WIP 8 x 24 Landscape

This painting has not gone the way I envisioned it almost from the start. I thought I had a clear vision for what I want to produce, but there seems to have been some type of disconnect.
I'm leaving this open to your comments. I'm feeling a bit blind right now and some fresh eyes on the piece might help. Thanks!

GPP Crusade No. 29 Brushstrokes: Take 5

A recent post published by Brandie at Little Pieces of Art inspired me to make my own "paste paper". Please check out her gorgeous artwork and instructions here. This is not the typical method that I've read about in the past. I just mixed acrylic paint into light acrylic molding paste. Then I lay textured objects under paper, spread the paste and voila! These samples were done in a journal I'm building on the theme of "Hope".
I will be adding to these pages and will post the results after completion.

GPP Crusade No. 29 Brush Strokes: Take 4

As promised, following is some of the progression of a piece I introduced you to here.

GPP Crusade No. 29 - Brush Strokes: Take 3

Another update to brush stroke play that I did in early March:



This post is brief, but if you have questions, please ask in a comment. I hope to get another post up in the next few days.

GPP Crusade No. 29, Brush Effects Take 2

This is an update to this post.



If you are not familiar with the Green Pepper Press Crusades, this post shows just a bit of my participation in this month's challenge. It was done a couple weeks ago. In the previous post, I showed the purple circles right after I added them to the rice paper. I was inspired by other participants to use a chip brush. Then I added a twist by brushing the diluted paint onto wax paper. I took the painted waxed paper and laid it onto the painted rice paper. I would never have made the same type of brush marks on the rice paper if I had worked directly.
I hope to carve out a bit of time this week to update you on the other brush exercises I did in early March. The past couple of weeks I've spent a lot of time cutting mat, mounting and framing artwork. The group I paint with hung a show at the Somerset Gallery in Ames this past week. I delivered new works to Swinging Bridge Studio in Story City on Friday. I hope to complete at least one more work for my solo exhibit that will be held during May at the Sanford Museum in Cherokee, Iowa.
As for my very last post. Nothing new to report on that project. I hope to get some painting done this week!

WIP and Book Give Away

Yesterday I read a sweet story and was inspired by a quote in it. Last night I started this piece based on that inspiration. I'll reveal more when it's complete. I'm posting this much now because my technique is based on one I learned in Susan Tuttle's book, Exhibition 36. You can buy it here.It's a wonderful book because it has a great balance of inspiration plus detailed instructions. That's my favorite kind of book. Be sure to visit Susan's blog so see how you can enter the GIVE AWAY.

Bargain Texture Tools

A trip to the local variety store, Samuel's Ben Franklin, produced these treasures for very little $$$. The shop is having an anniversary sale so EVERY item in the store is on sale.

If you follow my blog, then you know about my recent obsession with circles. This scrubber brush caught my eye because of the potential I saw for texturing and stamping. It cost 80 cents.

This is a close up of a plastic sink mat. I saw a thick stencil. Another 80 cents. I have already used this one for the GPP Crusade and hope to post on that tomorrow.
The big yellow thing under these is a thick foam bulletin board that is very textured. It was $2.50. I think I will cut it up for stamping because it's just too big for my normal pieces. I cut the sink mat down to a manageable size, too.

I'm always saving things{junk}to use for texture. Don't snicker. I know some of you do, too. Does ANYONE have any great ideas for keeping all this stuff organized?