How cool to use some paint again!

 Early this morning I was ready to paint. 

 

My first try on the new theme is this one. It's made on a small sheet and the first I learned was to be sure to have enough space. What I was aiming for was forms that didn't mean anything special, but who can avoid  seeing that this one looks like a creature in some ways?
The first thing that caught my eyes was the "collar", the wavy line over a shoulder. I didn't want to make anything familiar and I think I did avoid that.

I used water colors and WS crayons along with black, white and brownish  pens. Below you see my starting point.

 The final result is something between nothing and too much. Too much if I wanted it to be a simple expression, and nothing if I would like it to be a fully detailed work. In any case it has to be MY expression. I can feel that this week will be challenging, but hopfully it will learn me a whole lot too.

33/50

 When I start using pens I saw that I needed to fill in some more color so I did that some places. I'm so eager to see what I can do within this consept. I will try to show you before and after photos if I only remember to photograph enough. Usually I get so caught up in the situation that I forget the photo.

Last day making spirals.

This one represent all of us.

I had a hard time figuring out what to make as my last piece in this theme, until fellow bloggers gave me the idea. They told me that they love the spiral and I thought, YES, don't we all! At least those of us who are making art in some way. I'm quite sure we all use the spiral in some way or other in our artpieces no matter what material we use.

No. 32/50

I recon you all know about the tool used in rythmic sports gym, the stick with a long ribbon fasten to it. Imagine me, standing in Norway, waving that stick so hard that the ribbon surrounds the clode some times. Just as you see in my piece. You can't see me though since I'm hidden behind the ribbon. ( laughing) The ribbon itself is todays spiral and the background represent the tapestry of life in which we all are warps.

This has been a fabulous week and a great theme to work within, but it's also nice to change and start something new.
Next week, starting tomorrow, I'll work with paint blobs, trying to make simple forms using just enough detailwork to underline.( Not sure I can do that since I love details )
 To give you a clue of what I'm thinking of, have a look here. Click to view more images.  I'm so inspired by her work but I'll have to do my own expressions though.
  Join me if you want. In any case I want to thank you all for stopping by and to those of you who take the time to comment, thank you very VERY much, it's so inspiring!!

Have a good day and enjoy what you're doing!

Do you still use one of these?

 Today I felt uninspired and it shows too. 

 

 My hand whisk is still quite much in use. This one is made of steel  and I have one made in plastic too. They are great tools and easy to use with much less fuss than a mixer. I even own one of the old fashioned hand mixers, but I don't use it.
I have been asking friends over the week what kind of spirals they use in their daily life and without exceptions nobody understood what I ment. Perhaps not too strange, easier for me that have been thinking of it the whole week.

ARRRRRGH...............I can't believe it, I had a phonecall right now. A man, speeking bad english, told me that my computer was filled to the brim with viruses. " Just keep calm madam, sit down in front of your computer and I'll show you what the problem is"........bla bla bla. I wished him a good day and hung up. We've been warned about this type of calls and today it was me they tried to trick.
Luckily I read about it resently so it was all familiar to me, besides I have good protection when it comes to my computer. DON'T BOTHER TO TRY THAT AGAIN !

Tomorrow I'll show you a piece quite different from the ones I have made this week.
Enjoy your day!!

At least one in every home.

I think todays spiral is well known all over the world.

I have several myself, but I don't like to write or draw in them. The spiral always comes in my way. This way of assambling papers is a fairly old one but the spirals are much more fancy today, or can be. I have seen alot of people that have their own equipment to make spiral bound books, that of course, gives them the opportunety to make something very personal.

I prefer to handsew my homemade books to avoid the spiral. Perhaps mine won't be as solid as the ones done with a spiral, but I can accept that. It's a good thing we're all different. The one I had as inspiration is one I use for sketching. The papers are a little rough so painting onto them doesn't work well.
Now it's harvest time, I'm off to pick the onions today.
Wish you all the best.

A Confession.

This one isn't excactly a spiral but spiral like.

