"Keeping to the Middle Road"

20"x20" Rives BFK, collage, acrylic, molding paste, graphite and stencils.
Slow pace here in the studio....winter sunshine a pleasant break in rainy weather. A return to my treasured compass image.

Deliverance 1

This is my first effort with my compass collagraph collage. Rives BFK, measures 16" x 16", acrylic, compass stamp, collage and oil pastel. I was having so much fun and then I noticed the piece was getting dark and then too dark for me. I went into rescue mode with a scrubbing of Phthalo blue and white and I think it now has an underwater feel or maybe an outer space motif. I have decided to stop and start on two smaller pieces for tomorrows agenda, using more of the collagraphs. Click on image to see more detail.

Pablo is out of town for a few days and I'm really putting in the studio time. I'm eating light...even have some take-out planned for later in the week.

There is this wonderful cafe called the Dharma and they have an American saute that is sensational...so fresh. What is your favorite take-out dish? Our Whole Foods has some scrumptious deli dishes...it's amazing what is out there and fully prepared!

One of the Three Roads

"The Playing Pieces" measures 18" x 18", canvas, acrylic, fabric and collaged items. This was an experiment in found squares, the composition created itself from a buildup of painted squares. I began painting on a canvas already painted so I was dealing with ready-made texture. Funny how a shape can capture one's imagination. This being the first of three, I painted the sides, top and bottom black as a way of connecting them. I am completely neutral on this one and the others too...my investment was time, energy and just the pleasure (or pain) of working...the square . I'm still focused on the square but now writing in my journal and doing some research for the next attempt at new work! You can hardly see it but I have a compass stamped in one of the squares and it shows up in all three. click to enlarge.

On a personal note: Spring cleaning in and outside. Today I'm having a replacement of some rotten boards near the roof. Next window washing and sometime very soon, carpet cleaning. Next on the Spring cleaning comes me...pedicure, manicure, haircut and a spray tan! ha

Always good to have it all done before the holidays! We are having just the two of us for holiday dinner...traditional and some surprises. For dessert we are having Strawberry and rhubarb crisp...a special request. Will there be traditional recipes or some new adventures in blogland neighborhoods?

"Pastel Ozone Eaters"

Photography by Kim Ray, measures 16" x 29" framed. I bought this several years ago and I've hung it in a variety of places in different homes not always in the kitchen area. Ray was taking photography classes at the local college and was in a student show...it has been magic for me! The images of these big pastel refrigerators brought fond memories of kitchens in my childhood. We always had white appliances but I do remember pink, green, gold and even coppertone appliances of my school mates in the late 50's and 60's. The amazing thing is these old beauties still work but have become environmentally undesirable!

In the studio I'm finishing up three canvas pieces...related and non-related to one another. I'm not obligated to stay consistent to a gallery or a following so it has been fun to do some exploring. Work I have done these past few weeks has been a break from my practised habitual hand...in the studio I have gone down some new roads...or so it seems. These do not relate directly with my abstract pieces on flickr and different as well from the Oasis series. I wanted to "try on" some ways of art making that I would find different for me such as the fun of filling in squares (back to my coloring book days) adding fabric to things from times I enjoyed decorating, crafty gifts and story telling depicting imagery connected to me and my favorite mythologies. Tall order for three canvas pieces but I did have fun playing with materials, and some disappointments too. For me it's inventing a different way and also about following an inner recognizable DNA.

My beginning thought was to lead myself to "Restoration of my soul" and from my journal I gleaned squares and from that the four directions and from that a compass...each of the three carries a compass...still looking for "my new old way"!ha