Mixed Media=canvas+paint+old book pages

Who knew mixed media could be so much fun to do? Probably almost everyone but me. I love old books, don't you? I have tried painting in old books but I hear the librarian shouting in my ear, "we do not write in books!  I am going to call your mother."

Draw first, paint, add neo crayon details. 

When I pasted the old book pages onto a canvas using Modpodge for glue and got out my brushes and paint, the librarian stopped shouting. 

I've painted on these canvas+pages with acrylic paint, gouache, watercolor and neo color crayon. Acrylic paint comes out the brightest and thickest, but the other paints do work too.  

Drawing with Caran d'Ache Neo Crayons on the pages works really well especially for the fine details.  

The best thing of all about this project was when I taught it this past Sat. at the community college, everyone enjoyed the process and made something unique to them. 

Definitely try this at home! 

Acrylic Paint, Old Books and Me

I am working on a painting using old book pages pasted on a canvas. I will be teaching how to create on old book pages next Sat. At Miracosta College in Encinitas. From 9-12.  

I encourage you to try this, its a lot of fun. 

Beach is on My Mind

We had summertime like weather here in San Diego this past weekend. I was in my studio instead of at the beach.  I did find time to make a watercolor painting on a pad of watercolor paper I found tucked away in a corner of my studio "for a sunny day". 

Is this a sunrise or a sunset? 

Nice size block of hot pressed wc paper

How to Choose Your Sketchbook

I wasn't looking for a new portable sketchbook when I found the one pictured in the photo below at San Clemente Art Supply Store.   I have been content using Moleskine watercolor sketchbooks that I carry with me to sketch anywhere. 

What made me stray from the Moleskine and buy this new sketchbook? I liked the sketchbooks size, it's light weight cover, its paper quality (strong enough for watercolor painting), and it's stitched binding so you can paint across the pages.

Ollie and my new favorite sketchbook

Portable Painting Supplies

Have you thought about using polymerclay to make palettes in Altoids tins to hold watercolor paint? It's easy to do and there are tons of instructions online to teach you how. I bought white polymer clay, stuck it in the bottom of the tin and pressed a pencil end into it to make wells to fill with paint. You cook it in the oven for 30 minutes on 275. Then I painted it with some acrylic glaze and let it dry. Then I filled it with paint. 

The palette worked well! I am now thinking of more ideas for containers to hold portable palette. Do you have any suggestions?

It's Not Just About Me

Have you heard the old joke line, "Enough about me, what do you think of me? In order for me to be a diminished person in 2016, I need to diminish my self centered tendencies and focus on you and your needs.  

So what do you need from me and this blog? What would help you make art happily and successfully? If you can send me your needs in the comment section at the bottom of this page than I can study them and figure out how to teach you what you need.

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This is a painting I did for a book I wrote about animals who will decorate your house for you.  I am thinking of self publishing it, would you buy it?

We Need to Make This Painting Box Watch for Ourselves to Get More Painting Done

I found this device on an Koosjekoene's Instagram site this morning . She even shows a diagram of how its made. 

Shocking News About the Cave Painting Artists

n the course of my research for my upcoming  Springtime workshop in the Dordogne region of France, I came upon  an article on the National Geographic website that made my mind boggle.

It was widely believed  and accepted that no one really knows the reason why  prehistoric man painted in the cool underground caves discovered in certain regions of France and Spain.  As I have mentioned before, the cave walls are full of images of horses, bisons, deer as well as handprints. Yes, stenciled handprints!   I visited Peche Merle and was amazed that  you can walk right up to the painted walls and study them while standing only 2 feet in front of them.  I have always wanted to go back and see more of these cave paintings.  That is part of the reason I am traveling to teach a workshop in the Dordogne region this April 25th-May 9th. 

Speculations as to reasons why the prehistoric people painted these paintings included magic, spiritual practices, to insure a good hunting season and I reasoned that they might have been graffiti painted on the walls by the local teenage boys on Saturday nights.

