Thank you!!

It has been such a pleasure to be in your company. I look forward to more opportunities.

Progress? Whith Blue Sky? HA

I JUST realized it's the last day of January. I can't believe how fast this art a day went!

Learning from all you talented artists and sharing art has been amazing! I can't wait for next year. I will keep doing art and posting it everday, If you want to follow me my regular art blog is here.

http://lifewithsarahb.blogspot.com/

After a lovely (though wet) week spent in Oregon, I'm glad to be back in warm Texan weather.

Sure, Portland has incredible art, coffee houses, nature.. *Trying not to cry*.

But was Oregon a comfy 75 degrees today like Texas..?

I've got to grab onto whatever I can, I miss Oregon and Washington horribly. I did spend my life living in the two! Anyways, with such lovely weather art was sort of, how to say it.. second? I did manage to work on the floaty-cloths around the figure, but nobody would realize it except me.

Ah well, I saw a blue sky and seized it.

Carpe-diem or whatever that guy said standing on the table!



Stay Artsy & DFTBA

Sarah Bosserman

"Last Post for January"

Thought I would post something I've done that I'm fairly partial to, my "Light Through Orange Slices."  And if you click the pic, you'll be magically whisked to one of my Flickr sets where there are other pieces I am particularly fond of. 

Thanks to Bobi and Laura G for their creation.  For the most part, for me, it has been a fun month doing Art-A-Day.  I've enjoyed the back and forth with friends, and I've enjoyed meeting new people.  Some of the art is Outstanding!!  And, I think I will continue to post here as time moves on, just for the fun of it.

Don't forget to 'click the pic,' if you have the time and inclination.
  

Part of this week's project...

JUST got this today: a Swanstrom disc cutter, and a couple of pattern plates suitable for my rolling mill. Here's the first results. I like 'em, and I didn't even tighten the mill enough. Another major benefit: the disc cutter is so precise that the amount of grinding is going to be minimal. My hands will love me. Oh yeah, the quarter is provided for scale. The cutter has ten sizes of punches. This one's the largest.

January 31st

Today is the last day of the paint a day January project. My personal goal was to produce six finished paintings by the end of this month. I worked really hard, and put in a lot of hours in every day, and completed ten paintings: four 12x12's, two 24x36, two 18x36, and two 36x48.

I photographed these this morning.

Next month's personal goal is to paint watercolor landscapes.

"Pawsed" For A Pose

Art-a-day show, no show

Btw, there is no plan for a show this year. If anyone feels inclined to make one happen, feel free!

working in layers

My first mixed media project on 15 x 20 watercolor paper using watercolors, acrylics, stencils, stamps, markers, oil pastels, inktense watercolor pencils, a bic whiteout pen and whatever else came to hand.

Wanted to color block it but the blue ... oh the blue .... really BAD idea and normally I would have trashed it, but I'm working on keeping going, working through mistakes or things I don't like, so....

Added some black and white to bring out details and am pleasantly surprised.  Detail shots:

Lovin' all those layers and textures!

Although I didn't post something every day this month, I did work on something creative every day.  Once again this place proved invaluable in getting me jump started for the year after the holiday lull.  It's such a positive, supportive group - I really appreciate all the time folks took to leave comments and encouragement.  Here's to a productive, creative 2012 for all of us!

Hogwarts Drawing

Only a few seconds until midnight in Texas!!

Here's a drawing of Howarts!

Stay Artsy & DFTBA

Sarah Bosserman

a simple doodle, colorized, manipulated

a wild and crazy doodle, original

Wild & crazy doodle, colored & textured in PS

It seems only fitting to end the last few days of the month with doodles, since that's how it began. So here's a wild and crazy doodle for a wild and crazy day full of numbers, errant receipts, and a wasteland that was once a memory which can't seem to remember from one year to the next how to do a simple excise tax form. Whew, glad that's over, and I'm a day early.

