LAURA PETRISIN'S WATERCOLOR, OIL, AND ALCOHOL INK ART
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Blog - Perspectives

Building An Art Studio Part 2

2/26/2019

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!We are on the second stage of building the art studio. That comes down to a lot of painting

The walls have been rolled, and now it's time to paint the trim with a little help from my friend, Janet Smith!



​The next thing to tackle is the chimney. I had to get the old, rusted, gross pipe out of there. I didn't know what might jump out at me from that hole! I steeled myself and then painted the cement a nice, clean white.
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​I put a nice, new pipe in the chimney. That pipe goes to our water heater in the basement. Then, I put a second coat on the walls. The trim is all done and things are starting to look good!

The next thing to tackle is the floor!





The floor is an old, wooden floor. The first thing I wanted to do was caulk all the cracks to help keep the cold out. There were a lot of cracks but my assistant was ready to help as usual!
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​It took as long to paint the floor as it did to paint the walls. It was worth it though! What a difference a coat of paint makes!






​The ceiling, walls, trim, floor and chimney are painted.

Now comes the fun part - decorating! Stay tuned for Building An Art Studio Part 3! I'll be putting down a rug and hauling some art equipment into my new studio!
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Building An Art Studio Part 1

2/20/2019

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I finally bit the bullet. I finally decided to turn my junk room into an art studio. I figured if not now, when?

​When I say junk room, I mean junk room. However, it's a room with potential. It's a fairly good size and it has windows on three sides, which means light, and light is gold to an artist. The first thing to do was to clean it out. That took a full day.


The next thing I had to do was hire somebody to put up new sheetrock and wire the room for heat. I hired a small, local company called Peek Construction. They began work by tearing down the old sheetrock and hauling it out.
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Then the new sheetrock had to go up, the wiring done and a heater installed. That's my dog, King, by the way.

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My husband generously offered to paint the ceiling while I chose the paint and primer to cover the walls. Then, I spent a day cutting the paint into the walls and ceiling. Coming soon -  Building An Art Studio Part 2 - the next stage in renovation!
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Alcohol Inks On Marble!

11/8/2018

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A few weeks ago I was helping my daughter, Grace, clean out her garage. Whenever I see clutter and hordes of stuff just taking up space, I get in a militant “throw away” mood. I was doing just that, until I came to a box of marble tiles. The proverbial light bulb went off above my head and I immediately wondered how alcohol inks would look on marble.

So I snuck the box of tiles to my car before my daughter turned around and noticed. JUST KIDDING! Grace generously gave me the box. Of course, the fact that I was helping clean out her garage may have given occasion to that gracious act.

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When I got the tiles home, I tried the alcohol inks on one, and I really liked the result. There is something to painting on a substantial piece of marble, as opposed to paper, that is really cool.
I ended up painting six tiles. One of them sold and the other 5 are at Hector Handmade - a cute little shop in Hector that carries art and handmade products from local artisans. Check them out when you get a chance!
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Joy

3/19/2016

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Recently, I found myself asking the question: How much Joy do I have in my life? Not how much money or how much success, but how much Joy? I am in my 6th decade and if I don’t ask the question now, then when? I don’t confuse happiness with Joy. Happiness is fleeting. It comes and goes and is too often dependent on circumstances. No, I’m talking about Joy, a Joy that is deep and abiding, the kind  that whistles in the dark and cannot be dictated to. I’ve been thinking a lot about Joy - how to get it or maybe, how to get it back. I think Joy hangs out with Gratitude. I think it’s the antithesis to worry.  What exactly is the anatomy of Joy? But I veer off course even asking that question. Because Joy is not a formula, or a dissection, or an analytical thesis. I don’t claim to know the full definition of Joy but I think it’s something rooted, yet free; abandoned, but not chaotic. Face up turned fearless, arms flung wide open…. ready to receive.

Joy centers us. It goes deep and lifts. It is strong. No weakling has abiding Joy. It is made of sturdy stuff crowned with a child’s laugh.

​How much joy do you have in your life? it is a question worth asking.  Love to all!
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January 02nd, 2016

1/2/2016

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Monasteries and the Art of Simple

11/10/2015

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​There are places on this planet where the air between heaven and earth is very thin. I experienced it once at a church garden in Ireland. The second time was at Mount Savior Monastery in Elmira, NY. It's as though molecules of light have cleared out those of heaviness in the very atmosphere. You can feel it. I know I felt it when I traveled to Mount Savior at the end of March this past year. Winter had not released its grip and it was still bitterly cold. I was looking for some time alone where I could just "be."