It turns out I wasn't too far off. Some researchers do believe adolescences may have painted some of these paintings. More shocking than the theory of the teenage painters is the new theory that the hands probably belonged to and were painted by women! Here is the link to the article with the new theories about the cave painters.    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131008-women-handprints-oldest-neolithic-cave-art/

I still have a few spots left open on my Spring trip in case you are interested in seeing the cave paintings, exploring the Dordogne and painting in Normandy and Monet's Garden.  email me for info at anywhereart4u@gmail.com or check out the Europe Trips Page/France on this website.

Messing Around Painting Succulents

Below is a succulent painted tonight. Its not finished. I got carried away by the colors and started to try out putting colors next to other colors rather than painting the actual colors. I had a grand time.

Practicing Painting Succulents

Painting Succulents & Cacti in San Clemente,

Jan. 30 & 31 at San Clemente Art Supply

In a few weeks I am going to teach a workshop on how to paint succulents and cacti .  There are so many varieties of succulents that I thought it might be a good idea to buy a variety of them. Today I am drawing and painting so I can develop some tips for my students to help them draw and paint them without pain.  By pain, I don't mean the physical pain of pricking yourself on a cacti sticker, I mean the emotional pain we all go through when we are striving to learn something new.  Of course, I now know for sure, that some of the learning pain can be diminished when we lower our expectations and allow ourselves to make less then perfect paintings, right?

 You can register online:  http://www.scartsupply.com/how-to-watercolor-succulents-and-cacti

Have Some Tea and Color with Me.

On these winter days, are you drinking tea? What kind? Green? Sleepytime? Herbal? Earl Grey, or ? Here's an opportunity to color your tea and have some cookies calorie free.  Or should I dare say with diminished calories? How far can I go with this "diminished thing until you're groaning and no longer laughing?  Please let me know...

How Are Your Lowered Expectations Doing Thus Far in 2016?

I am really enjoying under achieving.  Since I've diminished my expectations I have gotten a lot more done.  Take for instance my blog posts.  I usually have quite high standards for what I post.  I feel a responsibility to educate, amuse and inspire my readers. Does this responsibility create good blog posts? I think it creates less frequent blog posts because I tend not to write a post unless I feel I have something incredibly useful to tell you.

Now that I have diminished my sense of responsibility I think I can write more posts imperfectly. if you will still read them.

I have wanted to post this photo since I took it in October at the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy. I was embarrassed to admit to you that I was really looking forward to visiting the Pitti Palace,( where the Medicis once lived,) to see among other things, Napoleon's bathroom.  Now that I have a new attitude, I am sharing the picture with you.  What do you think of his bathroom? It's nice, but not so hot,  I guess I should have not had such high expectations for his bathroom.  However, I did read that he formulated plans for the battle of Waterloo while soaking in the tub.

I really believe in traveling so that we can learn about people, places and art.  Isn't it helpful for you to learn that Napoleon actually soaked in a bathtub? Imagine the possibilities...  Please let me know how lowering your achievement standards is working for you, or whatever else you chose to do?

Color My Drawing Now!

Yesterday, we talked about downsizing your goals for the New Year. How's that working for you? My word "diminish" is helping me more then I expected it to.  I looked at the piles of papers I need to finish filing in my studio/office and I said to myself, "I can diminish these files."  Since my expectations on this filing task were set very low, I did not strive to be a filing over achiever and expect myself to get everything filed in one afternoon. So, some filing actually got done which is a miracle in my book because I would almost rather do anything else but file. 

Which leads us to the drawing posted below.  Its for you to print out and color. If you are one of those people who cannot find time to do art, then re read the title of this blog post and see if it motivates you to color this or something else. I am experimenting with using an alpha authoritarian voice to see if that makes people (and beagles) follow through on what I ask them.  So far, the beagles are ignoring me as well as other family members...

How does diminish relate to the drawing below? Well, I didn't draw it fresh today for this blog post.  I pulled it out of a file of coloring book pages I submitted to a publisher awhile ago. So, I think I diminished my drawing for the day one way or another....

