And now I'm playing

This is a monotype - I think. I don't know why I am so fascinated by monoprints/monotypes, they don't make a lot of sense if you think about it. What has a one-time thing got to do with printing? Anyway, I want to try more. This was more or less the first one I have ever done - that means it is the first one I would make public. The others were just smears. So this week I think I will fool around with monoprints a bit.

Maybe I'll set some goals for '07 - or maybe dig out the list from '06 - it hasn't been used.

Also need to clean up the Christmas mess. Where does all that stuff come from!? We pulled all the Christmas boxes out of the attic, only opened one, and we are still stepping over the others. At least we don't have as much as usual to put away.

It was dark and rainy here and we had the flu!!! Everyone had the flu - grandmas and grandpas, babies, and everyone in between. At least when everyone in the family is sick, no one expects much of each other - like wrapped gifts or meals! But somehow our son and daughter-in-law managed to pull off a wonderful Christmas evening meal and a great family get-together. We actually did have a VERY nice Christmas.

I have been following Belinda DelPesco's blog, and now I feel like experimenting a little. If this monoprint thing works out at all, I will post it with some very simple instructions - because that is all I'm going to do - something very simple. You CAN try this at home.

Yes, I am working.

I am getting a few boxes of cards packaged up for the book store's order. That's about as creative as I seem to be right now. I am working on a sketch for a commission, and I'll post that soon. It's not a big deal difficult sketch, but Christmas panic has set in and everything seems like a big deal.

I wasn't sure my printer would make it through the order, but it did. I think it is related to the energizer bunny. Even when it says it is out of ink, (for a long time now) it keeps printing in full color. It makes horrible noises and just keeps spitting out the prints. I have to babysit it and tell it it really isn't out of paper. I don't think it is worth getting new cartridges for, so I'm squeezing all of the ink out of it I can. But I think this is its last real job.

I know you were all just dying to hear about my printer, huh? But I haven't posted a real painting in so long, that I had to post some kind of work related subject.

Pear on a Blue and White Plate

Back a couple of posts, I showed a photograph of this pear, and told of my intentions to paint it and the linens it was on. As you can see, the linens took second or third place when it got right down to it. I was really taken by the colors of the pear itself and really liked the reflections cast by the pear onto the plate. So I spent most of my painting energy trying to get the rich colors of the pear, and then working on those reflection on the plate. I love the pattern in the plate, but wanted to show it as simply as possible. By this time it was all about the pear, and the linens fell by the wayside.

Maybe next time.

Last week when I went to the grocery store, they had a large bin of beautiful red pears. They had gorgeous gold undertones, and now, as I remember them, they were a bronzy red that looked as if they were glowing from within. You know, actually, I think that isn't true. Our produce department does not have wonderful lighting, and unless they really were glowing from within, which I realize wasn't really the case, they were probably just pretty pears. I have made them so beautiful in my mind, that I really don't want to go back and see just plain old pears there. I'll stay away from the pears for a couple of weeks. It would just be too disappointing.

A Corner of my Studio

A few days ago I said I would post some pictures of my studio. It is a small room - about 11X11 with a nice, large, north window. If I have a large project to work on, I can always take it downstairs to my classroom. I am finding that this space is a nice cozy place to work, and I have those caster or glide-y things on the legs of my drawing board and tables, so I can easily push things around into any configuration I need. Not the wheely kind of casters, but those hard, flat, smooth things that stick on the bottom of the legs.

I certainly can't contain all my stuff in this room. Instead of saying I have my studio in our home, I really must say our home is in my studio - paper and paintings stacked in the living room by the studio door, paintings and mat board in the bedroom, framing equipment in the back porch . . . .

Note the apple green color of the old floor boards. It's such a happy color and I just love it!

This is a great place to hide out today. It has been snowing like crazy, and I decided to stay here and work on a sketch for a commission instead of running errands. I've got my Pandora station playing, and I'm feeling creative.