Painting a new challenging endeavor

I have meant to write a post about some inspiration I have found in the past year or two. Tonight about 3/4 of the way through my first date with acrylic paint on canvas I decided tonight was the night to go ahead and give credit where credit was SO due.

Blue Green Screen by Cookmefud on Etsy

I had blogged a bit about my need to collage.  I added to this blog the idea that I wanted to incorporate painting into my collage. Earlier this week I gessoed. (Seriously, is gessoed a word? spell check always says no...what the hell am I supposed to say in place of it then? whatever.) I gessoed pieces of canvas I had ripped and decoupaged onto panes of an old window. I had hoarded this old window from my home improvement's past.

Eventually this piece will become a mixed media work of  art? crap? garbage? something for me to try and hide from my artistic husband so I am not dropped into a state of complete poser-artist-dom? Really though, whatever it becomes, it is an experience I wanted to work through

I followed my (fully educated in the arts) husband's instruction. I collected my brushes, paint, palettes, two cups of water...headed to my basement to paint. First off, two cups of water are FAR from enough. I quickly realized I needed a bucket of water. Another thing I realized is that all of the brushes I purchased some weeks ago were too skinny. I went upstairs and grabbed a trim brush we use for household painting. that worked nice.  Tonight's portion of the work was, at first, a pain in my ass. As time went by, somewhat intriguing, fun, Mostly, daunting, and humbling.

I liked painting. I'll tell you it's harder than I thought it'd be. I was positive I wanted nothing to do with trying to create something realistic. The reference I had was underwater. the sunlight shining through from this underwater spot. Crap, now I realize this would make so much more sense if I would have enough guts to post my work in progress...deep breath... not tonight...Listen, long story short, I enjoyed painting. Eventually what I create will be posted. Dear God it better not be too awful.If it is just know, I make kick ass headbands.

The main reason for this post was to give credit where it was due. So, here goes. My friend Mike is a self taught painter. He's also a wonderful father and human. I respect him a great deal and I dig his paintings. Truth be told, there's no damn way I'd have ever picked up a paintbrush and put it to canvas had this guy not done it first. It has been inspiring to me, him being self taught, and the fact that he finds painting therapeutic. Check out his work on Etsy. He says

"my major inspirations are the sea (upon which I've spent most of my life), the music I listen to, my travels, my family and my environment. I am passionate about life, love, and art, and I think that some of that comes across in the bold and expressive style of my paintings.  I tend to live my life in the abstract, and I see things in that way. These paintings are my attempt at recreating the way I see the world around me."

Abstract 2008

And in my, completely humbled, opinion he achieves that amazingly. Keep up the great work, Mike and thank you for the inspiration.

Accountability & still Needing to Collage...

A long Time ago I blogged about needing to Collage.

I think about this fact almost everyday. A few weeks ago on vacation I decided I also want to paint in my collage work. When I see collage work I did in the past, there was an emptiness that bothered me. Perhaps paint is what it needs? I don't really know, but I think it would be great messy fun.

Now that our basement is beginning to look less like an episode of Hoarders
and more like a 130(ish) year old house cellar I think I could probably paint down there.

I have these windows. I hoarded these about 10 years ago, when we were replacing them with vinyl windows. I love the idea of collaging/painting on one of these old things.
The window idea was inspired by a post by A Girl and Her Brush . Wendy Brightbill is A mixed media artist who I met online through Tara Gentile's Ebook 52 Weeks of Blogging your Passion. I adore Wendy's collage work.

This door, is AHHmazing! Be sure to read here to see
the steps she used to make this beautiful piece.

Artwork Courtesy of Wendy Brightbill

Why do I announce again that I need to collage but have not yet begun to on my blog?

I'll tell you, The fact I blogged about feeling a strong need to collage is one reason I think about it all the time. I know it's out there, publicly. I think about how someone may have read it and thinks "I bet she never follows through" It's here, and it helps me keep myself accountable even if no one minds at all. If it wasn't here most likely I'd have excused my way out of it long ago.

We all come up with excuses why we "can't" do things. Excuses are easy. I won't give you any of those here (besides that former hoarders-esque basement). Honestly, I am disappointed in myself for not getting my butt moving on this. Maybe with this post I will kick my own butt.

Is there something whispering in the back of your head everyday? What would you rather be doing? I'd love to hear if you have the drive to type it in the comments. Or, if you'd like to kick me in the butt that's okay too.