Working in Boxes

"Daily Meditations: Dream Grow," by Caitlin Dundon, 12 x 12 x 2. $185

"Dailly Meditations: Create Trust," painting by Caitlin Dundon, $185

"Daily Meditations: Inspire Calm," painting by Caitlin Dundon, $185

"Daily Meditations: Patience Friendship," painting by Caitlin Dundon, $185

Sometimes I break out of my creative shell and do more abstract art that is free flowing and sometimes I still feel just as satisfied coloring within the lines or in this case – boxes. That is the case this week with the series of four paintings that I just finished that are already hanging at Venue in Ballard. They are a continuation of my Daily Mediation series that are simple 12″ x 12″ squares. Working quickly with layers of acrylic paint, sanding, rubbing, glazes with warm or cool colors – I am happiest when I am creating the colors in paintings like this. It’s when I am working like this and seeing magic happen under my paintbrush, I am reminded why I simply can’t take a desk job for 40 hours a week. There is such pleasure when I see something become what I see in my head.

I suppose parents have that feeling often when they see their children become something. I don’t know, I’m not a parent. But I know that I understand just a tiny bit of the pride that comes from making something and sending it off into the world.

My art goes off to live a life of its own without me in someone’s condo, office, house, loft, houseboat, apartment, classroom, etc. And all I can think is that these words like “Dream Grow” are also benefiting me as I become a better artist, a more prolific artist, a more well-known artist. There is nothing else more satisfying right now. To purchase, visit One Heart Studio’s website.

An Introduction to Collage

Care of the Voice, Collage by Instructor Caitlin Dundon

I taught a collage class last week. A thoroughly enjoyable although exhausting endeavor. My main mistake – allowing 14 students when my max should have been 12. But so many students were so eager to get crafty, I succumbed. I often teach calligraphy classes and these usually end up with no more than 6 students, so I was delighted and surprised by the turnout. Next time I will have to be more strict. The space at Venue in Seattle is large, but oddly shaped, so space is definitely limited even once product merchandise is shifted out of the way.

In any case, I loved the energy. There is some teaching time following by chaos akin to letting kindergartners loose in the playground (or I guess the craft room) where they pick their papers and images to use in their collage, and then more learning time, and several demonstrations, following by individual instruction.  I thought about structuring it differently where I select some patterned paper and images for the students and have them already waiting at their desk, but it seems like one of the best things about collage art is that the artist allows their imagination and creativity to really take over and part of that is in the finding of just the right pieces to put the puzzle together.

I have been doing collage for about three or four years in my own personal journaling process. Enjoying the freedom it allows me to access my creativity without the pressures of knowing that the piece might be for sale to the public and over-thinking about what the public might like. Journaling in general reminds me of dreaming – where you have things in your head that sometimes you remember and it is delightful when you wake up and it unfolds before you piece by piece, but kind of backwards.

Iron-on photo transfer sample on wood

This class was mostly rudimentary basics, touching upon one simple method of photo transfers, the iron-on transfer. I used photos of birds, some I took myself, some found copyright free on the internet and altered a bit more. Silhouettes of birds are nice. I had been thinking about the theme Put a Bird on It. And there’s always something poignant about birds on a wire. The iron-on transfer process requires a fairly decent inkjet printer and some basic iron-on transfer paper. I experimented with two different kinds of iron on transfer paper, but found that for some reason the cheaper version that I literally got at the drugstore a block from my studio was the best. The first ended up being a little rubbery, whereas the second, especially with a hot iron, became a little more painterly as it adhered to the surface, and I liked the slightly blurry effect that sometimes happened. And the texture of wood underneath the birds wings seems especially nice.

We explored texture a little bit with acrylic paint and rubber stamps and embossing powder, as well as using spackle and rubber stamps to create an interesting background pattern. Sometimes household materials work really well – and you don’t have to spend money at the art supply store. I also find that spackle seems to dry faster. I have started working with crackle paste, but it’s hard to teach the use of it when something takes literally overnight to dry or even longer to dry and start cracking. Perhaps a two day workshop is in the offing one of these days in the right space.

Photo transfer and paper collage by Caitlin Dundon

I am in love with the romantic style of mixed media collage that I see so often in Somerset Studio magazine. There is just something so beautiful and sometimes lonely with the older images of women from bygone eras softly staring out of artwork surrounded by paint and color and pattern – they enjoy a rebirth, a change from what must have been a quiet existence compared to daily life today.