 What relation do you have to fences like this? Just looking at my painting makes me recognice that dreadful anxiety.
As children my friends and I knew of a fruitgarden were we would help ourselves to pick fruits. Stealing, just to mention it by it's real name. I was far too afraid to enter the garden, so I always voluntary suggested to be the alarmer, outside the fence, if anyone came. That way I could run like mad if needed, and I was a very fast runner. The truth is that I was a fraidycat. I have to smile while thinking of it, I'm sure if we'd asked we would be allowed to pick as much fruit as we wanted to. Sometimes my brother and I polished some copper coins, until they were shining. On these occations we knocked the door and asked to buy some fruits. We left loaded with goodies. These fences always reminds me of my childhood and what we were up to.

When hiking or biking I still see this kind of fences in use.

 Tomorrow I'll show you a much more friendly spiral, until then.

Old tool still in use

 This is one of the tools, still in use, that is a pure spiral. I bet all of you have one or other relation to this one.
There are schrews, of course, but I have no need to paint that now that I made this one. I can't stop thinking of how clever they were to even think of using a spiral for this purpose.( Very smart though) This tool is so simple yet very effective.
Right now I love these simple expressions, airy and clean. Next week I'll make something a bit more colorful though. I've already decide on what to do, and if anyone should feel like joining in they are welcome to do so. Let me know and I'll link you in my post.
Next subject will be revealed coming Thursday.
I have chosen what to do for the rest of this week, the last thing came to me last night.
Tomorrow I'll show you a scary one.
Have the most beautiful Sunday!

Old form in a modern way.

 Todays spiral is a silver broche I once saw. The spiral holds a ruby in the center and is ment for threading directly onto a knitted jacket or top. Isn't it a simple yet beautiful design. It's made by a Norwegian silversmith and I can't remember her name.
 This spiral-form were much used in clocks and doorlocks, but new designs has overtaken. The broch shows a new way of using an old form, which I really like.
There is something calming with this spiral form, even and round over and over again.
There has been questions on what I will do with all these small paintings. First of all I learn from making them and that's good enough for me. I will probably frame some of them and use them in some way or other.

Tomorrow I'll make another one.

New subject today

Spirals, do we still use them?

I can't believe how much I looked forward to start something new. I have enjoyed making each one of my cups, but now I feel as free as ever before. Todays work was done without any thoughts for the rest of the week, but it made me think of things from way back. And the result is that I will make something "spiral-like" the next seven days. After that I'll choose another subject.

 Have you ever thought of the spiral and how we use it? Many times, as a child, I was facinated when letting the water out of the sink to see the spiral that appeared. I put my finger into it to feel it's power. I even thought of how wonderful it would have been if someone "pulled the cork" out of the ocean. What a great spiral that would be. Well I didn't consider the consequence of such an act, I just had the enthusiasm of a child.

The snail and it's shadow.

Nowadays most of the old use of spirals are gone but we still have them. I don't think of spirals in nature as in my piece today, more like items we use. If we still use them.
How many "spiral-like" things do you use in your daily life?

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Have you ever seen a black and yellow Zebra?

These will be my last cups. 

25 is enough, my next 25 paintings will be something else. I don't know what, but I'm certain something will be done. Right now I feel I should choose another subject, but then again it would be nice to just feel the day and see what it brings. I'll see.

My cup no.20 is what we call a traditional hiking-cup. Nice to fasten to the backpack so it's easy to find it and have some water from a mountain stream. It's made from wood. This one in particular has a Viking design and has been richly awarded for good design.

No. 21 is the yellow Zebra cup. I fell for this one the minute I saw it. It's really something of it's own. Who would think of using the tail as the handle? Well, Torun Lønaas did, she's the designer and produser of this special cup. I would love to own one of these.

No.22 is another rare cup. The designer, Mette Fjørtoft, combined black clay and an orange rubber tube as handle. I do not own one so I can't tell how it works. She should be awarded for not beeing afraid of new combos.

No.23 is another different cup. Anita Duun Lorentzen (designer) tells that this cup was inspired from her Grandma's fine china. The roses and gold details do remind us of old caffee sets, but used together with clay it renews it all. Traditions in new ways, I like that. This cup has been richly awarded too.

No.24 isn't special except the dots. The background however gave me some new ideas. I'll have to work more on that.

