RIght Where I Planted It

It's Mother's Day today.  Of course you already knew that.  I'm at the show today, enjoying a day of happy sales........... unfortunately without my family.  :(  Anyhoo, I've been doing a lot of reading, thinking, and talking about happiness lately.   When I think about joy in regards to my family it can literally whoosh my body with excitement.  I am a very lucky gal when it comes to this department.  Kids are normal and pretty darn cute and sweet.  Husband seems to be going through a luv my wife so much phase= he's way lovey dovie and attentive.  My parents are just skippy and my sister is finally balancing new motherhood.  Whew.   I guess joy/happiness can be found right where you plant it.  Sometimes though, you've got to remember where you put it and may have to dig a little.  But you know, that's OK.  Because the digging is what makes the joy deeper and last a lot longer.

Painting Happiness

I guess it's the teacher in me, but I enjoy showing you the process I go through when painting.  First, before I start anything I have brainstorm sessions.  I had a session last night with the sketchbook and am literally jumping up and down at the new ideas!   I have a nice hardback sketchbook that I make little thumbnail drawings and notes.  On one page there might be 8 mini drawings.  I really do not like to draw, so these are quick sketches that basically just get the idea out of my head and onto paper.  I also have started trying to come up with my own words to add to the paintings, so those go in the book too.

Meanwhile, I've prepped the wood canvases with black gesso.  This is a fairly new technique for me.  I love the texture paintings (where I put the putty on and carve),  but was needing a new technique that wasn't quite so time consuming, but had the same outlined look.  I love black outlines.....

I use a white colored pencil to lightly sketch in the composition.  Then using HEAVY body acrylics, I paint the first layer of paint on really quickly.  I BIG puffy heart my heavy body acrylics.  This first layer is painted in a hurry and really loosely.  I leave a gutter around all the images to give it a natural outline.

After the first layer dries I start layering the paint.  I love to mix wet paint right in the canvas.  And yes, I use colors right out of the tube.  I never mix on the palette, just right on the canvas.  Once the paint has dried the collage elements are added and last but not least, the words.  So that's about it in nutshell folks.  At this point my head is so spinney with ideas it's crazy.  I've got about 20 paintings to go for my show and I have a feeling those paintings will flow seamlessly from the sketchbook to the canvas.  Look for more postings on how they all unfold!

Some Helpful Tips

While cleaning out the studio Friday, (it's a part of the creative process for me remember here?) I found this book I bought Mailey awhile back. Sums up how I truly think we can make the world a better place...and it has fabulously silly illustrations! I love books like this. So enjoy my favorite pages. I challenge each of you to come up with your own tip to make a happier life. Ever thought about that? My tip would be this.......find something you love with ALL your heart, throw yourself in and live it all up. And don't look back.

This page says make music on one side....and art on the other.