Chartres Labyrinth on Watercolor Grid & Cat

Tags

100 Mandalas, art, cat, collage, gouache, grid, labyrinth, watercolor

The storage box I’m decorating is coming along nicely. I’m working out ideas for designs for our shower curtain. I was thinking a labyrinth with some color but I don’t think so. This is my interpretation of my favorite labyrinth, from Chartres Cathedral in France. I was struggling with how to add some color to it without distracting too much. I don’t think the grid works for that, but it was an interesting first shot at a grid with gouache. I was inspired to do this by Laura at Create Art Every Day. Some things I learned with this first grid.

1. Painting with gouache on top of collaged papers with gesso and matte medium create some unexpected and interesting effects.
2. It is important when painting a grid to let adjacent squares dry completely before painting the next square.
3. I’m not very good at waiting for paint to dry.
4. I enjoy playing with watercolors this way and have some ideas for other grid fun.

The cats are still settling in after the move and don’t want me to be in my studio. The door to my studio doesn’t latch very well so they can get in here at will. I am smarter than my cats and I put a box of art supplies in front of the door and attached a string to it to pull it against the door as I leave. However, the pathetic crying of cats while I’m in my studio has me working in my air-conditioned bedroom instead. Here is one of my assistants at work.

I hope you have a beautiful day.

Wordless Wednesday: Winzton in Flannel

Tags

adorable, cat, photograph

Wordless Wednesday: Trying to Let the Cat out of the Bag

Tags

adorable, cat, cats, photograph, photos, wiskers

Wordless Wednesday: Smell the Flower of the Day (Delicious Dahlia)

Tags

bloom, cat, dahlia, fat cat, flowers, photograph, photos

Inspiration Board and Mandala and Minions

Tags

100 Mandalas, art journal, cat, collage, Demi, gratitude, gratitude journal, Il Sung Na, Inspiration Board, Mandala, Unicef

I have fallen behind in the Journal 52 prompts. I fear I may have too many goals or too many deviations from my goals. That awareness was actually the result of this prompt and the daily mandala practice that I will be posting about later this week.

So, the right hand page of my Inspiration board includes some clippings of interesting fabric combinations of color and texture that I want to play with and some clippings of photos of interesting jewelry from catalogs as well. Joanne Sharpe is included as my representative for everything I have discovered through Cloth, Paper, Scissors – my absolute favorite magazine. I included a slightly Zentangled mandala, because of well, I tangle. Also, I collect cards and photos of cards by a variety of artists who inspire me. Included are some cards from the Unicef catalog. I always have a box or 2 of these on hand. They have so many beautiful cards – so inspiring in so many ways! Some of my current favorite children’s book illustrators are Demi and Il Sung Na. I have included small copies of my favorite pages from their books. They inspired the mandala on the right. In fact, the stars are cut from copies of pages of books by Il Sung Na.  The waves were inspired by Demi’s book about Rumi. And the lounging cat is my Bonhomie baby.

And I decorated Easter eggs. Nothing says Easter like Minions!

Zentangles, Music, Art, Friends, and Cats

Tags

altered art, altered art book, cat, collage, grateful, gratitude, gratitude journal, zentangle

Here is the sketch I did for my Christmas Cactus painting. I have also had some time to do some random Zentangling. This is a new tangle pattern from the Zentangle newsletter.

I have so many things to be grateful for! What are you grateful for this week?

Existential Landscapes, Flowers, and Cats

Tags

altered art, art journal, cat, collage, David Foster Wallace, existentialism, flowers, friends, gratitude, landscapes, zentangle

This is a sketch for a Zentangle Inspired Art(ZIA) piece that I’m working on, but it kind of makes an interesting landscape on its own. I am almost done with the piece and I will include some kind of copy of it in my journal in the next week. I have been working on it off and on all week and I’m pleased with the result. Stop back to see how it turned out.

I’m continuing to play with different methods of journaling on my pages and I’m really loving this super loopy writing inspired by Dina Wakley. It makes my gratitude for air conditioning look beautiful.

I enjoy listening to audio books while I do some kinds of art, particularly some of my larger ZIA pieces. I have been listening to The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace. It has been interesting to draw flowers while listening to the twists and turns of the tale. At some points it made me laugh out loud and at other points I just let the story wash over me. It inspired my title. I fall more into the camp of flowers and cats than David Foster Wallace on the existential crisis spectrum. However, in my youth I struggled greatly with these big ideas of purpose and place in the universe. I have a great love for language and philosophy that permeate this book.

And some days include skulls mixed in with the hearts and flowers.

 

Taking Risks

Tags

altered art, art journal, cat, gratitude, gratitude journal, quotes, watercolor

Well it looks like WordPress is celebrating my one year anniversary of blogging with some changes to how I make a new post. How fitting since the theme for my post is taking risks. Lets hope this turns out ok!   So here is me being brave. I tried to paint a watercolor picture of my fat cat. It actually looks pretty good in this photo! He is sitting at my breakfast nook table with me and there was a vase of red tulips in the background. I was worn out after painting him, so I just did my bright yellow walls and teal chair. There isn’t really a window on that wall, but I was writing quotes into another journal and this one just screamed out that I use my new window die cut and include it on the page. The facing page is just lots of fun with layers representing a really fun day I had with my husband.   So the 4th of July in the USA is generally a loud and generally bad environment for a person who always has a migraine. We chose to spend a lovely quiet day with my sister. We grilled bratwursts and ate beans, potato salad, and watermelon. Then we went for a really lovely walk. My teenage son was disappointed that we didn’t go see fireworks, but I think that going to Boston on Friday will make him forget all about it. 🙂 Something new and challenging that I have been doing is being a co-chair for one of the exhibits for our local art association. Last Monday and Tuesday were art drop off dates and I used some of the time to work on an illustrated quote. I have 4 pieces that really fit well with the theme of “Let’s Reminisce.” The one that I just finished is this collage I did on top of a print I made from a watercolor that I did many years ago. I am really pleased with how it turned out. Prints of two of my pieces are available at

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jeanette-clawson.html

Warmth

Tags

art journal, cat, gratitude, gratitude journal, yoga

I live in Wisconsin and it has been very cold here for quite some time. I am so grateful for warm spaces and sharing warmth with friends and family. I am making my own stencils and I don’t quite have the child pose one quite how I want it, but I think it is a good start.

Queen of Anything

Tags

Altered Art Journal, cat, collage, fish, gratitude, Self-portrait, zentangle

While this is an entry in my gratitude journal, I consider it more of a self-portrait. The surrounding imagery consists of metaphors of things in my day I was grateful for and I hope you enjoy.

This is also posted for sale with a few other images on Fine Art America.