Tag Archives: daily art

Arting for 365 Day 20: Bottle Cap Canvases

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Day 20 (5/18/12): Bottle Cap CanvasesGoal: To create one work of art each day for 365 consecutive days

I didn’t realize that I liked beer until I actually tasted some that had flavor. It was a lovely experience – I guess I kind of liken it to tasting really good chocolate. So as you may guess living in Fort Collins, a microbrew mecca, has been a pretty enjoyable experience. There are lots of new, flavorful beers available to taste, tours to take and beer festivals to attend. We’ve been collecting bottle caps for a few of our friends who plan to adorn themselves with bottle cap clothing for one festival. Yesterday I stole from the stash in order to create day 20’s piece.

I used the cap’s original design to guide my direction. Similar to day 13’s project, I aimed to keep the mini art simple and colorful. While I like the caps grouped, I plan to present each as individual works.

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Work available for purchase at http://www.etsy.com/shop/OriginalsByMicah or by emailing me at micah@azzlsoft.com

Arting for 365 Day 19: Beetle Love

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Day 19: Beetle LoveGoal: To create one work of art each day for 365 consecutive days

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a huge fan of bugs – beetles in particular. I love their shape, color and armor-like structure. To be perfectly honest my favorite way to view them is when a variety of types or species are neatly lined up for a photo shoot. This means of course they are dead, which is sad for them, but it really does make for a great picture.

Yesterday I decided to do a set of small drawings of these lovely little guys. I opted to shake things up a bit with color to create bold shapes and lines. The result is an illustrated take on the fascinating bugs.

Side – only slightly related- note: While I think beetles are great to look at, I can’t say I love the havoc the mountain pine beetle are wreaking in the Rocky Mountain Region.

Day 19: Beetle Love Red DetailDay 19: Beetle Love Blue Detail

Arting for 365 Day 17: Blocked

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Day 17: BlockedI wasn’t particularly certain the direction I would be going on day 17, so I was really excited to come across a stamp I had made years ago. The stamp is made from cutting up an old mouse pad and gluing the design to a piece of cardboard – super high tech. I don’t think I came up with the idea, but it is a great one.

I opted for an oddball 6″ x 22″ piece of paper and got after it with the stamp using light blue and red. I emphasized the negative space using black paint. The resulting blocks of color seem to react and interact with each other to create day 17’s work.

Arting for 365 Day 16: Cellular Kaleidoscope

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Day 16: Cellular KaleidoscopeGoal: To create one work of art each day for 365 consecutive days

It is always so fantastic to come across work that you absolutely fall in love with. Yesterday I did just that as I looked at Chris Marley’s pieces on Design Milk . Marley uses bugs, insects, butterflies, etc. to create his work. I think bugs are really amazing – especially beetles – so I love this. I also really appreciated the clean, geometric manner in which he laid out his designs. Marley’s work, along with my recent thoughts on cells and my urge to really dive into a big ink project is what inspired day 16’s piece.

I began the work by drawing out circles, which I thought of as individual “cells” onto my 12” x 25” paper. I tried to allow each cell to work independently as its own design, but to also interact with those around it. Lines and shapes in one circle often carried over into another creating a kaleidoscope-like image.

Day 16: Cellular Kaleidoscope Detail 3Cellular Kaleidoscope Detail 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work available for purchase at http://www.etsy.com/shop/OriginalsByMicah or by emailing me at micah@azzlsoft.com

Arting for 365 Day 15: Envelope Geometry

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Day 15: Envelope GeometryGoal: To create one work of art each day for 365 consecutive days

I like business envelopes. They are boring on the outside but have really fun, often red or blue, patterning within. Yesterday, at the end of a full, full day, I began cutting shapes from old envelopes I had collected and laying them out on a page. Once I settled on a something I liked, I added geometric ink design and broke up the space using line and color. Day 14’s resulting image, like many of my others, plays with the juxtaposition of geometric and organics shapes.

Arting for 365 Day 13: Coaster Whimsy

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Day 13: WhimsyGoal: To create a work of art each day for 365 consecutive days

There are days in all of our lives which are filled with tedium. For me, yesterday was one of those days. I anticipated dedicating a few hours to some computer-y type stuff (the tedium) and maybe another hour to an editing project. But as five o’clock rolled around I found I had sat bug eyed at the computer for way too long. Therefore I decided I needed to work on something that was bright, fun, and whimsical.

