FUN MAIL

My order from Dick Blick arrived.  Now I am ready to experiment with the Golden's Open line of acrylic paints along with their exciting products in Glass Bead Gel and the Black Mica Flakes.  I have a lot of colors in their Heavy Body line of acrylic paints and these will mix nicely with the Open line.  Can't wait to get to the studio. 

MORE STUDIES

 My stack of figure studies continues to grow as I try to do these daily.  I also have some paintings needing to be photographed, thus a good  project for the weekend.  (These here are scanned.)

In this last figure study I really like the American Journey (AJ) paint color Andrews' Turquoise over the Raw Umber Voilet.  These are two colors from Cheap Joe's that I want to work with in a larger painting.   To the right of these is the AJ color Rainforest.  Initially I did not care for this color but after some experimenting with it, this is a keeper.

UNPLUGGED

I left the studio the other night with a vague feeling I was forgetting something.  And in the late hours of the night I realized I had left an electrical appliance plugged in.  The studio rule is to unplug everything before leaving—a good rule to follow.  So yesterday morning I went to the studio with that mission, unfortunately I wasn't in the mood to work.  Why not?  Numerous other tasks at home calling for attention?  Not having a sense of direction in my work?  Waiting for supplies to arrive before I begin the next project?  These are all valid reasons but are not good enough reasons to not show up.  We've all had those days with office jobs when just showing up was the hard work yet discipline and a sense of purpose would finally overruled.  And most times the desire to work arrives after I begin.  Maybe I just need to subsitute the word "work" for "paint".  I arrived at the studio and saw the plug was unplugged as my studio mate had shown up the evening before.  I didn't need to go to the studio after all but not knowing the status of the plug was my motivation.  And with that I decided to plug in and paint.   

STUDIES

These are my watercolor studies I been doing every day.  I use these as warm ups and also to play with color, brushes and paint application.  

These are starting to pile up into a nice stack.  

TAPE

I use a lot of tape in securing my watercolor paper - full sheets of 300 lb cold press paper to boards.  The best part of the tape is peeling it off signaling the painting is finished (for now).  Lately I been adding it to a pile instead of tossing it. This may be one of the many benefits of having a large studio space outside the house.  And, the tapes are adhering into something completely useless yet entertaining.    

THREADS

More drawers of thread from my mom's sewing room. 

These so inspire me.

THREADS

My mom had a studio we called the sewing room.  In this space she created many beautiful things for family and friends.  She was taught to sew by her mother, (Grammie to all of us) and her Aunt Mary and in turn passed on this knowledge and skill to my sisters and I.  While visiting my family recently, I opened her drawers of thread and discovered the magic within.