Zing Zang

What a crazy mix we’re in these days. With one hand, I am forced to navigate social limitations, while the other provides opportunities to embark on new adventures, reimagine my future self, and tick off to-dos. I find I’m more busy these days than when living my pre-covid life. Go figure.

This is the final result. A fun and new approach in my quest to expand and explore creativity.

Anyway, it’s definitely been an emotional toss-up and, luckily for me, one that has changed the play in interesting and surprisingly satisfying ways. For example, I’ve connected with two like-minded artists who are inspiring me to up-level my creative game. We are a fun and future-leaning tribe and we’re planning events for 2021 that force me to reach and to believe. (Ok, and to sweat a bit, but that’s my choice, right?)

These lines were copied from a previous painting’s color wash that had dried on the backer board. I transferred them to the rice paper to begin my new painting.

Ever run across the saying: When the student is ready, the teacher appears? Teacher is a loose term; for me, teacher encompasses an enlightening book, a perfectly-timed online course in all things art related, pushy friends, and opinionated critics. I’m revamping (yes, again) my website (but for real this time and I’m so clap-my-hands-jump up-and-down-excited). I’m updating my paintings on view, ruthlessly deleting those that don’t reflect my future self. (Who of us hasn’t cleared out stuff lately?)

This is the first free-hand, loopy lines of melted wax on virgin paper and followed by thefirst color wash. I use light color values so I can see the original penciled in design.

It is beneficial to be immersed in the details of reaching towards this Judy; I can’t hear my critic when I am busy. In my imagination, this future self is so cool and fun and creative and accomplished and generous and free. She keeps me going when I’m tired, when I doubt my abilities to pull this off. I really want to be her.

Here is the second wax pass where I have used a very tiny brush to apply the melted wax to the outlines as well as specific color wash areas I wanted to keep.

All this to say, I’m on the move and valuing the uncertainty of it. The pop-up detours and challenges provide an edge, a tension, that suggest new methods and actions. I’ve successfully figured out how to solve numerous issues and so-called mistakes while making art so I am equipped to move forward with a fair amount of confidence. Even if I fail to reach my goals, I will be far ahead of where I am now. And that’s a definite win.

The painting has been completely waxed and ironed off. Now I can only use water-color crayons and/or pencils and/or acrylic paints to embellish. (Waxed paper won’t accept watercolor paints.) I’m always experimenting with my approach and here I wondered how would it look to apply black gesso to punctuate the interesting batik results already showing?

Be safe, stay sane and let me know how you’re doing!