october 21

10-21-15 "clear your mind"
10-21-15 “clear your mind”

5×8″ ink marker, colored pencil, watercolor pencil on sketchbook page

Doodling—originally I thought I would do marker doodling all over the white spaces. But I thought it might look too busy and it would be even harder to read the quote. And it would have taken more time, probably. In any case, after the marker and colored pencil work, I used two colors (blue and lavender) on the background with a tiny bit of yellow around the artist’s name.

The artist I’m quoting, Emily Martin, lived and worked in Iowa City at the time of my interview (1998). She was making a lot of artist’s books at that time, as well as paintings and sculpture.

october 20

10-20-15 "storytellers of life"
10-20-15 “storytellers of life” —SOLD—

5×8″ acrylic, ink on sketchbook page

The acrylic paint was applied mostly with a palette knife. The lighter blue coloring in the background was brushed on. Artist Jo Myers-Walker is the speaker of today’s quote. She was living in Ames when I interviewed her. She now lives in Iowa City and is still very active as an artist and teacher. You can read and see more on her blog.

october 19

10-19-15 "the rule"
10-19-15 “the rule”

5×8″ collage, acrylic, ink on sketchbook page

I took a little patch of green silk sari and collaged it to the page, then added some patches of acrylic paint.  I put a block print using acrylic on top of the fabric piece before lettering the quote with an ink marker.

I interviewed the artist and professor,
Gelsy Verna in Iowa City. Gelsy went on to teach in Wisconsin. I was saddened to learn from one of her students that she had died suddenly and much too soon.

october 18

10-18-15 "deeply, profoundly"
10-18-15 “deeply, profoundly”

6×8″ silk sari pieces, acrylic paint on paper

For this piece, I collaged two pieces of silk sari on to a sheet of mixed media paper. The collaging medium darkened the fabric more than I had hoped. Then I added some translucent/transparent acrylic around the fabric, and lettered the words with ink marker.

The words were spoken by Priscilla Kepner Sage, an Ames fiber artist who taught at Iowa State University for many years.

october 16

10-16-15 "do what you have to do"
10-16-15 “do what you have to do”

digital photo (black-and-white filter applied)

This leaf is a beautiful red in the color version, but the artist I’m quoting was doing mostly black-and-white photography (or at least not the vivid color this is) so I thought I’d tone down the color for this purpose. Perhaps I’ll share the original version at some point.

Photographer/artist Dolie Thompson was living in far western Iowa near the Loess Hills when I interviewed her. I found her to be quiet yet strong, much like her artwork.

october 15

10-15-15 "artist is shaman"
10-15-15 “artist is shaman”

8×5″ acrylic, ink on sketchbook page

This is a scraped and brushed acrylic painting. I’m not so happy with the lettering I did on this one, but there it is.

The quote is from artist Joan F. Vitale. She lived near Indianola when I interviewed her, but she has since moved out of state.

october 14

10-14-15 "follow your heart"
10-14-15 “follow your heart”

8×5″ acrylic, ink on sketchbook page

I love this quote. The artist I’m quoting, Ames artist Gretchen Weber, was a calligrapher and maker of artist’s books. She also taught at Iowa State for several years (she died earlier this year). I had brief thoughts of trying to make this piece more calligraphic in her honor, but my brief practice sessions were not enough! So, I stuck with my usual lettering.

october 12

10-12-15 "constant vocation"
10-12-15 “constant vocation” —SOLD—

5×8″ acrylic, ink on sketchbook page

This painting started out as something much different, brushed on. It didn’t last. I scraped and brushed more opaque paint to cover up some of the original. Even then I intended something different than what came out in the end. Given more time, it would have changed yet again!

Passion and practice are keys to success in art and most (all?) other pursuits. Today’s quote is from another interviewee in the Iowa women artists’ project, Des Moines artist Concetta Morales.