Automatic Drawing: Portrait

I've been working in my sketchbook lately (love the 11x14 size) and tried out automatic drawing to create a self-portrait. I guess I should probably stop calling all these art experiments 'self-portraits' but I don't know another way to describe a piece that exposes who I really am inside. With crafts it's so easy to not share your self - you enter a challenge, do an assignment, complete a card for someone else. For me, with art, I strongly believe that the only unique thing I can bring to the table is me and how I see and filter the world around me. So the art needs to be an extension of who I am and the thoughts I have.

For this project I tried the draw and veil technique. You draw for a minute or two - just a short bit of time - and then you cover some of it up with paint, then you draw again and then you veil. It's mesmerizing watching the piece blossom and then be ruined only to blossom again. And the layers each hold a part of what was speaking to me when I made them. This is definitely a technique I plan to explore further.

Have you missed my baking? I've been baking up a storm but haven't posted because it's all been family requests for recipes I made earlier in the year. I couldn't really say, "nope. I'm only baking new recipes this year"so I've made very little progress on 52 cakes the past few weeks even thought my kitchen has been over run with pastries and goodies.

Avery asked for the Coconut Lime Cake for his birthday:

Great day. Great kid. Great Cake.