Better Paper

I bought some Strathmore cold press watercolor paper--12 sheets of 140#--spiral bound. It's much whiter than the cheap stuff I have been getting at Job Lots. I don't have to correct the background color to white after I scan them, but I actually like the surface of the bargain paper better. (Plus when I use it I don't have the little voice in my head going "look out, it's 71 cents a sheet.")

Mouse Pad Drawing

I did these drawings last night in bed. The house was too cold to go downstairs to find decent paper so I used what I had handy: a pad of graph paper designed to be used as a mouse pad. Luckily the markers bled through so I could scan the designs from the back and eliminate the blue lines and the company logo! This is a design I have been using on a business card but I like drawing it so much I did it twice, once in the original yellow/turquoise/red and again in pink/blue/purple.

New Markers

I ordered office supplies from Staples, and with my $25. off coupon I got new 36-color Bic markers! I wanted to get the big expensive Coptic set from Dick Blick but if I did I would probably feel that I had to save it until I got better at drawing. I have a terrible habit of hoarding art supplies in that manner.

These were done on high-gloss Xerox printer paper which I hate for printing so I was pleased with myself for finding another use for it. With the markers there is none of the customary "bleed" on this type of paper which I initially disliked. But it is nice to have more control and a finer line once the adjustment is made. I boosted the contrast in Photoshop because the colors seem much less vibrant. I need to break out some of the lovely Arches watercolor paper I have stashed away!

Blue Mary

Check out the latest addition to my Reference Links list over in the sidebar: American Antiquarian Society. I found it earlier this morning via Letterology. I've just started browsing there, and came across a lovely image of "The Sorrowful Mother" which I have displayed above. It reminds me so much of a religious card I found a few years ago in a dump book, which I used to create a collage titled Mary Quilt, now in the collection of my friend Gail.

Here's a link to another version I just found on eBay. Can anyone explain the significance of the finger tip?

OK, I found a bit of information here.

Julie Speed & Joseph Hammer

In the latest issue of ARTnews I noticed a review of Judy Speed's work at the Gerald Peters Gallery in New York. Her paintings and collages all speak to me. I was floored when I saw "Compass" (above). I have an attraction lately to square formats, particularly diagonal squares. (That black frame made me think of a collage I did called Boston.) Looking further, I discovered more of Speed's work, etchings, at Davis Gallery in Austin Texas. Some have strong red backgrounds that really knock you out.

And I couldn't help but notice the work of Joseph Hammer there as well. He makes such marvelous use of book parts and old type that I am left wondering why I am still sitting here at the keyboard when I could be downstairs working. I feel so inept today by comparison! Just look what he does:

He's got that four quadrant thing going on that reminds me so much of Roderick Slater.

Plein Air Collage?

Today is my second day off and it feels great to get two in a row. I spent the first day rattling about the house in my bathrobe, organizing things here and there, reading, soaking in the tub, and writing. Today I finally got properly dressed in order to clear the walkways and driveway of the snow we received recently (just in time too, as a freezing rain began to fall as I was finishing up the pathway to the oil fill).

On my way back into the house, I grabbed yesterday's mail from the mailbox, which gets me back around to the point of today's post. I am always amazed to discover life's synchronicity. Just yesterday I mentioned plein air painting in a rather derogatory fashion. "I am not one to subject myself to that practice, this being New Hampshire where there's either ticks, black flies, and/or mosquitoes, or else it's too cold. Besides, collage lends itself better to solitary work with everything conveniently close at hand" is what I said. And now look what I found:

I think they got me on their distribution list in error. Are there any plein air collage artists?