On Weddings & Weddings Gifts

Bridesmaid Boxes in Turqouise with Gold Wash, White Script

Luckily it seems like even in this economy people are still getting married so it’s nice to know that love is still alive and well in the world both here in Seattle and around the country. I haven’t had the opportunity to attend too many weddings, but I have seen my fair share of invites that show where the couple is registered. And yes, it’s nice to buy something off the registry as you know they want and desire that set of china or dish towel, but it’s also wonderful when people show a little imagination and think about ordering a piece of art to commemorate the wedding.

From small budgets to money is no object – I have been able to create memorable wedding gifts for hundreds of couples over my 15 years in business. Tiny Treasure Trunks make a lovely, small gift that could stay on a bedside table or dresser to hold a treasured heirloom ring or the engagement ring if it’s not worn every day. Often couple’s will order these themselves for their ring bearer to walk down the aisle with. And I can provide a small velvet insert that has one or two ring slots to hold their precious cargo. Having the couple’s names on the lid is special and then have the date of the wedding on the inside. Or perhaps the couple has a theme like “The Best is Yet to Be” – that could be inscribed on the lid and the names and date on the inside. There are so many possibilities.

Brides themselves often like the Tiny Trunks, Square Boxes and Almost Square Boxes with just the perfect quote about friendship on the lid – one for each of their bridesmaid as the great gift alone or as a jewelry box for the necklace they are giving them to wear at the wedding. Boxes can be different colors to match the taste of each bridesmaid or all matching colors – perhaps to match the fabric of the bridesmaids’ gowns.

Larger boxes like the Treasure Trunk are wonderful for the maid (or matron) of honor to make her feel a bit more

Friendship Treasure Trunk

appreciated for all her hard work. And these boxes are so sweet with arched lid.

And don’t forget the groomsmen. Square Boxes or Little Flat Boxes are a nice memento of long lasting friendships and boxes can be ordered in lovely wood tones like burgundy, chocolate brown, black or a classic navy blue. Elegant on their own – or perfect for cufflinks, small watch, tie clip, etc. that might also be given as a gift.

Custom picture frames are great for bridesmaids as well since there will undoubtedly be a lovely group photo at the wedding of all the girls. Use friendship quotes or simply put the wedding names and date and include a personalized inscription on the back as well. Mom and Dad might also appreciate a picture frame with the couple’s names and wedding date to commemorate the event. A simple white frame with gold script is very elegant.

Small Heirloom Chest

A small or medium heirloom chest is a wonderful keepsakes that can be handed down to each generation and are large enough to hold cards and small gifts that arrive at the wedding itself. Or order it after the wedding with your own vows. A spectacular gift to give a couple as well.

Custom Wedding Painting

For the ultimate gift – think about having wedding vows made into a custom painting complete with the couple’s names and wedding date. Paintings can be ordered in a variety of sizes and price ranges starting at $50. No matter how much you spend, having something personalized – in elegant handwritten calligraphy is really a special and thoughtful gift that will make a lasting impression.

Layers

I have been fascinated lately by layers of things. I guess I have been doing a layer of script on top of paint for quite some time, but I am thinking about layers with not just paint and calligraphy, but paper, photographs, and ephemera. Inspired enough to put together a collage class that I am teaching in July in Seattle. Somerset Magazine (and all their many sister publications) has been my favorite magazine for quite a while now and mostly it features paper and mixed media art -  antique looking images like black and white photographs or pen and ink drawings layers in collage with the obligatory key or heart or wings  and words on paper typed with old fashioned typewriters. It seems almost like a formula and yet I am in love with these images old and freshly painted. Artist Kelly Rae Roberts is my favorite of late. She creates the sweetest most heartfelt images with sweet sayings handwritten or typed and in watching a video interview on her blog this week – hearing her voice and seeing her face – I know that what she is creating is truly heartfelt and not some kind of formula that she is following.

