Abstraction, Color…Cont. April 16, 2013

hey ya’ll! happy tuesday!

i know, it’s hard to get excited about a tuesday,

but i’m happy because i only have one week of class left and i’ll be done with college!!!

anyways, i just wanted to share an update on the purple and yellow abstract piece i posted about last time.

i went back to work on it yesterday

and wished i had kept some of the white background visible.

the color needed to be broken up a little bit and there needed to be a contrasting shape to all of the straight lines.

so, this is what i did:

i’m definitely going to go back to it and strengthen the white,

maybe break it up a little with color.

i’m finding myself unusually dissatisfied with this piece,

so it’s a constant work in progress!

keep checking back to see how it turns out!

abstraction, color, & joan mitchell April 11, 2013

the other night i watched a film for an art history class

called joan mitchell: portrait of an abstract painter.

it was originally a source for paper i have to write,

but i became so inspired while watching i wanted to leave my comfy bed and go to the studio.

at 9 o’clock at night!

i haven’t had that feeling in a very long time!

i didn’t go to the studio that night,

but i went in the next morning ready to work.

and with color!

as you have seen i have been working with mostly black and white for the last few months,

and after seeing joan mitchell’s magnificent color i had to get my hands on it!

this is the piece that really inspired me.

i love the contrast of purple and yellow and orange

and wanted to try out those colors myself.

here is my version so far:

i haven’t finished quite yet but this is how it’s coming along.

it will look much better once it’s complete and off of the floor!

i highly recommend the film and if you like abstract art at all i think you’ll like it.

to see a trailer you can click here and it will take you to amazon.com.

sadly, i couldn’t find it anywhere for free,

but you can rent it for $3 on amazon.

Body Paintings-Feet April 9, 2013

the semester is coming to a close

and so must my paintings.

my semester-long series of body paintings is almost complete!

the last of the works was painted using my feet.

this final piece has been a challenge for me for many reasons.

i wanted to use my feet to offset and compliment my finger painting,

but i didn’t want the piece to look as though i used my feet.

this is because all of my other pieces are quite abstract;

you can’t quite tell what they were painted with.

even though i love footprints,

that’s not what i wanted to show.

so, after some trial and error,

i decided to dip just my toes into paint and smear them against the paper.

and yes, i did it against the wall.

once i was finished,

my boyfriend came in the room and asked why i didn’t just do it on the floor.

i thought about doing that.

but it was predictable.

many people have painted with their feet…

on the floor.

but not me.

i wanted to try something more difficult and something new.

and trust me, it was hard!

it was definitely a test of my balance and flexibility.

as you can see,

i couldn’t quite reach the top of the paper.

so, tomorrow i may rotate it and do some more.

one thing i like about this piece is that the first mark i made

actually made my nail polish come off on the paper.

you can see the faint pink line in the picture below.

so much for black and white. 🙂

as you can imagine,

i made a complete mess walking around with paint on my feet.

i loved the footprints on the floor so i had to make a print for myself.

it’s not apart of the series,

but i love how it looks!!

 

Body Paintings-Fingers Pt. 2 March 30, 2013

the fingers painting is all finished!

seeing it completed makes me wish i had stopped sooner than i did

because the circle is looking a little wonky now.

and that bothers me since i’m a perfectionist.

so i’ll probably make some more.

add color.

we’ll see where it goes.

next, however,

is a painting with my feet!

i’ll be starting that next week and talk about it more then.

have a great weekend and a happy easter everyone!!

banana chocolate chip cupcakes March 26, 2013

i had to share this recipe with ya’ll

because i absolutely love banana chocolate chip cupcakes!

now, i’m not a fan of banana flavors in general,

but this is the perfect amount of banana.

if you like banana bread you’ll most likely enjoy these.

yes, i do use betty crocker mix….

but it is really easy, quick, and tasty!

i made some the other day,

but didn’t think to take photos.

not to mention i can’t decorate cupcakes worth crap 😛

*

ingredients

1 box betty crocker supermoist yellow cake mix

(plus the ingredients on the back of the box: eggs, vegetable oil, water)

1 cup very ripe banana (2 medium bananas)

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

directions

follow all directions on the back of the cake mix box.

mash the 1 cup banana and add to the rest of the ingredients before mixing.

mix ingredients on low for 30 seconds, then on medium for 2 minutes.

gradually add the chocolate chips.

keep following box directions from there.

