Keep Creating! Repurposing my Art During Bummer Days

 

I need to get some more varnish so I can finish a couple paintings. I could start a new one, but I think I have reached a point of wanting to get some varnished, off my easels and stands, and just finished. It is easy to get stuck in this process of not fully finished (at least for me), and prefer the work of creating the images, letting them pile up. So, until I get some more varnish, painting work is just on a pause. 

Honestly, I am also in a bit of a bummer mood. We had family missing over the holidays, who had passed away since last year. I wanted to skip Christmas. Now I understand this must be a thing, at least for some people. This year it was more acceptable to do small Christmas because of the virus. Anyway, what is the word... Not lazy. But something like low inertia. Not much drive to paint. Painting is joyful for me. If I am in a very bad mood, for some reason I have a hard time crossing my own threshold out at times, where I am punishing myself for unknown reasons, and I do not dare deal with feeling better. Maybe it means all kinds of expectations of myself will flood back in, whereas I shut them all out where in a bummer mood. A little shut down. Okay, too much information, but who has not felt crappy. Especially during holidays when close family is gone. It makes me pretty crabby. But I have been creating some anyway, so here is some about that... 

Years ago I had some patterns/designs, prints for sale on a textile site (not sewing patterns, but I think of print design as geometric “pattern”). This was a fun experiment but not a money maker. I felt I needed to order a swatch of anything before listing. Some prints did not translate well to the cotton swatch, so it was good to sample first. Well I spent a little money on many swatches and probably the swatches didn’t even pay for themselves with everything I listed. But I was not able to control the print too much. And my original graphics were quite “busy”. I have problems getting caught up in the curiosity and fun of creating patterns and sometimes lack perspective, or ability to step back and consider if it makes any sense at all for a textile. 

Recently I have been playing around with a couple apps and could test out some prints on virtual objects. The prints are created from small images within my paintings. I have very many prints and objects now, but I am not very smart about file sizes or how any of it would translate. Again, if I wanted to print any of them, I’d have to order samples first. Many of my designs translate better to something like artisanal gift wrap. Others... tile or antique- modern linoleum print. In my imagination.

So from my place of crummy mood and lack of inertia, I have been inventing virtual things, repurposing my own art. If I went into a “mood” app, probably I am less “meh” or disappointed or sad, and more “okay” and curious, even if equally lazy. It is a tiny mood shift. Because I am not just watching YouTube videos (nothing against good videos), but I am creating. I am analyzing little segments, shapes, colors, and happy when I find a wonderful element or pattern buried within a basically boring line. 

Virtual purse created with one of my print designs:

Author/Book Recommendation

One of my favorite authors is Joseph Campbell. He writes in a slightly meandering way, philosophical, spiritual, imaginative, connected somewhat to cultural anthropology and Jungian thought or archetypes. He is clever and has a very strong voice that is easy to follow. His writing is fairly deep and yet, if you are a deep or spiritual thinker, it does not come across as incredibly heavy. I often laugh at his writing because he does write with a very good sense of humor.

“The Hero’s Journey” is perhaps his most famous work, connected to the inspiration behind the Star Wars trilogy. But my favorite book is “Pathways to Bliss.” For me this book offers much inspiring imagery and language, or a way to rattle your imagination a little if you need to dust it off and find new perspective. It is just very enjoyable to read. He is also very encouraging of the creative journey and reminds us of its importance, and also that it is quite imperfect and humorous at times, yet tangible. Don’t make a big issue of it and give up.

Color Palettes with Images

 

These two palettes are pretty different, referring to a maple bud in spring. The top one is a little cooler and brighter, while the bottom one is warmer and more muted. But both use soft light blue from the sky and some reds from the maple tree bud. The lower one has browns taken from small twigs or the bud itself; young or new growth little branches. 

These two palettes are pretty similar, so the colors are basically interchangeable. But overall, the top palette is an example of taking delicate images and colors from nature and creating a soft yet slightly striking palette. It is a little bit more bold, with the black and brighter turquoise. The second palette probably represents the image better, overall, and is a more muted palette. 

