The charity that will benefit from this year’s show is Home Start (Moss, Norway location). I did some reading about the organization and it has a really great mission. As a single mother, I am so thankful for the support I get from my family and I don’t know what I would do without it. An organization like this is great for families who may not be so lucky as I am.
I will post the finished piece later this week when I finish it up. It should be in the mail to Norway by the weekend…
First, a wintry drawing for the start of the bitterly cold part of winter…
In terms of my artwork, I have a lot of work to do because I have empty walls to fill. I can understand the feeling of overwhelm that artists can feel before a gallery show at the sheer amount of work to do. However, I have no deadlines, and that might work against me too. In the words of Neil Gaiman*, “Try to make your time matter: minutes and hours and days and weeks can blow away like dead leaves, with nothing to show but time you spent not quite ever doing things, or time you spent waiting to begin.”
My art goals this year are to keep working on things and always have a project in the works. I also want to concentrate on pen and ink and watercolor and different combinations of the two.
*I really liked Neil Gaiman’s new year’s post.
Around this time I like to look back on the past year and assess what I’ve accomplished. 2014 was a quiet year in terms of my artwork as I didn’t get much done; however, it was a big year for me personally.
My formal goals for 2014 were to send a custom Christmas card featuring my artwork (I did this), to work in colored pencil on wood (I tried this and it failed miserably), to exhibit some artwork (this went onto the back burner – maybe next year?) and to remake my website (done).
Here are some of the other highlights of my year:
2015 will bring big changes for me too – stay tuned. Next time I will post about my goals for the new year.
I am wishing all of my readers a wonderful 2015 – I hope it is a turning point year for you.
I would like to wish everyone a lovely and stress-free Christmas. I am having a wonderful time with my family this year, and my daughter, who is 3, is so much fun at her age. I did not buy her too many toys, but instead only a few nice ones.
This drawing is what I used for my Christmas card this year, based on this Creative Commons licensed photograph. Because I used this photo for a reference, I will release my drawing under the same license for other people to use as they would like. Feel free to download the high resolution version on flickr.
I used a dip pen and colored pencil and it has a whimsical feel that I enjoy. When I was working on this drawing, I was reminded of an assignment I had in a pen and ink class I took once, to draw a doorway. Breaking out the dip pens was also a rewarding experience, and I was reminded of all the advantages of the dip pen, mainly the variation that is possible in line width. Drawing with a dip pen is also a slower process for me, and I find it more relaxing.
These were also cheap to make, as the laser cut wooden pieces cost about $1 each at Michael’s and I already had the gold and silver Sharpie paint pens on hand from an earlier project.
Last November I tweeted an image of one of my finished pieces and asked for help coming up with a title. At first I didn’t hear anything but then after a few retweets months later, I got so many responses that I was overwhelmed! Many thanks to P. Clair who suggested the title that I decided on: The Wait of Winter. It captures the gloomy feeling of being snowed in that I was thinking of when working on this piece. I think I will definitely try this again in the future when I’m at a loss for a title!
@CAPappasArt The Wait of Winter
— P. Clair (@925studio) July 3, 2014
I wish I had done more ink drawing in October. I have, however, started going to the gym again after over a five year break, so I am proud of myself in that regard. Already I have noticed a huge improvement in my sleep and clarity of thought.
Below are some more sketches I made in my new gray toned sketchbook. I really like this book because of the soft feel of the cover (almost a silky feeling), the general substantial feel of the book in my hands, and the color of the paper. There is some drag on my fountain pen which I don’t like, but I enjoy the color of the gray ink on the gray paper, so there are tradeoffs. I tried out colored pencils but I would like to do some experiments using black and white colored pencils for drawing.
Some time ago I bought a lamp at Target and started doodling on it with some Sharpie oil based paint pens. Last weekend I finished it up and I love how it came out. It was tricky to work with the pens because the lamp shade was made of a textured fabric and the paint flow was uneven. If I did a project like this again, I think I would just paint with a normal brush and I would have more control.
I’ve been continuing to work in pen and ink for #inktober and I’m pleased that I have sketched most nights this week, although I haven’t done much by way of experimentation. One of these days I hope to take out my dip pens for a change.