*

usually makes about 27 cupcakes.

frost with chocolate frosting or even leave plain and enjoy!

body paintings-fingers March 22, 2013

fingers.

that is the next body part that i will be painting with.

if you recall, i have been doing a series of paintings with different parts of my body.

first was hair.

then eyelashes.

now fingers.

originally, i tried to come up with unusual parts to paint with, like the hair and eyelashes.

but i felt the need to use my hands.

what interests me about using my fingers is that it is so rudimentary.

we first learned to paint as children only using our hands.

anyone remember finger painting in grade school?

paint brushes were unnecessary.

i want to go back to how i first began.

this is my progress so far!

i really like it.

it does something strange to the eye.

i had to quit after doing this much because it almost hurt my eyes.

keep checking back to see the finished product!

*

thought i’d throw this in for fun.

me (the blonde one) and my friend painting when we were  maybe 2 and 3 years old.

where it all began 🙂

thank you! March 21, 2013

i just wanted to take a second to say thank you

to all of you who have commented, liked, and followed my blog!

i never thought that this many people

(all 54 follwers! lol)

would be interested in what i have to say and share.

i’m thinking it’s time to take things to the next level with a new layout.

maybe a logo?

and please, if there is anything that YOU want to see on here shoot me an e-mail or comment below!

especially art!

i’d love to tackle new projects if you have ideas.

now, let’s get more follwers!!!

new piece March 19, 2013

wow! i haven’t been on my blog in a while!

i was busy preparing for and being on spring break.

not that i went anywhere exciting….

just home.

between that and changing my career track

(i am now studying to become a real estate agent!)

i haven’t had much time to complete any art.

but i did, however, finish a piece for my sister’s birthday.

she has always loved my work and always wants something for her birthday or christmas.

so, i made an abstract piece with her favorite colors:

blue, green, and purple.

I am absolutely IN LOVE with how it turned out

and the frame is amazing!

(thanks to Pottery Barn Teen!)

now to make a set of three for myself 🙂

to keith March 1, 2013

today i finished a piece.

not because i planned to or because i necessarily wanted to.

i went to my painting class this morning ready to work on a couple of projects,

including my eyelash painting.

and then i received some devastating news;

the curator of the wsu museum, and one of my mentors, keith wells, had died last night.

i was completely shocked considering i see him almost every day.

i looked at my paintings and wanted to go home. to not be around art. to not be there.

 but then i thought,

keith would want me to keep working.

if i saw him in the halls today he would ask me how i was, make a joke,

and would be proud of the work i was doing.

so i put on mascara and with watery eyes made my last few marks.

the tears in my eyes stained the paper and made the mascara bleed.

and then i knew it was done.

those last marks were the exact thing that this piece needed to be complete.

i originally planned to keep working on it until the whole paper was almost black.

but i’m glad i stopped today.

it gives the work more meaning that i thought it would ever have.

and i love it.

here’s to you keith

my animals February 28, 2013

i realized that i haven’t shared a huge part of my life on my blog yet,

and that is my animals!

my whole life i have been an animal lover.

there hasn’t been a single day that i haven’t had at least one pet.

so let me introduce you to my two loves who reside with me at school!

 

ginger is my mom’s horse,

but she was nice enough to let me keep her in pullman for my junior and senior year

(mom knows she’ll keep me busy and out of trouble :P).

ginger and i barrel race and do western gaming,

but she’s aging,

so once we get back home she’ll become mom’s halter show horse.

she’s one of the sweetest horses i’ve ever known and will let anyone ride her.

maybe she’ll even be my kids’ horse one day!

then there’s:

my little devil.

her cuteness is deceiving.

she’s curious about everything and will get into everything!

as soon as we get a box in the mail she claims it as hers and spends the rest of the day inside of it.

i cannot take enough pictures of her

so here are a few.

maybe i was wrong…

she likes to get into everything except pumpkins 😀

and the strange thing loves to go on road trips and sit in the back seat.

*

i doubt i’m the only animal enthusiast out there!

how many pets do you have?

do they have funny quirks like sassy?