So I am toying with images slowly that are not just flat colors but layers with bits of color or bits of papers showing through. I haven’t pushed it to the edge yet, as Kelly Rae encourages. But I am getting there. Thinking about how photographs can fit into the mix as well or just working with text on separate bits of paper that I can move around before deciding where they go. Even having the script on a separate film that is layered over the piece is a different look entirely than some of my previous work and makes for a nice change of pace. I am amazed at the newer technologies of paper and photo transfers but at the same time I like the simplicity of the basic decoupage methods although I would recommend Modge Podge over straight glue to keep your papers nice and flat. And the decorated, patterned papers that are around that weren’t when I was a child – I think we owe the whole field of scrapbooking for that – are amazing. This last piece was made using a painted background – the script carved into the paint before it dried and the flower made of cut papers. I guess I am thinking of flowers on this first day of summer.

Women’s Words of Wisdom

It’s fall and I know many hunker down with a good book as the rain begins to fall here in Seattle. I do not read as much as I want to, spending much time just painting, but I enjoy finding good quotes in books, on greeting cards, on calendars – I’ve even seen quotes on tea bags. This painting, Women’s Words of Wisdom ($24″ x 36″ x 1″ $550), is a collection of amazing quotes by women. I’ve included the dates as well, as it seemed interesting to me how they have spanned so much time.

There was no other colors I could have created this painting in. I was drawn to the deepest reds and yellows – reds for the passions that seem to sometimes seethe beneath our skin, but also yellow for the light and power and energy. It’s a good painting for fall as well, with the richness of colors that almost seem to change as you look at them. Painting is for sale at Venue in Ballard. 5408 22nd Avenue NW, Seattle, WA. And is also available to be shipped throughout the United States. (Photo by Sean Hoyt.)

The Red and the Blue

I’m feeling hampered by lack of proper software to sandwich these painting scans together – but at the same time grateful that I have a working scanner and laptop. I really can’t complain. (I have work. I’m doing what I love.) I have scanned these paintings in segments – both are long narrow paintings 9″ wide by 24″ long. And I cannot past them together without Adobe Illustrator. Oh well. I’ll survive. A mere photograph does not show the subtlety of the colors and depth of each block, at least not with my camera and no proper lighting.

I started the Daily Meditations series over a year ago, veered away from them for awhile. Got out of the box so to speak, and now I am back. I wouldn’t say that I am retreating back into the box, but there is comfort and relaxation in the simplicity of the imagery and colors and single words. There are days when that’s all I want to do. Then there are days that I want to layer of calligraphy over calligraphy until nothing is readable. Obscurity. Seattle has settled into a pattern of some grayness, with possibilities of showers and possibilities of sun breaks.

Possibilities is always a word I like to think about. When I started going to a chiropractor that was one of the words that came to mind – that somehow being adjusted physically seemed to help me mentally to think about possibilities. Uplifting to say the least. I need to start going back. But right now, this morning at this moment it is a time of contemplation, listening to Annie Lennox, drinking Jasmine tea and organizing my plan for the week. But feeling the need to share where I am and what I am doing in art, in writing.

In this duet of paintings, the blue one is definitely more the cooling, calming, and dreamy ideas, and the red one is more about the power of doing and making and going beyond dreaming. Possibilities to think about as I sit here pondering the meaning of life. Lofty, I know. But really, sometimes that is what it comes down to with art. I think about why I do it. Why does anyone do anything. But mostly it is that I cannot NOT do it. I keep dreaming. I hope you do to.

Ladybug Dreams

I painted this image a few years ago, half-inspired by ladybugs themselves and thinking nostagically of my wonderful childhood in Scottsville, New York (upstate), remembering the feeling of a summers day and the touch of a ladybug walking along my arm. I miss fireflies here in Seattle, somehow they just don’t make it over the mountain passes I guess or perhaps they don’t like our damp weather in the winter?

I get nostalgic often – as I long for the days when I don’t have to do taxes, think about rent, mortgage, where all the money goes. Tax time got me as it usually does. Moreso, since we used an accountant this year, only to select the wrong one. Lost our W-2′s?! Who does that and stays in business. But they were there, right in the file case I so carefully had prepared. And they forgot to deduct almost $4,000. I had to discover it in glancing over the form. Needless to say we will look for another tax guy for next year. But really I want to go back to the days of my childhood sometimes. Spending hours in the back yard, playing.

