Chronicles, Lifebook, and 29 Faces

I am usually weird about letting things do double duty.  I don't know why!  I probably would have finished the 30 in the 30 with paintings to spare if I would have used everything I painted, but I didn't.  Cause I'm dumb.  I really don't want to bomb another challenge, so I'm going to double duty as much as I need to this time and not even feel bad about it.  Okay maybe a little bad. 

If you've been following along with wonderstrange,  you know I've been doing what I call "anti-journaling."  If you aren't following along, you can check out this week's total spread by going clicky-clicky. 

But, face-wise, here's my main spread:

Three faces! BOOM.

The popups were part of Jane Davenport's Lifebook lesson this week - I never do the Lifebook lesson.  I watch the videos, absorb the techniques, and move on.  But... POPUPS.  Plus one of the prompts for Chronicles this week was to actually do a lesson.  It's like I wrote that JUST FOR ME (I totally did).  The popups were supposed to represent three positive qualities that you appreciate in other people (and therefore in yourself), so I did that.  Sort of.  As much as I ever do anything that means anything.. hahaha

the Buddha represents being 'zen', in my definition, not little piddly crap bother you

the mime represents creativity, or thinking out of the box.

even though this isn't a face, the castle in the clouds represents dreaming big

and here's a closeup of the weird dude on the other page:

He doesn't have anything to do with Lifebook - I was just experimenting with colored pencils on pastel ground.

I am working on more Greek mythological women on wood bits, but yay I'm up to 6!  I'm only five days behind :D  That's like a Christmas miracle. 

29 Faces 1, 2 and 3

Since this is the first time I'm doing 29 faces, I figure, screw it, I may as well do the MOST TIME CONSUMING THING EVER.  Yeah.  My colored pencils have been whining at me, though, so I guess it's time.  I have a billion of these wood shapes, so I'm happy to be using them!

My first three faces, Heart of Stone, Heart of the Hunt, and Heart of Death (Medusa, Artemis, and Persephone):

They don't look like much right now, but hopefully they'll be more interesting by the time I drag my ass off to bed.

EDIT:  I guess they're more interesting?  I still need to stripe the edges of Medusa and Artemis, but I love Artemis' crazy complicated hair:

WOYWW - the maiden voyage!

I love snooping on people's workspaces - when someone shows their space in mid-creation it makes me all super giddy.  How is it that I have never heard of WOYWW (what's on your workdesk Wednesday) until today?  They are already 243 weeks in!  Thank goodness for Carmen or I'd still be living in the dark like a mushroom.

I am still working on trying to catch up on the 30 in 30, but today I have to do a video, so I am going to get even more behind.  Maybe I can cut myself some slack and give myself until the February 10th since I didn't start until January 10th?  Maybe not.  I'm still stuck on this drippy watercolor technique and painting as fast as I can - I only have three watercolor blocks at the moment (wait.. do I have more?  I might have some huge ones.. I could do multiples on one sheet!  OMG!).

I think maybe being happy and not bored with what I'm doing counts.  Quality over Quantity.  Anyway - enough of my blathering - here is my workdesk, amazingly clean today!

Now I am going to force myself to do yoga even though my triceps feel like they've been blasted with acid.  I guess technically they have!

30 Paintings in 30 Days, 7 and 8

I am finally starting to find my groove with this challenge when there are only 10 days to go.  Of course.  HOWEVER, I have started doing some paintings that I'm super excited about, so I may be able to finish, assuming I can do three a day along with everything else I have to do.  OKAY MAYBE NOT.

Anyway... painting 7:

and painting 8:

30 Paintings in 30 days, catch-up post 2

The best thing about this challenge happened this week - I finished paintings that have been laying around barely-begun for a LONG time.  I have a pile of canvases that I started working backgrounds on, dropped down a stencil, sometimes even drawing the main event without ever finishing.  So my canvas 5 and 6 are orphans that finally have homes.  WOO!

Canvas 5 has been sitting here with a tiny bit of a birch tree stencil for months and months.  And months.  AND MONTHS.  Maybe even a year.  That birch tree stencil needs to become the background for a series of fairy tale princesses, but for now we'll just start with Snow White:

She measures 4 x 8 and will become a journal later in the week that I will post on Etsy.  For now, though, I'll just admire her doneness.

Canvas 6 was the basis of an article I am writing for Art Trader on stencils.  I have been shuffling it from one side of the table to the other for weeks, but now it's finally done:

He's 10 x 14 and also wants to become a journal.  I think he's a little crazy (I mean really.  Who wants to deal with a journal with spreads measuring 14 x 20?!!), but MAYBE HE WILL ANYWAY.  I'm crazy like that.

Onward!

30 in 30 day 10

Here it is day 10, and I finally have some paintings to show.. Haaa it's fun to play catch-up!  I am still bound and determined to get this done, though!  So here, have a few paintings:

First, is Something Dreadful, available for sale here.

Next is A Dream, available here.

Then Unfulfilled sneaks up on you (I hate it when that happens), available here.

And last, and probably least, it's Disappointment, available here.  I miss the balloon, so I think Red Balloon will be my theme for this project!

Only 21 days to go.. and only.. um.. 26 paintings.  Crap, I should get to work.  Once I run out of canvases, I'll start on panels which will then be turned into art journals.  Yay for multitasking!

Hi 2014!

It's 0 degrees, blindingly sunny, and the snow is up to my chihuahua's head.  Hello, winter!

We had an awesome stomach virus rip its way through the house over Christmas/New Years that kept me in bed for the entirety of New Year's Eve and most of New Year's Day, and I am just now recovering.  However, in between whining and having a complete blubbering breakdown, I have spent the last two days distributing piles into permanently temporary locations, and NOW I am done and ready!!

I'm doing a few challenges, including 30 paintings in 30 days, Creative Every Day, and my own challenge, 50 canvases in 2014 (which will be completely separate from the 30 in 30).  I've linked everything in the sidebar over there --->.

I'll also be doing 29 faces in February and trying to keep up with the workshops I'm taking, making more stuff to sell and for shows (as soon as I figure out how many shows I really want to do this year), and writing my own workshops.  I'm also contributing to Art Trader!

We have a 7-day blog schedule at wonderstrange (yikes!!), but I'll be posting here pretty regularly, too.  My word for the year is PRIORITIZE.  I'm lookin' at you, facebook.  You're goin' DOWN.

What are you up to?