The good and the underwhelming

Last week I was reprimanded for only showing the good stuff and not showing what I was underwhelmed about. I thought about it and realized the comment was right, I should show the good and the bad. I've done enough daily projects over the years to  know that when I start something new I'm frequently disappointed with my early attempts. Yet if I can push through the early fumbling there's always the possibility to learn something. Not only learn a new technique or process and with continued practice master it, but also learn something about myself in the process.

My first daily project was a daily photo blog, omg! The first few weeks were extremely difficult but slowly it became more and more comfortable and after six years of daily photos I lost my interest.

In 2010 I did a mono print a day for the month of March. The first thirty days I did a circle in black on a twenty inch square of white linen. As I did them I learned how much paint, the best way to apply the paint, and how to get the fabric down without extra smudges and fingerprints. I ran out of linen and I wanted the last one to be big! So it was printed on a 52" square of cotton. If I had not done the first thirty prints I would never have known how to do the big one. The blog post with a picture of all thirty prints is here. This is the big one.

Monoprint #31

52"x52"

I've done daily stitching for over seven years, along with weekly stitching projects. They have all come with their own learning curve.

This brings me to my current 71 days of Mark Making. 71 days to commemorate my 71st birthday the day after I finish. I'm doing it because I have been enamored with some of the mark making posts I've seen on blogs and Pinterest. The ones that interest me the most are black on white and frequently a free form squiggle or shape. I have never been able to stick with any sketchbook or journaling for more than a few days, so my goal is to do 71, I'm on 24 which for me is a record. I've grouped the pictures so you don't have to scroll through 24 of them.

Done with India ink and a scruffy brush.

More India ink with a different brush.

The two on the left  with a brush, bottom right a straw, top right a charcoal pencil.

Pitt pen

A Pitt pen.

They look better in groups.

I've learned that doing what looks like an effortless squiggle is not easy. I've also realized that the people that are doing these have made more than one and for many of them it's a part of their everyday artwork. Instead of struggling and trying to do someone else's marks I've decided to make marks that I'm comfortable with and will work on loosening up.

I finished the Indigo Shibori quilt.

I've started playing with some of the wet cyan prints I did last fall.

Weekly Leaf #4

Before stitching

After Stitching

2018 daily Stitching

More french knots. 

I'll be linking up to "Off the Wall Friday"and "Slow Sunday Stitching"