A couple palettes taken from one of my original paintings. I wrote about this one in another post, but had different palettes. These are two different palettes, possibly a little bit  interchangeable, but the bottom one is more muted and offers more contrast. Dark brown like a walnut color, or any cool brown, would offer contrast to the top palette. That just wasn’t available within my painting. 

Color Palettes from Nature

Color palettes taken from nature photographs I have taken. The nest one is on my Etsy site (at the time I am writing this post). 

Color Palettes from Original Paintings

Two palettes created by extracting some colors from a couple of my oil paintings. The one on bottom is mostly a red painting, with quite a bit of yellow. So the palette is not meant to represent a similar balance. The top one is from a painting that has quite a bit more red and magenta than you see in this palette collage. It is one of my favorite paintings. 

 

This palette, from acrylic painting, came from the painting below. So you can see kind of how I did this or what one of these refers to. I start with not a very large palette when creating an abstract painting. Many new tones are created in the blending of the original palette I choose; this is how the whole new painting or palette becomes richer. To me, this is intensified with oil paints because of the slow drying and the rich way they blend. But I paint very thick with acrylics (little water), and do not intentionally mix any colors within my palette. They blend minimally on the canvas. 

The middle painting is the origination of the palette directly above. This is available as a small print download on my Etsy site: MysaArt. I am blogging from my phone and having a problem linking right now. If interested in any prints or seeing a few more (not so many listed as of right now), I do have my store linked in the side bar. 

The other two paintings were similar in style, though quite different from one above, because I formed them from lines vs just blobs of color. But they are also, in the end, essentially blobs of bright color in oil pigment. This painting I posted here is a small acrylic painting I made. I prefer oil paints but they are a little more tedious and obviously require longer drying. Humidity is sometimes an issue in my house. So I have come to find ways to enjoy using acrylics a little too. This is not a style I create often, this painting above. But it is specifically something I created to highlight a preferred red. 

Color Palettes from Stained Glass

 Descriptions are found on the image. I have been to Chartres, but admit I borrowed this image online. The image used for the palette from a window in Västerås Cathedral is a photograph I took. Both are beautiful windows but the windows of Chartres are famous for their cobalt blue. The relatively limited palette and focus on the blue with red highlight, creates very pretty and memorable windows in Chartres. 

Color Palettes from Sweden

Here are a few color palettes I extracted from photographs I took in Sweden. The first one was a photo of a several strands of yarn, samples of dyes. The second one comes from a few photos taken at the Dala horse shops, which are connected to the factory. The most famous color for the Dala horse is red, but they have almost as many white, black, yellow, and many blue in a few shades, some purple, and a couple other colors. Also included a little in the palette are some of the colors from the kurbits painting design on the horses, which is pretty delicate, not apparent on a wide view, but part of a color scheme when looking closely at a row of horses to choose your favorite.

The palette from the interior of a rural church has very classic colors, I think. The gold and bronze type colors in here are mostly from fixtures and ornaments, chandeliers and gold leaf. These are found even in small rural churches and I would say in a small church these colors became an obvious part of the overall palette. Very pretty with the kind of antique sky blue and very dusty kind of light blush tones. 

Bleak Mid-Winter

If you live in the north, whether Manitoba, Minnesota, North Dakota, Sweden, Norway, etc... the bleak mid-winter is not really here yet. In some places, as the climate seems to be warmer and kind of strange, it might barely feel like winter has arrived. But in any case, this bleak part of winter usually arrives after Christmas it seems. Or late December on through February. Where it is cold and where there is snow, on many days the sky is the same color as the landscape. To me this is either depressing or a calming sort of solitude landscape. Depends on my mood probably, or if this kind of sky drags on or is accompanied by darkish grays or extreme cold. 

It is interesting that the colors in Gustavian decor are similar to the blues, whites, and grays of a daytime winter landscape... the time of day when you have light on the landscape, but not much color. This is the time of year when people want more light. Supposedly this is some part of the reasoning behind the light interiors or the light colors. But I do notice the cool colors that match the winter sky and landscape. It is a pretty palette, even if I personally want none of it in my house (I like slightly warmer colors and some blacks and dark browns, maybe more like a late fall palette overall with color accents). 

