And Stretch, Two, Three…

Meet Patch. He’s the latest character that will be joining his friends in the shop soon.

This set of paintings will be making their way to a gift shop at a charming bed and breakfast…

I also have a bunch of new paintings in the works at the moment, but a lot of them are waiting on me to overcome lack of motivation + a little fear.

I enjoy most of the creative process when making my mixed media paintings. But part of what I enjoy doing [sewing the decorative stitching] goes hand in hand with my least favorite part of the process…stretching the canvases. I have to start the pieces with unstretched canvas in order to sew around the characters. Then, I have to cut the stretcher boards to make the frames, which is where my little inkling of fear sets in. Every time I’m sitting in front of the jigsaw, I visualize slicing right through my thumb, the blood, and the fainting that is sure to follow. I wonder how long it would take before anyone would notice that Mom is passed out on the garage floor, missing a thumb. Morbid, I know, but I think this fear helps to keep me extra careful when working with the jigsaw…maybe. Then, after the cutting comes making the frames, followed by the seemingly endless stapling. It’s really not all that bad, but it’s tedious, and well, the tedium tends to drown a lot of the motivation I have to create these pieces. So what do I have to do? Push through, keep on trucking, and catch up on my favorite shows while wielding the staple gun.

My plan is to have these paintings stretched, painted, and up in the shop ASAP. I want to get these guys ready to greet the Christmas season before the turkey and stuffing induced sleep stupor sets in.

xo

nessa dee