Oddly Shaped Paintings

Paintings can come in all shapes and sizes, square, rectangle, circle or even trapezoid (have yet to see that one but how cool would that be?!). I worked on two small paintings in the past few months and they were definitely not the usual kind.

The first one was on a random scrap piece of wood I found somewhere. I never seem to remember where I pick up these random pieces but I certainly do enjoy hoarding wood apparently. There were actually identical twin pieces of wood that I originally planned to do some kind of diptych so I white washed them with some gesso. I ended up changing my plan mid way through and using one piece to create a string art PacMan piece for my brother's Christmas gift..which of course I don't think I have any pictures of. So sad. The other twin piece I decided I wanted to paint a Japanese-esque blossom tree with a bit of my own style and taste added in. Ever since I was little, I have always had a fascination of tree roots, so I always seem to have them visible..go ahead and psycho-analyze me..you know you want to.

I like to keep things simple but I was rather proud of how the trunk turned out..until I basically covered it with the blossoms. Ah well. tis art. This was painted actually before the other painting I posted last, the Everlasting one (apparently I was on a tree kick). That's an important fact to know because that means this is the first painting I had done..probably in years. I used to paint quite a bit but then school, busy, lazy etc. You know how it is I'm sure.

But do you want to know the best part about this piece?! The location I put it in. I currently live in an apartment. There is an awkward sliver of wall between the bedroom door and the bathroom door. This piece, which measures 3.5 x 13.25 inches, fits perfectly between the two (you can see parts of the two door frames in right photograph).

Now, I don't know if its human nature or the OCD designer/artist inside of me, but there is something completely satisfying when something fits just perfectly where you want it to go. You know exactly what I'm talking about. When that book just fits on the shelf, when you can perfectly fit your foot between two slats on a fence or when you go to sit between two people and there is just enough space for you and you alone.  Ahhhhhh almost like the universe aligned at the one second when you needed it to.
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The other piece that I painted around the same time as this one was on a record (or vinyl depending on how hipster you are feeling today). I picked this one up at a garage sale one day because I thought that color was interesting and unique. Unlike most gray/black records, this one was blue. Sweet, right? I thought it would be a good fit for a night sky painting because then I could use the blue of the vinyl to compliment the sky in the piece I was painting.

This is definitely one of those pieces that looks better from a distance than up close..because up close, it just look like a bunch of white dots on a blue background. From a distance I think you can see the fact more that its a moon with stars. The way I hung this painting (which is in my kitchen btdubs, hence the oven mitts) was with a single thumbtack in the center. This makes it kind of fun because that means I can spin the painting..almost like the moon and stars are rotating as if they would appear in the actual sky (although in real life, we are the ones rotating..not the stars...but you should already know that if you had any experience with astronomy in school).

I might continue painting on records in the future. Buy them at garage sales and paint them. I like that idea. One of the purposes of art after all is to give new life to things that would have none otherwise. =^.^=

Everlasting

What happens when you obtain a new job, a boyfriend and move basically all at the same time? That's right, you get busy and have a bit less free time. Or in this case...less time to blog. I just checked the last time I put up a blog...literally November last year and now its March. Maaaaaaaaan. Gotta get this happening again.

Although I have been kinda busy to blog, I have not been any less creative. I've done several new paintings, some interior decorating (new apartment and all) and even started knitting again. Or at least...trying to knit. Still in the learning process.

Remember those banana paper squares that I had done a few projects on? Well, I got hold of some more and decided to do something larger scale. I also had a blank space on my wall that was driving me crazy so the fit was just perfect.

The concept for this piece was inspired by the squares themselves. individuals creating one. The idea of a tree was persistent in my mind, so I ran with the idea of a tree during the different season of the year. Or...rather the different stereotypical seasons as here in California, we pretty much get the same thing year round. Yay us. SO I painted this tree so that different squares were different seasons. Ironically the season that I thought would be easiest to paint, fall, was the most difficult for me. I guess because I didn't want to use colors that were too bright and it ended up just looking kinda brown. oops.

The word "Everlasting" is placed along the base of the tree. It represents how through everything the tree still exists. Yea, sure the tree will die eventually but it sure puts up with a hell of a lot of crap before it gets to that point.

Overall I really enjoyed how the painting turned out. Lining everything up between the squares was not difficult at all since I drew the piece as a whole then painted each square separately. The only issue with this piece is that I have no idea how to hang it all up without punching a bunch of tack holes into the wall. I got it to hang up for literally a couple of minutes, just enough time to quickly snap a picture with my phone before pieces started to fall...so sad.

