310. Mixed Tulips

As an artist, it is always good to step out of my comfort zone and learn something new.  I am enjoying this creative learning process, the unpredictability of the medium, and how to "tame" it just a bit.  Alcohol inks give a vibrancy I can't achieve with acrylics and I love it. 

Regarding the giant banner for Art in Bloom, I have had many disappointments and little success in figuring out how to use the alcohol inks on a very large canvas.  Some things just aren't meant to be.  So I am painting the banner with acrylics and trying to mimic the likeness of the Garden 4 painting.  It is a giant effort and I will hope I can pull it off.

309. Garden 4

This is the fourth design and the one that will be used for my garden club's Art In Bloom banner.  I tried to incorporate elements we liked of some of the previous designs into this.  Painting the 72" x 52" canvas banner of this will be a big challenge. 

308. Garden 3

Another potential design for our Garden Club banner.

307. Garden 2

Still working on a design for my garden club and getting to know alcohol inks a little better. 

306. Garden 1

I am an active member of a garden club and have been working on a painting to use as our banner image for our participation in the Milwaukee Art Museum's Art In Bloom Marketplace, where we will sell our leaf vessels in late March, as well as enter our floral interpretation of an ancient art piece.  I find alcohol inks extremely difficult to work with because there is very little artist control, even less so than watercolor in my humble opinion.  I have painted many "pretty" abstracts with alcohol ink, but never a more controlled subject like this.  Although challenging, I am enjoying this very much.  More to come....

305. Confident

304. Shy

I was a little hesitant about painting the spider mums.  This is the third attempt.  In one other painting, they ended up as hydrangeas (ah, the freedom we have),  the other was gessod over.  I'm fairly happy with the way these turned out