Children of the Corn

 

Using my last painting as a backdrop, I’m showing what has kept me busy — corn husk art. I gathered husks from a plowed corn field, but they are not pretty since they are mostly broken. However, they are OK for Halloween. I showed these to my amused  family, and my oldest immediately said, “What are they — “Children of the Corn?” There it was, the perfect spooky title at the perfect time of year! 

PS...I’ve ordered better corn husks and want to make more dolls. There’s a Native American legend about the origin of these faceless dolls which I’ll include it in my next post.

Cornfield

“Cornfield”

I planned to paint an abstract, but this took on the look of a something else instead. 

That happens to me a lot, I don’t think abstracts are my thing. I always end up with a painting reminding me of *something*.

Revisiting Old Friends

  

These stuffies were two of my sewing projects decades ago, and they still rest in our daughter’s bedroom. The brown bear has one shoulder higher than the other and is filled with weighty beans. The kitty is laying down but somehow his leg positions are scattered. 😂  They still get along well after all this time! 

Mystery Flower

At a time when green things are dying and leaves are falling, this mysterious flower is arriving at its peak in a few unrelated places around our back yard.  We think it’s a common weed, but it’s too pretty to pull up. Does anyone know its name?

NOTE: Identified below in Elizabeth’s comment as “White Snakeroot”. The links Elizabeth provide are interesting 🧐.

Watercolor and Weaving Fun

I decided to weave paper strips after seeing Gene Black’s post (scroll down there) using one of his paintings. It looked easy and fun! I had a watercolor pencil painting (see below) that I didn’t really like, so I cut it into strips and started randomly weaving. However, it wasn’t as easy as I expected! Every time I added a new strip, the whole thing shifted out of whack. I finally relied on lightly stuck tape to hold the strips in place. Above is the finished woven piece glued onto a scrap of oak from my husband’s woodworking projects, then sealed with a few coats of Mod Podge. It’s about 9” square. This is more of a decoupage piece than what I had in mind, but it was fun and I like it!  

Birch Stand

“Birch Stand”

Inspired by the season, one of my favorite trees to paint. An 8”x10” acrylic on stretched canvas done with palette knife, brushes, and sponge for foliage.

Palette Knife Play

“Rough Terrain“

Randomly spreading acrylic paints with a palette knife and hoping for something to emerge. 

Fun!

Not a Wildfire

 

I took this photo near my home while walking at sunset. 

Improvisational Beading

A lot has been happening, and I haven’t had time for painting. However, I did manage to get this new blog online, and now I’m scrambling for something to post. I like this piece I made 10-15 years ago when I did lot of hand-beading. This was my first “improvisational” piece, it’s about 5”x5”. The beads were randomly sewn onto batik fabric that was backed with interfacing and stiff cardboard. I had no design plan, I sewed each bead on wherever it seemed to fit. It’s no surprise to me that a face took shape. My only explanation for the mood of this piece is that I recall simultaneously reading Stephen King’s novel “Duma Key”, a good horror novel that takes place on water.

Girl in the Woods

“Girl in the Woods”

Acrylic 6”x8” palette knife painting on multi-media paper

I was ready for a change, and security with my last blog seemed uncertain. So here is a fresh start! I’ll be building my “Reading List” of blogs I follow, and you are invited to follow along here. Thanks to everyone for being out there!