Featured Artist

I was asked to be the Featured Artist at the community theater for the month of May. The wall space is limited but is a good, visible space. I chose to hang my series of three mixed media paintings of birds on the charcoal pour background. It's nice to have my paintings in a public place besides an art show. 

The Third in Bird Series

Green Heron

Mixed media 11 X 15

This is my third bird on a charcoal pour since learning the technique in Karen Knutson's  class a few months ago. Getting a good charcoal pour is trickier to achieve than I thought. I got a good photo of this bird while waiting for a tour boat to take us out to Cabbage Key one day last spring. Don't ask me why he's called a green heron, I don't see any green on him either! Except for his beak and eyes he is all collage paper attached with acrylic matte medium. The post he is resting on is also collage papers. I used a variety of printed papers and napkins and even some birch bark in the post. It's a different style from the heat fused collages that I do. All the rest is watercolor and, of course, the charcoal that remains on the paper after being splashed with water. 

I wanted to make the technique work on a Florida scene and I think I've accomplished that. I look forward to trying to paint and collage some more birds from my area using this method. 

The Woods

The Woods

Mixed Media Collage 8 X 8

This little landscape collage was one of those experiments that turned out well. The landscape foreground of hand painted and altered papers came together quickly and easily. I knew I wanted the feeling of woods on the top but couldn't find or make any paper that worked. As I wandered through an arts and crafts store I came upon a stamp of woods that would fade in the background. I used the stamp on thin tissue so that if there was a background it would show through. The stamped piece was laid under the adjoining piece which was also an altered tissue. I like the effect very much. I painted the bird and a few leaves so that the scene wouldn't look too forlorn, like it had been burned. 

Bird Buttons Revisited

You may recall that during the 30 Day Challenge I posted these two collages that had bird buttons on them. They were OK but they nagged at me that they were incomplete. Sometimes art and serendipity collide, and that's what happened with these two pieces. A friend sent me a note with a beautiful cut out of a tree. The wheels turned and I thought, "What would happen if I used this as a negative stencil"? Then while walking through a craft store I saw a tree stamp on sale; "hmmm, I wonder if..." 

See the results below and let me know if my instincts were going in the right direction.

Painting a Landscape on a Charcoal Pour

Farm and Fields

Watercolor on Charcoal 11 X 15

Although she didn't teach this in her workshop when I took it, I decided I could look at her paintings and try one for myself. I borrowed a farm photo from a friend and tried to find a good size and place for it on my last charcoal pour that I had from Karen Knutson's workshop. When I was finished, I thought that the barn was a little small and overwhelmed by the rest of the painting so, once again, I'm thinking of cropping it.

Farm and Fields 

8 X 14

I think this makes the barn stand out a little better. I'm thinking I may have used too many colors as well but it's hard to get away from colorful paintings for me. I think it's because it's always so sunny and bright here in SW Florida. Also, I forgot to leave white spaces. I will try this again, I don't usually do landscape paintings but this was really fun to do.

Thoughts of Spring

Bobbin' Robin

Mixed media 11 X 11

After a very successful show and sale last week end it was time to get back to painting and collage. This time a robin on a charcoal pour. I painted it 11 X 15 which is a quarter sheet of standard watercolor paper but as I was adjusting my photos I decided I liked it in a square. I like doing squares a lot anyway. Instead of just putting the collage papers on the wings and tail I decided to put them on the colorful breast as well. Only his feet and head are painted with watercolor. 

I'm wondering if my friends up north have seen some early robins in their backyards yet. I know that the weather has been unusually warm for this time of year and this brings the migratory birds back. It's that time of year when you think that winter is over, then it comes back and bites you. For now, enjoy the little signs of spring. 

Here's the rectangle format. Which do you prefer?

Post Challenge Syndrome

Love Notes

Mixed media collage 6 X 6

My post title would be a good title for a painting, don't you think? There is a little bit of a let down after being so focused on your art work for 30 days and coming to the end of the month. Then everything that you have been putting off has piled up and is crying for attention. Our big art show and sale is this week end so I've had to get in gear and get the art that I'm going to exhibit ready for the show. Thanks to the 30 day challenge I have much to choose from.

I have one companion piece to the last piece in the 30 in 30 days challenge that I completed. It's another little valentine made from the same or similar materials. This one has music on it so it's title is Love Notes, a play on words. I think I will make these up into some cute valentines to send to my family.

2017 30 Day Challenge Day 30

Love Letters

Mixed media collage 6 X 6

The last day of the challenge! Whew! That was a challenge indeed as there were a lot of thing going on in my life. It shows me that I can carve out time for art even if life wants to get in the way. 

I love this last collage. Who doesn't like to get a love letter? It's a love letter to me for getting through the challenge and for all of you who followed me along the way and for all of the others who attempted to keep up with the 30 days. Hooray for us!

Thanks for the encouragement and the comments, it really kept me going.

2017 30 Day Challenge Day 29

Bird Button 3

Mixed media collage

This collage is the third and last in the series. Sadly I have run out of bird buttons. I love the paper on the bottom of this collage. It was made by painting multiple colors of fairly thick paint and gesso on tissue. The colors were swirled with a texture tool. It's tricky because the tissue is fragile and will tear easily when it is wet so you have to move quickly and gently. When it dries you can use either side of the tissue because the colors soak through the paper. This is the front, tomorrow's collage will have the back side. One more day!

