Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Bits of this and that

I have felt pretty inspired this week to get busy. I mixed up some acrylic medium and water per Kim's suggested recipe (although I just made up the proportions). Soon I will add some acrylic color and then paint a number of layers of glaze on my gold kimono.

Kim suggested mounting my kimono on canvas. But before stretching a fairly large canvas to do that, I thought I'd try the idea out with this shield I made last fall. In the past I have just hung such items via a string and a bamboo pole. I stretched this canvas and gessoed one coat. I will gesso several more coats and then paint some color or other. The shield is not yet attached to the canvas, just laying on top to get an idea of how it will look.

I found three shadow box type frames in the attic. My grandpa made them years ago. One fit Natalya's stitched collage perfectly. I sanded the frame and am painting it anew.

I also coated this board with white paint. It will be the farm sign. However, I used indoor paint. I have to buy two colors of outdoor paint to do it right.
I've also been painting on the cow painting. It actually may be a bull as I seem to see four ears when I look at the photo. I redid the back legs and they seem fairly okay but the front legs need a bit of help. The mother is stocky and I'm finding her form hard to create. Well, just keep going.

14 comments:

Unknown said...

Suki, I think the kimonon mounted on canvas will look great, the shield does, will you colour the canvas?
And I love the idea of a frame your grandpa made and you are using again now!
The painting is coming along so fine, I'm looking forward to what it will be soon:)
You seem very artbusy:)
love
Andrea

Jon said...

Hi Suki... liking the projects you're into... seems like you're very busy... but busy is good... I always feel like I get more done when I'm busy... and that shield is really cool... how can I get me one of those???

sukipoet said...

Andrea, I have been thinking of tinting the canvas as white seems so stark, however I don't know what color to tint it yet that won't detract from the colors of the shield.

hopper, thanks for stopping by. I've only made one shield in this style, but can make more in colors (approximate) to order if someone wants one. :) This is a new experiment for me to mount it on canvas.

Andrea and Kim said...

Suki, I love your jar of glaze and am eager to hear how it works for you. Yesterday, I ordered a gallon...yes, a gallon...of medium to use for glazing!

Do you think the canvas is going to work out okay for mounting your shield and maybe your kimono? I am eager to hear how that works out for you...sometimes these paper works are a real challenge (at least for me).

Your Grandpa must have been quite a woodworker...now how cool is that to find just the perfect frame? And it looks as though the collage is going to fit so nicely. Frames are not the easiest to get the corners just right. I think that is just down right cool.

Ohhh, and the farm sign....I am eager to see that!

Now for the painting...how cool. You know, cows also have horns! :) Most likely this is a cow rather than a bull because she is a bit smaller. All bovine can be friendly...my father makes pets of his! I think this painting looks great! You are doing a wonderful job with it!

You have sure been busy...you said your creative spirit was in full swing...I can see you are very right!

It is lovely to see all these grand things you are working on, Suki! You are so generous to share them.

Thank You!

Andrea and Kim said...

Suki, would a dark color work for you behind the shield? Also, when in doubt, consider the complementary hue! Just ideas...

Cris, Artist in Oregon said...

Isnt it funny how we can have things going and they just sit and sit and all of a sudden we have this motivation to finish them. I think you have some really good ideas and I am loving your painting. I love your style. Very soothing.

Cris, Artist in Oregon said...

I just read Kims ideas on tinting. I was thinking the same thing. or you can just age the color of the canvas slightly. egg shell maybe.
The sign is going to be cool. Happy creating. :)

Anonymous said...

You have been busy :-). I love the shield. I admire how you can work on several projects at once. I must focus on one at a time. How do you do that? :-).

sukipoet said...

Kim, I have now mixed some copper pigment into the glaze. It is sitting for the moment.

By grandfather was a great woodworker. He made me a doll's house, a horsey, a little musical stool just to name a few things. I own a bookcase and doo-dad shelf four piece thing he made from Gram. this was all his hobby. He also wove and made a small loom and a large one unfinished when he died.

thanks for the ideas for behind the shield. I could put a dark piece of paper behind it to see how it looks. Complementary to pink would be green? As for how it will work out overall I guess I just have to do it and see. It seemed to work well for that man whose website yousent me to. But his were rectangular paintings on a rectangular ground.

Ohhhhhhh. Cows have horns!!!!! Thanks Kim. I know next to nothing about cows. It seemed too sweet to be a bull as why would the mom and her son be looped around it if it were a bull (which in my head I think of as mean.)

Cris, thanks for your kind words on the painting, which is still pretty awkward but moving along. Interesting idea of just tinting the canvas behind the shield to age it as I'd like the shield to seem old so I'll have to work on that. One thing, with acrylic paint you can always redo it fairly quickly if the color doesn't seem right.

I spent this morning working on two wax collages and taking photos so I know I most likely won't get to the kimono or shield today.

Anonymous said...

Your golden kimono looks very good.

It is such a nice feeling to be creative, isn't it :-)

Sandpiper (Lin) said...

This is really interesting. When I was younger I was into all sort of artistic endeavours. I enjoyed sketching, watercolors, doing crafts. It's been years, but your projects look like such fun. I like all the things that you're doing. You're very creative.

human being said...

so strange...
last night in one part of my dream my husband and i were in some kind of gallery... with lots of showcaces standing against the wall... all of a sudden, i heard him saying this is a shield... i hurried there and saw your shield there... i was so excited... i told him... this is Suki's shield... and i was standing there just watching it lovingly...

the moment i opened this post, i was reminded of my dream... now i'm here seeing it again... and remeber how much i'd babbled on its beauty in your previous posts...
:)
your creativity is brimming...
love that...
your painting is magnificent, too...
my daughter is here... with lots of ahing and oohing... adoring your painting...
i love the way in your paintings humans and aminals are so close to each other...

sukipoet said...

thanks Britt-arnhild. I don't know what I would do if I didnt work with my mind and hands making things, either written or visual.

Sixty-five, when I turned fifty I decided I wanted to have fun. As best I can, when I can choose that path. If it isn't fun, I won't do it. I mean again as far as I have that choice.

sukipoet said...

OH HUman Being. That is so amazing. It gives me chills that you dreamt about my shield. And it was in a gallery. Wow. Thanks for telling me. And thanks for the comments on my painting. Hi to your daughter and she's so sweet to look at my work. Well, the closeness came from the original photo but I guess there was some reason the photo attracted me. one was the challenge of painting a cow i must say. But I loved this mother and son too. When I enlarged the photo I saw the little boy was wearing a hat too. So sweet.