Mary Nasser's Map Stencil Blog Hop!

Today's blogpost is dedicated to Mary Nasser's Blog Hop! Mary Nasser designed some new Map Stencils for Stencil Girl Products aka (Mary Beth Shaw) and she asked me join her blog hop with some other pretty amazing creatives. This blog hop is kind of a group creative party through these here internets where we are celebrating the birth of Mary's awesome Map Stencils that SHE designed. How awesome is that?! The best part is that if you make a comment, you get a chance to win a set of her stencils and one of the paintings I made with her stencil.

For this blog hop, I decided to make a simple abstracted landscape painting using Mary's map stencil, Wood Icing texture paste and Golden Acrylics on 3/4" medium density fiberboard.

Prepping the boards with gesso.

Applying first thing layer of Wood Icing texture paste.

Applying second layer of Wood Icing using Mary's Map Stencil. Isn't her stencil just lovely?

Pulling stencil away.

I added a little thread of texture with the Wood Icing and a small pallet knife. I also added two layers with Mary's Stencil, just to see what would happen.

I added a thread of Wood Icing with a small pallet knife and I added some extra free form texture in the top half of the painting.

Time for color!

And we are finished!

I made two so I could give one to one lucky commenter and so I could give one to Mary. 

Yep, that's what I said. If you make a comment here on my blog, I'll have my own drawing by Mary's same deadline and the lucky winner gets one of these 6"x6" paintings. The other painting is for you dear sweet Mary Nasser. Thank you for asking me to participate in this super awesome blog hop!

Mary Nasser will be giving away a set of her four new map stencils to one lucky winner! ALL of the readers who comment on each blog hop participants' posts will be eligible for the drawing. The only thing you have to do is leave a comment by 11:59PM Central Time on October 4th. The more blogs you comment on in the blog hop, the more chances you have of winning!

Here is the complete list and links of all of the participants. 

Happy clicking for inspiration and prizes!

StencilGirl Talk

Mary C. Nasser
Mary Beth Shaw

Jessica Sporn

Janet Joehlin
Heather Haymart -you are here

Judy Shea

Pam Carriker

Nancy Wethington

Corrine Gilman

Rose Wilde

Nancy Curry

Kristen Powers

Carolyn Dube

Maria McGuire

Eight New Paintings!

This is very exciting for me. I finished these paintings in time to varnish and paint the frames tomorrow so I can take them to Shaw this weekend. Now lets hope for good weather! I also finished my blog entry for Mary Nasser's blog hop tomorrow! You'll have to check back in to see what all the hub bub is about. 

Detail of the 24"x48 Cityscape I've been working on. It is amazing to me how simply taking a break from a painting can lead you in the right direction when you come back to it. 

Juggling Projects and Thoughts

My theme for studio time today seems to be juggling. Juggling projects and juggling thoughts. I brought the 24"x48" cityscape from earlier this week up to my living room to live with if for a while. This is my most useful way to truly see my paintings when I am unsure about them. Next, I started a project for my friend Mary Nasser's blog hop she is hosting next week. Sorry, no pics 'til next week! I made progress on two more works in progress. Normally I would have loved the pace, but today my mind was also juggling things unrelated. Such is life, right? Thankfully my work ended on a really great note. I found a place of concentration long enough to really enjoy working on my "grown up confetti" painting I started earlier this week. I was even lucky enough to get a goose bump moment. That's a moment when the colors come together just right in a way that my heart actually jumps and I just KNOW that my choice was correct. It makes me squeal a little.

48"x12" WIP Added more color today.

Filled my pallet with super pretty colors. 

Close up of the 48"x12" WIP (grown up confetti) I added more fun colors  today.

The fruits of my labor from today on the easel. Still more work to do, but I like them so far.

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Okay, I can't help it, here is a little sneak peek from the work I did for Mary's blog hop next week...I can't help myself. It was so much fun and I haven't even started painting yet!

