Another Tree...and landscape

So, I am getting VERY addicted to this alcohol ink art.  What happens is I get mesmorized with how each layer reacts with the next and for the first time in weeks, I am relaxed.... in the "zone"... totally right brained.   And I need it more than the left handed artists which have the right brain access a little more naturally. If you don't know what I am talking about, read THIS BOOK.
Here is my tree in a larger format

and an alien landscape

Exploring Alcohol Ink Painting

This medium is so much fun.  I went out and bought a bunch of colors yesterday, I still need some more green, but Rose and I had a ball playing with colors.  It is really difficult to predict or control the inks... they spread unpredictably depending on the surrounding dyes.
I have to find my camera card, because my dslr takes much better photos of stuff like this, but here is my first landscape...

My attempt at a peacock feather.  I added some micron pen for detail lines.

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And Rose, once again, creates a masterpiece with effortless energy.  I think its partly because she is not trying too hard, she lets it happen.  I will work on that, less control..

Alcohol Ink Painting

My daughter and I went to my friend's studio today and we created some alcohol ink paintings.  This technique is sooo much fun and it is so gratifying watching how  the ink reacts with alcohol and the other colors.  We used Yupo paper, which is basically a thin plastic watercolor paper.

Here is one my daughter did.  She has a natural instinct with color, and her contrasting values came out very nicely.  

Make Good Art

"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something."  (The Princess Bride)


I went to a follow up critique for the pastel workshop I attended recently.  I brought these two and I was asked if I was emotional when I drew them.  The diagonals apparently indicate high emotions...very interesting.  My response is "I am always emotional".  Although people generally think I am calm and serene, I often feel things intensely inwardly.

Sometimes I wonder why we expect life to be full of roses and daisies.  I think that there is a sense of entitlement that we Americans sometimes have, that life should be easy and fun.  And no pain, struggle or suffering should ever be allowed.  In my husband's library are a few books that deal with the age old question of why God allows suffering if he is a loving God and all that.  The ironic thing is that it seems (and just google these ideas if you don't believe me) that the richer people are, the more depressed and dissatisfied they become.  Children of extremely affluent parents, often turn to drugs and other modes of escape in an attempt to overcome their apathy.

Anyhow, even here, in American suburbia, where each of us live in a house that in any other country would be ample space for 50 people, there is so much pain and suffering.  Cancer, death, heartache, loss of jobs and hopelessness.....

I am not sure if we can ever truly understand the answer to why these things happen, or if there is even a purpose. But I truly believe that there is a purpose and reason why things happen.

This cartoon came up on my facebook wall today.  It is based on a Neil Gaiman speech, which is also linked on the cartoon. 
 Make Good Art

I love this.  The most meaningful, beautiful, and truthful art has always been created out of distress and hardship.  It seems that we humans thrive in stressful conditions, that we rise up to the occasion.  War, disease, loss of loved ones, abandonment, rejection....
It doesn't make life easier for anyone.   But it gives meaning to hardship.

Otherwise, the only art that might be made would be Thomas Kincaidish....

And as C.S. Lewis said:

Art... (among other things)  "has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival"

I found Narnia...

Sometimes, you discover an artist whose art totally speaks to you.  My friend who truly understands me, sent me a link about Kirsty Mitchell.  Ms. Mitchell was a fashion designer, and has in recent years become a full time "independent" artist.  She is a photographer who has woven a fantasy world and tale with her images.  They are not photoshopped.  They are planned, she creates the sets and costumes, and when you read about HOW she creates her images, it is amazing.  She is creating magic.

I could go on and on about how much I admire and love her work, but she says it so much better herself.  This project is dedicated to the memory of her mother who died of cancer.  Her mother was a teacher who loved books.  Hmmmm...

Anyway, her website with images and blog...
Wonderland

 The original story where I learned about her....
Her Story.

And a few images, the first reminds me of my daughter Rose.  I named her Rose for a few reasons.  My grandmother's name, Rose Cotton from Lord of the Rings, and also because the Princess Aurora from Disney's Sleeping Beauty was named Briar Rose by the fairies when they were hiding her in the forest.  This looks like a Briar Rose.

Yes, this is Wonderland, and yet, I can't stop thinking that these are Narnian. And there are snow images with a snow queen.

 And I can't stop thinking about the following quote, for some reason, pondering about magic and supernatural beings and talking trees and beasts.

 "It means," said Aslan, "that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know"