I pulled out some brown Sierra Nevada coasters we had laying around and proceeded to apply acrylic paints to them. Next I whipped out my trusty ink pen and began drawing. Initially I created more elaborate and intricate designs but I quickly decided that was the wrong road to take. Instead I aimed to keep the design and colors extremely simple. I used the existing coaster design and painted shapes to lead the way. The results are light-hearted and simple. -Just what I needed after a long day. Well that, and a beer of course.

Whimsy Hut DetailWhimsy Big Fish Little Fish DetailWhimsy Clothesline Detail

 

 

 

 

Work available for purchase at http://www.etsy.com/shop/OriginalsByMicah or by emailing me at micah@azzlsoft.com

Arting for 365 Day 11: Peacock

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

Day 11: PeacockA while ago some lovely friends asked me to create something with a focus on peacocks. I was excited about the idea and thought it could be a lot of fun. But as I began working on the project I was bombarded with all of the “stuff” that makes up this beautiful bird: color, lines, shapes, symbolism, more color. I had sketched some ideas and even began a painting, but somehow they weren’t doing the bird – or the friends for that matter – justice. I had to take a step back.

Yesterday I took another swing at the project. I thought about the pea fowl and its complexity. Its bold, brilliant range of colors, lines, and shapes often leaves me in awe. I realized that rather than jumping in with all of these elements to create the work, I needed to break things down. I used black ink on white paper and focused on what I think about when I look at a peacock. The bird is regal and bold with attributes so distinctive color is unnecessary for recognition. I feel the final 7″ x 28″ work exemplifies this.

Now that I have explored the peacock in black and white and determined how I want to approach him, I may give color another whirl. The slideshow below shows my progression on the work.

Peacock Head DetailDay 11: Peacock Fether Detail

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This piece has sold.

Arting for 365 Day 10: Leaves/Seeds

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

Day 10: Leaves/Seeds Detail 1I really love running (more correctly – jogging). I am not super good at it and I don’t know if I’ve ever even got a “runner’s high” but I get grouchy if I am not active and more importantly, I LOVE being outdoors. The feel of fresh air is always great and coming across the wonderful little visual treats that nature provides is really where it’s at for me.

A great example of one of these treats is the leaf/seed things we came across while jogging the other day. They were gorgeous and delicate and made me think of butterfly wings. We stopped to pick a handful’s worth out of the grass (yesterday I went back and filled up a bag) and I immediately began thinking of how I might create with them.

After experimenting a bit – laying them out in different ways, contemplating how they might be molded around a 3D object – I started thinking of each leaf as a mini canvas. I coated them with clear acrylic and began drawing. The final day ten project is this floral-like design. It could be pushed a bit further and as I become more familiar with working with these little treats from nature, I’m hoping this will happen.

Also, if anyone knows the name of the tree these great leaf/seed things come from, I’d love to know.

Day 10: LeavesLeaves/Seeds Detail 3

Day 10: Leaves/Seeds Detail 2

Arting for 365 Day 9: Screening for Red & Blue

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Goal: To create 365 pieces of work for 365 consectutive daysDay 9: Screening Red & Blue

Who knew I’d like stitching designs into screens so much? After day four’s experience I realized I’d found a medium that I’d have to explore again sometime. Yesterday turned out to be sometime. I wasn’t planning on it. In fact, I began my day working on something completely different and next thing I knew I had needle and thread in hand with my original project long forgotten.

The final piece combines painting, ink drawing and stitching – all my favs – in a way I have not before explored. Sometimes it’s good to not follow through on plans.

 

Day 9: Screening Red Blue Detail 1Day 9: Screening Red & Blue Detail 2

 

Arting 365 Day 8: Time

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Goal: To create one work of art each day for 365 days in a row

FoDay 8: Timer more than a little while -about three years, actually- I have been meaning to take pictures of two ink drawings, which I finally got around to yesterday. As I was taking the glass out of one frame in order to get a reflection free image, the construction paper I had used to temporarily back the work fell out. A once black piece of paper was now showing its age where the sun had bleached perfect rectangles and straight lines. It was lovely and it beckoned to be used in day eight’s project.

I painted a 22.5″ x 16″ canvas, applied acrylic coat to the paper and began painting and adding other cut paper. The geometric imagery at the bottom was much busier initially, which was really distracting, so I painted a good deal of it away. As for the color, a brown palette is not one I’m real chummy with, but I wanted to keep the bleached paper basically unchanged so thought I’d give it a whirl.