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Don't Set High Goals for Yourself in 2016

Have you listed your self improvement goals for 2016 yet?  My advice is to set very low goals for yourself this year. Have you chosen a word to guide you through the new year yet?  Many blogs I read this morning advised choosing one word to inspire you.  After much thought I chose the word diminish. I considered slacken, lessen, reduce and imperfect, but diminish won out as my guiding concept. 

I found research that backs up my choice of word in a used Oprah magazine.  I found it in the free pile at the Encinitas library. Randomly paging through the magazine I discovered an article that quotes psychologist Roy Baumeister, PhD, coauthor of the book Willpower.  Baumeister advises setting the lowest goal you can feel good about then try to exceed it at much as possible. Roy feels that succeeding at lower goals instead of failing at higher goals is good for you if I got the main idea correctly. 

How does this low goal setting relate to you and your interest in painting and drawing? We have tried to find time for you to fit drawing and painting into your busy lives, right? Some of you tried simplifying your supplies and attending my online class and that worked. However, I still hear from many people that they can't fit art making into their busy lives.  So my advice to you, try diminishing your goals and expectations. 

Wanderlust, Watercolor Memories, Pre Historic Cave Paintings and Monet's Garden

Did you know that no one is certain of the reasons why the prehistoric artists painted on the  cave walls in the Dordogne region of France? Would you like to walk through the caves and view the painted bisons, reindeer, horses and mammoths up close?  I promise you will be amazed and inspired by the history and craftsmanship of these Cro Magnon painters.

These are some of the images you will see on the walls of the caves in Southern France

If you would like to visit the Dordogne region and visit some of the caves with me, I would like to have your company.

My Spring April 25-May 9, 2016 Watercolor Journaling workshop will begin with a train ride to Giverny, where we will spend 5 days, visiting and painting in Monet's Garden and touring some of the other lovely small towns in the Normandy region including the towns of Rouen, Vernon and Auvers Sur Oise where Van Gogh spent his last 70 days painting.

 Then we will take the train to the town of Sarlat, which is centrally located for visiting the caves, as well as close to the other delights of this region including castles, chateaux,  rivers (care to kayak anyone?), markets, and more. We will spend 9 days exploring the Dordogne region and painting daily journal style. The cost for this two week workshop is $4,500. and includes lodging, transportation, breakfasts, daily art instruction and more. It does not include airfare.  For more info, please email me at anywhereart4u@gmail.com

Painting Inspirations for 2016 and beyond...

I thought you might want some inspiration to continue painting in 2016.  Everyone needs some inspiration now and then, or at least I know I do.  I wish you a very happy, healthy new year, and much good health, good painting and good life in 2016. Please stay in touch, Barbara

The  website addresses are wrong on the card on the bottom right. My website is now www.barbararothanywhereart.com 

Up Cycled CreAtioNs

Good news for women who want to use power tools and have a spot in the garage (could it be called a girl cave or girl nook?). I have claimed a corner in our garage from the boys and am painting, hammering and drilling to my heart's content. 

My corner of the garage, my " Girl Nook". 

What am I making, you ask? I am remaking a lot of stuff actually. I am making prints of my original watercolor paintings and framing them in old frames with new paint to compliment the painting. Plus I am furiously paintings signs, chalkboards, earrings and suitcases as well. Do not get in my way or I will cover you with a fresh coat of paint.

The reason I am making up cycled creations is to fill my 3rd of a booth my friends Merrian, the furniture painter and Gayle, the jeweler have rented in the Carlsbad Antique Mall in Carlsbad Village on State Street. 

We decided it was time to test the retail market with our wares. We are all sensitive and shy artists and hate the thought of marketing our art.  However,  together we are brave and willing to risk rejection or success or both.  

Repainted metal suitcase with chalkboard. 

Hand painted cat beware sign on fence wood. 

Print in old vintage frame. 

Art Therapy

I have no scholastic training in art therapy.  I do have a very active imagination. Do not ask me to interpret  the meaning behind your painting, of course I could make something up...

I do have a bit of training in a kind of painting that is therapeutic for me. I call painting therapeutic subjects, ___________ painting.  

When I am stressed I paint a location that I might want to escape to, like a Tuscan villa or a yurt.  

Can you help me come up for a name for this type of painting? Do you ever try this?