My last cup, no.25, is designed by Anita Duun Lorentzen too. Bottom wide and top tight, the opposit of  so called normal form. It has been fun making all these cups and now I'm looking forward doing something else.

I hope you have creative days too.

Exehibition 2011.

I didn't show you the best pieces from the exhibition last year.
When I first entered this room I felt like I was entering an artjournal. I have been thinking of this ever since and it seems clear that this art-form is much inspired from journaling or the other way around.
It's fantastic what the artists could do using spraypaint. In this room they used some other stuff too, but the painting is done using spraypaint.

The photos need no words, they tell themselves.

I'm amazed how talented people are. Look at the eyes in the last photo, isn't that unbelievable? I hope you can find some sort of inspiration here, like I do.
Have a good day!

It's not that I have too little time...

Because of  other exciting stuff I forgot to post my cups Wednesday. I'll have to do it now because this weekend Sandra will be here and I won't have the time then. I'm still making my daily cups and I still enjoy it. I have been thinking to stop with 25 cups though. Perhaps it's time to make something else, I'm not sure of this so time will show. My cup no. 15 was originally a child's cup, but something happened while drawing it and I chose to keep it that way.

No.16
This is a cup on it's way to a second hand store. I borrowed it to paint it before leaving.

 No 17.
This "cup" is one from a set I have. It's a pottery set I use each Christmas. My painting isn't good at all here but there is something charming  about it after all. Because of it's rough nature I chose to use mollding paste on top of my "canvas". It works well I think.

No. 18
This cup belongs to my sister and her collection. Originally it's a tiny cup, but I drew it as a normal sized cup. All the black lines in the top border should have been gold, but it was much more easy to use the black pen.

Today's cup, no. 19, is one of my favorites. It's a pottery cup, and I used some paste on this one too.

All my cups together. That's the most fun thing, when one have a lot of them in a series they seem to create something more. If I framed all of them I'm quite sure people would look at them with a smile on their face. Series have that impact I believe.

What's on your desk right now?

Cups, cups and more cups.

I'm glad the Olympics is over now. I've not spent much time watching it, but a little and it has disturbed my daily work. Now things can get back to normal.
I still want to make some simple art, but it's so hard. I will keep trying though and perhaps I can make something to show off.
My cup no.11 belongs to a blogging friend. I fell for this one the minute I saw it. I found a suitable fabric, and there it is. The Queen cup.

Do you find it easy to make simple art? A couple of colours and details close to nothing. What I admire the most is the simplicity, the clean feeling and the greatness of the simple artpiece. I wonder if I can ever make one like that. 
No.12 is one from my sisters collection. The whole cup is heart- shaped. My painting doesn't show that as good as I wanted it to do, but I hope you can see it.

Awhile back Hanna Anderson (ihanna) shared some inspiration and one of her inspirational blogs were this one. 
She makes the most beautiful art, simple and with great impact. I really admire what she does. Have a look and see yourself!
No.13 is what I call a cabin cup. Simple and with a touch of the 70's.

 No.14 is from my sister too. What made me choose to paint this one was a blog I'm reading at the moment. It's a cool blog with cool people and it inspires me alot. Have a look here and see if it inspires you too.

I wasn't able to paint this cup as it is. The handle is one whole piece and the cup is kind of squared. I think it was inspired from Spain with the Flamenco dancer.

That's all for now, tomorrow is a new week. Take good care everyone!

Very interesting work.

Besides making my daily cups,
I'm digging in old family history and the history of the town in which I live. It's very interesting work and I've found some ( several) surprises. Originally it was my Great Granmother I was trying to figure out, but now I've found enough to fill up a book or two. At the same time I've found it interesting to read about how Bryne developed as the center of our county. How it was when my GG grew up. I promise, she would be surprised on how it is today.

It's very easy these days to find all the old written stuff about our relatives. Most church books are scanned and free to use from the archives. Below you see all that handwritten papers, it's birth sertificates and all that kind of stuff. The sketch in the book shows the very first "shop" in Bryne.  (1878) The owner had returned from America and was familiar to how the railroad developed the growt around the station.

