make a bad painting -it is not easy!

This was the exercise given to us by our instructor, Bill Buchman: make a bad painting. I am taking an abstract art class with him called 'Creative Breakout' on Monday afternoons, and a creative breakout it most certainly is! Bill said to us in his lecture, "Freedom is the key. Go in the direction of freedom (in your art) -take risks. That is where you will find your melody. Freedom is the battle cry, and the razor's edge you want to walk is between freedom and control. We are always trying to put a halo around everything we do. Stop judging, measuring, controlling and see if you can find that melody that will take you there. We are going to try to make a bad drawing/painting today. It is not easy. Be aware of what is going on in your mind -observe it. Remember that art is the one place where you can screw up and nobody gets hurt!!"

I had an awesome time with this prompt and will show you some of what the entire class produced. We were fairly prolific under the guidelines of this exercise!! Click on any photo for a larger one . . .  My first try, step-by-step is below. I observed myself being very aggressive with my strokes.

 Bill's painting is top right, below . . . . mine is underneath his.

Our instructor Bill's painting, below - I love it!

Another "bad' painting of mine is on the bottom right below.

Close up of my first one, below.

So many of these are GOOD!! 

I am really learning a lot, trying new things & enjoying! 

a sunday drive

A sunday drive, out in our boat chelsea. It's docked on the davits (so it hangs out of the water) at my mom's house on the bayou . . . A full view of this boat hanging is here.

Chelsea was hand-built by the guys at Lucas Boatworks here in Bradenton, FL. It uses a riding lawn-mower engine for it's power and since we go so slow, Steven says it only "sips" gas.

 Steven is using a baster -yes, like a turkey baster, to flush the engine with water 

and get the cooling system running!

 Asia is ready to go! It looks like she might be volunteering to steer . . . click on 

any photo for details. Yes, that is a hand-built steering wheel.

Miss Chloe, so happy to be along for the ride.
She is the star of my blipfoto journal today . . . with a different, beautiful close-up.

I love this high deck built for looking out over the bayou. The silver palms are one of my favorites too.

 Some kids on shore told us they lost their ball in the water -could we go get it for them? At first we didn't understand over the sound of the motor (put-put-put) but when we saw this orange ball floating downstream in the water, we understood! Steven steered the boat, grabbed the ball . . . .

 Yeah!! Thank you!!

 me & chloe

 headin down another bayou . . .

 love the reflections . . .

 and the sunshine . . .

 Headin back to the dock at mom's . . .

 I really enjoyed this time "away" with steven . . .

The initials on Chelsea's flag above, stand for Florida Gulf Coast Traditional Small Craft Association. The boats hand built at Lucas boatworks are traditional small craft. Steven has been helping with the finishing work for many of these beautiful boats, but his passion at the moment is crafting dripless, lightweight kayak paddles. As for me, I have been creating a few projects for Gauche Alchemy as I will be their guest designer for the month of April! I need to wait to share those with you here, but in due time you can see them on the Gauche Alchemy blog and also here. My paper and fabric bead swap just ended Saturday and soon, I will be exchanging the 340 beads (or so) that came in!!! There is a second part of the swap where I will give everyone a chance to create something with their swapped beads and then share a link to a photo of it on the creative swaps blog. I will let you know when that happens as it should be really fun & inspiring! I am continuing with my abstract art class on Monday afternoons through April . . . with the beach traffic/Spring Break it is had to get there sometimes, but I made it just fine last week. The class is out on a barrier island, past some prime beaches. I just leave early now! It seems like there is a lot going on with me but sometimes I don't get to write about it . . . I do post a photo and short journal entry most everyday to my blipfoto journal, so please visit me there anytime. Hope you all are doing well!

Bead swap coming in strong

Over on my creative swaps blog my current swap (art exchange) is a paper and fabric bead exchange. I am so impressed with what the participants have sent in so far, that I want to share it here!

barbara delisle - florida

cat dodt ellis - idaho

Trish Busby - missouri

Pam Gonzalez - illinois

Whitney Nickels - ireland

Becky Sunderman - arkansas

Margriet van Schaik - netherlands

Nancy Roberts - florida

Sabine Schneider - germany

lenna young! -florida

This is about 1/2 of those who have signed up . . . impressive, isn't it? 

To view more photos of the beads, go here. 

Thanks for your creativity and support! 

sunday goodness

Sunday morning my husband got a phone call. It was kayak Kathy, wondering where the paddle that Steven made for her granddaughter was? whoops! He had brought it to the Botanical Gardens as part of the handmade boat exhibit on Saturday and it was still in his car! No problem to run down there quick with it as the family was already at Lucas Boatworks ready to go out on the river. Below is a photo of the paddle reunited with the granddaughter. She's in a kayak handmade especially for her by her grandfather. Gorgeous!

The look on her face is probably because her grandparents were trying to get her to give up the paddle Steven made for her and she really, really did not want to!! I think she loved the purple & pink Lumiere paint job ; ) When Steven made this paddle it was estimated how long a kayak paddle for a 4 year old should be . . . and this one was a little too short. It is currently being modified.

Here is Dave Lucas checking out the paddle at the Festival where both he and Steven showed off their handmade boats. 

Top: A kid-size kayak paddle

Bottom: A mangrove canoe paddle

(Both painted with my Lumiere paint!)

Later in the afternoon, I stopped by Lucas Boatworks. Who did I find in the Tiki Hut? Seated L-R: Dave Lucas, Stan Tyrel, and my husband Steve -or crazy steve- according to Dave! He calls him that for building a schooner out of an 11 1/2ft wee lassie canoe! 

Stan built this beautiful little boat, including the sail.This is a puddle duck racer or PDR and it's a sailboat that anyone can build inexpensively in their garage. They are built for races and family fun, but you can just enjoy sailing it, as these guys did on Sunday afternoon. I took a video of Stan sailing it Sunday: http://youtu.be/NHZT_JqKfPo 

Dave Lucas is doing the commentary and there is a cameo appearance at the end by Steven!

Stan gave it a great name. Remember it is a puddle duck and he named it the "Florida Quacker"! 

Steven photographing Dave Lucas trying it out

Dave *likes* to make it tip!!!

That is Dave's wife Helen, Stan, Dave (behind Steve in the red shirt), Steven and me on the dock at Lucas Boatworks. Helen had picked up Karen Eckmeier - a quilt artist from Connecticut (!! our old home state) at the airport to do a couple of workshops at Helen's quilt guild. Karen took this photo, then sent it to me this morning labeled, "Relaxing, Florida style"  : ) 

Check  out Karen's site linked to her name above, I look forward to exploring it more. 

sunny Florida wishes to you & yours!