tgif.... {little video- cigar box}

painted up some colorful goodness on a cigar box for someone special.

loved the new stencils from StencilGirl.

tgif.

xo. kristin

black and white..... {balance}

latest work on canvas..... at least the second (maybe third) rendition. 

was really checking my painting values and balance.

but totally feeling like life balance is off right now. too much due all at the same time. 

hoping to find my own balance.

xo. kristin

redo..... {charmer}

i had been looking at some of the artists that inspire me and was overwhelmed with the need to get to the studio.....

monday night, i made it to the studio to try my hand with what had become a complete obsession in my head; now finally, out on paper.

it is a charmer.

here is a quick view video:

happy hump day.

xo. kristin

and she would {finished}

i am gonna tell you about an ink you need to get.... the new liquitex muted grey. i knew as soon as the first drop hit the canvas that i loved this color. there are actually 5 new muted colors and i like them all (you know i bought them all- a bit obsessive....).

i couldn't leave well enough alone and had added the muted grey ink and a bit of the yellow spray paint.

but calling this one finished. it is posted in my etsy store....stop by and look around. 

and.... {new story}

and with a single stroke she would rewrite this story.

(this is the same canvas that i posted the other day with the palpable self doubt.)

and once that first stroke was down....it felts so good; i kept going.

and she would rewrite this story.

xo. kristin

levels

working on wooden cradles....2 to be precise. a mix of gesso, acrylic paint, charcoal and high-flow ink.

this was going to be strictly monochromatic.....but, i can hardly maintain that.

love the texture of scraps and marks...and layered words written into the gesso and with pencil.

it is always interesting though, because i was beginning to think i was almost done with these; but, seeing the pics.....the pieces look "not done." so back to the studio and it will be time to pull up those big girl panties.....

you know that stage- you really like what you have and may be afraid to go and push further cuz you may ruin the whole thing?! this is where the big girl panties come in....pull those up and push that uncertainty aside and be brave to get to the next level. i think alot of times pieces are not "successful" because i didn't keep pushing to get to the next level.

back to the studio......happy friday!

wooden cradle {rewritten}

have you ever painted on a wooden cradle? ooooh, i do love them....in fact, it is almost to the point that i only want to paint on cradles instead of canvas or paper.....

i think some of my reasoning is the way i paint. i tend to paint wet, and i like layers- both of which hold up really well on the wooden cradle. the other thing, is i like to "peel" back through some of those layers and sand back through to the wood- to provide a worn, and loved feel.

this painting is just as much about what it is on, as what was written. sometimes don't you just feel like you need to write whatever that is down and get it out of your head? the cradle is only a 6" x 6" so when i was writing, i found that i quickly reached the bottom....so, i simply erased writing back over the top of what i had just written.

i really like how some of the words written in pencil can be seen more clearly and other words not; allowing you to see some of my message, but not the whole thing....allowing you to fill in the blanks- make you wonder about what else was written.

here is the final piece.....

square love

i have been so enjoying painting smaller lately. painting up more of the matboard tiles, including more mini's, and i found 6"x 6" wooden cradles i had bought, and painted those up too.

just like almost everything, i put down a skim coat of gesso to start and worked from there. the wooden cradles paint different than canvas and if you use an ink on the cradle without gesso the ink will be absorbed by the wood.

as a point of interest- i only the gesso the actual front panel and not the sides. i like how if the ink or wet paint runs off the front panel that it is absorbed by the sides of the cradle.

on this bottom cradle i used a strip of painted paper and attached to the board after i had gotten my background done. and can you see i have had a circle obsession?....can't seem to help myself, but, i love them....

happy friday!

painting and thoughts

i have been painting, but, doing more painting in my many art journals and not on canvas.

i decided that needed to get back to canvas....to paint larger. to work how i have been but not in a journal.

i started putting paint down. starting with a canvas that had already been used and had a painting already on it.

i started with colors i like and wanted to see on the canvas. i have had a pink passion lately- wanting to add it to almost everything. this is a peek at the painting in progress.

sometimes my progress takes so much time....i envy people that can just sit down and paint up a storm and be done. my process is slow and sometimes very wet- that takes time to dry appropriately. i normally have to paint on several projects at a time, so that things can dry in between time.

as i was working on this painting, i was thinking to myself that uncertainty was trying to creep in and take away my progress.

i simply kept listening to my little inner voice, kept painting, and i am liking this.....uncertainty can just keep walking.

art pops collage painting

thanks to Roben-Marie i got to play with her wonderful new mixed media product that she created called- Art Pops. these are two sets of cards- each set contains different sizes and different cards that you can use and integrate into your own mixed media projects.

i just love Roben-Marie's work and decided to use the whole card and integrate into a painting. i had done this technique previously with other collage/ paint projects. check this out.....