In between the reading and digging I've made some paintings. I've always admired those who can make a very simple painting with a tiny bit of detailing and make it look great. You know, according to LESS IS MORE. That's waht I tried with the painting below. When all the painting (water colours) was done it was too much, so I filled it up. I will try over again though. Perhaps if I get bored of my cups, I can continue with simple paintings.

That's how I spend my days right now, and I find it very interesting.

Still making my daily cups.

This has been such a fun challenge. Even though my cups may seem the same ( the way I made them), I have much fun choosing the right fabric and get it to look like I want it to. What I'll show you today is three very different cups.

My eight cup is one I never liked and in fact I put it aside and didn't plan to use it in my project. BUT when I had a close look at it some beautiful details appeared and now this is one of my favorite paintings in the whole project so far. Have a look yourself. Remember to enlarge the photo.

No.9  This is originally a tiny cup. My sister is a cup collector and I was allowed to photograph some in her collection. I fell for this one because of its rounded shape.
As I often say: I'm in perfect shape.....round is a shape eh???? 

If I was to choose over again I would have made the fabric part a bit larger. Often I feel that what I see when I choose the fabric doesn't show as much when finished.

No.10  This was my grandparents tea set. I love the copper details and the beautiful green colour. My background colour could have been different but, this was the shade my hand grabbed. I'm working using my feelings at the moment and this painting was perhaps not my best.
I have to say though that in this photo I used a flashlight to let the copper details show off, the background colour is overexposed here. In person it looks a bit better.

I was lucky enough to receive some photos from a blogging friend and one of her cups really spoke to me. I have an idea on what to do with that one, I just hope it will turn out as I imagine.
Otherwise I'll recommend you to try working in series. The theme is set so one don't need to use energy on figuring out what to do, the energy is spent on new ideas. It's a great way to work!

From the middle of all the cups I wish you all the best!

Four more cups.

It has been a fun week. I have enjoyed making these daily cups and I'm seeking new ones all the time. I do not know the excact number of cups I've got so far, but it isn't few, so I can continue another week making cups. If I get bored of making cups I might find another theme to work on.
My fourth cup is one that once belonged to my great Grandma. It's made in Japan and she probably got this set from one of her sons that were sailors. This cup were never one of my favs, but it's different and I chose to paint it.

No.5 is another one of my favorite morning cups. This cup was handmade in Shetland and I got it as a present from a friend.

No.6 This is an interesting cup. It's beautiful in it's own way. I'm sure this set was "Sunday use only" for the people who owned them. Look at the handle, big enough to fit a mans finger. That's rare. This cup was shared from a friend.

No.7 is my strawberry cups. I made this one in a hurry and it shows. Nevertheless I like it.

Otherwise I'm digging in family history these days. I have a very interesting Great Grandmother I'm trying to get to know better.
I hope you have great times too!

So far so good.

Day 3/ 50

This challenge generates more than a series of cups. New ideas keeps coming all the time and for once I write them all down. I've made my third cup-painting and I still want to continue after the one a day is finished. Normally I'm a morningbird (06.00 AM), now I'm so looking forward to the cup-painting that I'm out of bed even earlier than normal.
 I don't bother too much if my paintings are a little out of shape. That only gives them a little more personality.
The first one you've already seen, it's for the moment my favorite morning coffee cup. As you see it's a bit out of shape and I kind of like it.

My second cup is a special one. When we bought this house, handyman found its plate hidden beneath a floor in the outhouse. It's locally made and later on I got to see the whole tea set. My sister in law did inherit it from an old relative. I've made my cup using the small plate as inspiration so it may be wrong compared with the real ones. That doesn't matter to me, I will make many cups that aren't excactly as the originales ones. I chose to add a teaspoon to this one. I have to do them a little different, otherwise I'm afraid I will get tired of the whole thing.

This is a special one too. One can see the end of a word, FAR ( father). This cup belonged to my Grandfather. Now it lives with me and I often use for flowers or small plants. Since this particular cup was a "male" one, I chose to keep the colours to a minimum. Actually all design elements are made in gold, but I felt I needed a tiny bit of colour. What do you think?

I'll probably make a couple of posts each week about this challenge. I'm thinking of Wednesdays and Sundays but time will show.

What's on your desk these days?