Percolate Joy

New Year, New Work

2012-01-06T09:08:00.000-08:00


A snippet from current illustration work. I'm having fun drawing in the New Year.

"Second Chances"

2011-11-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

"Chance is perhaps the pseudonym of God

when he does not wish to sign his work."

Anatole France

Original Abstract Landscape painting, 8x8, "Second Chances, acrylic on stretched canvas.
How blessed we are to receive a second chance with every dawn.

Available at my etsy shop. $42

Why I Volunteer for Literacy Kansas City

2011-11-16T06:42:00.000-08:00

snippet from a spread from Sophie and Sadie Build A Sonnet, illustrated by me and written by Amanda St.John

On the the Artists Helping Artists radio show Dreama Tolle Perry and Leslie Saeta mentioned this list of blog post ideas from Barney Davey's site. So today's topic is inspired by this list.

I began volunteering for Literacy Kansas City, an adult literacy organization, about a year and a half ago. I had always been interested in literacy volunteering and when all my kids left home I thought it would be a good time to volunteer. I took the 16 hour training, learned many things about literacy and had my first student assigned. I currently have a wonderful student who I very much enjoy and who inspires me in so many ways. Battling several strokes and other challenges in her life, she persists in her reading lessons. Would I have the courage and perseverance that she has if faced with the same things? I'm not sure.

I really admire my student's strength, her teachability at midlife and her sense of humor. Besides being student and teacher, we are friends.
Reading well can change a person's life, but being a tutor has truly enriched my life. I live a broader and more grateful life for having been a literacy tutor. Thank you LKC.

Before Autumn slips away....

2011-11-15T09:05:00.000-08:00

A design idea for fall licensing art.

This is a combination of scanned paint and digital drawing and painting.

Small Painting, Big Fun.

2011-11-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

"Let a joy keep you. Reach out your hands and take it when it runs by."

Carl Sandburg

I'm enjoying painting some small pieces.

This was one I showed in a previous post from a group of

small paintings I did one afternoon. It's a rare one

that feels finished in one session, but this one did.

"Hootenanny"

6x6 original acrylic painting, $35

Available at my etsy shop.

On the Easel

2011-11-11T06:20:00.000-08:00

Here is a work in progress. This started out as a traditional landscape from some of my Iowa fall photo reference. It was looking B.O.R.i.N.g. So I started in on it with my palette knife. I am liking the top portion but the bottom part needs some work. What do you think?

Wet Paint

2011-11-09T12:34:00.000-08:00

With a limited amount of time to paint today, I decided to see how many small canvases I could 'cover' in a short time. Out of 7, I think two of these are successful. One, granted, had already been worked on twice so it was already further along to start. It might be hard to tell from this small photo, but which ones do you think I'm going to post as 'done'?
Stay posted for reworks on the others.

Original Abstract Acrylic Painting on canvas

2011-11-02T11:14:00.000-07:00

I had fun trying a different palette for this painting. Like most of my other paintings, this one evolved over several sessions and several variations in composition. That's why I love opaque media! These colors feel joyful and happy. So I'm in the......
"Happy Place", 12x12 acrylic on canvas stretched on a hardwood frame. $69
See all my paintings at my Etsy shop . Or email me.

Autumn Landscape Painting

2011-11-01T09:25:00.000-07:00

The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.

—Emily Dickinson

Fall in Iowa, a little landscape painting. 8x8 acrylic on canvas, $48. I got some great photo reference a few weeks back and here is a palette knife painting from that trip. I like the diagonal lines 'pointing to' the colorful tree. Contact me if interested in purchasing.

A Gorgeous Fall

2011-10-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." - George Eliot

Painting White

2011-10-28T09:40:00.000-07:00

"White...is not a mere absence of colour; it is a shining and affirmative thing, as fierce as red, as definite as black...God paints in many colours; but He never paints so gorgeously, I had almost said so gaudily, as when He paints in white." -- G. K. Chesterton

My objective was to paint a 'white painting' but happily, it became many colors.
Abstract Landscape 16x20, $98, acrylic on canvas available on Etsy here.

Pinkly Abstract

2011-10-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

Here is a new painting that I think satisfies my desire to create a truly abstract piece. The reason I decided to do abstracts was because I like modern and I wanted them for my house.
Fun and pink. :) Lots of fun texture in this piece too. Available at my etsy shop: here
"In the Pink"11x14 acrylic on stretched canvas.

Illustration Snippets

2011-10-17T08:12:00.000-07:00

For fun, here are three little heads from a couple of recent illustrations. Someone has to be sleeping in church! Digital.

Representational/Abstract/Pure Abstract/Non-Objective

2011-10-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

What do all these words mean? Does it matter to the viewer?

