ART SAVES ME  On this day, when our Extreme Court decided to make presidents kings… To let an EX-president get away with stealing top-secret documents to use as bribery fodder  (he was NO LONGER president when he took and stashed those boxes)… To likely dismiss all other indictments against a clearly guilty criminal that is still eligible to run for the highest office in our country (yet I could not hold a teaching job with a criminal record)…   To allow a device that turns a gun into a weapon of war to further permit more mass shootings and further cement our country’s shameful reputation.. To take away autonomy of women to control their own bodies…   To allow corporations to control our health and well-being by eliminating federal oversight of the food we eat, the air we breathe, the places we work (repealing the 1984 Chevron act)… I can only follow in the footsteps of Yayoi Kusama and create art to manage my mental health.    This spread in my art journa...

  Patrick the Starfish  My friend and I attempted to duplicate the Starfish piece I created a while ago with Russian artist and instructor Natalia Nesterova. Here is my starfish painted with the class. Using the techniques learned in class, I attempted to teach the lesson to my friend. After working of on these together, we found ourselves frustrated and dissatisfied. Both of our pieces were sitting on the table, looking sad, forlorn, and unappreciated. I went to bed with thoughts of how to make these pieces special representations of our time together. The next morning, at 7:00 am, I went about transforming them by adding collage elements and text. Now they are shiny, happy partners.   

  Sea Marathon  Another online watercolor class from Russian artist and instructor, Natalia Nesterova. Learned a lot. . . . subtractive technique (removing paint with dry brush), creating clouds with paper towels (wet piece of towel, squeeze, then use to smudge for cloud effect), cool effects with salt on wet paint, scrubbing color with a dry brush, and more that I don’t recall. Fun lessons! 

 $1.30 . . . Strangest Blog Title Yet  Today’s art class with Pamela Vosseller provided not only joy but a profound realization of the beast of inflation. The focus of the lesson was “The Wonder of Paper.” She took me on a stroll through the history of paper, an invaluable material that is integral to daily life, with special emphasis on papyrus. Fascinating! The substrate for this collage called for a canvas board, which I did not have. What I did have, however, was a pad of Dad’s very old canvas paper. How old? A pad of 10 sheets cost $1.30! Since this was today’s substrate, I gessoed it first. The first layer was drawing a face with charcoal pencil. Slick choice of  drawing tool, as adjustments were easy to make with a damp paper towel.     Then a stroll down memory lane with a journal entry on an old envelope that contained a letter addressed to my parents from when I lived in Northern Maine. I wrote about the painting that was inside the paper pad...

  BLUE  Oh, Joni. You are a treasure. How many times have I closed my eyes and lost myself in your music? Countless times. I’m not the only one; artist and instructor Effie Wild also values you and your music. This was such an enjoyable lesson and experience. The color palette . . . no surprise. . . BLUES. The lesson called for liquid acrylics, which I did not have and did not want to purchase. To solve that problem, I made my own using acrylics, matte medium, and water. It didn’t quite have the same transparent effect, but I think it turned out okay. Drawing all of those branches, outlining, and lettering the lyrics were a very meditative task. Great project!  

  From Russia With. . . Watercolor Whaat an interesting experience! I signed up for a free 5-day watercolor class and was fascinated by the fact that Elena Vavilina, the   artist, was based in Togliatti, Russia. The audio was, of course, in Russian but translated. She offered some very good tips on techniques. Impressive. I only wish my work looked like hers! The first lesson was painting a lily. I had a great deal of water control issues with this painting, but I learned a lot. For example, it helps to sit back and squint at a painting to determine the balance of color tone. Also, it was interesting how she adds some of the flower tones (burgundy) into the leaves, which creates a lovely harmonious overall effect.  Lesson two was a ripe physalis, a plant in the nightshade family like tomatillos. I’ve always known them as paper lanterns. This one was quite challenging, but I love the drawing.  Next up was a tulip. The color on my iPad screen was reddish, whereas the t...

Yet Another Watercolor Class  Instructor: Emily Olson Sparrow : After adding the quotes, I had to include a moon. Fortunately, it is easy to remove watercolor pigment. 🌝 Fox: Hers looked cute; mine looks angry. I guess he doesn’t like his portrait.  Cosmos: I am burning out on watercolor florals.  Ocean: My first attempt at this style of negative painting was just okay, so I HAD to try this again. Second attempt was somewhat better, but no doubt I will try again to master this one!