Gel Monotypes

Some artists can stay focused on one medium and produce a body of work in that single medium. Some artists bounce around from one medium to another, focusing on one for a bit, then discovering a new technique that looks interesting and jumping ship to experiment with that medium, shooting off in a whole new direction for a bit - until something else comes along to bend that focus again! I bet you can guess which kind of artist I am... especially if you visited during the Philomath Open Studio Tour.

By the way, if you did come to see us during the tour, Thank You So Much! It was terrific seeing so many people out braving the weather and enjoying the adventure of exploring the backroads of Philomath and finding new artists and studios to discover! 

Yes, I am a pastel and watercolor artist, but I also like to knit, make beaded earrings and necklaces, and recently learned how to make my own gel plate for printmaking. These are one-of-a-kind prints - made by placing acrylic paint and printers ink onto the gel plate, manipulating that paint, then placing paper on top to make a print. That image is left to dry, then more paint or ink is added using a brayer, or squeegee or paint brush and then another print is made on top of the previous image. 

I LOVE the texture and mottled colors that result from this technique, and have been playing and producing Monotypes these past couple of weeks using this gel plate. Here are some photos of that process:

This first photo shows the gel plate, clean and ready to be used. 

Here it has paint added on top after some brayer manipulation. 

More brayer action. 

Pressing the paper on top making the first background print.

These are some of my finished prints that have been created with the gel plate and some added brushwork to complete each design. Several are now available on my Etsy site  and here's one below that you can purchase right here:

Crow 2

5x7 inches

Acrylic on paper

$25 + $3 shipping

Below is how it looks on the paper. This is how it'll arrive, ready to be framed.

This shows a close up of that delicious texture: 

If you have any questions about this piece or the technique, go ahead and ask using the comments link below. 

Philomath Open Studios Tour This Weekend!

This coming weekend, and the following weekend I'll be sharing a studio in Philomath Oregon with another artist - Mike Bergen  during the Philomath Open Studios Tour (POST). We'll have our paintings, some prints and I'll also have several new little tiny canvases I've been working on which can be displayed on the wall, small easels or hung as holiday ornaments. We'll be there from noon to 5:00 Oct. 26th & 27th, then again Nov. 2nd & 3rd. Here's a link to a map showing where each artist and studio is located. Below are some of the in-progress shots of the tiny canvases I'm still working on and a few photos of some finished canvases that will be available.

These are painted with ink that's been mixed with acrylic gel medium, then spritzed with alcohol to get some cool textural effects. They're then sealed with the same gel medium. Some have brass or aluminum leaf added for a bit of glitz and shimmer. 

Come on out and visit us during this studio tour - we drove to six of the studios tonight for a "pre-tour" and there are some amazing artists, artwork and beautiful studios that are truly a treat to discover! 

Vistas and Vineyards Show is up!

This October the Guistina Gallery at the LaSells Stewart Center on the Oregon State University campus is hosting the Vistas and Vineyards 24th Anniversary show. This is a local en plein air  group that meets each Wednesday mid-May through mid-October at a new site somewhere in the Willamette Valley.  I was happy to finish up three paintings that are now on display at this show through the end of this month. There is a reception on October 8th, 6:30 to 8:30 but sadly, I'll not be able to attend since I have a different event going on at the same time. However, that doesn't mean you can't go see the show - that evening or any other time this month! Here are the three paintings I have in the show: 

This piece is called "Clematis" and is a sealed pastel painting on smoothly primed canvas over a watercolored background. I started it at Garland Nursery at the first paint-out of the season this past May, then finished it up in my studio.

This is another sealed pastel on watercolor that was painted at Bruce Starker Arts Park.

And last, but not least, the barn at Peoria Road Farm Market. This too is a sealed pastel on canvas. I used watercolor to block in the main shapes after drawing out the piece, then painted in pastel over the watercolor, going back in with a brush and water to push some of the pastel around before finishing with multiple sprays of diluted pva size and a couple final coats of UV protective acrylic varnish. 

Painting Poppies

We have the most amazing poppies that bloom each May in our backyard that I bought from Shreiner's Iris Garden several years ago. They're a gorgeous red that's almost impossible to capture with photography. I try every year to do just that, knowing they're only going to bloom for a couple of weeks, but the best way to catch that red is by painting it. I still take tons of reference photos of poppies to draw from (ha, pun intended) but I love painting them from life, especially on a lovely sunny afternoon. The rain has returned, and they're looking sad out back, with their ragged and bruised petals, but I'm hoping they'll produce a few more buds for me to paint when it dries out again. Here are two of the four paintings I created - they're pastel on canvas with a watercolor painted background that was dry and finished before I applied the pastel. 

 

This shows the watercolored background with my pastel pencil drawing. 

Day two - finishing the first poppy pastel. 

The canvas has been primed with a water based primer that helps fill in the rough texture of the canvas so that it won't eat up my pastels too quickly. I seal the pastel as I progress on the painting as needed with diluted PVA size.  

Here's the canvas with just the watercolor, dry and ready for pastel.

Drawing the flower with a charcoal pencil.

First layer of pastel after it's been sprayed with the diluted PVA. 

Probably finished! 

Virtual Paintout - Bulgaria Backroad

During April, the website The Virtual Paintout has chosen the country Bulgaria as our painting location. One visits the city virtually using Google Maps' little yellow man to view city scenes from the streets. You travel around until you see something to paint or draw.  Here's the painting I did from this Google map location: 

It's 4x6 inches - Ink and watercolor. "Bulgaria Backroads"

Unframed - it is available for $25.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling. 

Virtual Paintout - Valparaiso, Chile

This month, the website Virtual Paintout has chosen Valparaiso, Chile as our painting location. One visits the city virtually using Google Maps' little yellow man to view city scenes from the streets. You travel around until you see something to paint or draw. I was introduced to this painting opportunity by my friend Mike Bergen , another artist that participates in virtual paintouts. It's pretty cool that Google has given artists permission to use Street View for painting references - Thanks Google! Here's the painting I did from this Google map location: 

It's 4x6 inches - watercolor with pastel on paper. "Abrazo, Valparaiso, Chile"

Unframed - it is available for $25.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling. 

SketchCrawl #38

This morning I met up with five other artists downtown to participate in my very first SketchCrawl. It's the 38th world wide event, where people all over join in for a day (or several hours) of sketching, then post their artwork online to share with other SketchCrawlers. It was a chilly day here, so we met at the downtown Starbucks, thinking we'd disperse from there, then meet up later at a different spot to share our sketches. Well, 4 out of the 5 of us ended up staying right there, content and warm to draw what we could see from our table. Here are 2 of my sketches from today: 

Fast and fun sketches! Enjoyed the company, and also the opportunity to play with my watercolors. Works in progress - for sure - I can see where I'd like to improve some bits of these, but also was concerned about working too much and losing the fresh quick capture. 

Looking forward to the next SketchCrawl opportunity!