daily janes

8×5″ acrylic, ink on sketchbook page

This is one of those pieces where I think I have a good idea, I begin to execute it, and I almost immediately loathe what’s happening because it doesn’t fit what my brain envisioned. I kept working on it, but it still isn’t all I had hoped it would be. But that’s the nature of the daily work.

The quote is by poet and teacher Marianne Taylor of Mt. Vernon, one of those I interviewed in my Beyond 9-11 project. Don’t forget to click on the picture to see a full-size version (that way you can read the quote!).

5×8″ acrylic, ink on sketchbook page

I did a few scrapes of acrylic as well as some brushwork, then penned the words of the quote with ink marker.

This quote is by a musician, not a visual artist, but I think it is applicable to most things in life, including the arts generally. I interviewed Jeffrey Agrell in the Beyond 9-11 project. At the time I interviewed him, he was a professor at the University of Iowa School of Music, as well as a composer and musician. Give a listen to his “September Elegy” (in four clips on the page).

5×8″ acrylic, ink on sketchbook page

This is acrylic paint applied with a brush, very loosely based on a piece by the speaker, artist Susan Coleman, who lives in Mount Vernon.

5×8″ acrylic, ink on sketchbook page

I used a wet page with wet acrylic paint, kind of like one might do with watercolors, to make this painting. The quote is from retired UI art professor Virginia A. Myers. She was a delight to interview, and she reminds us of the value of time in the studio creating—no matter the end product.

5×8″ acrylic, ink on sketchbook page

This is a combination of scraping and brushing acrylic, then adding the ink penned words on top.

Today’s quote is by Des Moines teacher and artist Ellen Robinson. She is all about community art and art-making and living mindfully.

8×5″ watercolor pencil, ink on sketchbook paper

This quote is so perfect (ha!), particularly for this little daily artwork. As I was starting to look at some late-season zinnias I had in a container on the table, getting ready to draw them, I said to Matt, “I hate drawing real things!” Then I laughed because I knew what the quote was that would go with the drawing.

When I draw something I am looking at I get way too hung up on perfectionism and it never adequately represents what I want it to (i.e. it’s never perfect). Perfectionism bleeds into other areas of life as well. I’ve been able to loosen its grip in some respects, but it’s still a struggle.

Anyway, I sketched the zinnias with a pencil that had no eraser (on purpose), then went in with wet watercolor pencils. I further tinted a couple of the zinnias with pen. Then added the quote with ink marker.

Artist Priscilla Steele, the speaker, is a marvelous draftsperson and printmaker in Marion.

8×5″ acrylic block printing, ink on sketchbook page

I printed a series of block prints (whole and partial) with acrylic paint, then wrote the quote with an ink marker. I was tempted to do a background color, but decided against it.

Today’s quote is by Laurie Elizabeth Talbot Hall who was featured in both the Iowa women artist’s project and the Beyond 9-11 project. Last I knew she lived in New York City, but I interviewed her in the Riverside/Iowa City area.

5×8″ acrylic, ink on sketchbook page

This image (the second in the “just make art” series of daily janes) is loosely based on a mosaic work by the artist I am quoting today, Marcia Joff-Bouska. Marcia lived in Council Bluffs at the time I interviewed her (and may still live there). You can find out more about her and her work here. Again, you’ll probably have to click on the image to show the full view in order to read the quote. Be kind to yourself!

8×5″ acrylic, ink

This may be the first in a series of little artworks with inspirational quotes by Iowa artists I interviewed back in the late 1990s and early 2000s as part of the Iowa Women Artists Oral History Project and Beyond 9-11: The Art of Renewal in Iowa. I may do this for the month of October in my daily janes. Or I might make it a regular feature every few days for the rest of the year.

This quote is by Barbara Robinette Moss, an artist born and raised in Alabama who lived in Iowa City at the time I interviewed her. She wrote two well-received memoirs after we spoke: Change Me Into Zeus’s Daughter and Fierce. In 2009, I was saddened to hear that cancer had taken her life. Too soon, too soon.

I have written a book collecting quotes like this called Just Make Art using Barbara’s line as inspiration. A published book may or may not happen, but a daily jane series probably will.

For this piece, I swirled around different acrylic colors on a sketchbook page, then went in with some ink markers for the words. Don’t forget to click on the image to see the full version (and hopefully to make the writing readable)! Enjoy!