Postcards for Seniors

So the weather gets nice and I do some yard work then can't walk for two weeks.  The back is getting better slowly but again no painting, however my art center is collecting handmade postcards for a senior care center so I had to try and make some.  I've been working on these little mixed media cards the last couple of days, they are small: 4x4 inches and 4x6 inches.  Thought I would share and maybe give you some ideas of your own.  Mixed media is the best fun as I've said before, they are so freeing.  I used acrylics, oil pastels, collage, black pen and stencils to create these.  I also used some geli plate backgrounds I made for a mixed media class a while ago.  I keep every scrap of paper, experiments, old mail envelopes, etc. to use in mixed media pieces but really paper doesn't take up that much room.  It's so much fun to sit and put these together.  The phrases are printed out on my computer and some have painted washes on them.

Our House Final

I worked and worked on the large window with the figures and I'm pleased with how it looks.  My friend Jacque gave me the idea of adding some greens at the bottom of the window which I love, thank you Jacque.  I just learned something new, the art created during this pandemic is being called Isolation Art.  I'm part of a new movement but at a high cost.

For comparison here are some photos from the beginning of the project.  Below is the stenciled and stamped background before adding the images and the paste up plan.  If you are new to my blog, I've been posting updates from the beginning of this project showing the process step by step.

For your info: I'm the little girl in the big window, my Mom is the foreground little girl and my Dad is holding the puppy. My husbands grandparents are the older adults.

On a non art note, I've never been so excited about getting groceries as I was today!  I used Instacart for a store near us which worked great and they delivered.  We are trying to stay home, taking care of everything via the internet.  Its' amazing the little things you take for granted until they are gone.  Hmm just like that song "You don't know what you've got til it's gone", well maybe there's another future project brewing.

Peace everyone and continue to stay safe.  Thank you to all those continuing to work and provide services, praying for your safety.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide copyright

Update #9

This update is really from a few days ago, I've painted since and will post that one in a day or two.  This paint session was all about painting the big window with the two figures and I can't even remember how many times I changed the frame colors, nothing seemed to work.  When I say changed the color I mean the dominate color since I always use a mix of many colors.  This version is the best so far and may be tweaked a bit in the future or maybe not.  The first version the frame peak was dark and that's where your eye went then right off the edge.  It needed to be painted in such a way to complete the window but not lead you out of the picture.  If you notice there is a circle pattern leading your eye around the composition for example follow the bright yellows: the foreground girl, the yellow in front of the man and the bush behind the man, the tree in the middle background then the grass in front of the tower house and back to the girl.  There is also a circle of orange within the circle of yellow and centers around the middle house.  It was both a conscious and subconscious effort.  I mean subconscious in this way, when you notice something is off yet don't know why or what's wrong but you know something is not working, that's when consciously you start to work out the problem.  Does that make sense?  It's part of being open to letting the painting lead you where it wants to go.

Part of me wants to get rid of the big window, the other part of me is saying keep working on it and make the window better.  Which voice will win?  I'm pretty stubborn and don't like to give up on things which is not always good.  How would you vote, remove or leave?

I've really enjoyed this project but I'm looking forward to moving on wherever the next inspiration leads.  Stay well, keep positive and HAPPY EASTER!  One of the things I love about the little girl (my Mom) is the Easter basket with what looks like a price tag still attached.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide copyright

Our House Update #8

I'm starting to see an end to this project, maybe in 2 or 3 days depending on how long the paint sessions are.  I'm not real pleased with the little girl in the foreground so will continue working on her.  The stencils and the stamp came out and you can see some of that in the foreground close to the girl.  I'm going to add a few more of the curlicues on the other side of the girl to see how that looks.  At this point I have to be careful and not overdo keeping the fun stencil and stamp work from being obliterated.  For me it's hard to let go and leave things alone.  I will be so happy when all these little faces are done, they can drive me nuts.  What was I thinking adding all these people anyway, this was supposed to be about houses.

So are you Zooming?  Lots of people are zooming or doing some type of video conferencing these days.  I was on zoom this morning with an art group, so nice to see and chat with friends. Everyone is adapting and learning new things because thats what we do during hard times.  Over coming challenges makes us stronger so keep challenging yourself and stay safe.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide copyright

Our House Update #7

I had another good day of painting yesterday, probably around 7 hours.  Once I start painting it's hard to stop, there's always one more thing to tackle.  After taking a photo for the day then I spend time looking at the photo to see what direction to take for the next paint day.  They say to stand back and look at your painting periodically while painting to help see mistakes and visualize, for me photos do the same thing.  And I really love working on the stenciled and stamped surface!!  It leads me in places I never thought of going.  Now I see areas where I'm going to add more stencils and stamps.  Getting excited!

I forgot to mention that my Daily Paintworks page is temporarily closed due to my travels to California over the winter.  When I figure out mailing during this pandemic it will be restarted.

Oh and if anyone has questions regarding my project and paint process please leave a comment I'd be happy to answer your questions.  If you are using Safari you won't be able to leave a comment for some reason, however you can using Google (Chrome) and maybe other search engines.

I hope you are healthy and staying safe, finding positive and maybe creative things to help keep busy.   For those still working and on the front lines God Bless You, I really cannot thank you enough.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide copyright

Our House Update #6

The project is moving along, I put in a good day of painting today and finished the middle house.  I also realized I made a composition blunder by putting that house almost dead center.  It should have been off centered a bit, funny I didn't notice that in the planning stage.  My focus at that stage was to keep the tower house from being covered up.  Oh well hopefully the other design elements will keep the eye moving through the composition.  And rules were always meant to be broken, artists break them all the time.

I'm having a lot of fun working with negative spaces and looking to see what background can be left that works with the images.  For those not familiar with negative space, it's simply the space around the subject matter or images.  If you notice the vest on the figure was left the background textures and paint as are some of the fences (so the space between fence posts are negative spaces).  I hope to keep them but you never know what mood will hit me.

Our house is a very very fine house and I'm thankful to be in it staying safe through this pandemic.  Be positive, count your blessings every day.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide copyright 

Our House Update #5

Yesterday was day 2 of painting as I continue to build houses on the project.  All those windows are starting to drive me a bit crazy but I do love them.  I realized yesterday that my color was tending to be a variety of blues and some other color needed to be introduced, the logical color for pop would be a complimentary color of blue which is an orange.  The middle house was perfect for a brick type color and really added the pop I needed.  Working all over the painting instead of focusing on one section at a time helps to visualize the piece, where it's going and avoid value problems.

I have help from my computer below for color and value reference where the photos are displayed while working.  I don't necessarily feel constricted to follow the photos but use it as a guide.  For instance the brick colored house in the painting was actually a white house, you can see it way to the left on the computer monitor.  Artist license is a wonderful thing!

I hope you are finding time to discover or enjoy new interests while staying safe at home.  And for those of you who are on the front line continuing to work to keep us healthy and doing all the necessary functions to keep things going for our communities, I am deeply appreciative for all you do and pray for your safety!  We cannot do this without you.

THANK YOU! 

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide copyright