Gloria J Zucaro's "Matisse, Cut It Out!"

Today's' Creative Jumpstart 2016 Project is instructed by Michelle Ward.   

In Matisse' older years he was in a wheelchair.  That is when he began cutting out paper shapes to use in his designs.  Michelle has implemented that idea with making her own stencils and using spray paints as you will see further down the page.  I have never made a stencil before so that was new to me, and I didn't have spray paints so used spray inks! Plus it was 29 degrees today so even in the garage, spraying would not be fun!  I made a few "Opps!" as Carolyn Dube would say, so had to modify some things along the way.  I am not totally satisfied with the end result, but since almost everything is a first in this group of lessons, I am happy to learn a lot!  I did my design on watercolor paper.  I will show you the steps below.

My "Matisse, Cut It Out!"

Stage One, deciding on a theme and cutting out the patterns for stenciling

I decided with all the curvy shapes I needed some straight pieces.

Placement

Start to spray.  The pieces began to curl so I had to put bottles of ink on top to hold them down.

I soon learned that less is better!  But now I have a solid dark Koi fish and a pretty lighter colored one.  I decided to outline the darker images.  But I didn't like the gold pen I chose. "OPPS!"  

So then I decided to use Stickles glitter paint, but what color, what color???  I finally decided on purple.  The final painting...

Here below are a Matisse example and Michelle Ward's final pieces.

A Matisse Original

Michelle's

Boy, I am sweating it!  This was quite a bit of work !  Hope to see you back here tomorrow.

Gloria

Gloria J Zucaro's "The Palette Knife & The Weather"

I loved a palette knife floral that Ann Feldman did a couple of months ago and asked her when she would be teaching another class for palette knife. She didn't have any until Spring she said, but would do a special one if I could get enough people.  So I rounded up artist friends and all nine of us had a great day with Ann. 

Ann did a landscape demo first thing in the morning and gave us a photo as a reference for our painting after the demo.

This week I touched up my two oil paintings I had done with Ann in her workshop.

Below is my landscape using the reference.  We drew a rough outline in paint with a small brush first, then started our painting with the palette knife.

10" x 8" on canvas sheet.

After lunch, Ann and I set-up three still life florals for the artists to choose from.  I had brought all the vases and flowers to use for the still life.  Ann did another demo and then we started painting our own florals from whichever set-up we chose.

My choice to paint.

10" x 8" on Canvas sheet.

As far as the weather...considering the dilemma in Buffalo, New York we are extremely lucky in Chicago.  Here are a couple of photos of our first little dusting of snow.  One at night when it was first falling, and one the nest day from my kitchen window.

The back yard (click on photo to see more clearly)

And finally here is my new fish tank on the chalk painted(and loaded with three coats of hand-applied wax!)table.

Real plants and two fish.  A Fancy-Tail Goldfish and a small Koi.

Did you know you should only put one inch of fish for each gallon of water?  So I have about 6" of fish in a ten gallon tank.  In a year I will need a 20 gallon tank!

I am linking this post to Paint Party Friday, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.Pinterest

Gloria J Zucaro's "Goin' With The Flow"

"Things that inspire" is our prompt this week from Jennifer Mclean at The Artist's Playroom  

Well, color in nature, sunsets and sunrises.  
Storm clouds, dark and menacing.  
Butterflies and dragonflies, flitting by.  
Chipmunks...Now be nice!  They are very cute little guys!  
Newborns and two-years old's!  I love seeing their personalities develop. 
Panoramic views of untouched meadows and mountains.  
I love beautifully landscaped ponds and the exotic butterfly Koi and fancy tail goldfish. 
I love the wind on a stormy day and also a slightly warm breeze on a Summer day with temperatures no higher than 73! 
Sunshine and shadow always appeal as do many vibrant colors in my pastels and oil paints.  

New, New, New!  Learning about some new technique, art form or product is always inspirational. I think that is why I enjoy all the websites and blogs I get to visit when I participate in challenges and see what other artists are doing..  You are always learning.   Here is my entry.  Click to enlarge image for better detail 

9"H x 12"W Soft Pastel on Sanded Paper

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