and the fabric, and then used this little serrated wheel to run over the pattern markings, leaving the markings imprinted on the fabric. Too cool. . . I will be using that little wheel for my canvases.


Above is another little painting that has to be done, because it is groaning under the weight of the crunchiness now. I think it looks sort of forest-y.

. . . scheduled worry time

Some time ago, I signed up for The Daily Ohm. Maybe some of you get these free messages, too. Sometimes I even read them. Mostly I skip over them. But yesterday I read one. It was about giving yourself the opportunity to experience your natural emotions, mostly the bad ones, instead of suppressing them deep inside yourself so they will fester and interfere with your mental and physical health and well-being. It was recommended that you schedule a time to experience these emotions, when you will be alone and feel safe. Then just let yourself go. And supposedly when you're done, everything is better.


I don't know. . . is worry an emotion? Or is it an activity? I am a worrier by nature, and I'm good at it. For the past few years, I had less to worry about, so maybe I was out of practice. But all of a sudden. . .at least it seems like all of a sudden. . .oh, my, there is so much to worry about. I tried ignoring everything that was worrisome, only delaying the inevitable. I tried to take action on those things that were problems, with some success, but sometimes creating more cause for worry. So now I'm going to schedule worry time. I'm not going to do it all day, every day. I resolve to worry for about 15 minutes every day. During that time, I will absolutely wallow in worry. Then I will move on to other things. Hopefully I will worry constructively: I will come up with a plan, a solution, a way out, an escape from a trap, a path out of the maze. I figure I can handle anything if I have a plan; it's when your back is up against the wall and there's no way out that things fall apart. Maybe I'll limit myself to one topic per day, whichever worry is greatest at the time. That's it. It's a plan. This afternoon I will worry. We should start a worry blog. Post your own worry for the day. Get it out there. The blog world is teeming with problem solvers. We should plug into that expertise.


Above is another accidental painting. Right now it reminds me of caramel and chocolate and nougat and nuts, which is making me want a candy bar. This one will undergo several more transformations before it's done, probably. Depends a lot on what I paint in the next few days. Something to worry about later.

. . . created accidental art

Here is another small 5"x8" piece created on foamcore using bits and pieces, tools and brushes, paint and parts left over from my larger pieces. It's a little bit dismaying that I sometimes like this accidental art better than I like the pieces I've created purposely. As usual, this piece, like the other little pieces, has just layers upon layers of stuff on it. I think this one, however, is complete now and it will be hidden away so that I won't be tempted to alter it even more. Others that I'll show you in the next few days still need some more goop added. I'm trying to figure out a clever way to mount these small pieces. They are almost too crunchy to have a mat around them.

. . . watched YouTube videos

Here is a video I saw on Facebook of Michael Kessler's paintings. And go here to see how he creates his art. I was so interested in seeing the tools and methods he uses. Very few paint brushes were harmed in the making of his art, which is one thing we have in common.

. . . hate being sick

but I sure was sick yesterday. And even today, I'm not up to par yet. So I decided to post this piece to show you where I am on it. . . it's the same one I showed a couple of days ago. Maybe I'll go down and work on some art later today. No St. Patrick's Day celebration for me, but to all who look forward to this day, have a great time.

. . . visited the farm

It was my Uncle Albert's 85th birthday. In our family, the birthday years that end in 0 or 5 are the biggies, at least for the oldest generation. So Albert's daughter Pam and her family came from California and invited the families and neighbors to celebrate. The farm is a great place to take pictures, especially when it's not getting dark and your camera batteries aren't dying (again.) The picture above is of a huge pile of pipes, taller than me by a ways, behind the shed. Don't know what they are used for, or if they will ever be used. They've been there a while.





For everyone who wonders what a small family farm in Kansas may look like: this is an old silo, pretty sure it's not used any more. If you will look past the silo, to the horizon, you will see what I have been told is Rattlesnake Hill. Probably because there are rattlesnakes there. But it's also where the old farmhouse used to be before the new house was built. Uncle Albert sold that piece of land in the last year or so. I think it's the extension of his neighbor's cattle feeding operation now.






I love this old Ford truck. Only the front end survives, in a manner of speaking. I guess we can assume that chrome lasts a lot longer than metal.





I think these are the neighbor's cattle. Betsy took this picture. The cows were coming in to eat, and stayed back until we all left them alone. As long as there was a fence between them, the cows and the kids were comfortable.


Even though I grew up and lived around farms and farming communities, I know nothing about the details of making a living in this manner, and even less about Albert's particular farm. I don't know if he still raises any cattle, or if he actually farms any land, or what he might be growing on the land. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Albert, at 85, is cutting back on some of his physical labors. But I believe he does go out into his fields every day, still. It's a way of life.

. . . wrested inspiration from

cracked concrete. Here is what I'm currently working on, just the beginnings. I haven't been in the studio for a couple of days. Happily, I was busy with Betsy and Joe yesterday. I don't know what happened to Thursday. . . did it occur? I don't remember it. Note that I am not using taped edges on this canvas, trying to keep anything of interest or any kind of material build-up away from the edges. I have marked roughly a 2-inch border, but only to keep the texture away from that area. Maybe this will solve the problem I mentioned the other day. My other thought is that on the next painting, I will use the tape until after the texture is applied, then remove it to paint. Only problem, I tend to apply texture throughout the entire process. I am so dim sometimes.