Been a Long time . . .

It's been a long time since I posted here and so much has happened. I'm still quilting and designing. I've lost elderly pets and gained new ones to fill in the holes. Currently I have 10 cats, 2 dogs, all shelter rescues. The biggest thing of late is that back in September I was diagnosed with appendix cancer which is rare. I have what is called the mother of all surgeries, there were 5 procedures done. I didn't have to have chemo, yet, and don't plan to. Recovery from this horrid event took a full 3 months, I finally got my energy back and am actively quitting and designing again. Anyway, today I have my first CT scan following the surgery. It's to see if any tumors remain. The appendix cancer causes mucinous tumors and the one I had was huge, nearly the size of a soccer ball, it had ruptured and spilled the mucin, a jelly like substance, into my gut. St surgery I lost 30 lbs in about a week,I've gained about 5 lbs back but don't want to gain anymore. I've r ad that follow us scans ar done every so often, 3 months, 6 months and a year in additoin I blood tests. My last tests were really good so I'm hoping for th same or better this time. I mentioned my pets are shelter rescues, for a few months, before the surgery and it's associated stuff, I volunteered at my local animal shelter. It was fun, I worked with cats. I've had cats for over 40 years so I know them well. I'd like to get back to volunteering with them again, once spring hits and I can get there again.

A 40 Year Project

This painting was started in about 1986 and finished today in 2015. It's in colored pencil, prismacolor and Polychromos brands. It's on paper and is 18" x 24", quite large for a colored pencil piece. I found it, half finished, buried in a stack of older works, while I was looking for something else, which I have yet to find. I've always said I've been doing colored pencil since the 1980s and this proves it. You can check out newer pieces on my facebook page C S originals. 

Test Run, Fluid Acrylic Paints

I'd read about fluid acrylic paints in several sources so I decided to try them. I also had this book called Brave Intuitive Painting by Flora Bowley ( don't have a picture of the book). I decided to combine the two into a short series of paintings on paper.

The fluid acrrylics, Golden brand is what I found although there are several brands, combined them with fluid craft acrylic paints to produce these paintings. The golden brand fluid acrylics are intensely pigmented and pourable. The craft acrylics work well although they are not the quality of the artist fluid acrylics, although both are pourable. So other than pigmentation and price, the fluid acrylic paints are similar to craft acrylics in consistency and either can be used together. According to what I read in the book,I should paint in layers with no pre-made plan or sketch, letting the painting suggest where to go next. So I did just that.I painted warm colors on paper first, letting that layer dry completely, then added washes of cool colors in a random fashion. I continued in this mannet I r, allowing the colors to build. I even closed my eyes, directed the brush to the paper & painted some strokes. Suprisingly, I actually hit the paper! Anyway these are the results of that trial. These 3 paintings on paper are the result. There are also close up views of a painting so you can see the layer

s.

A Recent Interview

A recent interview I did a few months ago was published online at http://creativeroom4talk.com/cathy-sparks/. It's a real honor to think someone thought my work was worthy of actual publication, check it out. They have lots of other interesting pieces as well.

The Judicious Use of Black in Painting

Black is not actually a color, but it the absence of any color. However "black" is color used in painting as a dark tone. It can indicate darkened

or shaded areas of the painting. It can be the actual color of an object, for example a black cat or a black umbrella. Black can be cool, warm or neutral

in tone. Many artists prefer to mix their own black from a dark blue  plus dark brown, Prussian blue and burnt umber are popular colors used to make black.

the most common black paint in the art world is lamp black which comes in a tube, jar or pan, depending on the medium the artist is using.

There are several ways to successfully add black to a painting. Layering is one of the best ways to "build" a black or dark area of a

painting. Paint in washes or glazes first, then add glazes of color, alternating with the black for the first few layers, finishing with the

color of the object.  Another method of adding black to shaded areas is to add thin lines of black against the edge of the underlying object,

then dilute the lines to gradually fade it out to nothing. This is shown in the photo below, on the left with the leaves.

Keep in mind that there is a thing such as too much black. It can turn a painting into a disaster. Less is more  when using black. Black is a staining color

which cannot be completely lifted to reveal the original color. Many times it must painted over, with many coats, to return the original color.

The best way to determine the placement of black tones in a painting is to really study the subject for light and dark areas and plan

 the painting around that. Many artists make sketches showing light and dark areas before beginning to paint. Planning a painting this

way will help adding the dark and light areas to appear naturally in the finished painting.

First Solo Show

So I had my first ever solo art quilt show last night. It was part of the art walk sponsored by the local art league. Over all, it went well. I was set up in the office of a local lawyer who lets them use his space on a regular basis . I had a total of 22 quilts, raining from 8x11 journal quilts to a 72" square quilt. I borrowed some racks from my quilt guild to hang the larger pieces and pinned the smaller ones to a hinged display/layout foam core board I use. There were about 50 or so people that came by to see the show, some were fellow quikters, some fellow art league members and the general public. You must understand I live in a small town where, up until last sipummer when the art league began the art walks, downtown was dead, there was traffic moving thought but there was nothing to bring a person to downtown, it is primarily lawyers offices and banks along with the courthouse and an antique mall. 

Anyway, I received many positive comments on the art, one young guy said I'd taken art to a new level. I consider that a real compliment. The comments I got served as validation that my art is acceptable to the public. That may me feel pretty good, even though the show was only 3 hours long and I didn't sell anything, it turned out to be a good show overall. Will I do another? Probably not, at least I don't plan to. It's a lot of work for such a short time. My husband helped set it up & take it down.  Otherwise I'd never have gotten it hung on my own.  Here are some of the pieces I had in the show. I've decided from now on I'll only show them online, here or on my facebook page, CSOriginals. At least it's easier to post on line than hang a physical show. Enjoy.

Art Quilts in Display

I'm finally having a public exhibit if my art quilts! Friday, April 17,2015 from 5-8 pm, I'm the last on the list. I took a few art quilts to my art league meeting just to provide I did indeed make them, I'd kept saying I did so I thought I'd prove it. Anyway, the president of the art league said I needed to do a show, so here it is, next Friday. It was originally slated for February but that art walk got canceled because of bad weather. Let's hope the weather cooperates this time. It is storm season in central KY.

This should be fun anyway. I'll have about 22 quilts of various sizes displayed. All are for sale. There are some hand painted silk quilts included along with the appliquéd & pieced ones. If you're in the lexington area, come down to nicholasville, one county south & join the fun.