The 1/2 point

I love paint!

Looking over the last 50 days is interesting. I am getting bored with "paper, scissors, glue." but have no other ideas. Perhaps I am in a 7th inning slump.
I have worked in the studio as well and that is more interesting.

The house is filling up with 100 day project work and we have gained one new member and lost a few along the way. Here is J Renee's project.
jrbenda

Inspiration

I was recently sent this quote from an artist friend. It fits well with the theme of habit and "stick-to-it-ness".
"Inspiration does not come like a bolt, nor is it kinetic energy striving, but it comes to us slowly and quietly and all the time". Brenda Ueland

The sounds of silence

"It is a time of tons of verbiage, activity and consumption. Which condition is better for the world at large I will not venture to discuss. But I do know that many who are driven to this life are desperately searching for those pockets of silence where they can root and grow. We must hope they find them." Mark Rothko

Discipline and Habit

Is there a difference between discipline and habit? I usually think of discipline as something I have to do, that I consciously decide to do but that that I resist. And habit as something I do without much thought, like a bad habit. Good habits may start out as disciplines and morph into habits; some good disciplines never make it to good habits and are still struggles.


Over time, as the daily routines become second nature, discipline morphs into habit. (Twyla Tharp)

Old habits die hard. (proverb)

Discipline in art is a fundamental struggle to understand oneself, as much as to understand what one is drawing. (Henry Moore)




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Meaning

Philip Guston
I don't know what a painting is; who knows what sets off even the desire to paint? It might be things, thoughts, a memory, sensations, which have nothing to do directly with painting itself. They can come from anything and anywhere.
Philip Guston

The circles are everywhere. They are hanging here and there. They are on the floor, spilled over with the scraps of my 100 day project. They are in my paintings. I think they are about unity and possibly and more importantly about self.
But, when I read the above quote by Philip Gunston, I think more and more that they are about painting.
Homeward bound-cbenda

New work

This is part of an artist's 100 day project. Every day she makes a wooden sculpture from scraps of wood, twigs and sticks.

Getting there

In the book the Journals of Grace Hartigan 1951-1955
she writes
Paraphrasing Henry James. "The highest creative act is to go into the studio."

She then writes. "It seems like I must first complete chaos on a canvas before I can find any order."

Color: The job I want

I have been thinking about this color naming business for a few days now. I want to know who names paint colors. It is one person or a team of people that sit around and come up with names. Do they flash a color on a screen and yell out names and the one that wins gets an M&M, or do they write all these names on papers and randomly choose? Could that be why "Around the block" is a medium blue and not a green? Are these color namers experts? Do they have credentials? Are they aware that there could be communication problems? So when I twitter you with: I painted my office a lovely shade of "Grand Loyalty", what color comes to mind? This has the potential to unfold into a time management issue, it gets cumbersome, and awkward. It can put a strain on everyone. That being said. I still love the idea that a color is more than a shade it can be a whole identity.
Here is a list of my top ten favorite color names: (can you guess what colors they are)
1. Poetic Justice
2 .Theatre Dress
3. Gaia's Tears
4. Grand Loyalty
5. Cedro
6. Around the block
7 .Moxie
8. Urban Dusk
9. Egyptian Oasis
10. Cerise

Glue, everthing you wanted to know and more.

I have been trying to find the right kind of glue for my projects for sometime. I have tried over 5 different types and brands. The most obviously choice was a glue stick, easy to buy, cheap, and available. But the glue stick proved to be a problem. Because I am gluing small and tiny pieces of paper the glue stick gets more on my fingers than on the paper. I have tried holding, rubbing and smearing the glue stick and it hasn't worked. So I have gone on a mission here is what I have learned:


Glue is an adhesive substance used to bind or fasten items together. There are different types of craft glue to suit the content and weight of the materials used across a broad range of crafts. This is a survey of some of the many types of glue available.

Cyanoacrylates. such as Super Glue and Instant Krazy Glue, theses create instant, strong bonds between non-porous materials, such as metal, plastic, and rubber. This adhesive is toxic and should be handled with care. NOT A GOOD CHOICE FOR ME

Foam Craft Glue. Specially formulated to adhere colorful foam craft sheets to each other, as well as to join fabric, paper, plastic, cardboard, and wood. TRIED THIS NOT QUITE RIGHT.