This is the largest painting I have ever done. Each square is maybe...6x6 inches? I really enjoyed it though, maybe I should work on more large pieces. The problem with creating large art though it having a place to put or hang it. Being the creative person I am, wall real estate is a hot commodity and rarely available. Whatevs. Art for arts sake..right? 

Monday's Melodies-The Script

This week I want to bring to your creative mind's attention a band called The Script. I had not heard of them a few months back even though I was familiar with a couple of their songs already. Their music is just so unique and catchy. I have Pandora to thank for bringing this band to my attention. In fact....Pandora is one of the few places where I do learn about new bands....  

I loved their album artwork for No Sound Without Silence (which is the background for the second video posted). The colors against the black make it pop and the fact that the faces are more defined towards the mouth illustrates how a kiss can be...electric. The lines also remind me of the nervous system which again...we have a lot of nerves in our mouth and face. Whoever did this illustration did it beautifully. Sometimes I get excited when one of The Script's songs comes on my Pandora because that means i can look at the cover. Hahaha....ok I admit Im weird. But hey...I just love a good piece to go with some good music!

The Silver Dress

There is so much sewing for me to do. yiiiiikes. but I started tackling my massive pile of projects with a silver dress. Actually....this dress wasn't even on my pile of projects but I was going back and forth of whether or not I wanted to keep it as a dress..... anyways...

This dress was a 3/4 sleeve sweater dress with small shoulder pads. It went down to about my knees and I just did not like how it was making my silhouette look so I decided it would be of better use to me as a shirt and a skirt instead. Sooooooo much better

The first step is to try on the dress and figure out exactly how long I wanted my shirt to be (the skirt...spoilers alert... was actually an added bonus with the leftover materials.) Because the sweater dress actually had some ribbing in the fabric it was easy to cut in a straight line. I folded the material over in a simple hem and sewed it. Easy peasy. I left the shoulder pads pads intact because it really brought a unique shape to neckline of the shirt.

Now for the skirt. Originally I was just going to make the shirt. Lucky for me, this dress was rather long, about to my knee, so there was enough material left for a skirt. The bottom of the original dress has an elastic-y band that I decided would suit the skirt better as the waistband. Of course, this mean that I had to take in the sides a bit to fit the waist better. I measured how much I needed to take in with what I call the pinch method (put it on, pinch how much extra fabric there is and then measure it). After figuring out how much fabric total needs to be gone, I divide that number in half because some needs to come from each side. Then I pinned it and tapered my lines back toward the original seam (Im going over this quickly but if you need more details, I did a similar concept on another skirt on this post.) After simply hemming this puppy up, it was finished.

I am loving this as two pieces. Now I can wear them separately or even together if I really want to. Though if I wanted to wear them together..I would have just left it as a dress. This was a simpler sewing project, definitely nothing like taking in a pair of jeans or a dress with lining. But, I'm just glad I know how to sew. It makes my life stylish for cheaper. ^^

Monday's Melodies

What is one thing that keeps me creative and motivated? MUSIC

More often than not when I am working on a creative project, whether that be design, handicraft, art etc, I am listening to music (when I am not listening to music, I am watching a TV show, like Community). Every Monday I am going to post a song or a band that I find particularly inspirational that week. I like to think I have a wide variety of musical taste but it does tend to be alternative rock, pop or indie rock. I can almost guarantee that you will never see country music on this blog. I despise country music with practically all of my being. You might occasionally see a rap piece but....most likely not. If you do, odds are it will be Iggy Azalea since she can be so darn catchy!

Speaking of catchy, this week I would like to bring to your attention Maroon 5. In particular one of their newest singles, "Maps". Normally, I am not a huge fan of Maroon 5. They do have their moments but they never really caught my full attention. However, this song did. (this song reminds me a little big of a pirate, treasure map adventure but the love life version) At first I did not realize it was Maroon 5 since their sound seems to have changed slightly but changed for the good. The cover art for this song is also a beautiful and rather simple piece. (jungle themed? again...pirate, treasure map adventure!) I absolutely love the pattern because its rather simple but there is enough detail to keep you eyes moving across the cover. The one thing that weirds me out is why there is a faint blur around the letters. It makes them a bit fuzzy. Oh well. The lovely pattern makes ups for the weird letters blur.