The image was sketched with ball point pen on a lined tablet. (I've got enough art supplies, and still I reach for whatever's closest.) I colorized and manipulated the doodle in Photoshop, and then added texture with the crosshatch filter.

2 Finished Paintings

Well Art-A-Day coming to a close (but seriously everyone, should just keep arting and creating) I have enjoyed seeing all the art, the sketches, the Valentines stuff, the jewelry the digital art, the whales.. Etc. It's been great, you are all gifted.
    Well I didn't get a lot done, but as of tonight these two main pieces are finished for the most part, a few small things. I got distracted Saturday after buying a smart phone (of which I am not smart enough to use, hence I accidentally called someone Sunday night while at Famous Daves. Didn't even know I made a call till 20 hours later.. LOL sorry Bobi... )  Anyway, tonight, Monday I have two finished paintings.  The square one is "Dreamcatcher 5"  24 x24  Acrylic, the other is "Space Cave 5" (unless someone has better title) it is 24 x 30 Acrylic. We will see what I get done on Tuesday :))  I added the bridge and the whole bottom part, I got so involved I forgot to stop and photograph. :)  Then added some ivy and more planets in the Dreamcatcher. Of which the Bright orange one in front of the window will be toned down a tad.

BookArt , BA-BR

 Pieces for an upcoming BookArt show in March - my BA-BR series. Four pieces (3 completed) utilizing 95% of Book 2, BA - BR of a 1968 Popular Mechanics Encyclopedia set. 
The last piece will be "Do-it", (words from a portion of the cover) a small, chunky book with the It's fun to repair a broken book,  article from the book, resized to fit its new format.

Left to Right:
*Bookend, sculpture, the bottom 1" of Book 2
*A Home Without Books...   approx 14 x 4 x 9"
*Popular, a composite of page parts from Book 2, gives a glimpse of the text and the era.

Detail of A Home Without Books...

Etched around the base reads, "A Home Without Books Is Like A House Without Windows"

I'm getting a bit freaked about what I don't have done for the show.  If you're local, please check out the show - March, Allied Arts Gallery. Bookart is an exquisite art form, the most intimate and engaging I've experienced. There's no easy way to explain the form, it's best experienced.  Our BookArt group will acts as docents throughout the show to discuss and make available the books to hold and experience.

This week's project

I'm being ambitious. Workin' on a piece that isn't jewelry, per se. More like a picture, sorta. So far in making adjustments on the metal bits, I've gone through four saw blades. Good thing I buy 'em by the gross.

I'm kicking myself in the butt--I spent two hours painstakingly cutting about 2mm off the bottom of something I wanted to use in this project and then realized I had a whole page of notes I wrote last night about how to avoid spending all the time I had just spent doing all that sawing (and breaking four saw blades).

So, I'm determined to finish this project tonight, and I still have to go to class and then the gym. Late night, I guess.

Another "Wing" Study, and a new medium

My friend and fellow artist, Christine Blevins, has mentioned the fun she's been having recently with alcohol inks. If you get an opportunity, please do check out her lovely Valentine Art Cards that will be on display at the DS Watkins Studio for next week's Art Walk. And check out this very fun medium. If you love brilliant colors, this is the medium for you.

Today while perusing the many offerings at Craft Warehouse, I happened into the alcohol ink aisle and down the rabbit hole I went. With so many pending projects that need attention, I can scarce afford to point myself in another direction.... but with it's similarity to watercolor, I gave it the green light. After a short while, my day's dilly-dally moment became another expressive piece in my newest "Wings" series. These seemingly disjointed pieces will somehow come together into a wonderful expression of all things winged. 

How to do it? You need a slick surface paper, like Yupo (I used drafting acetate). Water doesn't work too well with the inks, so keep them pretty much away. I did a lot of dripping from the fine tipped bottles of ink and watched mesmerized as the blobs took on a life of their own--mixing with other colors and pushing them out of the way. I used a brush too on the edges and a paper towel for blending. Also a Sharpie and extremely fine tipped archival marker was used to create some stippling and edges. I'm sure there are more advanced techniques, like spraying or using other mediums for resists, etc. Will have to discover more next time.

