Kuan Yin & Golden Fluid Acrylics

I spent most of the day working on my painting of Kuan Yin , layering in watercolor, golden fluid acrylics, acrylic inks, and also used Golden’s Iridescent Bright Gold (fine) on the bamboo leaves.

The picture below is a closeup of Kuan Yin’s face so you can see how tissue and rice paper have added texture to the canvas.

Kuan Yin

“Hope is the dream of a soul awake”.
-French Proverb

Relaxing Vacation

My husband and I had a wonderful vacation. We sketched, painted, and visited some of our favorite places, but mostly we just kicked back and relaxed. We also took a little break from our computers, it is sometimes good for the soul just to get away from everything. No schedules, email, deadlines, zip, nada, etc..

My batteries are recharged and I’m ready to get back to work in the studio. I have three paintings waiting for their third coat of gel medium and when they are done, I can move on to my next project.

“A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in”. ~Robert Orben

The Lady Of Shalott by John William Waterhouse

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Out & About

My husband is taking a couple days off, so we are going to be out and about enjoying our mini vacation. I won’t be posting as frequently for the next few days.

Tomorrow we will spend the day in San Francisco and will be taking our sketch bags and camera. We hope to visit one of our favorite places “The Japanese Tea Garden“, in Golden Gate Park.

I plan on taking lots of photographs over the next few days, so I can share them on the blog.

A Day In The Garden

I spent the day in the garden raking, clipping back the hedges, and clearing out more tree limbs. Whew! What a job that turned out to be!

All I want to do right now is take a shower, fall into bed and sleep. I had planned on catching up on some reading, but its nighty- nite for me.

In The Garden

“In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful”. ~Abram L. Urban

Chroma Interactive Acrylics Demo

My husband and I went to a interactive acrylic and medium demonstration this afternoon and we had so much fun! We got to try out the Atelier acrylics by Chroma, they can be adjusted and blended longer than conventional acrylics, and they lose moisture gradually allowing you to control the drying process.

They also have this wonderfully, smooth, buttery consistency and I love the fact that even after your paint has dried, you can spray on some unlocking formula and it will reopen the paint layer so new paint can be blended back in. How great is that?

They also had a drawing for prizes at the end of the demo, and my husband won a starter set of these paints with extra goodies including the unlocking formula. What a perfect end to a perfect day.

Atelier Interactive Artist Starter Set
http://www.chromaonline.com/chroma/products/atelier_interactive

Kuan Yin

This morning as I finished my tea, I felt inspired by the lamp on the table next to me to create a painting of Kuan Yin. This lamp was given to me by a very dear friend, who moved to Hawaii several years ago.

Kuan Yin is one of the most universally beloved of deities in the Buddhist tradition, known as the Goddess of mercy and compassion.

As chance would have it, I already had a canvas prepared and waiting. Using the Kuan Yin lamp as my muse I began to paint.

Kuan Yin Lamp

I spent most of the day working on this painting, and feeling good about how it’s beginning to shape up. There’s still a lot more to do before it is finished, and I hope to have some time to work on it this weekend.

Kuan Yin

New Water Mixable oils

My new Winsor & Newton water mixable oil color set came today! This is so exciting because no hazardous solvents are required in order to use them.

I gave up oil painting years ago because of allergies and these new water mixable oils just may be the answer to my prayers.

Today I worked on the Collage Painting “Dream Thyme”, I sanded some areas and collaged a key to the text about how dreams heal our body, mind, and spirit. The moon and the background still need a little more work and then it will be finished.

Dream Thyme

We crave a world of either/or, but the Dream says, Both/and. We build a wall between our social persona and our inner selves; the Dream bids us, Demolish it. We wish to believe we’re separate from one another, but the Dream insists, We are in this together. We are pleased to believe Time is a one-way river from past to present to future, yet the Dream reveals, All three times flow into one. We wish to seek pure virtue and avoid all stain, but the Dream avers, The dark and the light are braided and bound.
-Marc Barasch, Healing Dreams

Try, Try Again

This morning as I was preparing for another day in the studio, I remembered there were some old canvases stored behind the kitchen door so I took a look to see what was there.

I found an old painting that would be perfect for a collage piece and I’m eager to begin working on it.

It was one of my first explorations into the world of acrylic painting and I became so frustrated with the medium and how fast the paint dried, that afterwards I put it in ‘the garbage out’, pile.

I’m so glad I didn’t throw it out and I have the chance to salvage this piece.

Spring Unsprung

Reflections Of The Inner Spirit

Today I worked some more on “Reflections of the Inner Spirit” collage, I proceeded to paint, stamp, and sandpaper the surface until late afternoon, when I suddenly realized it was time to stop.

Tomorrow I will be embellishing the piece with whatever is needed to finish the work. Whew! I’m tired, and it’s time for me to kick back and relax for awhile!

Reflections of the Inner Spirit
(The Buddha Within)

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” – Buddha (Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)

Work In Progress

I have been working on a series of collage paintings for several weeks based on meditation, dream work, and self healing. My inner focus has been on finding balance in my own life between the everyday and the spiritual, taking time for meditation, reflection, and restful awareness.

It is very difficult to move beyond the constant bombardment of information and stimulation we receive on a daily basis, as our pace of life keeps accelerating, so it’s not surprising that anxiety, stress, and insomnia is on the rise.

How do we find an oasis of stillness in this crazy world? We take ourselves out of the “business as usual” equation if only for a few minutes at a time. Go for a walk, read an inspirational book, turn off the phone or watch the grass grow, anything that allows you to slow down enough to allow your breathing to slow, blood pressure decrease, and those stress hormones return to normal.

Reflections Of The Inner Spirit

This is a close up of one of the collage paintings I am currently working on. Today I added more collage elements to her body and will be layering in more background color tomorrow.