Tag Archives: acrylic

Hello, all.

I don’t know about you, but to me, one of the most satisfying things as an artist is taking an old piece (or, in this case, two old pieces) that wasn’t quite working and making something new and infinitely better out of it.

Cloud cut-out

I like to think that’s what happened with the piece(s) I worked on today. I chopped up an old painting of a skull done on a piece of cardboard sketchbook backing (I like to use whatever I can as “canvases”) that had never quite worked, added it to a neat background that I’d never been able to find a subject for, added some details to tie the two together, and there it was, a quirky little piece about accepting the mad, scary world, Alice-in-Wonderland style.

“Love this Mad World” detail (faces)

“Love this Mad World” detail (mouth)

I still might trim this on the right edge. We’ll see.

These kinds of victories tell me that I’m still improving as an artist and haven’t become complacent. They also tell me that I haven’t given up–I’m still determined, mad as it is, to continue painting. As we’ve been setting up the online shop to supplement the in-person shows we’ve been doing and working on promoting Apple of my Odd Eye, I’ve been exhausted by the amount of work involved (especially as this isn’t the only project we’re working on–check out geekcollateral.com if you’re curious about what I mean!) and definitely had moments when I wondered if I was losing my mind. Sometimes I’m still sure that I am. Knowing me, I’ll have to just go wandering after it, down the rabbit hole.

– Sarah Y. Varnam, Apple of my Odd Eye Artist