Prepping my boards for my project using Mary Nasser's map stencil she designed.  Tune back in on October 2nd for the Blog Hop. There will be give aways!

Inching My Way to Finished

This morning I had my kids' things on my mind and it was kind of taking up a lot of my day, but I did manage to get some studio time in. I worked a little more brown into the background of this painting, added gold, and did a few other things. I am finally pretty happy with it, but I need to visit it again on Friday to decide if I think it is finished. That is all the painting I will be getting in today though. The three other paintings are taunting me, but they must wait.

I meant to mention yesterday that I listened to Elizabeth Gilbert's Ted Talk yesterday while I was painting. She is the lady who wrote "Eat Pray Love" (which I still haven't finished). The talk was so good, she talked about the creative genius within us. You should give it a listen. I think I will listen to it again.

Blogging after each day in the studio is fun and difficult. It is hard to keep up with, but I am loving the feeling of marking my progress publicly. Thank you Bren, Kathryn, Karin, Mary, Karen Jo and Sandy! Your comments are really helping me.

Peat and Repeat

Today was a rough day in the studio. All I did was paint, wipe away and re-paint. The lesson I learned was, listen to the painting. From the very beginning it told me that the darker background was the way to go, but I had it in my head that I wanted to make a painting with off-white in it. It wasn't pretty. So, lesson learned and moving on...

First or second (can't remember which) layer of off-white.

Layer of off-white with gold (thinking that I could convince the painting I was right)

Final stopping point for the day. We will see where it goes tomorrow.

On a much much lighter note, yesterday I was hired to do a 30"x60" painting for some part of BJC again. So excited!

Excited About Monday!

This morning I was so excited to get to the studio and start painting. It's because I love to paint, of course, but also because of this new thing I am trying. I am excited to see how this painting and then blogging right after will go. I hope I can stick with it for a while. What would be neat is when someone sees a painting being created; they see it being born and all then all grown up and ready to move away and then they decide that painting is meant to live with them. That would be really amazing for me. It would mean that the future collector could connect with their piece and with my creative process as it is happening! 

First thing today, I sat down in my chair and stared at my works in progress. I decided I wanted to start a new painting which always begins with a scoop of Wood Icing. I love the word yes on my scraper tool. It has a good side and a bad side to it, so I labeled it YES and NO on either side, so I would remember the good side. Plus I love as I am spreading paste around my board I get to read the word YES. It's so positive and affirming. Like YES! I am creating!

This is the piece I started. I had a dream last night that I should use chromium green and copper in a painting. I might end up doing that with this painting, but I don't know yet. I used my rake tool for some of the texture and I incorporated some gold flakes into the texture. It is 48"x12". 

I added gray to the top half of this 32"x24" piece that I used silver flakes in last Friday. Then I added some blue gray to the bottom half. I need to let it dry today before I touch it again. I still have my color plan, but the green gold keeps peeking out at me, urging me to change the plan a little. We will see...

This is my 24"x48" Chicago inspired city skyline from last week. I added some cream or off white to the top and worked on the turquoise and brown a little more. 

These paintings in progress are very hard for me to share with you. I am realizing that it is very safe for me to show my paintings all finished and ready for public viewing, but these guys are in their awkward phase right now. It makes me feel very vulnerable to let you see them this way. I learned recently in Brene Brown's Ted Talk, that allowing ourselves to be vulnerable can be powerful. So right now, I am trying to have the "courage to be imperfect" and let you see it. I feel a little more sweaty than courageous right now, but what the heck, here we go.... 

Trying Something New

I'm Back! This summer I gave my blog time up so I could spend more time focusing on my family and painting. I am glad I did, but I have missed it too. It is great to be back at it again. So as usual, I have decided to try something new. That's what happens when you take a break, new ideas come up.

