2012/365 - Day 163

hey -- what the...

I was sitting here at my computer, minding my own business, and out of the corner of my eye...past the little guy and the beast...I spotted
 canvas #5.

I had never noticed this before...

Can you see what I'm about to point out?

How about now?

Here is what I have found so far -- the goat (outlined in yellow) and the magician/rabbit guy (darker black lines towards the bottom of the canvas)....and I swear until just now I never saw this new guy...and it is so plain to me today I don't know how I've missed it...

This new dog guy is all I can see when I look at the canvas now!

I may have to do something about this.

AND...in other, more spectacular news...

I am very excited to share the first photo of one of the tiny pieces of art by William Hessian that will be hidden during the 2nd Annual Northville Miniature Art Hunt in about two weeks!

On June 23rd William will hide ten teensy tiny pieces of art -- in scavenger hunt style this time -- in ten businesses in downtown Northville.

Click on the photo to go to William's blog post about it! 

More news and updates as the hunt date gets closer.

2012/365 - Day 84

maybe a rabbit sorcerer

I have been doing a lot of sorting of finger puppet parts today...so there isn't much to look at.

I also tried reading canvas #5 again.


I found a sort of rabbit sorcerer...but I am not sure he will be staying.

2012/365 - Day 75

looking at canvas #5 again


The goat guy is still the main thing I see. He stays.



The singing dog-like creature with the sharp teeth is out. I can still see him but I don't like him. He is out.











Not that this canvas is going to make any kind of sense, but I'd like it to have some sort of something that pulls it together. In the larger space I keep seeing part of a rabbit-ish sort of magician kind of guy...but I can't see his torso...just his head and neck. Troublesome. Plus, wtf? (I didn't photograph the rabbit/magician because I am trying not to let him in.)



Sometimes if I sit a distance away or if I take a photo of something I can see stuff.

Here is the dilemma with this particular photo...I can only see this stuff in the photo...not on the canvas. I cannot place these images at all when I am looking directly at the collage. So maybe they will be there...maybe not. But here is what I see in this photo:













a baby deer























a baby moose (I am more partial to this image)















a baby goat or sheep















And I didn't outline it very well, but here I see an adult llama.




Gah. I think I need a break.

2012/365 - Day 73

guys emerging on canvas #5



Well, I wasn't finding too much looking at the canvas from this direction. I wasn't sure if I should add some more papers or turn it and look harder.















So I turned it over and starting finding guys right away.






















I could see this guy right away, but he is actually right side up if the canvas is turned to the landscape view.
















And if you kind of unfocus, you can see that he has a little friend with him, just to the left...he is looking across the first guy.













Back to the vertical position. Cool -- look at this goat guy!


















I love his face and nose and mouth and chin and the expression in his eyes.

Have I mentioned that the originator of the canvas and I are both Capricorns?








It is a little hard to see it, but there is a barking or singing dog-like creature here. I can see four of his legs and his tail...he is facing towards the left.














Here is a close up of his face. I don't think he is mean or evil, he just has sharp teeth.












Oh -- and there is a kangaroo/badger (looking downwards) in the background lower corner of the canvas. I like this guy a lot.


These are the creatures that have emerged so far...still in the discovery stages of this one. I wonder how things will turn out?







Oh...and P.S.: My two pieces were not accepted for the Detroit Artists Market "Biannual All Media 2012" show. Oh well. This will remain a long-term goal now...to get something accepted into a juried show at DAM.

On the other hand...it is a halfway good thing. Because now I will have one 3D piece to submit to "West of Center" at Northville Art House. Cool. (BTW -- I'm not holding my breath for this juried show either...this is/was my first long-term goal...getting into a juried show at NAH.)

a repurposed canvas(es) inventory

an inventory list of the repurposed canvases

For my own sake/memory/records -- (as well as for a couple of people who are also having trouble keeping track of which started out as what) -- I am making this visual list of the canvases I am reusing for collage.


canvas #1 -- completed

"He Says He Knows Two Ghosts"

16" x 20"
mixed media over retired vision board




canvas #2 -- in progress

untitled/emerging creatures


16" x 20"
mixed media over old acrylic & mixed media painting






canvas #3 -- in progress

current title "R. Rebel" (aka smilin' dancin' mask-wearin' dog guy)

24" x 30"
mixed media over retired vision board





canvas #4 -- in progress

untitled/fox guy

16" x 20"
mixed media over purchased/old landscape (acrylic ?)






canvas #5 -- in progress

untitled

24" x 30"
mixed media over gifted old acrylic painting




canvas #6 -- in progress

untitled

30" x 40"
mixed media over purchased/Salvation Army acrylic painting




canvas #7 -- in progress

untitled

16" x 20"
mixed media over purchased/Salvation Army oil painting




canvas #8 -- in progress

untitled

16" x 20"
mixed media over purchased/Salvation Army oil painting (1977 on back)





And...

