Category Archives: mixed media

Arting for 365 Day 274: Growing Up

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3 x 5" watercolor and ink on paper

3 x 5″ watercolor and ink on paper

Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days

Yesterday we had the pleasure of hanging out with my two and a half year old niece. The day was fun filled – lots of pretending and playing. Toward the end of the day we asked her if she wanted to go on a run with us. She excitedly answered yes, proceeded to find everyone’s running shoes and we were quickly out the door. We took a stroller along, but my niece opted to run quite a bit and seemed to enjoy the entire thing. It got me wondering, at what point do we decide that running is work instead of play? At what age do we become so tightly wound that a once fun activity is a chore rather than a reward?

As I watched her enjoy herself, stopping as she became tired or distracted I realized we could probably learn a lot from a kid. Kids don’t seem to care how much distance they cover, calories they burn, or time it takes to complete an activity; they simply get out and move – enjoying the fresh air and world around them.

Day 274 Growing Up Detail

Arting for 365 Day 270: Bows and Arrows

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1955 Field and Stream Magazine, ink and paint

1955 Field and Stream Magazine, ink and paint


Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days

As children we climbed red dirt mountainsides, searching for pieces of the past

Remnants of the weapons used to hunt small creatures

Black, shiny, rough edged

Reminders that many roamed here long before us

Day 270 Original pg 7

Original Page

Day 270 Bows and Arrows Detail

Pg 7 Detail

Arting for 365 Day 267: Rose Re-Worked

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Approximately 14 x 14" watercolor and ink on paper

Approximately 14 x 14″ watercolor and ink on paper

Goal: Create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days

My grandma had hung proudly all of the art I have given her over the years – good or not so good. Yesterday the paintings, along with some photos and other fun stuff, were laid out for all of us to peruse and take if we wanted.

It was great to see old photos and read things my grandma had kept. It was also interesting to look over work that I had completed such a long time ago. The family took most of the paintings, but I held on to one – an old water color rose that I had given Grandma. She loved roses. I didn’t keep it because I was attached to it, but because I thought it was pretty darned bad and could be greatly improved upon. I inked it up, giving it a bit more interest and energy – definitely an improvement from the original.

Day 267 Rose Re-worked detail

Arting for 365 Day 262: Old Man and the Company of a Fairy (pg 5)

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1955 Field and Stream magazine, ink and acrylic

A continuation of the re-appropriation project: 1955 Field and Stream magazine, ink and acrylic

Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days

The old man sat in the garden, cloaked in thick blankets. The cool afternoon air was tempered by a beaming sun which heated his back and warmed his lungs. He liked coming to this garden. It was peaceful and secluded and gave him a chance to reflect.

There was another reason he enjoyed it here. She visited him. With her pixie hair and wings aflutter, she’d swoop down and then sit; attentively listening to his stories or to the silence. She certainly made for good company.

He’d once shared stories about his encounters with the fairy,  but soon became the wiser. Those he’d shared with had laughed and muttered something about dementia. No sense in ruining a good thing, he thought. Some secrets are best kept to oneself anyway.

Day 262 Old Man and Fairy Lower Detail Day 262 Old Man and Fairy Upper DetailPrevious pages 1955 Field and Stream Magazine. Write-ups for each can be found here, here and here.

Arting for 365 Day 254: Goose Chaser (pg. 3)

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Ink and acrylic on May, 1955 Field and Stream magazine

Ink and acrylic on May, 1955 Field and Stream magazine. Bottom right corner and head, cut-out

Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days

I had started in on the third page of my magazine project yesterday, adding areas of paint and going over the layout in my head when I decided I needed to get out and get a whiff of fresh air. I jogged down one of the many bike paths that weave around Ft. Collins and as I turned a corner I saw a huge field filled with geese. There were easily over 100. Gaggles of geese are everywhere around this town and yet I still feel surprised when I come upon a group this size. The geese were feeding and resting and had very little they felt they needed to tell me, so I continued on my jog.