one of the tricks is to paint onto the card and try to camouflage the card in....you can clearly see the edge of the card at the bottom of this close up pic....

another trick is to use complimentary colors to paint onto the card- i have similar, but, probably not identical colors in my paint palette as Roben-Marie; so, i used those colors that were close and would look good with what she had on the original card. the other very nice thing about these cards is that they do not have a glossy finish. this is important because it allowed me to draw and paint onto the card itself and help blend the edges and put my circles onto both the card and my paper as shown above.

 in this view- i tried again, to pull complimentary colors from my paper down through the card again. the blue that you see is close to what Roben-Marie's card had on it, but, i added more to the card to help pull the whole piece all together. i also painted the bright pink onto the flower- same color that i used in the dots on the edge and again- used my pencil to re-draw over the flower to pull it back into the painting and give more definition. there was also the numbers on this card from a piece of collage that Roben-Marie had used in her original painting- i very lightly went back over the numbers on the card and then wrote additional numbers onto the edge of my paper....Roben-Marie talks about the finish on the cards here.

and here is my whole painting. grab your own sets here!

a woman with a plan....

i was a woman with a plan- and it actually turned out relatively close to how i envisioned it! do you understand how rare that is?....let me tell you- usually somewhere in the midst of my painting what i think is my plan- it usually takes a hard left turn and finishes nothing quite like what i had envisioned...... i will still like it, but, it will not be what i had originally envisioned.....

this was my plan.... and i had drawn a woman's figure off to the side. the only piece i veered off on was that originally- i was going to paint 3- 30x30 canvases, but, i had only gesso'd 2 for some reason when i went to start- so 2 it was..... and 2 was good.

 i did the black/ grey wash first and allowed that to dry. i knew what i wanted for words- as i was taking those from a previous collage of mine- almost as much as words imagining all sorts of beautiful.....

 i used quinacrodone magenta and yellow and used those for a wash as well.....i had already added the words.

 i drew my shape onto the canvas with pencil....i like that you can still see the sketch.

 i love the shoulder- the mix of the colors, the light and dark, and the drips and runs....

 i love how the words are there but, that overall the painting is distressed and textured

here is a little bit closer view of the colors and washes at work....i know i am close to being done with this one, but, need to let it cook for a bit, just to be sure.....

student and teacher

meet the high school student- Cora.... a very talented young lady. who will be spending time with me for the next week and a half studying mixed media and collage. we set a fairly aggressive schedule of tasks we wanted to accomplish within our short time studying together; and i was a little worried after our first day. i forgot how long it takes for me to talk through something and demonstrate/ work at the same time- but, worried for nothing- as Cora picks up on things quickly- and has her own good art sense and personality.

 she has done a great job of making brave color choices- which i feel is paying off..... she has done some layering of paint and texture; and has a great start on this painting. i was glad to hear that she felt that this was not finished either....it has such great potential! i cannot wait to see what she ends up with!

 we spend our time discussing paint, ink, glues, and texture... layering paint, and how to move it or take it off. she has been an intent listener and taken notes that i hope will help her along her art journey later.

chameleon girl

IMG_2789, a photo by alteredstatesstudio on Flickr.

i went and painted with my mom and her friend to chosen music- herbie hancock....a jazzy little number. i had gotten a good start that initial day and liked what i had when i left. i painted on it the other day and clearly it was going through its' "ugly phase" as this was bad, but, apparently salvageable because i like what i ended up with. i had put down a glaze over the entire painting and it was very wet and had flowed and puddled to certain portions of the canvas and when it dried- there a good start to what my eye saw as a girl. a jazzy, funky girl moving to the beat.....in her wonderful shoes and awesome striped stockings!

how my garden is still growing- a painting

loving the texture and scrapes in the paint....

and the bits of collage...

and this is the whole painting that has been "cooking" for a while. it was a follow up to my initial "how my garden grows." you can see the other painting here.   i finally figured out what it needed and was inspired to finish it. the colors make me happy-  thank goodness for studio time on the weekends!!

how my garden grows

here is the painting with the words i painted over (my liberated post earlier)....this is my grunge flowers; that i now love.

this is a 30"x40" canvas. i used acrylic paint, india inks, gelatos (thanks Donna for introducing me to those!!), and collage with some paper and napkins.

the layers are rich and full of texture- you want to touch this painting. this garden was grown with a lot of love, sweat, and almost tears. :)

listening....

this painting made it was back home for some reason and i listened to my whispers,...and they told me to paint over the painting.

my pics are not doing this justice- because i really like the greens with little hints of gold and big hints of magenta. i added the light blue polka dots. oh, and the word listen-....that is what i am doing. my artist inside was actually yelling to paint over this one.

some of the magenta i left pretty thick. i like being able to layer up and then, find those thick spots and have them come back through. we shall see what this ends like....later.