Happy Trees Vintage Paint By Number Painting - Arts and Crafts

Some people talk about how soothing Mr Rogers voice is; for me, it's Bob Ross when he expounds on "happy trees." I decorated the cabin several years ago with garage sale art since break-ins are always a possibility for property that you don't occupy regularly. I wanted art work that was not overly dear.

One of my purchases was a paint by number of a deer next to a woodland stream. The above painting was thrown in. I washed it, drew on the letters, and painted happy trees in acrylic paint.

I knew the original was heavily textured but I was wrong, it was downright lumpy. It's very difficult to paint straight, smooth lines on a lumpy surface. I love the new version and the fence posts being in front of the font gives it a lot more dimension. I have another purchased painting stored in the back of the garage that is becoming jealous. I think it wants a new life as slightly quirky art.

Arshile Gorky Inspired Abstract Expressionist Modern Painting

I did this originally as a digital image. Painting straight edges is surprisingly challenging. I tried painters tape and went back to freehand since the results with tape were disappointing.

Giant Folk Art Painted Wood Dice - Arts and Crafts

I found a huge wood square and painted it to resemble dice since every game board needs dice. OK, this one takes two hands to pick up so it might not be practical but it looks great on the floor with a giant "jack" that I bought a few years ago.

I wonder what it was originally, perhaps part of a support column in an old barn.

Painted Wood Vintage Style Game Board - Arts and Crafts

I painted this game board on a piece of plywood. I found a little crackling medium so it was applied in scattered areas. The edging (pine molding) is raised to corral crazy dice rolls. The board was aged by lightly sanding the surface.

Kazimir Malevich Inspired Geometric Abstract Modern Painting

I made this as a digital poster several months ago and thought it would be fun to redo it as a painting. I designed it to be vertical but I think I prefer it horizontal.

Blue Painted Vintage Folding Chair - Arts and Crafts

I bought this pretty little chair at a garage sale for $5 and painted it my favorite garden accessory color, blue.

It doesn't fold up the normal way, you grab it by the handle at the back of the seat and that's the portion that comes up.

I was fortunate that all the finish had worn off so I simply painted it without doing more than a little clean up.

Weeping Angel From Doctor Who Painting with Raised Paper Decoupage - Arts and Crafts

I remember this one. I started painting the Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City; the painting was rather dull so I never finished it. A homicidal alien creature is what it needed to liven things up.

I didn't want to have the angel look too much like a photo so I ran the image through Live Trace to limit the colors and added a canvas texture.

I put this in my daughter's study area, won't she be surprised.

Daleks Hovering Over a Desert Painting and Raised Paper Decoupage - Arts and Crafts

I am on a roll. I have no idea what I started to paint but I suspect this is a better idea.

I thought about making a Dalek image but this one from the Mind Robber was almost perfect. I couldn't get the weapon to be stable at this size so I just cut it off; no one will ever know.

I varied the size and height off the painting to help give the illusion of distance.

Doctor Who Tardis Flying Through Space Painting with Raised Decoupage - Arts and Crafts

I rediscovered some partially completed canvases and instead of painting over them I decded to do something a little different.

I had made a folded paper Tardis for my daughter, Nissa and there was an adorable mini Tardis waiting for it's chance on my desk.

I cut out the Tardis, built up a platform to raise it off the painting and affixed the paper cutout with double stick tape. The ship and background have a rather neat, and slightly cheesy, 3D effect.

Trio of Abstract Acrylic Paintings Depicting a Snowman Melting - Arts and Crafts

I did this design previously digitally in Illustrator and thought it would be fun to recreate it using acrylic paints; it was.

The stones and carrots are wrapped around the edge of the canvas.

Matisse Style Tote Bag - Arts and Crafts

I found a Matisse style clothing applique image and kept the idea in my to do list. The problem is, I don't sew much anymore and don't wear appliqued clothing.

I drew Matisse style shapes and traced the pattern pieces onto a purchased canvas bag using pencil. I think there are better transfer techniques but it's what I had.

I taped on small pieces of paper colored with markers so I would get the color placement correct.

The shapes were painted with acrylic paint and I'll wash the pencil out after the paint has had a day to dry thoroughly. You can still see the pencil lines on the unwashed tote bag.

Robert Rauschenberg Inspired Painting - Day 19 Modern Artists

I was inspired by Rauschenberg's Combines. He used trash and found objects, these are pieces of my day.

• The artist palette is a foam tray that Chinese cucumbers came on. 
• The green tea is, well, I think you know...  I like the oriental connection and Trader Joes green tea is epic.
• Okie dokie, hot dish, uff da and you betcha are Minnesota phrases. I used to deny saying them but when my parakeet, Taxi, started saying it, deniability was lost forever. 
• My daughter brought home a box of Taco Bell tacos. 
• The white paint splattered and speckling everything is because we are have a freaking blizzard.
• The whiskers made of sticks are for the cat snowman in the front yard. Remember, freaking blizzard.