I have been trying to do a successful 'pure' abstract since I started working on abstracts. I think this painting could be in this category, but maybe it leans toward a landscape like some of my other attempts. It seems that as soon as I start 'seeing' it as a landscape, then that is how I approach it for the rest of the work time on it. It is hard for me not to see it as a 'thing'. Maybe that just makes it easier for me to paint it. Maybe I should just go with the flow and let these paintings come to life and be whatever they are going to be on their own!

I would be really interested to know how other artists get to the 'pure' form of abstraction, which in my definition means it is non-representational, non-objective. Any comments? I would love to hear them!

Available here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/83922214/original-abstract-painting-16x20-heavily

Article about Me!

2011-10-15T08:42:00.000-07:00

http://www.central.edu/news/story.cfm?ID=719

An article about my journey in art!

Book Review: The Simple Secret to Better Painting

2011-10-12T07:40:00.000-07:00

This book, by Greg Albert, is a great book! The rule: "Never make any two intervals the same". What a simple concept to keep in mind! Because it is simple but applies to everything in a painting it is easy to keep at the forefront of your mind during the painting process.
Many concepts from teachers I have had percolate through my thoughts while in the painting process.It is fun to think back on the great teachers I have had when those nuggets pop to mind.
In this painting I can see some areas that I didn't apply this concept but after a few widely varied compositions on this piece, I like how it finally came out. Another painting that 'released itself' in the painting process. (As I worked, it became something, not starting out like this!)
Available here, acrylic on stretched canvas 12x16

Landscape Painting Reference

2011-10-09T19:13:00.000-07:00

I took a trip to Iowa recently and here are some pictures I took just out of pure enjoyment for being in the country, but also for photo reference for painting. I hadn't realized fall was upon us until I left town. In my neighborhood, trees had not begun turning yet, but going north I saw many glorious views especially right north of town with some wonderful orange fields of beans. The area where I did take pictures is very rolling, making for some great landforms and interesting shapes. The smells of fall were all around me. I love fall; it is my favorite time of year.

Interview with Anne Lamott

2011-09-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

If you have the time, and maybe especially if you don't, here is a great interview with author Anne Lamott. She might be the most 'real' Christian I know. This comment says it all:
Anne Lamott showed me that I am normal, human and accepted by God/Christ.

I can't think her enough.

Namaste

Her book Bird by Bird is also a 'must-read' for anyone in the creative arts. Or maybe just anyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhP5GmybvPM

"Where's The Party?"....paint for energy

2011-09-27T11:26:00.000-07:00

So.... here is another painting that seems to be a developing series. I'm 'finding my way' with a palette knife, and creating imagined landscapes seems to be one 'solution' that is currently working. I'm excited to be painting again and enjoying the physicality of it. Especially after doing alot of digital work in front of a computer screen the last year or so. Last night, even though bone-tired, I went up and painted for an hour. Painting gave me energy! Troubles melt away when engaged in something like painting.....nothing on your mind but the canvas in front of you. 12x16 acrylic "Where's the Party?"
Here is a link to this painting on my etsy shop:http://www.etsy.com/listing/82463051/original-abstract-landscape-painting?ref=pr_shop

"Red Riot" aka Tulips in the Desert

2011-09-23T06:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a piece that started out as an 'shapes' abstract but became an abstracted landscape while I was working on it. The front area ended up looking like tulips to me, but the background seems a little arid. :) Maybe your imagination can fill in the location.

Struggle, struggle, struggle, boom

2011-09-21T09:52:00.000-07:00

This is what this painting was about. Lots of layers of 'try', then suddenly it all came together after I decided to do the whole thing in palette knife. Also, it was purely an abstract to start, (looking nothing like this!) and midway it became an abstract landscape.

"Yellow Morning" 12x16, acrylic on stretched canvas

Magazine Piece

2011-09-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

Here is a little rough-sketch-stage snippet of a magazine illustration piece I am working on for The Little Lutheran. This is all digital, with an initial pencil sketch scanned to start. Fun!

An Abstract Idea

2011-09-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

Here is a little painting I did. I'm working on abstract ideas, something newer for me. Right now I'm trying to make sense of painting abstracts by using value patterns/composition so I was thinking of dark/light here. And warm vs cool. Working smaller is a good way to distill some ideas. I love primary colors, so this is called "Primary School". 6 x 6 acrylic on canvas.

Percolate Joy

2011-09-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

Yeah. Art percolates joy through my life. It keeps me excited. There is always something new to try, something new to challenge me. And, I hope my art 'percolates joy' to someone else.

Restoreth My Soul

2011-09-16T06:43:00.001-07:00

A wee painting to start off this blog. I keep losing track of my old blogs and now it's time to start fresh.
This is a view of a pasture on the farm where I grew up in Iowa. It was a still, warm day and the peace was refreshing. Nothing like being out in the middle of a pasture to restore your soul.
6 x 6 Acrylic on canvas