Thursday, October 28, 2010

A day of healing

I tried to stay off the computer yesterday, even with all the lovely comments I know you have left. I promise not to be a slacker, and visit you soon, especially if you have visited me. That's what friendship in this blogging community is all about. But for now, I am trying to stay out of this computer chair, which is ergonomic, but still not enjoyable. And today, I will be putting on my healing hat and spend the day with my art friend Kathy.

On this, the 301st day of the year, I want to show you some things I started last Saturday, while I still had all my body parts intact (or in their proper place). I played by painting a few pages. I got out some greens and blues, both in paint and Pearl-Ex powders. I also got out some 12 X 12 card stock and a pad of watercolor paper.

Here are the results of the green, all I managed to make before my back went out. It was a bit of a waste of time to get out all those other colors, just to have to return them to their homes, but hopefully I can revisit this technique in the not too distant future.

The large squares of card stock gave the best variation in shading, as did a few pages from a dictionary I keep close by for when I have more medium left than I need. I could see the watercolor paper (the 9 X 12 piece in the back) was not giving me the look I was going for, so I stopped after one sheet.

I totally spaced off the fact I left the white sheet and cheesecloth from Tuesday night's dyeing session (see previous post) in my basement. When I made my way there today, I brought these up, gave them a quick rinse and, instead of hanging them on my clothesline, which would have involved reaching above my head to hang wet fabric, I simply hung them over the rails on my front porch, which involved little bending or reaching. At the same time, I remembered the rusting pieces I had started last week. You can barely see the rust in these. I was shocked, since the last time I rusted fabric, I got awesome results in a single day. I guess the extreme heat really was the catalyst for good rust transfers. Remember, when rusting fabric, to wear gloves when handling it and rusty metal, and rinse the fabric well in baking soda and water.

I found David Hockney's web site during an internet search. Imagine my surprise when I entered his site and the first photo to appear, Pearblossom Highway, was one I had seen at the J. Paul Getty Museum during a trip to the Los Angeles (California in the US) area. Of course, when I saw it there, I had no idea who he was, or that he lived in England, or that he had also lived from 1963 to 2005 in the US. It is a stunning piece, made up of hundreds of smaller photos about the size of postcards. It is part of his "photographic collages" collection. I even found a large photo of it here. Once you see this piece on a large scale, you will never forget it. I'm sure that is true of the rest of Hockney's art. Please check out David Hockney's other art at his web site, too. You really will not be disappointed.

24 thoughtful remarks:

Sherry said...

Hi Elizabeth, wishing you a lovely day with your friend Kathy xx

Theresa Plas said...

Morning Elizabeth! Totally understand about a non computer day. Hope you enjoy your friend day and thanks for sharing another cool technique. Will check out D. Hockney!

Zue said...

Some interesting effects!!
You did the best thing in keeping off the computer...much more important to get back to normal.
Take care
sue xx

Victoria said...

Wonderful post! Happy creating and enjoy your time with your friend!
hugs and sparkles
Victoria~

Halle said...

I hope your "day off" will help! I found that the day I spent walking around a hobby store for a couple hours really helped my back! Exercise...

elle said...

Happy healing day! Great papers.

Caterina Giglio said...

good for you! get that healing hat on! xo

Maggie said...

Feel better! Keep healing!

David Hockney's Pearblossom Highway is amazing. Quite an experience to see it in person I imagine!

Have a creative day!

Maggie

Terri Kahrs said...

I know you'll fun with Kathy today. A day away from the matrix will be good for your spirit and your body!!!! Hugs, Terri oxoxoxo

Diane said...

I hope you enjoy your day--you always seem to have good ones with your friends---and I hope your back is getting back to normal!!

Esther said...

Hi - hope you have enjoyed your day and feel a bit better..I struggle with my back too so can sympathise! Thank you for your kind comments - maybe I will have a stab at a tutorial..when I can find the time that is, didn't even make it to WOYWW this week !

Take care of yourself..Esther xx

peggy gatto said...

i am a Hockney fan to and love his swimming pools!!!
Love the road painting, thanks for reminding me of his art!
Take care!

donnalouiserodgers said...

rest woman - stop that back spasming (or spamming as I called it yesterday and I am rather taken with the loveliness of the error)

Dx

Julia Dunnit said...

I agree with Doone, about spamming too! Still warm enough to use the porch for drying huh...a bit jealous really!

Unknown said...

I understand completely about your back and sitting, you poor thng please rest and feel better soon have fun with katy, all your bloggy friends will still be here when you can get back.

Love Dawn xx

Miss Kitty said...

Greetings dear Bleubeard and Elizabeth,

We are sorry to hear you have been not feeling well and certainly understand that you must pull back and take care of yourself and I am sure Bleubeard will look out after you.

As for the Getty, it is a fantastic place and I was fortunate to see the Irving Penn exhibit a year ago, he who died two months before it opened.

I wanted to ask what WOYWW stood for.

Wishing you both a wonderful weekend,
Miss Kitty and Egmont

~*~Patty S said...

a Healing Hat sounds very wise ... take good care ... you are worth waiting for! Sending healing energy your way Elizabeth
oxo

Darla said...

Thanks for the Hockney link. I found one place there with some interesting thoughts on digital art and the iPhone.

Feel better soon.

Darla

Rebeca Trevino said...

sounds like you made the right choice - spend the day with a good friend, take it easy, laugh, enjoy, get better.

Unknown said...

Here's to hoping you have a wonderful day with your friend, healing, laughing and enjoying this beautiful time of year!

Anonymous said...

Take care of your back... get a TENS unit. Put the electrodes on your back, turn it on... aaaahhhh no more pain for a while. It's the best $$ you'll have ever spent... If you have questions about it let me know... take good care my friend.

Scrapcollectr said...

E-
Sorry to hear about ur back. I hope it's something that mends itself over time... If u need a smile today, come back to my blog after 9am to see the card I'll be posting....(enticement.....lol). Other things: my shelves look worse than they are. They're some kid of heavy duty particle board that were bowed before I even used them (but I prob did make them worse-hee hee). Also, have u ever visited the blog called understandblue? She's got a great sense of humor and has a black cat like u. In fact, I just bought a stamp she sold for a charity of a large shifty-eyed black cat that is just too adorable! Anyway, have a healing day!
*smile*

Liverpool Lou (Anne) said...

I hope you're feeling a lot better now Elizabeth (Friday)
Another wonderful post from you :-) love the papers and the fabric even it doesn't have as much rust as you wanted. What's that small piece of fabric on the left?
Anne xx

Liverpool Lou (Anne) said...

Have realised after seeing the post below it's probably the cheesecloth :-)
Anne xx