Thursday, 12 October 2017

Touchstones

Touchstones (C) Susan Langdon 2017
mixed media on 8 x 10 CP watercolour paper
I am taking an online course of artistic self discovery called Touchstone, offered by an English artist who I found through P interest. Her name is Tara Leaver and she is amazingly generous with her ideas and philosophies. She is also a gifted teacher when it comes to communicating those things as well!

This piece was done to commemorate this chapter of exploration for me and I've utilized a photo reference belonging to Karen Broemmelsick. Used with permission accorded to members of the FB group Photos for Artists, to which I belong. 

So pleased with this!!

Monday, 25 September 2017

What I Did on My Summer Holidays

Fall is officially here - one of my favourite seasons. I truly can't decide between spring and fall. My favourite seems to be whichever is happening at the moment! So for now Fall is it!

I have been spending my summer, at least artistically, by trying new things. New techniques, new colours, new media. And that will definitely be continuing on for the rest of the year. Some days I have to really make myself slow down and just focus on what I'm currently doing and not go haring off in six different directions. Here is some of what I've been working on.

The first is a second take at doing a study of one of Carol Nelson's gemstone series. This time I started with a black gesso base and built multiple layers up from there. While I'm reasonably happy with the results, I don't think I will be moving on with it to do any of my own pieces. At least for now. 


Next up is an abstract that I worked on over the entire summer, letting it speak to me when it had something to say. And let me tell you, when it came to putting the realistic chains in, it spoke very determinedly. I don't know specifically what it was saying but rusty chains, along with the ghost image in the bottom right corner were a must! My inner child can be so bossy sometimes LOL!




This last piece is a WIP abstract currently on my easel. It's acrylic with some underlying gesso texture. This version started out as a study of a piece I'd seen on P interest but then the bright blue poppy seedheads showed up so who knows where this will end up. Certainly not me since the plan when I first put paint to canvas  was to do an abstract version of our local river. There's also a bear under there somewhere too.



I won't know when it's done until it tells me it is - I just wanted to capture it here in case it looks nothing like this when that day comes LOL. 



Friday, 2 June 2017

2017

After many long months I have emerged from my hibernatory period LOL!

Spring is truly such a time of new growth bursting forth and my own creative impulses seem to be following suit. I recently had lunch with my forever painting buddy and was so inspired by her adventures into new areas of art. We started in watercolour together over a decade ago but she has put me to shame with her progress in acrylics and just general overall realization of herself as an artist. I am my own worst critic and obstacle so it's time to get out of my own way!

Abstraction and acrylics, well more mixed media, have been whispering to me for quite some time. I have been perusing various online sources for some tutorials in working in this new arena. Colour is still the first characteristic I respond to then followed by lines/shapes. I can break out into much bolder colours with acrylics and I have so much to learn. I've been working on a piece that is a study of a fantastic Colorado mixed media artist Carol Nelson. Her work makes we want to reach out and touch each piece. I'm trying to figure out her journey via trial and error just from observing a 2 dimensional image of her work. Not ideal but it challenges me and I like that. The point is also not to replicate her work but to discover my own path through the study of hers.

Unfortunately, I didn't scan the beginning stages (bad Nuki) so this is midway through what I think will be the process and the point where I'm at today.

Rock study - interim 




This is done on 8 x 10 inch paper but my next attempt will be on canvas and will be a design of my own.