The first photo here has maybe a slight color saturation edit. I don't remember. But it might not, or is not much. The color of the sky and landscape would be the same. In the second photo, I have created an edit that is more white to take out the blues, because the original photo looks like it has some kind of tinted photo edit. It does not. The original coloring is a lot of blues in the sky and the landscape. This is how the light was reflected that day. 

Winter Field Photograph on MysaArt - Etsy

"Thinking of You" Cards: Free Download

 Cover image for "Thinking of You" cards, set of three images to choose from, or use all three. Solid color template over a background of one of my original acrylic paintings (this creates the color on the big block font). Simple but cheerful coloring. Create your own digital cards or printed cards. I created Thank You cards, set of four, in this same style. They are found in the post just previous to this one on my blog, if interested. I will include images of the "Thinking of You" cards below the link to the files.

Link for "Thinking of You" cards: https://photos.app.goo.gl/UGcScYFH3tpPxH1U6

More Thank You Cards, Free Download

 I have one more set of free thank you cards, soft ivory and pink tones with bold block print. The background behind the solid color is an original oil painting, which shows through just part of the font. Feel free to use to create digital cards, print postcards or cards, etc. I will include some small images below of the set. I also have a small set of "Thinking of You" cards in a similar style that I will add to the blog in one second. 

Link to the collection: https://photos.app.goo.gl/EgAUP7KG3aQ7WVz68

Upcycled Collage Art

 These pieces are not new but I just posted them, as prints, to my Etsy store, MysaArt. 

A few years ago I wanted to work on some mixed media collages and canvas did not seem like the right medium, nor did paper really. I don't even remember if I checked with someone at the bike store or if I put out a request for large boxes and was contacted, but I ended up stopping at the bike store and picking up large boxes that bikes had been shipped in. I took these home and used my box cutter to create several workable pieces that would also fit into standard frames, mostly 16x20. 

The results were a little bit crazy and chaotic looking but I didn't really feel this chaos as too far separate from something simple like cardboard or paper, or items that could easily decay. My favorite images of nature are the workings of decay and growth, usually the in-between seasons, because these factors are usually interdependent. I don't know how what I just said relates to my mixed media pieces, but it does. I am lacking for articulation today. I'll try better next time. I created several pieces, sold a few, and kept a couple that had precarious gluing. A couple that I kept are ones that are available as small prints on my Etsy shop. With matting and framing, they would become colorful small wall art, not too dinky in size. I have matted and framed small prints this way and prefer having this kind of variation in my decor... a few large paintings or wall items, and some small photographs or artworks. And variations of color too.

Free Holiday Thank You Cards

 In the spirit of giving, I have created some free holiday thank you cards! Note that these are not cards but digital prints or images, so you can create postcards, notecards, or use these images to create standard notecards. These are a little bit long and skinny. For a 3x4 or 5x7 type card, you will have to crop the image a little short (probably crop from the top of the image). Or you can use for digital media thank you.

This is a template that I used, but the wavy background is my simple drawing, combined with my digital editing for color choices etc. I will possibly have something similar, though maybe more colorful, for New Years soon. 

Several Thank You Cards available with this link. A couple exampls below.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/efU1tP76iEXkCRHv6

           

                               

In the Studio

 

Close up of one of my two standing easels. This is the main working easel. I like it a lot. If I don't forget to tighten this knob here once in a while it will come crashing apart but nothing has been harmed so far.

My wooden box for storing oil paints. This was not very expensive but I don't feel like oil paints should be all thrown in a bin. They have messy odd problems, the older ones especially. And they are kind of precious paints anyway. My dad had a plastic case kind of this size for his oil paints. I suppose this was how I just assumed, or understood, you get yourself a case for your nice paints. The acrylics just go into many bins. They take up too much space. 

My oil pastels. I do not remember where I got this set. They are the best. I have a new set that is a whole grade level more dumpy. These are perfect. I also don't remember where I got the tin. I think it was with a gift. Tins always get incorporated into the art supply storage. This little tin was perfect for this oil pastel set as they became used and also broke into pieces. This is the bench I have sitting at my main easel.