Wednesday, December 06, 2006


Thank You All

Thank you David Walker, who wrote me this note back in October:

Please, I beg you, keep your brushes moving as long as you can.

Unsolicited encouragement like that, early on, made me forge ahead. And I also want to thank all my blog friends who stayed with me on this trek. You have been wonderful. And especially Dave, my husband, who had to listen to hours of my angst.

Thanks to the lovely and talented Tashina for turning me onto these little plastic containers. The idea here is to mix up the paint, so it goes from the heavier tube consistency to loose and fluid, BEFORE I need it right this minute. Plus it takes it a step or two away from being the straight from the tube color. More personal palette happens with the mixing. I got these in sets of 6 from Hobby Lobby for $1.79. I know you want some.

She also advised me to buy pigments of better quality and purity, rather than student grade. Makes all the difference, and adding to that better watercolor paper in blocks, which she also suggested, and I am now using them. Quality makes everything look better, duh.


And Thank YOU IKEA for providing affordable frames with matting and glass, in lovely sizes and finishes. For anyone who wants to frames small quilts, there are now SHADOWBOXES available for $20, in which the frame is 20x20" and the mat, which you could ignore, has an opening for a 12" square. If your quilt is larger than that, just stitch it onto the mat and let it float in the 2" deep frame. Very upscale looking. I am using them for 12" paintings on paper, just so you know. The thought of being able to paint on paper without regard to the framing issues of the past, is just fantastic. Sigh.

And then there is Home Depot, who has these wonderful paint chips. They are huge, like six inches square. I am thinking about the other values in the colors I will be mixing, using black, brown and white to tint the pigments. And also the complements, for muddier colors.

So a new routine has started for me, getting up early, excited to start my day. I will paint small things first to loosen up, and then see where they lead. La dee dah!

PS. I stopped at my local library yesterday on the way home from IKEA and checked out a half dozen Christmas cds. I downloaded 9 hours of music on my mp3 player! Ho ho ho!

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:00 AM

    Melody, I read your blog faithfully, but might have missed this: What kind of paint are you using?

    Love your work and your honesty.

    carolvee

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous1:17 PM

    1. Are you lucky to have Dave or what! (I just saw his comment to this post.)
    2. I'm now exhausted after catching up on your last few posts -- you sure know how to get a lot of art done!
    3. Thanks for the tip about IKEA frames! I'll definitely be trying some.
    Keep being creative!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mel, BEAUTIFUL creations! I'm going to IKEA this week and pick up some frames. Do they have black mats? I like the way color pops against black.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I haven't been on the computer much lately (mostly because it is down half the time) and couldn't believe how much you have gotten accomplished. Kudos. Great job.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous12:14 AM

    Thanks for the nice words, Melody. Lovely to be able to help one of my favorite artists.

    Our first Ikea just opened a couple of weeks ago in Austin. I've been to quite a few in California, but never looked for frames. As soon as the Christmas rush is over, I'll head out there and pick up some shadowboxes. Love them! Thanks for the tip.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love the latest paintings,
    looking at your paint chips, there is a great little reference book
    Colour Index by Jim Krause, over 1100 colour combinations,

    ReplyDelete

Hello,
So nice of you to drop by. I love your comments, and if you would really like a reply, please email me at fibermania at g mail dot com