I have one watercolor on watercolor paper/affixed to mat board that I purchased for this purpose. I will finish this piece. I actually bought three of these at the same time, but decided not to pursue this project with the other two due to the buckling of the watercolor paper and mat board when I apply the matte medium to it.


This is a close up of a buckled area.

2012/365 - Day 68

great timing!

I got all of those wonderful papers at Hollander's in Ann Arbor yesterday and today the two jugs of Golden Matte Medium arrived!






Twink, table dancing a tribute to UPS and art supplies.














I chose several colors of unryu paper (black with gold threads, sienna, forest, and taupe) and two tamarind leaves sheets (one was labeled white/green, and the other was one I already had -- with no tag).

I grabbed my trusty brush and the end of the jar of matte medium and got to work.



I started out by half-thinking about what I was doing and half-deliberately tearing shapes and placing them on the canvas...going at it from one direction. I liked the colors and I also ripped out a few sentences from Capricorn horoscopes (the originator of the canvas and I are both Capricorns)...but it just wasn't feeling like the last few canvases. This was way more of my conscious participation than ever before. Then -- thankfully -- the guides decided to show up.



I was lead to cover most of the canvas with the taupe unryu paper that I hadn't used yet. It seemed to help pull everything together. You could still see the colors pretty well, but now they weren't so stark and contrived looking.


Then I was called back into the studio and lead to the other slightly heavier papers with inclusions that have made the other canvases feel more "finished" and almost smooth. That made all the difference! I tore these pieces without thinking about what I was doing and let them sort of drift down onto the canvas and brushed on the matte medium where the papers landed.






This is another view of the canvas after the guides were through...and with the overall covering coat of matte medium.









And here is canvas #5 -- very wet -- drying on the wall in the drying spot.

It will be really interesting to see what emerges through the layers of this one!

2012/365 - Day 66

beginning canvas number five

This is the first of the repurposed canvases I am deliberately adding elements to in specific places...trying something new.


I wrote a few words and did a few sparse drawings with Payne's Gray paint. I added torn pieces of two different black papers with inclusions in a more conscious manner than I have on the other canvases.

I blurred the photos on purpose.













Tonight for some reason I felt like I needed to add some Light Magenta swirling circles to give the middle layer some movement. I wonder what effect these conscious additions and alterations will have on the canvas and the process? I will still add the next layers randomly.


This canvas is another large one like the smiling, mask-wearing, dancing dog. It is 24" x 30".

Tomorrow Ruth and I will make a trip to Ann Arbor to go to Hollander's for fabulous papers. I will try to rein myself in.
(yeah, right...)

2012/365 - Day 65

shopping in the basement...and then creatures emerge

I went "shopping in the basement" late this morning. I went down to get the large canvas that I was going to repurpose (yes, another one...soon to be referred to as canvas #5).


While I was getting the canvas down I found this frame. I totally forgot about it. I sort of remember it from my other house but I can't imagine what used to be in it.

It already has hardware on it and I think perhaps I bought it at a framing shop from their section of custom frames that were never picked up.

It is really smooth and feels really nice when you touch it.











So I brought it upstairs and hey -- the 2nd repurposed canvas fits into it! It fits flush with the opening and the hardware holds it perfectly!










Not too bad, eh?










That was this morning. Now it is not quite 5:30. I have been looking around for something to do. I kept walking by the 4th repurposed canvas -- the landscape I bought at the sale and covered with papers -- but that I wasn't sure I could see anything in (yet).

I took canvas #4 over to my computer/desk and looked at it for a bit...I kept turning it in different directions and looking into it. Nothing. Then I turned it again and started to maybe see something emerging...






Those look like eyes and eyebrows to me.












And there is another guy...a smart alecky smirky guy with arched eyebrows and a pointy hat.

















The face is becoming a bit clearer -- looks like a fox-ish creature -- maybe.
















Maybe a fox-ish creature with a hat that goes off of the canvas listening to something his smart ass friend is saying.






Then it hit me -- that canvas is the same size as canvas #2.






Huh. Maybe this is what I was sent to the basement for today?

The gold on the frame looks pretty nice (to me) with the colors of the papers.


This could work out...this canvas also fits in flush and works perfectly with the hardware.








AND two other really great things happened today...well, three cuz Sue and Abby came over, too.

But #1 was that I messaged the person who originally worked on canvas #5 and got the "okay" to go ahead with this new repurposing.

And #2 is ta-daaaaaaaah! My income tax refund arrived!!! Short shopping list purchases and restock the Art-o-mat machines, then stash the rest.