Pink Bird Studio

Week in Review

This week was a busy one, and although I didn’t have much time for art I still managed to get enough done for a post.

let’s start with paintings.  I finished two works in progress this week.

This one is 24” square.  

And this one, called “Many Moons”, is 16” x 20”.

Last but not least, I’m thrilled to report that my painting, “Moderna” was sold at The Sidney Fine Arts Show this weekend.  Here’s a picture of it at the show with the magical red dot indicating it’s sold status. 

In mixed media, I altered an index card:

A new spread in the kraft journal:

And decided to renew my efforts to finish the Tiny Sketchbook for the Brooklyn Library’s Sketchbook Project.  It is not due in NY until February, but I know from experience how easy it is to leave things to the last minute.  It’s also a fun little project to work on when there isn’t much time after working all day etc.

It’s getting more and more difficult to keep the pages open so excuse any pictures of my finger nails.  :)

Thanks so much for joining me today. See you next week!

Week in Review

This week, I am a bit late posting since I am on vacation out of town.  I’ve brought my tiny sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project and have been working on it, as well as a few things I worked on before I left... 

Here are the rest of the pages of the accordion book I was working on.

A random repurposed box panel.  

Here are the pages from the Tiny Sketchbook.

Thanks so much for joining me this week!  See you soon.

Two Weeks in Review

Last weekend I just couldn’t get my week in review posted, so this week I’ve combined the two weeks.  I worked on a small accordion book, puttered around with some recycled box panels and worked in my tiny sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project.

I’ll start with the accordion book.  I had signed up for Kasia Avery’s (Everything Art / Wanderlust) free three-day “Colour Confidence” class.  I watched the videos and played around with some of the ideas - these are NOT done.  But, I used the scraps from the pages I cut for that challenge to make a 13-panel accordion book.  So what you’re seeing here is side 1.  As you can see I started each page with some collages papers - maps etc.  I’ve used acrylics, pens, graphite and watercolour crayons on pretty much all of the pages.

 

Next up are a few more pages in my tiny sketchbook I’m working on for The Sketchbook Project.  I had prepped each page with some collaged papers and then completed these in my hotel room while on a quick business trip last week.  It’s the perfect size to travel with and I’m sure I’ll be taking it with me on vacation this coming week.

When I got home I decided I wanted to “putter” which to me means playing around with no agenda - usually (and in this case) on recycled materials.  That way if I completely hate it I can just recycle it.  These will likely get mounted onto card blanks - I actually love them!

Last, but certainly not least, I was delighted to learn that one of the paintings I submitted for the juried Sidney Fine Arts Show was accepted.  I am sure I’ve showed this here before - the title is Moderna, it’s 36” square on canvas and framed.  The show is in October.  Here is a pic of the three paintings I entered into the show, all in the same theme.  The centre one was accepted, and the other two weren’t.  I understand that they received over 1,100 entries and 380 were accepted so I’m quite happy to be included.

Thanks so much for joining me today.  

Week in Review

This week was again focused on ICAD, as well as The Sketchbook Project.  One of these days I’ll get back to all the paintings I have started.  :)

For ICAD, this week brings us to card / day 44/61.  Just 2.5 weeks left - time flies!  I’m using words and phrases cut from a novel in large print that I picked up second hand.  I just saw someone using text from a romance novel - hilarious!  I might have to pick one of these up just for that reason - definitely not on my reading list, but I know they are very popular.  

Then there are the Sketchbook Project pages:  Most of these started out with a gelli print.  That really helped speed things up, and spoiler alert, I’m actually done my book.  6 months early.  A record for me.

The  background on this is a photocopy of some fancy paper that I made for my image transfer class and didn’t end up using.  

Probably my least favourite page in the book, but I don’t hate it.

These two pages show the only insert I added into the book.  Back.

And front (as you can see here it was a bingo card).

 

And the final page.

Thanks so much for joining me this week!  See you next weekend.

Week in Review

This was another busy week and it was pretty much all about ICAD, although I did get to finish a couple of new spreads for the Sketchbook Project.

Monday was Canada Day and I was off to Toronto for 2 nights. My flight was bright and early as you can see from the bits of boarding pass I included.  I doodled those circles on the plane when I was not snoozing.  

I’ve been doing most of my ICADs on a landscape orientation this year.  I was excited when I cut my “tall” house in two and was able to create a new house shape!

Bits and pieces.

Using up gelli prints and such.

Sometimes I like to do something absurd.  :)

I captioned this one “When it came to cake, her eyes were always bigger than her stomach” - a problem I definitely have!

And last but not least (for this week) - just a fun collage.  This is # 37 / 61.

As mentioned, my sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project continues to come along.  I haven’t had much time to paint lately on actual paintings, so it’s great to have these fun little things to play around with that can get completed on a daily basis.

Thanks so much for joining me today - See you next week!

Week in Review

I was travelling for much of this week, so didn’t get very much done, but I did take my index cards with me.  I’m heading off again in a different direction at the beginning of this week.  I’m midway through a big re-structuring of my studio.  So it’s chaos and disorder (even more so than usual) around here!

