I finished #24 this afternoon, so the end of the project is now definitelhy within sight - yeah!!!! I have to write an artist's statement and also need to mull over what I've learned from the process. As of a few days ago, I thought I would never do this again. But now I'm softening on the idea - so much so that I've begun to think of ideas for the theme for another series. One thought is "postcards from Paradise" - the small wonders that are around me every day.

Anyway, as far as what I've learned, I have some things confirmed, as well as learning some new ones.

I really like employing symbolism in my art and intent to do a lot more of it.

Also, I like incorporating text. The Welsh I've used in these is purely decorative since I assume that most people won't be able to read it. I wonder what it would be like if the words were intelligible. Would it add or detract?

I am enamored of the iridescent and interference watercolors and acrylis that I'm using for the first time. The Daniel Smith acrylics are so smooth and creamy.

It's nice to get back to drawing - like re-connecting with an old friend.

The Stonehedge drawing paper on the Crescent Perfect-Mount self-adhesive mounting board is a nice surface to work on. But the masking fluid is a pain. Not only does it mung up the brush (although Goo Gone does a nice job of removing it), but I have a hard time judging whether or not I have good coverage, and, no matter how careful I try to be, I seem to always peel away parts of the paper when I remove it. The colored pencil covers the imperfections pretty well, but the water color seems to emphasize them.

Sample Complete!

Today I "finished" my sample for the 20/20 show at the 20th Street Gallery. It was an adventure in mixed media, some of which I am comfortable and familiar with (colored pencil), some of which I should be comfortable with considering the amount of money I've spent on learning (watercolor) and some of which are pretty new (ink pen).

I was reminded of a lesson which I should have learned long ago - which is to test first. After laboriously applying lots of ink, I decided I needed a wash of watercolor. As I washed with Burnt Umber I watched the area turn red!!!!! Turns out that the dark brown ink pen had water soluble ink which revealed a high red content. Yikes! I tried to scrub it out with water, brush, and paper towel, but was in danger of destroying the paper. So I just went over it with ink pen. Turned out to be OK because that area needed to be darker anyway, But it was a major mistake - hopefully one that will not be repeated.

In the end, I'm about 90% happy with the result. I'll put it aside for a while, then re-evaluate a few days for the due date.