Hi you guys! Bet you weren’t expecting to see an acrylic painting here today, right? Well, for the next five weeks I’m going to be getting painty in an online class with Lisa Congdon and Mati Rose called Get Your Paint On! Yeah! (I missed out on it last year and I was so bummed. Registration is closed for this class, but you can sign up to be informed of upcoming classes on their blog.) Don’t worry, I’ll still be getting stampy, too!
I love Lisa’s work so much — and not just because her name is Lisa, either! I first found out about her while browsing at a bookshop in Tokyo. I actually didn’t buy the book at the time because I bought too many other crafty books — and I told myself that I needed a book about San Francisco kitchens written in Japanese like I needed a hole in the head. But, that book stayed on my mind! (That’s Lisa on the cover.)
Fast forward a few years to when I was visiting my friend Mon in San Francisco. We were at a bookstore in Japantown and I mentioned the book to her and she knew exactly what one I meant. So of course it had to be mine. :)
Then Lisa did something amazing (well, everything she does is amazing, really!) and photographed a collection a day — every day for a whole year. She took photos of erasers, party favors, and even bread ties. So cool. Of course when Uppercase published a book with each collection I had to order a signed copy from Lisa.
(Holly from decor8 did a great review of the book if you’d like to find out more.)
Okay, so now you know why I was so excited to take this class, right? Right!
Our first assignment was to do a painting inspired by the quilts of Gee’s Bend. If you haven’t heard of them before, they are just amazing! I created a pinterest board if you’d like to see some inspiration.
Since this was my first acrylic painting in a really (really!) long time, I decided to make a simple quilt and play with color mixing. (Colors are Golden’s titanium white, hansa yellow, pyrrole red, ultramarine blue and my favorite cobalt teal!) It was so relaxing and fun.
I had picked up an unloved package of nine 4×4″ canvases at a thrift shop for only 99 cents, so I wasn’t too worried about messing up. And! I’m hoping to make a few more Gee’s Bend inspired canvases and then hang them all together.
It’s hard to tell in the big photo, but I stamped the edges with Hero Art’s Envelope Pattern to add a little texture. You can kinda see it better in the second photo.
How about you? When was the last time you “got your paint on”?
Love seeing the paint! I love the colorful paint you had done!! You are always so inspiring, Lisa! And guess what? I had made some cards with acrylic paint just last week! They are really striking, aren’t they? (here’s the link : http://virginialusblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/guest-design-at-simply-scrapping-crafts.html ). Off to check Lisa’s book now…
Love this little canvas quilt, Lisa, and look forward to more! A grouping of them would be very nice together.
Fun! You mixed up some fabulous colors for your canvas quilt, Lisa! I have started doing some painting lately too. Sometimes it’s fun just to see what happens when the paint hits the canvas. You’ve inspired me yet again! I’m headed over to check out your Pinterest board……
Very cool, Lisa! I have to say that the teal color is my fave too! :)
Love your blog. It is so inspiring! The last time I “got my paint on” was last week when my 8 year old grandson was here. He loves to get into Grammy’s stash of watercolors and I love to encourage his imagination! At the time I thought I really should paint more and your little push may get me going!!! Love your canvas. Can’t wait to see more!
Cute canvas! I love the colours ;)
I have some paints but tend to forget to use them! Except the white which is handy to accent or distress moulded polymer clay flowers and other such embellishments
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very interesting. now you got me wondering what the book is about! and a book in a tin? that is so fun. thanks for all the links and your canvas is so fun. love how you translate the quilts into your own. thanks for sharing, Lisa!
Oh I love your Gee’s Bend inspired canvas, Lisa! I remember coming across an article on Gee’s Bend quilts in a quilting magazine a few years ago and was fascinated by them and the ladies who made them. You’re making me think it’s been way too long since I “got my paint on”!! I’m sure you’ll have a great time with your online class and I’m looking forward to seeing what else you get up to:)
I saw some of Lisa’s Collection A Day shots in the Chronicle newspaper sometime ago – most inspiring! It is so cool that you are taking a class! Thanks for sharing your inspirations with us. Love your mini canvas and especially that you picked up your supplies at the thrift shop!
This is bright and cheerful Lisa. Nice colors. Last time I used my paints, well its been 4 months…I had made a Madhubani (Indian folk art) painting for a friend and also had painted some Roses on a table cover:)) Seeing these small canvas of yours is motivating me to take the paints out…lol.
That kitchen book looks amazing, will have to look for it.