color lift

Throughout the day, I dodge news like it is the flu and I am a germ-a-phobe. When I do tune in, I am distressed. Distress upon distress. It weighs me down like a lead jumpsuit.

Today I went out to the studio and played with color. Color and pattern. I had no agenda except to lift my mood.

Success!

color!

Acrylic paint, ink, colored pencil

The small leaf pattern you see in this piece comes from poinsettia petals. I used them as a stencil and as a stamp. Sometimes it's good enough to go out to the studio and play with color.

If, like me, you've had a rough patch in life lately, I hope this old Johnny Cash tune. "I Won't Back Down" speaks to you, too.

fresh guacamole

A very ripe avocado, fresh lemon juice, minced onion, a bit of garlic, salt, pepper ... fresh guacamole! Oh, yeah. Feels like summer to me.

A book writing retreat with Kitty Wallis!

It may be cold and rainy outside, but it's warm and bright as Kitty and I work on writing her book! Today we pounded out several chapters and selected some jpeg images of Kitty's colorful paintings that beautifully demonstrate how she practices what she teaches.

This will be a book that you will want to own, I just know it!

Pastel making with Kitty Wallis

Her formulas have been written down over the years, the results of many trials and errors, and Kitty consults her notes before we mix the pigments. Some pigments require additions of clay to keep them soft. Others require alcohol to allow the water to break the surface tension and wet the dry mixture.

Once the pigments are mixed into a stable, moist clay-like form, we fill jars with the mixtures and get them ready for shipping.

I have had a lot of fun, and learned a lot, helping Kitty get ready for her upcoming workshop in LaConner, WA. On the final day of the workshop, she will teach the students how to make their own pastels, using the pigments we have processed this week.

Don't you want to dig in and play with the color? I know that I do!

What is that stuff in the final photo? That is quinacrodone magenta dispersion. It looks like swampy red pudding. Part of the formula for getting the cool red pigment for mixing luscious pinks and corals. The possibilities are dizzying!

Making pastels

I had a great day in Kitty's studio making pastels! Don't they look delicious? Little confections of color.

Pastel making is labor intensive. Hand mixing. Hand rolling. More rolling. More mixing.

Mix the moist pastel pigments in the right combination to achieve the right color. Create values by adding increasing amounts of white pastel. These colors are beautiful and impossible to find in any store. Soon enough, they will find their way into my paintings!

Color Reactivity

Another exercise with color. This time, take the same color pastel and make two squares. Surround the squares with different color fields and observe how the center color changes, or reacts, to the surrounding color. I LOVE this exercise! I think I can fill a huge sheet of paper with the little boxes. It might not be art, but it's fun!