the red road~ day 28

Good Gosh! It's been almost a month since I decided to record the artistic journey. I've learned a whole lot about myself in the last 4 weeks. Not sure any of it has any bearing on my artistic process. More like  a microscope on my work habits. And NOBODY wants to read about THAT! Suffice it to say I'm still learning to juggle the to-do list. #nevertoooldtolearn

So let's see. Where were we? red road...itinerary...whatwasIthinkingcommittingtoayearlongproject?

Suck it up, Swider! You're trying to build a reputation here and bailing out after only a month shows serious wussy shoes. What happened to those sexy shoes you were musing over just last week?

Bitch.

Ok. Enough whining. First on the list of things I'd like to pursue this year is the idea of working in relief. (Here's the original blog post.) When I was teaching in the elementary school, one of the techniques I learned from my teacher pals up in New England was the use of cardboard and plaster gauze. I LOVE using the plaster gauze product. I wrote about it in Cloth Paper Scissors back in April. You can find the issue here.

Essentially you construct a base out of cardboard and/or found objects and then cover it in plaster gauze. This gives you a really sturdy base on which to play with paint, collage, decoration, etc etc. I'm working on several new projects and classes using this technique. I'm trying to sort thru how much I can share online with you, my sweet readers, before the folks who host the retreats at which I teach decide they aren't interested. You see, if I share too much of it then they figure why have me come to teach it at the retreat since everyone already has access to the information online. I really have no idea where that line lies.

I've got several of these sweet ladies in progress in the studio at the moment. Some of them are simply painted, some will incorporate more decoration and the like. I'm channeling a whole "mother nature" vibe while I'm working. It's coming together. But there's still a ways to go before I get that casual unworked aesthetic that drives me.

It just occured to me that I should run to the local craft supplier and paw thru their silk floral department and see what kind of goodies I can scrounge up. I don't want to do anything so predictable as add silk leaves to the head dresses, but maybe there's a way to incorporate some of those elements using collage under the paint. Hmmm...

Meanwhile, here's a little teaser of some other inspiration lurking in my studio...more on that later :~)

hugs to all. happy tuesday! someone please buy my house:~)

~staci