Glitter Glue. Features both bright colors and glitter, making it useful for decoration as well as adhesion. It will stick to paper, papier-mâché, and wood. NOT WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR.

AND THERE IS MORE:

Glue Dots and Lines.
Glue Stick. The standard glue stick is dispensed like lip balm.

Hot Glue. Hot glue is a craft glue that comes in a solid stick form specially made to be heated and applied in an instrument called a hot-glue gun.

Powdered Glue. This craft glue is stored in a powder form that the user mixes with water when it is needed.

Royal Icing. This is one of the glues of choice for edible kitchen crafts. Made from sugar, cream of tartar, and egg whites, it can hold together a gingerbread house and attach decorations made of icing onto each other, cakes, or cardboard. SOUNDS YUMMY

Sticker Glue. This material, when spread on a clean plastic or vinyl surface, dries to create a sticker that can be used on windows, refrigerators, and other surfaces. It comes in a variety of colors. This product is generally marketed for children, and is therefore non-toxic.

Tacky Glue. This craft glue got its name because it is tackier than white glue.

Wallpaper Paste. This craft glue is designed for applying wallpaper, but often used in papier-mâché.

White Glue. This is a clear-drying glue. Some formulas are toxic, but non-toxic varieties are also available.
Carpenter Wood Glue. This water-based resin craft glue is specifically created to adhere to wood. It penetrates the wood to create a strong bond.

I SETTLED FOR RUBBER CEMENT. I had to show my ID to prove I was over 18 to buy it. Go figure.

Are Artists Lonely?

Any more than anyone else?

Liz Yellend 100 day project

Color

My 100 day project involves three simple ingredients: Paper, scissors and glue.
There are a variety of papers I use; old books, tags and colored paint swatches. I love playing with the color paint samples.But
it is the hunt for the colored paint swatches that I find the most interesting. There are so many different colors available. The home improvement, do it your self, decorating movement is alive and well at Lowes! Lowes has the most variety of paint samples in the world, or at least in my neck of the woods. I can’t believe how many collections they have including designers editions. I have personally labored over 5 different Robin Egg Blues. But, with all that selection I am partial to the ones I have found at Fleet Farm (smattered throughout Wisconsin). These are Valspar samples, they are large, rectangular-- 6x3 inches and their color names are wonderful. Louisville Mint Julep, Egyptian Oasis, Urban Loft and Steel Cog just to name a few.

Sherwin Williams is another great source of swatches. Their Martha Stewart Collection with the punch out squares is a nice touch. When I visit there, I imagine how proud Martha would be by my using her colors for my 100 day project. I can hear her say "it's a good thing.” I love Martha. I like her good taste and her demeanor. She is the real thing. Her critics would be kinder if she were a man. But the fact that she is a middle age woman doing domesticated work, well (yawn), how exciting is that. Perhaps if she wore a tool belt and tank top she would not be judged so harshly. I think anyone who can take the colors beige and tan, call them Travertine and Tamarind, and make a living has got to be a forward thinker.

I was also pleasantly surprised when I ventured into the local True Value Hardware Store to pick up some samples. They have the largest, 4x7 inches! These are vinyl stickers in deep colors. Wall stickers, this could be an interesting addition to the project.
Anyway, all this comes back around to my point on color. Color is exciting and I believe we should have some fun with it, experiment with it any enjoy it. Seek out the real thing, why settle for Vintage Grey when Poetic Jusitce ( a real color name) is out there.

"I catnap now and then, but I think while I nap, so it's not a waste of time."
Martha Stewart
What a gal.
next post will be on glue choices.

rock, paper, scissors, glue!

Fear of failure

The 100 day project is one that can erase the fear of failure. You just do this one small creative exercise and move on with your day. This is not about judgments it is about creating a habit which, trust me, spills over into your work.

Failure does not count. If you accept this, you'll be successful. What causes most people to fail is that after one failure, they'll stop trying. (Frank Burford)

more images from the project

The project and the process

Over 30 days into it. The above photo is the work of an artist printmaker. Wooden assemblages. She is working daily with found sticks and pieces of wood scraps. Embracing the creative habit allows the artist to work in harmony with her materials.
Think of it like playing and enjoy the freedom it allows.