After a short bit I turned around to head back to the studio. As I passed the geese again, I saw a guy walking directly toward them. My imagination went wild. Was this guy a goose whisperer? Or did he plan to run and scream at them? Was he going to pull out a gun and begin shooting? Did he think he could catch one? I was beyond curious.

It turned out to be rather uneventful. The man continued his course directly into the gaggle’s path, but seemed to have no interest in the birds. He simply wanted a shortcut to his destination. The geese took flight, honking all the while – a sound that made me think of what it must be like to listen to hundreds of bagpipes each playing completely different songs. At that moment I remembered the image I had just been working on and knew I had to create the goose chaser.

Arting for 365 Day 253: Fast Car

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Ink and acrylic on May 1955 Field and Stream Magazine (pg 1)

Ink and acrylic on May 1955 Field and Stream Magazine (pg 1)

Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days

A few days ago I decided to re-appropriate an old Field and Stream magazine. Creating in this manner was really interesting to me and so I quickly decided I would attempt to complete the entire magazine. Whether or not I do is yet to be seen, but for now, it sounds like a great exploration.

Yesterday I decided to get a jump on page one. I didn’t remember to take an original picture until shortly after I began (see below), but you’ll get the idea. If you look closely you can make out the bird driving the car and a few owls toward the bottom. Beyond that is text. 

Day 253 Fast Car Original

Nearly original design by Keith Wood

Keeping in mind that I wanted to keep portions of the original design to build on while aiming to create something that felt entirely new, I began drawing. The finished work incorporates the colors from the cover and repeated chunks of shapes, but it has an even greater focus on flowing lines – which I like to think helps emphasize the moving car. After completing the drawing I decided to cut a section of the bottom text out revealing the next page, which just happens to also be text.

 As for the cover that I originally began with, well it now looks like this:

Day 253 Step 1

Cover with page one peeking through at the top

Arting for 365 Day 251: Big Fish

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Day 251 Big Fish

Ink and acrylic on 1955 Field & Stream Magazine

Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days

Appropriation in art is, in the simplest of terms, the practice of using someone else’s imagery or original design to create a new work. Artists from Picasso to an out there artist named Duchamp did it in one form or another. Today there is a funny artist name Wayne White  who takes a unique, graphic design-like approach for doing this, using old landscape paintings he finds and painting words and phrases on them.

I pulled out an old 1955 Field & Stream magazine and used the cover art (by Tom Rost) to create my own piece of appropriated art.  This was a great exploration for me. It allowed my brain to play with space and design a bit. I kept portions of the original fish, while adding blocks of color and line throughout the rest of the piece.I love the idea of keeping a portion of the old to influence what is new – a bit of a metaphor for life, I suppose.

Because I enjoyed this so much, I’m hoping to continue throughout the magazine. In order to keep the images connected, I plan to cut out a portion of the previous page. For example, I cut the top 1/3 of this piece off so that as I paint the next right hand side page, it will become part of the cover art.

I feel like this has the potential to be a really great project. It’s got me, once again thinking about growth and connections. My only regret of day 251’s art, is that I neglected to take a picture of the original cover. That and I feel a bit guilty about covering up so much of an old treasure.

Acrylic adn ink on 1955 Field & Stream Magazine

Acrylic and ink on 1955 Field & Stream Magazine

Arting for 365 Day 243: Hippo’s Scarecrow

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3 x 5" watercolor and ink on paper

3 x 5″ watercolor and ink on paper

Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days

He was tired of it – the endless stream of little birds who felt entitled to sit atop his head. Sure his noggin was flat and shiny and often close to the water, but it was not an open invitation for parking. The birds who perched there never asked permission. Furthermore they often left him “gifts” that he would rather not have.

So he took action. It was not ideal, but a fake visitor, put there by choice, was much more appealing than the alternative.