As adults, we just don’t play enough. And who should remind me of this? Of all people a naturopathic doctor I went to a few years ago. She couldn’t draw blood very well, but many things she told me I still hold to today. One of them besides drinking lots of water every day, was to take time each day to “laugh” and “play.” Play? Yes, sometimes it’s just spending a few moments winging my slinky down the stairs or shooting hoops with my husband in the neighborhood park (and no we’re not exactly athletic), it’s something amazing when you do it. If you haven’t bicycled in years, get on a bike and fly down a hill. There is something so key to the way children play and experience joy, building a sandcastle is part good physical activity, creativity, and Zen prayer. I guess it’s a different take on stopping to smell the flowers.

We adults spend too much time spending money, worrying about lack of money, and figuring out ways to make more of it. (Of course this image is available as greeting cards and prints!) Don’t forget to take some time to enjoy the colors of the grass, the smell of rain and the feeling of sunshine on your face.

Reinvention

Sometimes you just want to reinvent yourself. Perhaps because of an unsuccessful project or interaction with someone. Perhaps just because you need to energize you life, your art, your emotions. Working through the doldrums of winter in Seattle isn’t too much of a problem. I read, I go to movies, I try to organize my studio. And then I start looking at images to be inspired and for some reason this year my inspiration comes from fabric designs. I’ve had two of my designs turned into fabric for Robert Kaufman, but I don’t want to leave it at that.

Flowers are often my inspiration, one of my “loves” according to the love letter homework I just did as I was reading the book “Double Your Income Doing What You Love.”  And on this list which I just threw out the first words that came to mind – were “flowers.” Yes – husband, drawing, painting were words that came to mind as well, but for some reason flowers were there.  So I start with flowers, appropriate for spring anyway. And moved on from there to dragonflies, butterflies, leaves.

And in most of these new designs there is very little calligraphy. So I’m not sure if my reinvention is taking a break from calligraphy or primarily simplifying things, designing fabric instead of hand painted, hand scripted boxes with custom text.

While I love the interaction with each customer, these days I am thinking more and more that each custom box should be worth double what I am charging and yet with a host of loyal customers I’ve had for years who know my current prices, it’s not even something to consider.

Every day in the gallery at Venue I see beautiful pieces of art, that people don’t want to spend that extra dollar on. “Sixty dollars for this box, I could make it myself!” I hear them whisper. It was worse at craft fairs than here in the gallery, the disdain that I could have the audacity to charge that much for something. Then there are the appreciate customers who understand the value of what they are getting for their money. “This is all individually handwritten?” And, “I can have my own fiance’s name inscribed on the inside of the lid?! Wonderful!”

Even so, with praise resounding from a recent project for a bereaved mother, I want to double my income. I want to triple my income. I want to be able to buy clothes, to travel, to buy flowers to grow in my garden. The yearnings of Spring are upon me. The yearnings of an artist ready to blossom.

The Rain is Here

Yes, the rain is here in Seattle at last. But still, I am painting in springlike tones and the theme I’ve just completed is butterflies. Go figure. My brain yearns for spring even though I am content with fall in Seattle.

At first I am happy to see it, the gray slight drizzle is easy to ignore. You just wear a hat and remind yourself that this year you really need to buy some rubber boots. But so far this year, Seattle has had more heavy rains – what I like to call East Coast rain – and you really need to have an umbrella.

For me that is no problem. I believe I currently have six umbrella’s: Kermit the Frog (Happy 40th Anniversary Sesame Street!), small basic black, even smaller red that fits inside a bag, large long red, fancy decorated one that belonged to my grandmother which she handed me one of the last times I saw her when we were driving away in a truck and loading up things from her garage, and my current favorite glow in the dark flourescent yellow/green (StrideLite with lamp). That last umbrella is my current favorite because it has a lamp. Why don’t all umbrella’s have lamps? This is an ingenious invention that I don’t mind promoting. Not even sure the company is still around.

In any case, I am here in my studio while the sun is setting at 4:31 pm and I am painting butterflies, making some custom picture frames, dreaming of a house with a fireplace which will materialize very soon, and happy knowing that I’ll have a bright umbrella to guide my way home.

Looking for a Home?

We are looking for a home in Seattle, so houses are on my mind. From renting to buying a house, they always say you end up in something much smaller. So these little houses are only about 6″ and are squarish, painted in 3/4″ pine board with Golden acrylics and F&W acrylic ink, they make wonderful housewarming gifts at only $25 each. But mostly they are small studies for larger future inspiration. They have sprouted up on my desk and very soon will grace the walls at Venue, the gallery where most of my work is sold.