A Bit of Grass Painting

Painting may not be crafting, but it’s pretty nice. I use acrylics most of the time on canvas paper and wood. I started painting through happening upon some cast-off acrylics a long time ago. I decided I quite liked acrylics painting and kept doing it. That was about a decade ago.

I tried watercolors too since I seemed to like painting, and really, that was just okay. I tried oils, since they’re supposed to be The Thing To Do, but although I liked the texture I decided that I make too much of a mess to use them. I am not a tidy person. Organized, yes. Neat, no. Plus - linseed oil? Paint thinner? No, please.

I have four paintings here to show you that I’ve done. I rarely show the things I paint because I’m quite sensitive about them for whatever reason. I’ve grown mostly desensitized to showing my crafts and writing, but not my painting. So if you hate it and think my technique is sadly lacking, kindly don’t tell me.

I like reeds and grassy plants and color, and so that’s what inspired these. Oh, and I was inspired by this picture I took years ago at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. As far as the grasses go, I’m fond of the long thin stems, stalk-like plants, grass swaying in the breezes, that sort of thing. So here we have (in order) … bamboo, lavendar (which turned out quite purple in the picture, it’s not as … bright as it seems here), grass and cattails. I like the last one most. The cattails made me happy. The bamboo is my second favorite.

[note: the graininess is my camera's fault. will have to fix. these aren't grainy.]

I <3 fabric

Good day for fabric! I’m generally excited about fabric and nothing is more interesting than new fabric techniques & types. I do love exploration of new stuff.

FIRST: in my wandering I discovered the wonder that is Ah! Kimono, which is a site that will sell you pieces of fabric from kimonos. I received my first package of fabrics (<– over there) with a lovely note this week. These are all green-hued, about 9″ x 9″ and I think (totally not sure!) they’re silk. Let me just tell you that my photo does not do these fragments justice. They’re beautiful, and have awesome texture and sheen. One is pebbly and rough and thin, another is thick and silky…

Having a weakness for fabric, I joined Ah! Kimono’s quarterly fabric club. I did that so that I wouldn’t be able to choose what colors or styles I get. I have a bad habit of picking the same things over and over, and I thought this would be a great chance to get something new and unexpected to play with. What will I do with it? I don’t know. I have an idea about a skirt, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten.

Also! SECOND. I got this book in: Fabric Art Workshop by Susan Stein. Very nice. I’ve looked through it about 5 times today since I got it. Fabric painting is something I’ve done a little, but technique and materials was sketchy for me. This clears some questions up, while giving me new ideas about things to try for decorating fabric. Like dyeing fabric with rust, that’s a new one. Got plenty of materials around here for that idea.

I ordered the book because I was curious about some techniques I saw reading a recent issue of Cloth P aper Scissors that I picked up (not the current one, the one with the yellow birdhouse on the front). If you haven’t seen it, it’s a lovely mixed-media magazine from Quilting Arts, seems like a nice bridge between sewing and painting.

So clearly I’m not doing well on the “fewer things to do” classification of life, but hey, I don’t actually have any fabric paint right now, so at least I can’t hare off to do it right now. The kimono fabric, on the other hand…

Impatience and Creativity

When I am feeling impatient, I become creative. Typically, I start painting or sewing. Usually painting. What reminds me of this is what I did a week or so ago when I was waiting for the new Harry Potter book to appear on my doorstep (which it never did - I had to go purchase it. Thanks, Amazon).

The day I was waiting for Potter was extraordinarily productive. I completed two paintings. I do not have these to show, as I’m waiting until the entire project is complete (I’m doing sixteen related ones for my living room).

But I do have this basket to show, which I was reminded of that day. This painted basket is actually titled “Impatience” and that’s what it reads on the bottom.

This incredibly involved thing was painted when I first met my husband 7 years ago. I was very taken with him from the first hours we spent together, and I was trying to be patient and not get too ahead of myself. So while I was trying to be patient and failing, I painted. Often I painted in the evening when I was waiting for him to show up at my house. Or when I wasn’t going to see him. It was only 15-20 minutes or so every day, so it took about three weeks to complete. It’s been a fixture of my decor ever since, and I now keep my paints in it
The material of the basket is wood, which is my favorite medium. The colors I chose remind me of the colors of Mardi Gras. The forms are ones that I find myself painting often - organically-shaped mazes, rhythmic yet detailed and precise shapes. It definitely looks like I painted it and no one else. If nothing else, this basket is definitely my colors, my shapes, my design, my material.

I tend toward these sort of engaging, involved projects when I’m impatient because I can really wear myself out without something to do. This takes up the mental space that would’ve gone into becoming a nervous wreck while waiting for whatever. I don’t wait easily. It’s my way of turning what would otherwise be a negative experience into something positive. And that, my friends, is reason #100,394 of why I craft.