Arting for 365 Day 11: Peacock

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Micah

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

A 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.

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This piece has sold.

Arting for 365 Day 10: Leaves/Seeds

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Micah

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

I 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.

Arting for 365 Day 9: Screening for Red & Blue

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Micah

Goal: To create 365 pieces of work for 365 consectutive days

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.

Arting 365 Day 8: Time

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Micah

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

For 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.

Arting 365 Day 7: Drawing To Reflect

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Micah

Yesterday my boyfriend’s brother graduated with his PhD in electrical engineering – an incredible feat in my mind. After watching the ceremony and celebrating with some great grub and beer we returned home where I began to work on my day seven project.

I reflected on the way too drawn-out, oath included ceremony and the speeches given which highlighted the importance of the new journey these graduates were about to embark on. This got me thinking. How many of the graduates were giddy with excitement and how many were wondering why in the hell they spent thousands and thousands of dollars on a degree that would put them in a job that they recently realized they don’t really like? How many graduates will dedicate their lives to their profession and how many will spend a few years employed in the area only to find out it isn’t truly what they want to be doing (I know this scenario well.)

Whether you take a variety of roads, meander until you stumble upon your path, or choose the straight shot from the get go, eventually you’ll get to where you’re supposed to be. -An idea which inspired these three ink on paper drawings.

Arting 365 Day 6: Juice – Beets & Blueberries

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Micah

Deeply pigmented liquids like wine, beet juice, etc. are horrible as stains on your favorite shirt but they do a lovely job when used for painting. A long while back I had poured beet and blueberry juice over a canvas and proceeded to do nothing with it. (I used the canned blueberry juice from those box muffin mixes. It has a nice purple color and the other perk is I got to eat some batter.) As I pulled out the canvas yesterday I was reminded of how much I enjoyed this process. I really liked the lack of control over where the juice chose to migrate. And the burgundy and deep purple, even as it has faded some, was still quite nice. I used the flowing design as a base to build up color resulting in day six’s project.

Arting 365 Day 5: Canned 50s

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Micah

The Goal: To create a piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days in a row

Oh the 1950s. In my mind the stereotypical family of that time was cookie cutter perfection. It showcased a happily married husband and wife – he of course dressed in a suit and she accessorized with some sort of apron. The couple had at least one snot-free adorable child, a house with a white picket fence and there was always the lingering smell of her freshly baked apple pie or his tobacco pipe.

The 50s also make me think of Frank Lloyd Wright. His architectural designs (love the cheesy music in this clip) were modern, clean lined and seem so unrelated to the wholesome American family in my head. Pondering these two things made me wonder how I could portray the 1950s family in a less expected way.

Result? Not exactly a beautiful work of art, but I have to say I really enjoy the creepiness factor of the final piece. The people in the images all seem to have that 1950s plastered on smile, but their actions tell a strange story. One of my favorite pics is inserted inside the “house” and viewed by peeking through a window. The family is practicing their shooting, but it appears as if the wife has a gun pointed at hubby’s head while the children smile approvingly.

Micah Richardson

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