september 30

09-30-15 "animal prints"
09-30-15 “animal prints”

5×8″ acrylic, ink on sketchbook page

I started with a blockprint using acrylic in the center, then drew similar lines with a blue ink marker above and below that. I added vertical lines with another ink marker, then filled in the lines with two colors of acrylic paint. The final pass was a watered down transparent glaze of magenta over the blockprint/drawn shapes in the middle. And that finishes the month of September—and the third quarter of the daily janes!

september 29

09-29-15 "alien ship"
09-29-15 “alien ship”

scanned film photograph

Unfortunately, my film-camera night sky photography experiment did not yield very good results (at least not yet—some of my film wasn’t scanned by mistake so I have to take it back to the store). On the positive side, this photo, while not focusing very well on the moon, caught a fleeting peek at the UFO on the left. 😉 Other time-consuming tasks today make this film capture of the alien ship with the moon my daily jane for today. I’ll try to do better tomorrow.

september 28

09-28-15 "super moon monday"
09-28-15 “super moon monday”

digital photo

I had a hard time deciding between this image of the super moon post-eclipse this morning, or a photo from last night during the full eclipse with rust moon and part of our house. I love the color and the form of the house in the one from last night, but the moon is definitely blurrier and the night sky is lit from a nearby streetlight. So, I opted for this morning’s better moon.

I hope you were able to experience this beautiful phenomenon live and in-person. I plan to post more photos on my artwork facebook page, including the one I describe above.

I also took some photos of the moon last night on my old film SLR camera. I’m not sure they were focused well or whether they’ll turn out at all, and I won’t find out until the film is developed and printed! Remember when we always had to wait to see our photographs?

september 27

09-27-15 "with the fishies"
09-27-15 “with the fishies”

5×8″ acrylic, blockprinting

This began with some blockprinting (with acrylic) to finish off paint I had already printed with on another piece. I pressed a scraping tool that had some leftover paint onto the piece, then scraped that paint a little (creating pseudo-fishy forms—surprise!). I diluted some brilliant blue with acrylic glazing liquid and water and went over the whole piece. I added some additional blockprints of the green vegetation. Then went over certain areas with more diluted brilliant blue.

It’s so funny to me when a form appears that takes on a life of its own and becomes something that wasn’t at all in my mind when I started.

september 26

09-26-15 "no name"
09-26-15 “no name”

9.5×6.5″ acrylic on matboard

I repurposed an older scraped painting with a few new scrapes, trying to salvage it. I’m not entirely convinced that it’s salvaged or given a higher purpose. Yet. But it’s today’s daily.

Perhaps I give in to the daily posting pressure too often, settling for something less than I would like. But…I’m trying to accept the failures as well as the successes, and to show some of both. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

september 25

09-25-15 "missing piece"
09-25-15 “missing piece”

5×8″ acrylic, collage on sketchbook paper

I collaged a paper puzzle piece (repurposed from a Civic Music Association mailing) onto the sketchbook page, then did some brush painting and blockprinting using acrylic. And more brushing. It’s not my favorite, but it is today’s daily.

september 24

09-24-15 "national fabric"
09-24-15 “national fabric” —SOLD—

14×14″ (framed) mixed media: currency strips, ribbon, thread

This is also not really a “daily,” but it is part of the daily art-making I’ve been engaged in over the months. I posted an extreme close-up of the weaving earlier this year as a daily jane. This is what the full piece looks like now. I framed it up yesterday and in a couple of weeks it will be displayed in the Heritage Gallery’s Greater Des Moines Exhibited show downtown (2nd & Walnut, Polk County building). [post-publication note: this won an honorable mention at the Clay Fiber national show at the Octagon Center for the Arts in Ames in 2016!]

september 23

09-23-15 "currents"
09-23-15 “currents”

12×16″ mixed media: acrylic, screen, yarn, thread on canvas

This is not technically a “daily”—it’s been in the works for years in one form or another. But I added some paint today that I hope finishes it. Yet to be determined, of course.

This began its life (as far as I can remember it) as a sort of study for a larger painting. I was experimenting with using screen material for texture but also as a “loom” structure for weaving, so this has a little bit of everything.

After the experimenting was done, it went through a couple of different iterations (at least), until more recently I focused on and smoothed out (somewhat) the blues and purples and turquoises and arrived here.

september 22

09-22-15 "crawling around"
09-22-15 “crawling around”

5×8″ acrylic on sketchbook page

Oh my. Some days I just don’t have time to fix all that needs fixing. The addition of the white stripes in the purple help, but I just don’t feel this is quite done. But on the blog page it must go. On the plus side, I feel a lot better about this than I did earlier today!

september 21

09-21-15 "spiral space"
09-21-15 “spiral space”

5×8″ acrylic, collage on sketchbook page

This began with a cool magazine image that I collaged onto the sketchbook page. I used a fine marker to extend the spiral out onto the page (although those marks are mostly obscured now), then went over that with three different colors of acrylic paint: transparent raw sienna, acra blue violet, and little splashes of cadmium deep red hue. I really like these three colors together, so they may have a reunion someday soon.