Miriam Badyrka is The Doodler

Doodle of the Week

This week's doodle is a bit late, but who cares? Do you care? Didn't think so.

This doodle is interesting because of the use of white space. I also like the little dots, especially the one's that are like number 4 dice. I like dice and have some of them right here near my computer.

If you want to roll some virtual dice, check out random.org which is a random number generator. Me, I will stick with the real thing.

Doodle of the Week

 

A group of loose medallions. Ok, some of them are pretty sloppy.

These were done while I was in phone hell with an investment company. You know the drill. Call with a simple question, and you have to talk to 8 different people. So you spend a lot of time on hold and occasionally get disconnected before you find out what you need to know.

Perfect time to doodle, don't you think?

Doodle of the Week

This week's doodle is a fine line carpet doodle. Its just the thing I have going on at the moment. I can do these very fast as when compared to ones that are heavily blacked in, like this one.

 I have accumulated several pages of them already. Not as impressive as the giant doodle, but it is fun to see them laid out together.

I like this one because it has little people and horses in it.

Rare Colored Doodle and More

Remember when I said that I was getting the urge to color this in? Well, I actually did it. I don't think the colors are perfect, and if I was really insane, I would re-do it.

What do you know? Despite all the evidence to the contrary, I am apparently quite sane. Today. No promises about the future.

Coloring the doodle was done deliberately, so is it no longer a doodle? It doesn't make the original doodle any less of a doodle, but I think a colored in doodle is no longer a doodle. I am not certain that I would call it art though. I am thinking is that I need to make a Meem's Rules of Doodling list

Other news: Lindy Gruger Hanson and I swapped interviews. You can read the one I did of her here below. She interviews me on her charming blog, L. Gruger Art and Travels.

The Whimsical World of Lindy Gruger Hanson

I would like to introduce you to Lindy Gruger Hanson, one of my favorite artists, and, heck, one of my favorite people period. Aside from being artist types, we both like hand written  letters, gardening, the world outdoors, and our silly dogs. She asked me if I would let her interview me.

Of course, I said yes, but I added the provision that she had to let me interview her.

It was fascinating to learn something new about my friend, and to be able to share her work with you.

Q: Does the time of day influence the work you do? Do you have a routine that you follow? What does your typical day in the studio look like? I am interested because I know you recently left your job to focus on your artwork full time. What has changed for you?

I try to have a routine to my day but it often changes depending on the day and my mood. I like to paint at night the most because I feel productive then but that doesn't really work with Greg's schedule since he works during the day. He works from home too. So I try to do my computer time (networking and marketing) in the morning and then after lunch go to the studio to paint. Sometimes we'll work until 7 at night before one of us will stop and say, shouldn't we fix dinner? Sometimes I go back and work after dinner for a few more hours. I definitely work more hours now then when I worked at my 8 to 5 job but the day goes by faster! Probably because I'm enjoying every minute of it!

Q: Your paintings always have an interesting surface, how do you achieve it?

I use a printing type technique that I've developed and that leaves some texture on the surface and then I also use string or embroidery thread dipped in paint to create random lines and squiggly marks. I'm also building up layers of paint. I put the painting under water and take some of the paint off in various areas and this creates an interesting surface as I build up the layers. I like to create a feeling of depth in my work. When I am completely done with a painting, I spray it with a gloss acrylic spray which brings out the color and gives it a luminous quality.
 

Doodle of the Week

This week's doodle is a fine line carpet.

I started doing this when my pens are running out. Once they are no longer juicy, it gets harder to black in areas. I am lazy, and these are doodles, so they shouldn't take too much effort to make. But I do like the effect, no matter how it was arrived at.

For some reason, I am getting the urge to color this in. It looks like a page from some sort of complicated coloring book.

Doodle of the Week

Some rings in honor of the Olympics. Not really, but I was watching the Olympics when I did them.

I like several of these medallions as individual entities, but the reason I chose this group is the strong diagonal line that runs through the center.

Even though they are headed the wrong direction, they remind me of Orion's Belt. And, since there are a couple of extra stars, my next thought was that the Hunter had gotten a little pudgy. Happens to the best of us, doesn't it?

I love stars, even though I live in probably the worst place in the world for stargazing. It is cloudy here probably 3/4ths of the time, so I don't get to see them often.

In the myth I know, Orion is the child of Neptune and the Queen of the Amazons (I learned her name: Euryale). He is a mighty hunter and doer of great and wondrous deeds who claims that he can kill any animal. He is finally killed by a scorpion.

Apparently, there are a whole bunch of versions. In most of them, he does get killed by a scorpion, though not always. I found the Wikipedia entry poorly written and too hard to follow, but this does a nice job.

Ian Ridpath seems like an interesting fellow, check out his website. At the very least, I am going to have to go back and read all of his star tales.