Life Book 2012 Wk 14

When April began and I started the 30x30x30 Challenge I just put all other art projects on the back burner to concentrate on getting the 30 canvases painted in 30 days - they are finished and I'm waiting for the varnish to dry.

Yesterday and today I decided to work on a Life Book 2012 project of creating a mixed media girl.  I haven't painted many mixed media faces and am still learning how to use all my tools - graphite pencils. Caran D'ache neocolor watercolour crayons, and watercolour pencils as well as trying to improve my faces.

There's a lot I could criticise about this girl but overall I'm pleased with her and will challenge myself to painting more girls with a more original style.

And here are some progress pics...

Day 24 - 30x30x30 Challenge

Today is Day 24 of the 30x30x30 Challenge and I have finished painting all 30 canvases.  They all look great and I'm really proud of them all - if I do say so myself and as an artist this can be difficult to say at times.  They next step is to photograph them all individually and complete the Index of Artwork, varnish them, tape and wire the back of them, and then wrap them up for storage.

The Treetops Montessori School who is hosting the Challenge as a fundraiser for their school has asked for a hands on photo as their school philosophy is one of hands on learning.

I challenged myself to paint some small faces which are very difficult for me so I kept them fairly simple.

I have arranged all 30 canvases on my lounge room floor on a sheet and are playing around with how I'd like them to be arranged and displayed. It would be awesome to see all 900 canvases displayed and I do wonder what all the other artists are creating and how they are going.  I do have one or two favourites  and really hope that all the paintings sell to help out with fundraising efforts.

Time to go pack up the paints and maybe start photographing them....

Day 22 - 30x30x30 Challenge

Well, it's been a busy week, I have finished 22 canvases, all have something on them - deciding what to paint can be a challenge, and 8 need finishing touches.

Here's some I played with today:

Over the weekend I add some paint to a larger canvas just for fun...I like this one but the edges aren't neat enough for me - arch perfectionism...

Day 14 - 30x30x30 Challenge

One of the biggest challenges is finding time to paint, this is probably true for everyone.  For me, I paint in the kitchen so I have to lug everything out of my small room and grab the canvas out of the study where they are on a table drying, then I can paint.  When I think about all of that I always like to have a couple of hours to work on my canvases which I finally managed to find this afternoon.  Saturday I was busy at morning tea and open studios and afternoon tea at a farewell party and I went to see my son in a play in the evening. I'm never that busy....

Here's a glimpse of some new canvases that I started....

Some beautiful sunsets this week too:

Day 10 - 30x30x30 Challenge

I spent a few more hours working on my 8 inch square canvases for the 30x30x30 Challenge - creating 30 works in 30 days.

I've now started 23 and finished 0 - well, nearly finished 10 - which is good for day 10.  I started some mixed media canvases today by gluing on sewing patterns.

Really must clean the house tomorrow or the next day....

Painting Sold and Days 8 & 9

Did you see my friend June Stevens on the 30x30x30 Challenge blog today?

Day 8 of the 30x30x30 Challenge - spent some time deciding what goes on each canvas, am working on 18  right now,  and blocking out.  I normally paint what I want when I want so I found it challenging to say 'ok today you have to paint all day and get something done'.

Day 9 I spent an hour or so adding another layer of white and some bling colours:

My Pink Confetti Tree painting at the Beverley Art Exhibition sold over the weekend - woohoo - that will help pay for more paint and canvases or some more classes with local mixed media artist Neil Elliott.

How's your arty life going?

Day 7 - 30x30x30 Challenge

This afternoon I spent a few hours painting my canvases. I have basically finished 4, continued more layers on 8 and started backgrounds on 6 new ones.

Here's the cake I made on Friday - it's a Tim Tam cake from raspberricupcakes' blog - my family said it tasted great....didn't look the best but they loved it so that's what counts....

Beautiful sunsets over the past couple of days:

Hope you are having a great weekend with your family, relaxing and getting in some art time too.

Day 2 - 30x30x30 Challenge

I had a few hours this afternoon so I added another couple of layers to my paintings for the 30x30x30 Challenge.

My kitchen is my studio...

A rainbow of colours...

Stamping and dripping...

Now you know all my secrets....  :D

But wait - there's more....but you can't see what happens next as that will give away the surprise for the big night!!!

Day 1 - 30x30x30 Challenge

Today was Day 1 of the 30x30x30 Challenge - 30 artists create 30 works in 30 days - all on 8 inch square canvases = 900 paintings to be sold for $50 on Saturday 15th September, 2012 at Darlington Hall, Darlington, Western Australia.

Check out their blog which features me as today's artist:  http://30x30x30challenge.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/challenger-10-michelle-reynolds/

I was very excited to be chosen as one of the participants and have been looking forward to getting started.  There were so many questions that popped up as I began:

How many should I start to prepare?
Where will they all dry?
Do I have enough paint or will a quick trip to the art shop be in order?
What am I going to paint on this first set?
Do they have a spare 30 canvases for my other ideas that would like to be painted?

Do you see that white little square, bottom, middle of the paintings? Yes, this pic shows a size comparison between the largest paintings I've created and the 8 inch or 20cm square canvases - size is only one of the challenges.

I decided to prepare 12 canvases with the basic layers which will build up into a painting of depth.

Another covering layer will be added then I'll have fun stamping and dripping and deciding what they will become.  Oh such fun and such great challenge too.