Mirror Frame

I poured acrylics on an old frame yesterday, hoping to upcycle it for a framed mirror.

I loved how it turned out on Day 1 .... BUT with acrylic pouring, whilst the paint dries sufficiently over the next 24 hours, there is a nail-biting period of watching and waiting to see if the paint moves drastically from how you want it to be, to how it wants to be!

My prayer for those hours was "Please stay like this. Please stay like this. Please stay like this." LOL

This is how it was immediately I had finished pouring and manipulating the paint to where I wanted it to be.

I resisted waking up in the middle of the night to check on its progress but do admit to rushing through first thing in the morning to gawp at what had happened, or not happened, during the night.

To my delight there wasn't much movement of paint, only a sinking in and drying. Even although I had gesso-ed the surface of the frame - twice, I think - a lot of the moisture of the paint had sunk in. It ended up giving it a great look though because the grain of the wood shows through as an embossed pattern and I love it!

Here it is as dry as it can be the next morning.

Hardly any difference, just the colour fading very slightly, but I'm not worried about that. As soon as it's dry enough and "cured" enough, I'll gloss it again with a couple of coats of varnish. Voila!

My art website : https://lyndacookson.blogspot.fr/

The ePlain website : https://onlinepresenceassistant.blogspot.fr/

Colourful Days

I wonder, does anyone else see the days of the week in colour? I always have and somehow thought everyone else would too ... but it would seem not!

This is what I see when you say a day of the week to me:

Monday BLUE sometimes WHITE (mood related?)
Tuesday GREEN
Wednesday ORANGE
Thursday PURPLE
Friday A LIVELY BLUE GREY
Saturday CAMEL / BEIGE
Sunday YELLOW

Anyway, it feels like Sunday today, although it's Monday, so I'm choosing a yellowy abstract which makes me think of Sunday and my country of South Africa.

"Hot Lands"
Oil and Mixed Media on Paper
8.25" x 11.75"

"Hot Lands" by Lynda Cookson

My art website : https://lyndacookson.blogspot.fr/

The ePlan website : https://onlinepresenceassistant.blogspot.fr/

Remembering ...

Lately, after helping my son launch himself on the road to being a digital nomad, the part of me which loves brain-tickling techniques of marketing became a little too involved with other ways of earning my keep - and I almost forgot I'm an artist and that art is my passion.

In this case, depression was a good thing! I became rather down in the dumps and realised it was because I was giving less and less time to painting and playing with images. I needed to get back to beautiful things and to start getting them out in the world again.

There's no better way to start getting creative again than by choosing colours, pouring paint and making a lovely big mess ... which is exactly what I did. But now I have to wait for it all to dry because I've run out of drying space.

Never mind, I'm back to editing a blog I created some time ago about art and artists. I had published excerpts of artist profiles I wrote when I was writing for an Irish magazine from about 2004 to 2010. Now I'm completing those articles on the blog and adding loads and loads of beautiful art books for readers to drool over.

You might like to watch the progress here : https://cooksonwriting.blogspot.fr/

As usual, it wouldn't be me if I didn't add an image to this blog post. I've chosen an example of the poured acrylics I was talking about.

"Ancient Forest" by Lynda Cookson

My art website : https://lyndacookson.blogspot.fr/

My ePlan website : https://onlinepresenceassistant.blogspot.fr/

Palette Knife Painters Group Images 5 to 18 March 2018

"Fields of Gold" by Lynda Cookson

A day of admin work and writing today. I need colour and paint and images!!! Now!!! LOL

This is a new style. The first in what I hope to be a little collection. But so far there is a lot I need to tend to, to improve what I have in mind for them.

Too much blue around the edges for a start ..... hmmmmm ..... another learning curve!

"Fields of Gold" by Lynda Cookson

My websites : https://onlinepresenceassistant.blogspot.fr/

and : https://lyndacookson.blogspot.fr

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Finding and working with art galleries

I've uploaded an article on "Finding and Working with Galleries" on the home page of my ePlan promotional page. You'll find the link in the right hand sidebar, a little way down under the image of Alan outside Gallery 1608.

The article is drawn from my experiences with working with galleries and I'd really love to hear other artist's experiences too.

Please message me with your stories.