I will start with the ICADs

I carried on with the “geometric” theme for the first couple of days - the bird on the left just showed up, so I decided to try to make one on purpose on the right.  

A few little geometric doodles here.

Now I’m back to just doing my own thing, which is what I usually do anyway.

And now we are done month one with card 30.

And here is the obligatory “month one” shot.  There are 34 cards - I’ve included my 4 warmup cards.

I also managed to do a couple of spreads in my sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project.  

Thanks so much for joining me today - see you next week!

Sketchbook Project 2019 Complete!

It has been awhile since I posted progress on the Sketchbook Project, but I’m happy to report I’m finished in record time this year.  The due date is mid-February 2019!

I continued to use gouache as my primary medium, which each page having a few words on it that I tried to connect to left and right pages, but not the book in general.

 

Back inside cover

Inside front cover

And front and back cover.  The bar code must be left untouched as this is how the book is tracked, both at the Brooklyn Art Library, where it will have its permanent home, as well as when it goes on the road as part of their travelling exhibit.  

Thanks for joining me today!  

Sketchbook Project 2019 Continued

The first post for the 2019 Sketchbook Project can be found Here.  I have continued to plug along since then and although my momentum hasn’t been quite as good as it was before (what with ICAD etc.) I’m happy to report that I’m only a few spreads away from completing the book.  It is not due until February.

I’ve continued to alternate between tissue collage and gouache, but seem to favour the gouache.

Each page still has some words, and I’ve tried to make left and right connect through both design and words.

 

Sometimes the right words just appear.  And this one has a heart, so it will be #200 in the 365 Somethings Project.

I love the sunny colours and the opacity of the gouache (compare to watercolour, which I always struggle with).

Here is the final one for today.

Thanks so much for joining me today - I hope you enjoyed looking at my Sketchbook Project entries!

 

 

The Sketchbook Project - 2019

It’s that time of year again - the time when I get a big gung-ho start on my new sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project, brought to us again by the Brooklyn Art Library.  You have plenty of time to play along if you’re interested - see their website Here for all the details.

Every year it’s the same - I order early and submit on the due date.  Even if the due date gets extended, I’ll use every minute.  Not because I’m making a masterpiece, but because I’m busy with other stuff and procrastinating over what to do in the darn book.  

But this year is different.  :)

I have a plan :) 

Last year I was a bit stymied by a new rule (no acrylics, no gesso), and had already made cutouts in my book that I specifically wanted to approach with acrylics.  I started using gouache and watercolour crayons, only to find that the paper quality has degraded over the years - it warped and even seeped through the pages.  To be honest, it put me off a bit and I set the book aside, only to unearth it just before the deadline.  I finished the book with some fun collages that I wished I’d used in the whole book.  Oh well!

This year I’m using hot press watercolour paper postcards. They are on a watercolour paper block, which means they keep flat, even with wet media.  I am alternating between gouache and collage, adding pen and found words to each page.  I’m taping them in with good quality double-sided tape (I swear by Scotch brand).  I’m half done - it could still go off the railed - I have until February 2019 to put it off!  So far I”m really pleased.  Here is the first half of the book.

The first page is the facing page of the front inside cover.  I haven’t decided what to do inside the front cover - I might write a little preface to my book - we’ll see.  I may just add another postcard. 

Because I’ve used a heart on this one page, I’m counting it is number 165 in my 365 Somethings project (200 to go that means).  This started out as a painted page that I did NOT like, so I collaged over most of it and decided to keep it for the book - it almost went into the recycle bin.  I’m really glad I saved it.

It should be noted that these aren’t necessarily in the order they appear in the book.  I am uploading multiple photos and they kind of go in the order they want to.  Not sure why, but not too concerned!  This is one of the ones that is predominantly collage - the shapes are cut out tissue paper, as well as some map, music, other paper and postage stamps.  Accented with pen.

This next one is predominantly gouach, accented with pen and pencil.

More tissue...

More gouache - you get the picture.

More gouache - I love the opacity of the gouache.  I have had it for years and haven’t used it much at all.  I’m learning to like it.

 

More gouache.

More tissue and brown paper, washi tape and lots of pen work.

Last but not least - more gouache.  See the staples there - that’s the middle of the book!  :)

Thanks for joining me today.  I really hope this book gets completed well before February!

 

 

Sketchbook Project Finale

Well, my friend Elizabeth called it many months ago - I said I was going to get my Sketchbook Project done early this time, and she said ‘we’ve heard that before’.  And here it is - I’ve finished my book one day before the deadline!

When in a rush, I turn to collage.  Funny enough these are probably the fastest pages in the book and also my favourites.

 

One of the best things I found was a page full of legs, each with a different patterned legging - they really made the series.

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Before I found the legs, I used washi paper...

I don’t usually title my pages, but if I did I’d all this one Queen B.

I draw attention to the background in this page - unfortunately the paper quality is not great and the watercolour crayon I used on the previous page have bled through, and there’s a lot of warping.

If I was titling this one I think I’d call it Swan Lake.

This is one of my favourites - that big eye belongs to a cat in an ad for cat food.  

My book will be going in the mail today - phew!