I am going to try and post every day that I work in the studio and maybe some of the days that I don't. Not sure about that part though. This may sound weird, but I want to experiment with the idea of sharing my "real time" creating on my blog. In the past I have been sharing past, present and future; depending on what I feel like blogging about, but right now, I am feeling the urge to blog about RIGHT NOW. I don't know if I can keep it up, or if it will even be interesting to follow, but I am going to try it. We will see. If anything, it will be a great exercise in living in the NOW.

This is the first 24"x48" painting I worked on this morning. I laid down Wood Icing texture paste on Wednesday and let it dry, then today I began more color work. I think the top half is going to be off white or cream, but I began with an undercoat of raw sienna to give it some warmth and depth. This is a city scape in the making, probably influenced by my recent trip to Chicago. Looking at the city lights as we drove away on Sunday night took my breath away.

Chilly the helper...looking for a drink.

My second piece I am working on is a 12"x48" painting that I also started on Wednesday earlier this week. I challenged myself to make a painting without a horizon line and this is what I came up with. I love horizon lines, they are very grounding. They make me feel comfortable and balanced. So this was a little scary for me. I like it though. It's kind of like grown up confetti without the mess. We'll see where it goes.

Here is the third and last piece of the day. I began with texture and color and some awesome silver flakes on a 32"x24" board. I do know where it is going, but I don't want to say yet, in case I change my mind. Or in case the painting changes my mind for me. Sometimes when I come back to a painting, it has a way of telling me "your plans mean NOTHING and now you must do THIS" and I listen.

Expect Inspiration in the Most Unexpected Places

Today I was hoping to think of something interesting to share on my blog. Low and behold, I found inspiration in the bottom of my water bucket. Yesterday I began work on a new commissioned piece, and I had left one of my tools in the bottom of the water bucket after cleaning up. This morning when I grabbed my water bucket, I pulled out the tool and found this amazing design on it. I immediately took a picture of it with my phone so I could remember the design and details. I don't know if you can see how interesting it is. It looks a little like a painting I made years ago, but different too. I can't wait until I can create it, but with more color!

The moral of the story; expected inspiration in the most unexpected places! Where do you get inspiration? Please tell me, I would love to know!

"The Sound of Snow" Found a Home

"The Sound of Snow" 42'x72" in it's new home

I was showing to pictures to my mom on my phone and realized that I forgot to blog about this! This is the largest sale I made in KC at the Brookside Art Annual. It was such a treat meeting K.M. who was actually from Lees Summit. She and her friend came into my booth towards the end of the fair and fell in love with this painting. I can see why they thought it would be such a great fit. We offered to deliver the painting to their house after the fair on Sunday, so that meant I got to see it hanging in it's new home. I love that! This painting was going to go in my bedroom if it didn't sell. I guess I need to get back to work because my bedroom really needs a painting!

Tough Decisions

8"x8" Tree Paintings just in time for the fair this weekend.

Last week I had to make a tough decision; accept being called from the wait list for Brookside Art Fair in Kansas City, or stay home for my son's 8th grade dance. I was really looking forward to him going to this dance (probably more than he is), but I have also been rejected from Brookside twice before. It is in the top 25 fairs in the nation and I was excited to even be wait listed, plus it is a chance to generate some much needed income. If I were his dad, I would just go to the last minute business meeting in Kansas City or whatever and not give it a second thought, but I am the mom. I supposed to choose the kid every time, right? I talked with him and he said he doesn't care if I go, and my mom is going to oversee the getting dressed/dropping off for me. If not me, then the next best thing is my mom, right? I do believe he is actually OK with it. We are shopping for nice clothes for him tonight and that is making me question my decision even more. I just don't want him to tell his therapist in 15 years how his mom abandoned him for one of his big life moments. Ouch!

Guilt Serves No Purpose 6"x6" reproduction 

So in an attempt to live by my wishful painting "Guilt Serves No Purpose" I am going to try and let it go. The booth and hotel are paid for, the commitment has been made. I can only move forward with the best intention and try my hardest to let go of this painful feeling of guilt.