Grandma Was a Batscout

Grandma was a Batscout, brave and true.

Miss Clara Wilson

"Miss Clara Wilson taught 3rd grade at Madame Prunella's School for Wayward Waifs and Irksome children. She loved each student as if they were her own. Though, as of late, she secretly wished her students were a little more waifish and a little less irksome."

Work In Progress: Miss Clara

In an effort to uphold my goal of connecting with other artists and begin building a community, I'm giving the newly formed #colour_collective a try on Twitter. Each week is a new color challenge. Last week was Cadmium Yellow Pale, this week is Opera Rose. The organizer, Penny Neville-Lee seems incredibly enthusiastic so I'm looking forward to participating.

I haven't given my watercolor skills a good workout in a long while. And Opera Rose is definitely brighter than my normal painting palette allows. So far, I'm pleased with the result. The brushes don't feel too foreign in my hands.

I revived an old college project as my subject matter. I have a series of mini-protraits titled "Madame Prunella's School for Wayward Waifs and Irksome Children." In the past, I've created vector versions of the portraits, but never paintings. The mini size of the drawings keeps the paintings intimate. Smaller paintings mean a better chance of finishing each one. I'm looking forward to looking back after several weeks to see how my skills progress.

I'll post Miss Clara's finished portrait along with her piece of the story on Friday when I post on Twitter with the others for #color_collective.

2015: The Year of Pursuit

About a month ago I made a big decision: I quit my job as of December 31 and decided to focus on art full-time this year.  A momentous change, but I've been rather quiet about it. This change is something I've wanted for a long time, but could never justify the decision. So, I've been letting the idea grow of its own accord.

For the past few years, I've  chosen a word to describe how to approach the upcoming year. I've used HAPPY, because it was the beginning of a very good year. Last year we claimed INDUSTRIOUS because we had several plans for the house that we wanted to undertake. For 2015, I have chosen PURSUIT because thats exactly what I'm doing with the idea of this wonderfully creative life that  has been bouncing around in my head for months.

This morning was my first day self-imposed work. And? It was a productive day. Not exactly creatively productive. But my studio has never looked better.

Studio: Before

Most of my supplies had been stacked and piled in the dining room. The lighting is much better up there, and it is several degrees warmer in the winter-time. Before the holidays, I grabbed everything and transferred the piles to my work-table in the basement to get everything quickly out of the way. 

Studio: After (with feline supervisors)

My husband claimed a corner of the dining room with a new desk, which meant I inherited his Ikea desk as a worktable. No more beat-up folding table for me!

Studio: After 

My biggest challenges for working in the basement have always been lighting, heat and organization.
Organizational goal: complete!
Heating: adequate, but not perfect. A space heater seems to be taking the edge off. We'll see what happens if we face another brutal winter.
Lighting: not yet. I have a tall reading lamp for the present. I'd like to install an overhead light on the beam above the table.

Next goal on my list? Finding and building a community of other artists. I'm not an extrovert, so reaching out to others will be a personal challenge.