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​There are two small cottages at the monastery which are rented to visitors looking for personal retreats. The monks, known as brothers, call them casa1 and casa2.I stayed in casa1. The cottage had everything a person would need ​- a kitchenette, bathroom, bedroom with single beds, and a small living room with a fireplace. There was an old radio with two channels, but no tv or any other form of entertainment. The bathroom towels had been washed so many times they were paper thin and scratchy. That was ok, though. John the Baptist dressed in camel hair and I bet that was scratchy too.

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​The brothers support themselves by bee keeping and raising sheep. The monastery has a gift store where honey and wool are sold. It also has a wide selection and range of books. During my weekend there I began a friendship with authors like Thomas Merton, Henri Nouen, and Anthony De Mello. Both Merton and Nouen had spent time at Mount Savior in the past. 
There is a big wooden barn on the premises, located in the sheep pasture. It's like any other barn except that it has a white cross on it. Nothing fancy. Just an acknowledgement of a man who was born in a barn and died on a cross. There is a hill you have to go over just before you arrive at Mount Savior. As I crested that hill, the first thing visible was the barn.
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Even though it was freezing, I took time to walk around the grounds. There wasn't much too see in the dead of winter. But I had nothing I had to do and nowhere I had to be. 

I continued exploring and almost missed a significant piece of art hidden in an unlikely place. I saw something attached to a cement shed of sorts. I couldn't make out what it was so I walked closer. It was simple wire and wood screwed into a concrete wall. No elaborate religion here. It was stark. A man on a cross. Obscure. Naked to the elements - wind, rain, snow. Wire wound  to form a figure. The position was telling. Head down, knees bent. Gravity pulling, suffering bowing, weakness bending. Meaning stripped down. 







​It made me stop. There was something about this primitive art that touched a chord. I wondered about the brother who had made it and why he had hung it where he had. I wondered how long it took to finish and if the wire had cut his fingers while working. It made me ask questions about my own art and my reasons for doing what I did.
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The morning I left Mount Savior, I did a small ink drawing on watercolor paper. The subject was a scraggly pine tree behind a rock wall outside my casa. The drawing  was simple. I left it on the table underneath the house key, and closed the door.
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Hidden Treasure

10/31/2014

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Who could guess that hidden within the dry, barren terrain of the Navajo Reservation in Arizona, there are slot canyons of incredible beauty!  One such canyon is known as Antelope Canyon, near the town of Page. 

The Navajo name for Antelope Canyon is 'Tse bighanilini,' which means "the place where water runs through the rock." The canyon was formed by erosion of sandstone, mostly due to flash flooding.

Antelope Canyon bears the mark of rushing waters and the rock presents its own distinct liquid flow, similar to blown glass.

You can't visit the canyon at will. It is owned by the Navajo people, and you must sign up for a tour with a Navajo guide who drives you down a red, rocky trail to the mouth of the canyon. From the outside it looks much like any other rock formation except that there is an opening like a narrow, curved slit in the cliff. Entering that slit is where the magic begins!




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Beams of sunlight stream down from jagged openings in the ceiling, illuminating curving spirals of rock. The rock itself looks like ribbon candy with stripes of gold, burnt sienna, dusky rose and deep plum. Standing in that cayon, I wanted to stop time just to take it all in.

There's something about Antelope Canyon, it's hidden treasure, that haunts me. I left the canyon, but it didn't leave me. I'm struck by the beauty that is worked by God in secret. How long did that slot canyon lay "hidden in a field" before it was discovered?

I appreciate a God of mysteries and of hidden treasures. I don't want a God who is easily defined and managed. I want One who both hides and reveals Himself at His own choosing. The kind who hides from the all-knowing and self important and reveals Himself to babes. I look to the Holy writings to voice something that I am only grasping at intuitively. 

"... the mystery of God... in Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.."

"... and in the hidden part, you shall make me to know wisdom.."

"For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God..."

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels..."

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels... like Antelope Canyon hidden in barren, rocky desert. 
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Progression Of A Painting - Taughannock Falls

6/14/2014

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This is a painting I started of Taughannock Falls in Trumansburg, NY. The following is a progression of the different stages of the painting. It is done in oils on a 24"x36" canvas. First, I decided to do my under layer in reds, oranges and yellows. I did this to set my tones and values and to establish a vibrancy that would come through in the finished work. It was also helpful in blocking in the different aspects of the scene like the rocks, trees, etc. The colors I used were vermilion, cadimun yellow, burnt sienna, and yellow ochre.


