Fourteen of Twenty-nine Faces

The return to the doodle is perfect for days like this one … a day filled up with many planned activities that get skewed by unplanned activities. So when I had the Sharpie out to label preserves I figured I grab a drawing pad. My uni-ball pens are always handy, so I employed one of them as well to create my face #14 for the 29 Faces challenge.

There's more, but time is, as they say, of the essence ~ today. Peace.

Furiously Fast Faces and a Return to the Doodle

Yesterday was a full day, the kind that left me with little time, energy or inclination to blog. My morning-into-afternoon was enjoyed at the Connecticut Pagan Pride event where I mustered mere seconds to scribble four furiously-fast faces. The rest of the day involved various harvesting and preserving, ale on the deck, a grilled dinner, and restful evening.

Today I returned to the doodle. It's like an artful coming home, something I've done for as long as I can remember. Plus it was simple and fast, freeing up time to cook, puree and can tomatoes, harvest more garden love and plant more autumn greens.

That's what I made today. Peace.

Collaged Gesture Drawings

Last night, while sitting around a fire in a beautifully magical space, listening to Wise Fools, I played fast-n-furious with some gesture drawing in the fading light. The setting sun didn't matter, since I barely glanced at my journal pages. I love doing that kind of drawing … challenging the eye, brain and hand to sync up. This kind of exercise, I believe, forces us to draw what we see and not what we believe is there.

In any event, I quickity-quick-quick sketched several faces, faces that were talking and laughing, in constant motion. It was fun and today I looked at what I had produced and collaged two suggestions of faces into my art journal for todays' 29 Faces post. In doing this kind of drawing I realized that I want to revisit this practice as well as some of the other old drawing exercises that I recall from college.

I suggested to my spouse that we go out once in while, someplace public, like a coffee shop or tea house, with out sketch pads, to capture drawings of places, people and environments outside of our own familiar realm. I said it might be like a nice date. I'm still waiting for a definitive response. I have a feeling I'll be dating myself, and I'm cool with that.

Peace.

A Day of Doing and Face Six

Today has been filled with doing. This morning I blocked in this face, I went out to pick up our fresh five pound stash of organic, fair trade coffee at Coffee-Tea-Etc, hit the bank, filled up with gas, picked up some flints and lighter fluid, got home, did a little art, prepped beans and got them canned, did a little more art, prepped tomatoes to cook down for puree, did a little more art, laundry, more art. Somewhere in there I ate, tended to the dog and chickens and whatever else.

Tonight I'll be able to unwind with the finest Fools I know when we get together for our monthly discussion group to tackle the topic of reflections. That will be swell.

That's what I made today. Peace.

Love, Grexing and Trust

Today I made my way north, over the border to Northampton, Massachusetts with my dear friend, Kate. I hadn't had a day like this in I-can't-remember-how-long. I was a day of Good Medicine, complete with loving conversation, lots of laughter and the occasional musical interlude. I wandered around a cool college town, sucking in the youthful verve with someone that I love.

I had a feeling that this might happen today, so this morning I called on my Muse to help me with today's face for 29 Faces. She chose the palette, and I responded with a "what-the-hell?" She said, "quit your grexing." So I did, and the trust produced this interesting genderless face.

That, my friends, is what I made today.

Peace.

Two Faces of Reflection

This morning I revisited the concept of reflections, since it is the topic of this Thursday's Foolish Wisdom discussion group, so when I sat down to begin my journal page for the day, I recalled Picasso's "Girl Before a Mirror," and knowing I wanted to include a face for 29 Faces, I figured, hey, I'd use Picasso's image for a some artful inspiration.

I really loved the sense of query that creating this image conjured for me, and was pleased that the mood of query carried over to the finished image. For me, anyway.

I wanted to add more layers of color and interest, as well as detailed embellishment, but I had things to do and places to go, and was pleased enough to have filled a journal page, explored some personal inquiry, conveyed some ambience, and to have produced two faces for the effort of one.

That's what I made today. Peace.

An Outcome - Face Number Two

In between labeling and putting the beans in the pantry, preparing tomatoes for cook-down, sorting through more mom-boxes, I found myself shuffling back and forth between the studio and whatever task was at hand in the moment. I had a journal page prepped with some partial-layers of stamping, gesso, acrylic, but none of it covering the entire watercolor page. I pulled out my oil pastels and just began to play. I was reminded of how nicely oils blend and how easy it is to suggest shadow simply by melding complements. Not that I was doing any such blending. I realized that I don't work much with them, not because they aren't cool, 'cause they are, but because I don't care for the smell.

All the same, like the colors, I melded with my inner muse-child and let stylized fancy make manifest. I sprayed some alcohol ink, wiped, rubbed, played, just to witness the alchemy. I finished up with a little meditative Souffle dot-making.

The process felt good. And the outcome, such as it is, reminded me of a conversation with a friend that brought up one of my mantras: "It's cool to have expectations ~ vital, even ~ so long as one is not attached to any perceived outcomes."

So there it is, my face for 29 Faces. And I hope you'll check out some of the other fab faces in the links below and at 29 Faces!

That's what I made today. Peace.

The First Face for the 29 Faces Challenge

Merry September!

Today commences my next challenge that I'll be pleased to meet half-way. Know what I mean? Today begins 29 Faces Challenge and I'll be playing along as best as I can. I encourage you to join us, whether you draw or paint on a regular basis, or haven't attempted such a thing since your grammar school days. You know what I say ~ creative expression is vital to our wellness ~ and you'd be hard pressed to find a friendlier, more supportive group with which to play, explore and express!

So this morning, in between making my bean salad and beet salad to take to a friend's today I created my first face for this challenge.

So, yeah. That's what I made today.

Peace.