2x2: 2 Artists, 2 Sketchbooks -- Week 44

I knew what I wanted to do this week almost right away when I saw Dana's page. Her pattern reminded me of wallpaper. And that led to me thinking about the wallpaper in the kitchen of the house where I grew up. It had illustrations of botanical specimens -- plants, birds, butterflies, mushrooms -- and so with a slightly less than direct route my train of thought took me to the idea of painting a branch of an orange tree on my page.

Dana (l), Anne (r)

I think it was Dana's color palette. That dark, dark green made me think of citrus plants.

In truth, when I went to mix the colors I realized there wasn't actually orange on Dana's page, but the yellow ochre and bits of red gave that illusion. I used orange anyway.

Dana (l), Anne (r)

My page was fun to paint. I tried to be looser and messier than my normal style to fit in more with Dana's page.

Don't forget to check out Dana's blog for her take on this week's pages!


About the project:

2x2: 2 Artists, 2 Sketchbooks is a collaboration between artists Dana Barbieri and Anne Butera. Dana and Anne met in an online painting class. Although they have never met in person, they have become friends through regular visits to each others' blogs. It was through this connection that this project began. Wanting to move from friendship to collaboration, each spent two months filling one half of a sketchbook before mailing it off to the other. Dana worked on the lefthand pages and Anne on the right. Each will be responding to the other's work on the adjacent sketchbook pages over the coming year. Watch weekly as they reveal another page of their story.

About the artists:

Dana is an artist and crafter living in the foothills of the Catskill mountains two hours north of New York City with her husband, two children and little kitty. She is passionate about painting, knitting, crochet, color, pattern and design.

Anne is an artist, writer and crafter who finds inspiration and joy in the beauty of her garden and the magic of nature. Dissatisfied with and disheartened by the pace and lifestyle of the city, she and her husband (with their two rescued greyhounds and an aging Siamese) relocated to a small town in the beautiful Driftless region in southwest Wisconsin with the goal of living a slower, simpler, more intentional life.