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I began blocking in the rock shapes with mixtures of dioxazine purple, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, burnt sienna, and white. I loved the contrasting purple alongside an almost  periwinkle blue, and decided to go with that color palette for the rest of the rock formation.

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Here I finished the bottom of the rock formation and darkened it with burnt umber mixed with the ultramarine blue and purple.

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I began the left side of the rock formation continuing with my color palette. As I finished the work for that day, the afternoon light came in through the window and fell on the painting in such a beautiful way.

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I finished blocking in the left side of the rock formation. I will add more detail later on but now it is time to start on the rocks in the water.

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I painted the rocks in the water with yellow ochre and white for the tops and different shades of purple for the sides and the bottoms. The rocks are lighter on top where the light hits them. I also painted the sky with a mix of mostly cerulean blue, along with a little cobalt blue and white.


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Now it is time to paint the water. I used cobalt blue with a little ultramarine blue mixed with white. I thinned this paint somewhat and the yellow ochre underneath helps to give it a blue/gray hue. I also lay in a little purple to tie the water to the rock.

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I added white to the water below to bring it to life! I used a Bob Ross 2" brush. I use the flat edge of the brush and "hit" the white onto the canvas. There are no strokes. It gives the effect of rushing, moving water. For those who are old enough to remember Bob Ross on tv (with his happy little clouds and trees), I will be eternally grateful for his happy little 2" brush!

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Now I move on to the bush to the left and the trees at the top of the falls. I decided on a fall season because I didn't want to get rid of all the red in the painting. Red really makes a painting pop and I try to include it if I can. I painted some of the trees on top with a chrome yellow. For the bush to the left, I also used chrome yellow and added some sap green and terre verte.


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This is a closeup of the bush. I wanted to lay in some rocks to give the bush interest, so I used purple for the bulk of the rock and then highlighted the tops with white.

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I added greens to the trees above the falls and also added some leaves to branches entering the scene from the left, above the bush.

Now it is time to work on the waterfall - to fill in gaps of color with white and to create a mist at the bottom of the falls. Again, this was done with my Bob Ross brush.

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I finished up  the branches to the left and put in some dark tree trunks and limbs at the top.


The painting is complete! I hope you enjoyed viewing the process!

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Try Something Different!

3/23/2014

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I painted with watercolors for years and was content at doing that. But then, I discovered oils and a whole new world opened up for me. Recently, I've been trying my hand at mixed media, using art tissue paper and waterproof, ultra fine point markers on canvas board. Ooh la la! My whole style has taken on a different angle and a primitive one at that. I find this media perfect for exploring African Art. African Art is full of shapes and designs. I find an earthy freedom in it. I am still new at the process and I'm learning as I go, but isn't that what makes life interesting anyway?

Sometimes I'll stumble on my own across a new and challenging art form to try. Other times, the good Lord will bring someone across my path who will open up new art methods and techniques to me. Whichever ways the opportunities come, I will take them!

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The Transforming Power Of Art

1/24/2014

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I am lucky enough to work with one of those people who can turn a garbage can into a work of art - literally! My colleague, Peg, is one of those people who can transform the environment with creativity. We work in the basement of, what used to be, the old library in Tompkins County. It's always been dark and pretty drab. That is, it was until Peg arrived and things started to brighten up some. The horrible, brick walls got whitewashed. The awful, dingy cabinets were sponge painted a teal blue and the handles were replaced with colorful knobs. Art began appearing on the walls.

Last week, Peg showed me an old, rusty, metal garbage can that she had decoupaged. It was love at first sight! She had taken pictures from a magazine I had brought in on  Africa, and, along with tissue paper, had transferred them to the trash can. I don't know, there was something about it that just hit me. It was the fact that somebody took something ugly and put in the time and effort to make it beautiful.

I have come to the conclusion that beauty is essential to a healthy life. We can become so wrapped up in the routine and so used to the commonplace that we lose our sense of wonder. We become dull. There are countless ways to counter that though, and people do it all the time. I have a friend who  puts fresh tulips on her table in January. I have a cousin who bakes cakes and not just any kind of cake. Her cakes are works of art! Any touch of creativity that lifts the spirit has more worth to it than one might guess.

So, cheers to Peg and all the other artists who see potential in the everyday drab of our surroundings and add their touch to make a difference!


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My friend, Peg
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