Brilliant alcohol inks, in a "wing" format

Big Enough?

With each concept sketch my whale seems to grow larger. I quite like this one, it 's the first to show the compleate smile.  Tomorrow I'll work on the painting of the sleeping girl, but tonight this will do!

Stay Artsy & DFTBA ( Don't Forget To Be Awesome)

Sarah Bosserman



Busy week, computer issues, minor injuries

I have been busy this last week but computer issues and a minor injury to my left hand have kept me from posting. The injury occurred at the storage unit where I was trying to get to some art supplies that got buried on the bottom and at the back of the storage space. I managed to cut myself across the top of my knuckle and so needed a brace to keep my finger from bending and opening the wound, hence the emery board brace.

However, I was able to create 2 more bowls, both smaller than the first, and attempt a drawing of my cell phone before hurting myself. I also had time to fill a page of fun doodles and, last night, while feeling no pain I drew the source of my painlessness. :)

"Sketching for a Valentine"

"Wanna Play Some Hearts?"



************************************************

"Fishin' for a Heart"

"Mo' Sketchin'"

This group of ladies came in, sat down, got organized, got their coffee, pulled out their Kindles, or whatever, and started discussing the latest read.  I thought about eavesdropping on the conversation for no other reason that to catch the title of the book; but I was groovin' on my ear pods and decided it didn't really matter. 



Book Club/Koffee Klatchers



 Found this exquisite ballet dancer in "Art of the West" magazine, jan/feb 2011/2012, issue, page 54.  She was created by Andre Kohn and I couldn't resist transferring her over into my sketchbook.  Had quite a bit of trouble with that right foot, but I swear on a stack of art mags that's the way ol' Andre had it positioned.  I should of changed it. Next time.     




"la Petite Danseuse" oil 19"x9"

 

Roasters Coffee Richland WA

I had coffee in Richland yesterday at Roasters and had to snap a photo of the guys working the window and counter.

some digital art

I've been working on a couple of digital pieces the last couple days.  I combine 2-4 of my images with a texture (usually free created by someone else), use my blending modes and erasing and lots of trial and error to come up with abstract pieces that I find interesting.....

Photos of a ceiling, a stalk of wheat and a closeup of leaves made it into this one.

I used a dahlia (the yellow swirls on the right), a foo dog closeup from our China trip, and a stack of plumbing pipes from a construction site as well as a texture (the words) from Bonnie at PixelDustPhotoArt in this image.

This image only uses two photos - a ceiling and some tree branches and then 2 Pixel Dust textures.

Not all my digital art experimentation is so abstract - I just find these interesting and fun to do.  But a lot can be done with a single image as well...

I love how the texture added a more vintage feeling to my photo of Gasworks Park in Seattle.

The problem is, as with any form of art, I start sitting in front of my computer and before you know it, hours have gone by and I have files open everywhere, my back is aching, but my creative brain is still churning.  I have to say, I thoroughly enjoy this kind of art-making as well as the hands on kind.

Lilypad - I hope!

This whole thing started out life as an out-of-circulation three-pence. I had absolutely no ideas in mind when I started out. Just wanted to see what would happen. So I ran it through my rolling mill, hammered it, annealed it, hammered it some more, and then the metal split. I looked at it a couple of different ways, and all of a sudden it said "Lilypad!" So I did a little snipping here and there, sanded, riveted on the flower (which I didn't make, just used), made the bail, riveted that on too, sanded the whole thing, and voila!

I think I need to get a Dremel. My husband is of the opinion that the texturing needs to look "more like I intended it to look that way." I'm still trying to figure that one out. I think he means I need to polish it more. OTOH, he didn't get the fact that I was deliberately mixing metals. Anyway. My bit of creativity for the day/week, odd and/or pointless as it is.