A great wave and a swatch of dated wallpaper

Day two was better, though with it's own share of doubts and moments of triumph. We finished putting texture on our little polymer canvases, and then it was time to add paint. Watching Celie gracefully streak a paint-laden finger across the polymer with no apparent anxiety or doubt was truly watching an artist in action. I was itching to add paint to my own canvas. And initially, I was loving it. Absolutely freaking out with love for this process. But, then there came that moment of needing to self-govern, and, as that is something I have trouble with, I kept bringing my piece to the edge of perfection and instead of going, "ah ha! that's it!" I continuously plunged over the cliff of over-doing it and into a pile of poo. (Sort of like that ridiculous run-on sentence, which any English teacher would have cut off at just about "govern" but I, lacking that shut off valve, keep going until I'd gone too far.) I did end of getting two pieces that I am relatively pleased with, and I can't wait to visit Golden paints to pick out some acrylic paints and try this technique in my own space and time.

One of my pieces has a sort of Hokusai "The Great Wave" feel to it, so I'm planning to make a little porthole type metal piece to display my canvas. In my excitement, I forgot to double-check what a porthole looks like and went from memory. I should point out I've never been on a cruise ship and my boat knowledge is limited to a few sunfish and a ferry or two. So my "memory" of a porthole was not quite right and I'm afraid I've put the "bolts" on to the wrong section. And of course, I'm overthinking this bit too, but dangit! I want my port hole to look like a port hole! Porthole? Portal?

My other "canvas" looks rather like a dated wall paper sample. My first attempts at coloring this particular swatch of polymer were gifted, I must say. Then I came to the edge of that cliff...then I went over it...and then I went over it again. After about the 5th time of wetting and sandpapering off my paint, I turned to a paintbrush. The end result looks something like this:


But tomorrow things will start to come together, and again, I'm learning a LOT! Even just watching Celie and others in the class work is teaching me a bunch. And I'm not the only one struggling. It's hard to see work from a master and then try to duplicate it even a tenth as well on the first try. Some in class have done amazing work, but even they don't recognize it. We're our own worst critics.

All in all, a good day. Ready for a bed and a fresh start tomorrow!