Archive for December 2011

A new venture

...almost done...

Because I can't stay only on one project and because I can't help but learn new things... I started learning how to make rag rugs!  Inspired by the weaving of an artist I am mentoring- she showed me how to weave on a loom and I was so taken with it!  I'm working on getting a table top loom but in the meantime, I needed to learn how to weave something fast.  

I've always been drawn to rag rugs and decided to research how they were made.  Some google searching and youtube watching later, I found out that I could make my own rug frame. Since I'm a painter, I have a ton of canvas stretcher bars hanging around the studio and they work perfectly! On the shorter sides, I put some nails in one inch apart and then strung some dyed cotton yarn as the warp.  

The piece above is bathmat sized and a good starter project.  I'm going to go bigger and tighter on my next rug and I think I've found a great new hobby!  (I'll post a tutorial soon!)
a view of the warp before I started weaving



Where do you start?

"Talked Into It" casein & wax pastel on arches watercolor paper mounted on cradled board 6 x 6", available here
The other day, my friend, who has known my paintings for a few years, asked me about my process, "Where do you start?" An interesting question that I never had asked of me before! 

Right now in my current paintings I start with a ground color, since I know I'll typically scrape away parts of the painting to reveal it. Then I think about a general color palette, knowing full well that it'll change as I paint. And I just go from there, drawing, painting, scribbling, scraping, layering, until I'm happy with where it lands. Sometimes I draw shapes, sometimes words usually from things I'm thinking or a conversation with myself, or what I'm watching on tv or something my husband says. Sometimes it turns into an inside joke with myself and I name the piece after that.

Anyway-- I'm thinking of all of this as I continue to post my new small paintings in my Etsy shop.

So tell me, where do you start?

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