Email : lyndacookson@gmail.com

You'll find the article on this page : https://onlinepresenceassistant.blogspot.fr/

https://onlinepresenceassistant.blogspot.fr/

The ePlan

Thank you to all the folk who are joining me with the ePlan.

The ePlan sets out a system of online tools, and a routine, to help you to strengthen your Online Identity, whether you're an artist, a creative or a small business owner.

https://onlinepresenceassistant.blogspot.fr/

https://onlinepresenceassistant.blogspot.fr/

"Resist and Recover"

This is the art event in Washington DC where my painting "For Faith and Country" will be exhibited in May 2018.

My son Gary Scott, a creative writer based in Cape Town, has written poetry and text which will be exhibited alongside the 40" x 30" diptyche I have created and I am so proud to have  him working with me on the project!

Most of the work - all of it political - is likely to concentrate on the political state of America at the moment, along with some international pieces.

I am honoured to have been invited to be on of the gallery artists and have chosen to bring attention to the horrific Farm Murders in South Africa as my subject for "Resist and Recover"

More later, with an image of the painting, once the Opening Night towards the end of May has happened ....

My websites

https://lyndacookson.blogspot.fr/

and

https://onlinepresenceassistant.blogspot.fr/

A snippet

A positive for palette knife painting!

This image is a bit blurred and that's because it's a tiny fragment of a 40" x 30" diptyche I've just finished ... and I can't show you the rest of the painting until it's been exhibited at the Opening Night of a Washington DC gallery near the end of May 2018.

What I did realise though is that painting with palette knives is far more healthy than with brushes! And that's because palette knives just need wiping clean, whereas brushes need turps or something similar to clean them.

As long as I stick to palette knives, I can paint away happily in my tiny space and not worry too much about inhaling fumes.

My websites

https://onlinepresenceassistant.blogspot.fr/

and

https://lyndacookson.blogspot.fr/

"African Mood" by Lynda Cookson

After my 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge my studio space got a little messy, so a tidy-up was necessary. I found a few bits 'n bobs - as you do - and here's one of them.

It's probably my second or third watercolour painting from way back in 1998 or 1999 while I was still living not too far from Cape Town in a little village called Greyton.

"African Mood"
Watercolour on Paper
Approx. 10" x 8" (20 cm x 26 cm)

"African Mood" by Lynda Cookson

My new business website : https://onlinepresenceassistant.blogspot.fr/

Palette Knife Painters Group Images 19 February to 4 March 2018

The ePlan. Develop your social media identity

My new ePlan to assist artists and small business owners to develop and strengthen their social media identity and online presence.

https://onlinepresenceassistant.blogspot.fr/

The ePlan helps you to establish your identity as an artist or a small business owner online. New articles and updates are added as often as possible and when relevant.

Thanks to the inspirations of a group of artists here in Brittany I'm in the process of writing an article about approaching galleries to display artists' work. Thanks you guys!!

Read all about The ePlan by clicking this image ...

The ePlan

"Red Sail" by Lynda Cookson

Last day of the 30 day challenge. Thank you so much everyone out there for putting up with me on a daily basis this past month ... your lovely comments and patience have been very appreciated. I know that if I hadn't put it out there for public viewing every day, I wouldn't have learned nearly as much as I did.

Halfway through I felt quite drained with it but got past that and may even do it again on an annual basis. Who knows :-)

Painting no. 30 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge
"Red Sail"
Acrylic on Paper
5.5" x 11" (17 cm x 28 cm)

"Red Sail" by Lynda Cookson

My website : http://lyndacookson.blogspot.fr/p/30-paintings-in-30-days-challenge.html

"Umbrella Flower" by Lynda Cookson

Please click the image to see the entire painting.

Second to last day ... and after deciding that I don't want to always do a painting a day ... I'm going to miss it! Silly, I think it suits sometimes ... and not other times when I want to really get stuck into a big project. And that's the pleasure of living a seesaw life LOL

Painting no. 29 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge
"Umbrella Flower"
Oil on Paper
8.5" x 6.5" (22 cm x 16 cm)

"Umbrella Flower" by Lynda Cookson

My website : http://lyndacookson.blogspot.fr/p/30-paintings-in-30-days-challenge.html