Jackson Pollock Inspired Drip Painting, Day 10 Modern Artists

I must confess that the first time I saw one of Mr Pollock's paintings I was a child and thought it was a drop cloth. His style grows on you and it's a heck of a lot of fun to do.

Getting the paint the correct consistency is a challenge and the vintage brown paint I used first made it even harder.

The paint was so thick I had to use a whisk to get it into a diluted, pourable consistency.

There's an old film clip on YouTube where he discusses his work and an excellent documentary.  Pollock's shoe choice was better than my pink Crocs, the paint goes right through the holes. I had paint everywhere; I understand the eyebrows but I can't figure out how I got some on the back of my legs.
 

Willem de Kooning Inspired Abstract Painting, Day 9 Modern Artists

It seems odd to try to replicate a version of abstract expressionism on a 2.5" x 3.5" canvas. Exuberance meets constraint.

Jim Dine Inspired Paper Batik Heart Painting With Instructions, Day 8 Modern Artists

Jim Dine seems to truly love hearts and his robe.

I did a watercolor version of his heart painting but I discovered filling a pallete with cheap tube paints and allowing them to dry for a few months makes for a nasty, grainy, mess.

Free wasn't cheap enough since I'm still soaking the inexpensive paints out of my travel palette while the expensive watercolors floated away like champion swimmers.

I cleaned up the paint and decided to experiment with crayon batik. I heavily colored a sheet of Bristol board with Crayola crayons.




















I accidentally broke a tip and decided to cut it into small bits and let it melt on later.

I put foil on a cookie sheet and popped the paper in a 350 degree oven until the broken bits melted.

Run tepid water over the cooled paper until the paper is pliable. Gently crumple the paper into a ball. The crumpling makes the cracks so you decide if you want lots of cracks or just a few.

I was going to cover the damp paper with India ink but I couldn't find any. India ink is a staple, like water chestnuts, and I assumed there was some in the cupboards. I didn't have any black gouache or black tempera paint so I painted the crayon surface with diluted black acrylic paint.

Gentle blotting helped remove some of the excess paint but to brighten it up a bit I did end up lightly rinsing it under cool running water. This photo shows the paper blotted, not rinsed.

I hung it outside to dry

The finished heart. I think if I did this again I would have colored it even more and would not have added the extra broken bits. It might be fun to simply place lots of shaved bits on and try to get them all to melt together. Remember, wax burns well, so be cautious.

Mark Rothko Inspired Color Field Painting, Day 5 Modern Artists

Yes, I know this type of painting is supposed to be large to have the desired impact. I currently don't care to have a giant color field painting and always have the option of recreating a painting larger.

It was fun to study Rothko's work today and have enjoyed his work at museums.This one actually looks cute in the bookshelves and the playing card sized canvas works there.

Barnett Newman Inspired Color Field Painting, Day 4 Modern Artists

Barnett Newman inspired me to investigate Modern Painters and started this months topic. I read an article about the Voice of Fire in the National Gallery of Canada and I must admit I was on the side of the "what the heck?" camp.

I realize the size is a major component in Mr Newman's work but I didn't want to absorb a large color field canvas into my home so I used a tiny canvas that I had picked up at Blick when it was on sale.

I did a horizontal block of blue grey with a black edge and was quite surprised to see he had painted almost the exact same thing. I repainted several versions but none appealed to me. I don't know why, but I really struggled with this project and the end result resembles a book. Oh well.

Several years ago I was in a drawing class and mentioned seeing a red lacquered board propped up against the wall at the MIA. I said it looked like a shelf from Ikea waiting to be hung. The instructor piped in and said it was a pure expression of color. I said it was a great sales job. He said it was dynamic. I said it was the emperors new clothes for a group of pretentious intellectuals. The conversation must have have made an impact since when I run into people who were there that night they still talk about it.

My feeling is art evokes a response and makes you look at things in new ways. I guess most Modern Art does that but I'm still not convinced by some things that I find in museums. I can't dispute that people are still passionately discussing his pieces so I would consider the work successful.

Georgia O'Keeffe Inspired Painting Of A Carnation, Day 2 Modern Artists

Georgia O'Keeffe is famous for her flower paintings so I took a photo of a pink carnation and cropped it to fit the ratio of a large piece of Masonite that I had stored in the garage.

I was going to do the painting with blended tones and did a black and white version in Photoshop so I could more easily see values.

I started the painting with beautiful color blends but the graphic lines kept calling to me. I totally changed the style and palette and a blue carnation was born.

Here is the painting upside down and I love the fierce face that appears. It's probably good that I don't sign paintings on the front since the painting might stay upside down.

Sideways is nice as well. Decisions...