Happy Beltane

Painted by Julia Jeffrey

New painting "Golden tree"

I just tried this new technique with oilpastels and acrylic paint! I had so much fun coloring all the squares and make those concentric bark patterns on the tree. 

I found this wonderful tutorial on Pinterest, and promised the artist Loretta Grayson, that if I uploaded my version to the web, I would link to her page:

 http://rettg.blogspot.dk/2011/01/tree-grows-and-paper-crane-update.html

Check it out! It was so interesting and fun. It will not be the last time I am using this technique!! 

Now I am off to bed, because I have to rise very early! 5 in the morning! Christ, that is tough for a B-person like myself! Tomorrow I will give it several coats of spray varnish to protect it! 

G´nite!

Love this information! How ro remove acrylic paint from your clothes!

When I paint, I always get paint stains on my clothes... Never really knew how to remove them ;-) Sometimes when I paint, I need to hold on to several brushes at the same time. I often hold one between my teeth too. I get stans on my clothes, on the floor, under my shoes and so on. I drop paintbrushes on the floor too. Then I found this very usefull information on Pinterest, and learnt that the magical solution is rubber alcohol:

http://claudinehellmuth.blogspot.dk/2010/01/how-to-remove-acrylic-paint-from-your.html

Painting finished: "Is there anybody in there?"

My painting is finished! I call it: "Is there anybody in there?" The large tree in the front is stretching itself to reach the other smaller tree in the background. The tree is silently standing without reaching back. Even the full moon looks distant, and silent too. 

How long will it take the tree to reack the other? 

A bit sentimental, I know.... 

I like the dark hole/cracks in the log. I always travel through cracks like that, to the underworld on shamanic drumjourneys! They are my favorite! 

As always, there are Swarovski Trillion crystals on the dark sky. The painting glitters in the evenings, just like real stars! 

What I am up to tonight!

What my daugther thinks about my paiting

Graphic line in the foreground gives more depth.... I think

Good evening! After a long and enjoyable day with my grandson, I am finally back in the studio, musing about the painting of the big city skyline:

My version

My teachers version.

I must admit, that this is not my chosen style, but the technique is quite interesting. (I am thinking about the background here, anyone can make those silhouttes in front) The way you do it, is that you put your canvas under water, and let is completely soak in. Then you add tiny amounts of acrylic paint, and bang your canvas down, quite hard, turn it aound several times, and let the paint spread around. It is also fun to use a water spray, and make the paint explode in different directions. I guarantee you, it is fun to make! If it for some reason, doesn´t work, just wash off alle the paint and start over. I had to try several times. If you look closely, you can see that my teacher´s painting is much lighter than mine. That is just a matter of personal temper and style. I like loads pf paint and colors! Pastel colors were never my cup of tea. 

Neon colors were added to make lights. Those were made with a toothbrush.

Well, I didn´t like those white stripes in front though. My teacher said, that they would add some the depth to the composition, but to me they looked like distractions. 

It took me some time to resign, but after I added them to the painting, I quite liked it! I will add a couple of Swarovski Trillion Crystals. They will twinkle like stars in the evening! 

What do you think?

"Is there anybody in there?"

I am working on a new painting, and this one is giving me some serious trouble... I allready repainted it white 3 times!

I started out with an plain idea of a tree. -An old oak tree, looking like an old hag, or perhaps Baba Yaga. I am very interested in old myths and stories about this particular archetype. Press this link for more information.
This painting was my original idea:

It was all wrong! It gave me complete wrong feeling. The background was too light, the three was out of balance and so on. My art teacher Anna Stenberg says, that one should not paint the mistakes over with white paint, but instead try to work with it, and improve your skills, while trying to make something decent out of it.... 

Well, sometimes I do that, but not today. I smeared lots and lots of paint on the canvas, and made new  patterns with it. Nothing worked. In the end, I gave up, just going back to painting the same dreamscape I allways paint: 

This is a sneak peak of the painting. I still got the tree, and it includes my favorite thing, a treehouse! On the little hill in the background, there will be another treehouse, hence the title "Is there anoybody in there?"

More tomorrow!!