Plastic Wrap—Who Knew?

I watered down some green paint, poured it over a piece of paper, scrunched plastic wrap and smushed it down onto the paper between two pieces of wood.  After that dried, I repeated the process with watered down blue paint.  I was extremely pleased with the result.
I then drew on the paper, resulting in this drawing:

Untitled
8" x 12"
Acrylic and pen on paper

Forming

"Forming"
8" x 10"
Textured Acrylic, Sharpie, and Enamel on canvas

Learn more about Laura Converse.

I Lose Things.

I got up early this morning . . . something like 4:45.  Getting up early has its benefits (of course, not ONLY benefits).  I brought a large, rolled up drawing I'd worked on for approximately 5 hours yesterday to work on in a coffee shop this early morning. It was rather chaotically sticking out of my bag.  Until it wasn't.

Somewhere on the walk I lost it.  Having gone over my route 4 times,  I decided to say goodbye.  I must admit, though,  I really liked that drawing.  And I'm really sad that my airheadedness has such unfortunate consequences.

In attempts to move on, I pulled out a 3" x 5" piece of plexiglass, and painted it backwards.  I started with black paint on the back side, moving on to red, then grey, and finishing with white.  there's about 4 mm of plexiglass between what you can touch and what you can see.

"untitled on plexiglass"

Overall, I'm happy with the results of the experiment, but I'm still brooding about the loss of that drawing.  I was really excited about it.  I wish I could show you why.

Learn more about Laura Converse here

Practice Makes Possibility

"Second Thoughts"
Approximately 6" x 7"
Acrylic on wood

From an Ancient Celtic Blessing

I'm working on a commissioned piece based on this Celtic blessing:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
wherever he may send you.
May he guide you through the wilderness,
protect you through the storm.
May he bring you home rejoicing
at the wonders he has shown you.
May he bring you home rejoicing
once again into our doors. Amen.

I started it yesterday.  Here's what it looks like so far.

Knife Painting

This was an experiment with both painting style and with art supplies.  I used two gessoed sketchbook backs and the under-frame of a torn canvas, and I tried my hand at knife painting for the first time.

 

The tools I used.

See more paintings.

Seven Stars

This was an experiment in two ways:

1. I tested out using the style of color segregation I tend to reserve specifically for pen and markers--this time with paint.
2. I gessoed a the back of my giant sketch pad as a painting surface; it was the right size to fit into an improvised frame I made. The frame was made from a torn pre-stretched canvas. I ripped off the damaged canvas, removed the staples, and am using the underlying structure as a plain wooden frame.

See more of my paintings here.

Coffee Is an Art Supply . . . Right?

This is the 20th painting in my Philippians series.

I used glue, various kinds of paper, acrylic paint, coffee, and tissue.

Abandoned and Found

This is one of those paintings that I got frustrated with and set aside years ago.  It was going to have an additional panel.

I've moved four times since then, yet somehow I never lost it.

It's been too long since I started it; I'll probably sand it down and reuse the canvas.

It's a pity, but it will never be finished.

Find more of my acrylic paintings, or check out more of my art involving hands.

The Source

See other acrylic art based on the Bible, or check out other work involving hands.

Shrooms Don't Make You Creative

I enjoyed an evening spent at the Bellingham Flea Market displaying my art a while back.

In the single-room building, there were a variety of odd things to enjoy:

• belly-dancers balancing swords on their heads
• customized painted scraps of broken tile
• stylish clothing made out of recycled sweaters
• bluegrass musicians wearing fake mustaches
• free wine and cookies . . .

. . . and that's only the beginning.

I got plenty of feedback on my art, met some great people, and even got a visit from some awesome friends.

Among the complements on my work was this one:

"Your art is great. It reminds me of being on shrooms."

It wasn't that creative; he was looking at this art piece.

"The Mushroom that Wished It Was a Tree"
Acrylic on wood

See more of my acrylic paintings here.

Finger Painting: Iron Sharpening Iron

Considering the content, I'm amused I used such a dull object—my finger—to create this painting.  

I enjoy irony (and puns).

Iron Sharpening Iron
Acrylic on wood
12" x 12"

See other art based on the Bible.

Robot / Book

Creativity isn't really creation.  It's just combining existing elements.




See more of my Philippians series.

The Obedient One: Completed

The Obedient One

I draw monsters.
Here are some more.

See an earlier stage of this painting, or check out more pieces in my Philippians series.

A Painting Begins: The Obedient One

After a morning of studying and thinking, I came up with the rough idea for my next painting for the Philippians series.

I started it on a 4' x 3' canvas this afternoon . . . just a brief 15-minute stint of painting, but enough to get the gist down.

Want to see the final piece?
You can see other works in progress here.

Now That It's Safe

 . . . you can be born.

This was made with glue, acrylic paint, pen, and marker on vellum.

See more of my art in this style here.

Controlled chaos: "The Starvation for Home"

The Starvation for Home
3' x 4'
Acrylic on canvas

I really enjoyed making this painting—employing gravity and excessive amounts of messy watered-down paint.  I get a kick out of using destructive forces for constructive means.

I like hands, and I use them in art a lot.  You can see more paintings with them.

Art Made in Front of People

This piece was done to 20 minutes of live music as performance art in an auditorium filled with 1,000+ humans.  It was somewhat terrifying.

It started out as a black hand reaching down.  I then flipped the canvas over and covered it with a white hand.

It's made with acrylic paint and excessive amounts of gesso.


I like making paintings of hands.  You can see more here.

Salvaging for Art

While walking, I found one of those orange bumps that had been loosened from the road.  I made something out of it.

Here's what I found.


And here's what I made:

It's glue, tissue, acrylic paint, and of course the road piece, all on a chunk of plywood.

See more of my mixed media work.

Completed Painting, Unfinished Story

As this painting is about a work in progress, I had difficulty deciding how finished I should let it become. 

It's called "You Will Be Complete."  It is part of my series based on the book of Philippians.

You can see photos of stages of the painting here, or check out other works in progress.