Tag Archives: painting

Arting for 365 Day 54: Museum Finds

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Day 54 (6/21/12): Museum Finds

Each square 4.75 x 4.75″ Ink and watercolor on paper

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

My mom and I drove to Chadron, Nebraska yesterday to see my grandma. Grandma Kathryn is 96 years old, still drives, climbs a steep set of 13 stairs at least once a week, is sharp as a tack, and eats ice cream for dinner nearly every night. She is awesome!

The stairs that Grandma tackles, lead to her basement where, at one time, an amazing collection lived. The collection was not my grandma’s – it was my grandpa Clyde’s and it contained over 6,000 pens and pencils, mounted to peg boards. When my grandpa passed away, Grandma donated the collection to the local museum and I don’t think I had seen it since.

Yesterday we took a ride down to the museum to check them out. It was so great to see the collection again, along with all of the other old treasures they had there. Day 54’s project is drawings of a few antiques we came across: an old printing press, a cool little toy plane and a trike.

This piece available for purchase by emailing me at micah@azzlsoft.com

Arting for 365 Day 53: Paperclip Music

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Day 53 (6/20/12): Paperclip Music

5 x 7″ yupo paper

He’d seen all sorts of things made from paperclips – the breadth of which rarely went beyond diffusing bombs – but he had never seen anything quite like this.

The giant clip had been transformed into a musical instrument. Blanketing the atmosphere with F sharps and E flat minors, it stopped the average man dead in his tracks. Its melodies streaming, the old clip would never be looked at the same.

This piece available for purchase. Email me at micah@azzlsoft.com

Arting for 365 Day 48: Conglomeration

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Day 47 (6/15/12): Conglomeration

Each square 4.75 x 4.75″ Ink and watercolor on paper. I like the idea of  displaying these on the wall w/tacks so they can be easily rearranged and spaced as you like.

I had a lot of energy yesterday. Some of it was anxious – I think due to some lingering projects that just don’t seem to be going away – but a lot of it was a result of an eagerness to figure things out and to create. I have a notion all of the energy kind of balled up, conglomerating and morphing into day 47’s project. I’ve got to say, I’m pretty happy about it.

Starting in on the piece, I didn’t have a vision as to what the finished work would look like, but I did have an approach in mind. Similar to the exploration in some of my other projects, I thought about how pieces and details come together to create a whole. This time, though, instead of keeping the whole intact, I broke up the whole into 12 separate, yet connected pieces. I really dig the result.

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 This piece available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/listing/102256139/conglomeration-mixed-media-abstract or by emailing micah@azzlsoft.com

Arting for 365 Day 46: Eggs in One Basket

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Day 46 (6/13/12): Eggs in One Basket

24 x 36″ Ink and acrylic on canvas

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

Some of you avid followers may recall that I made a piece titled Subtleties on day 30 in which I experimented with painting using only light colors. That piece has been hanging out on my easel, wondering what to do with itself ever since. Subtleties, it seemed, just did not fit in at this house. It lacked any sort of personality and longed to be given attention. So yesterday, I did just that.

With the wise old saying, “Don’t put your eggs all in one basket” on my mind, I created the work for day 46. As I did so, I realized that while the saying is really quite true, sometimes it’s worth the risk to load up the basket and hope for the best.

This piece available for purchase at http://etsy.me/NlXCQI or by emailing me at micah@azzlsoft.com

Arting for 365 Day 30: Subtleties

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Goal: To create one work of art each day for 365 consecutive days Day 30 (5/28/12): Subtleties

Typically the work I create is high contrast, high color, or both. Much like some of the colorful outfits I wear while running, there is little which is subtle. (Probably a fact: Wearing a minimum of three completely different colors while running makes you faster.) So yesterday I thought it would be a good challenge to take a stroll down a more muted path in creating my project.

Using pencil, I began by drawing a geometric design. I was oh-so-tempted to pull out my trusty ink pen to bring contrast to the shapes, but I stuck to pencil. I applied variations of tinted white acrylics to the canvas all while telling myself to embrace and enjoy this subtle approach.

By the time I was finished, I had come to really enjoy this break from my norm. I feel like it was probably good for my brain to approach a project in such a different way. But I also have to say I don’t see myself doing too much of it again soon.

The image below was taken at a different time of day- which goes to show how much this work reflects and reacts to the light. Day 30: Subtleties (later in the day)

24 x 36″  Work available for purchase at http://www.etsy.com/shop/OriginalsByMicah or by emailing me at micah@azzlsoft.com

Arting for 365 Day 29: Yellow Brick Road & A Rhino

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Day 29 5/27/12: Yellow Brick Road & a Rhino Goal: To create one work of art each day for 365 days

Rhino: A bulky yet surprisingly quick, grumpy, vegetarian  with poor eyesight who lives a relatively solitary life until the ripe old age of 35ish (or so I read, here). If he were a person, I feel like he would be the cranky neighbor on the corner that all of the kids are both a little bit intrigued by and scared of.

Observing him in today’s animal kingdom is the closest thing I can imagine to seeing a dinosaur from the past – which makes Mr. Rhino pretty amazing. Drawing him on a yellow brick road is just fun.

Day 29: Yellow Brick Road and a Rhino Detail

6 x 6″ Ink and acrylic on paper

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

Arting for 365 Day 26: They Say I’m a Fruit

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Day 26 (5/24/12): They Say I'm a FruitGoal: To create one work of art each day for 365 consecutive days

Yesterday, as I was munching on some delicious baby tomatoes given to us by friends, I looked closely at the little seeds that were dripping down from them. They reminded me of the fact that tomatoes are fruit, even though no one really considers them to be such.

I wondered if tomatoes, as well as some of those other non-fruit fruits, care that they are left out of tropical drinks. Do they all wish they were added as toppings on angel food cake or are they perfectly content being sandwiched between two pieces of bread and mixed with salads?

Day 25: They Say I'm a Fruit Detail 1Day 25: They Say I'm a Fruit Detail 2

6 x 5.25″

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

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

Day 12 of Arting for 365: Cells and Such

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Day 12: Cells & SuchGoal: To create one work of art for 365 consecutive days in a row

I’m currently reading James A. Michener’s Hawaii which was suggested to me by my mom. As she described the book, I wasn’t real sure it was going to be something I’d be into, but it has been. Two nights ago I got to the 663-ish page range (this is a long book) -the point when the bubonic plague visits the islands. This got me thinking about the horrible disease. I wanted to see what the bacteria look like that causes it.  As I came across pictures it dawned on me that bacteria and cells at the microscopic level are always so lovely. You could be looking at examples of the most dreadful diseases or bacteria or who knows what and they always seem beautiful. I have a friend, in fact who framed a few gorgeous cell pictures for her house. Cells & Such Detail

I decided I’d do my own version of cells and bacteria using watercolor and ink. The 11″ x 15″ painting is not a specific representation of any particular cell or bacteria – just some imaginings of them.

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