My Creative Space

Since I've been so busy with work lately, I've been trying to squeeze in a little crafting time here & there. Early in the week, I broke out my inks & stamps to add another layer to the latest painting I've been working on:

I'd started this mixed-media piece a little while ago when finishing up my Sketchbook Project.

I began with a base of gesso & collage. My first layer of paint was dark purple & green.

I wasn't too happy with that combination, so I covered it with some more collage, concentrating on bright colours.

Pale yellow & green paint kept things light, giving this piece a cheery feel.

I added a few more collage elements, as well as a bit more paint, embellishing with splashes of deep coral pink & black.

So this week I added some layers of ink - polkadots, flowers, lines - and now I can't decide if it's finished or not.

I really love the texture of all these layers.

It makes me happy as it is - like a spring fling, a big bash, a garden party. I'll leave it on display for now & see how I feel about adding to it.

Speaking of unfinished pieces on display around here, this soaring bird is still out:

I can't decide how to finish it - the original idea was leaping from a cage door, or possibly a tree, but now I'm not so sure I want to clutter the edges too much. I like the limitless feel to the sky... any suggestions?

I did finish this little blue house on a hill though:

The bottom right corner was bothering me - so I added a hill in the background. Perfect! It's now listed in my shop.

Throughout the week I also broke into a new sketchbook:

I completed this page of flowers only to realize that the first page was statically clinging to the cover.

So I filled in the opposite page to complete the spread:

I really love this spread. I can see my evolution as an artist / sketcher here. There is evidence of my love of repetitive circles & layered flowers, as well as influences of Charley Harper (particularly in this fish):

I can also see that some inspiration was gleaned from Alisa Burke, a new favourite blog of mine.

I can't wait to see this sketchbook unfold.

You can find more creative spaces over at kootoyoo.