2017 30 Day Challenge Day 28

 Bird Button 2

Mixed media collage

This is the second in the Bird Button series. I think this is my favorite because I like the tree and I like that I left the thread longer on the button. The whole series has a whimsical nature. 

The materials used are altered magazine pages, painted tissue, oven parchment, coffee filter, painted printer paper, cotton thread, acrylic paint, stamp ink and the button. It's sealed with gloss acrylic and coated with UV varnish. 

2017 30 Day Challenge Day 27

Bird Button 1

Mixed media collage 6 X 6

It all started on a shopping trip with a friend. You know those shopping trips where you are just out having fun and not really looking for anything in particular. I think we had wandered into a resale shop and I spied a rack of buttons. These buttons with the birds caught my eye and I thought how cute they would be on a collage. Here we are, months later and there were those buttons waiting for their place in the world of art. I had about as much fun putting together the collages as I did shopping that day with my friend.

2017 30 Day Challenge Day 26

JOY Triptych

Mixed media collage 6 X 12

Although I made this piece awhile ago, I don't think I have posted it before. Sometimes in these challenges you have to fall back on an earlier piece. The collages I was working on for the rest of the month still need some tweaking so it's good to have  an alternative. I love the colors and sentiment of this piece, joy is part of my on-line name and I hope that the joy I feel in my art is conveyed to those who see it. The three small pieces are "floating" on top of a white mat board and will frame quite nicely with a separator in the frame.

2017 30 Day Challenge Day 25

You Have to Kiss a Lot of Frogs

Mixed media collage 4 X 6

I'm putting together some pieces for the National Collage Society's Postcard Show so I've done a few that are 4 X 6. The magazine page that I altered didn't loose the orange frog in the picture although the other inks changed nicely. Sometimes this happens. When the collage was finished I thought of this saying for the title and put on the lip punch outs. Just a little bit of whimsy for the day.

2017 30 Day Challenge Day 24

Forever Takes Takes Time

Mixed media collage 4 X 6

I saw this word in my box of papers and thought about how it is used. We use it in exaggeration, when we say, "It took forever!", or "I'll keep it forever." But forever takes a long time. A lifetime of forevers adds up to a boatload of commitment. I look at the younger generation and don't think commitment is very common anymore. Life changes from one thing to another. Just committing to 30 days of art, posting your art every day, is too much of a commitment. It seems to go on forever! 

2017 30 Day Challenge Day 23

Buttoned Down 2

Mixed media collage 3.5 X 3.5

I think these two collages, yesterday's and today's, would look good together in a little  frame. Just the addition of a little blue tissue should tie them together. What do you think? Are they better together of standing alone?

Buttoned Down Diptych

2017 30 Day Challenge Day 22

Buttoned Down 1

Mixed media collage 3.5 X 3,5

When I give classes the first collage the class does is a 3 X 3 from scraps. They choose their composition and their colors and put together their first collage. After the first class, they have a finished piece of art to take home. They can frame it or mount it, I've even had some make a pendant out of it. So, to keep in practice every now and then I get out my scraps and make some 3 X 3's. It's just as much fun as the larger ones and takes less time. 

2017 30 Day Challenge Day 21

 

Cardinal

Mixed media-watercolor 15 X 11

I find that if I practice the techniques that I've learned in a workshop they stick in my brain better. If I go away and don't do that which I've learned for a week or two, I've forgotten everything. That is a waste of a good workshop! Here is my practice from Karen Knutson's charcoal pour class. There are some things I would change if I did it over again, but I love the bird so I'll keep him. Since every charcoal pour background comes out differently, every piece has it's own challenges. She also does landscapes on hers so I may try that, too. In the meantime, 9 days to go in the Challenge, I think I'll go back to abstracts.

2017 30 Day Challenge Day 20

Tea With Klimpt

Acrylic 15 X 11

This is a painting from the Karen Knutson workshop. We switched gears and learned what she calls, "Painting like Gustav Klimpt." We could choose our own figure to put in the painting and I found a picture of a woman in old fashioned dress having tea. For my first attempt I'm pleased with the outcome. Klimpt put a lot of little geometric details in his paintings in black and gold and I've attempted to recreate this look with acrylic paint. 

Early stage of painting

I don't have a picture of the start of the painting but the acrylic is dropped on and pulled to the bottom of the painting, some paint is lifted to make random white dots, then the figure is put in, more paint is removed and negative spaces are painted around the figure. It's fun to see the figure emerge and take the stage. If you like to doodle you'd love putting in all the little shapes at the end. It's very different style of painting and I enjoyed the process.

2017 30 Day Challenge Day 19

Beach House 4

Caribbean Blue

Mixed media collage 8 X 8

An orange sunset sky, the lovely aqua blue of the Caribbean and a swaying coconut tree; what could be better? Just add music and you are in a happy place. Making these little beach houses is pure fantasy. That's what makes them so enjoyable. What would your fantasy get-away look like? 

I used painted tissue, altered magazines, painted brown paper, spray glitter, printed papers, Inktense pencils and a metal bicycle embellishment. It's all heat fused with gloss medium and coated with UV varnish.

2017 30 Day Challenge Day 18

Beach House 3

Mixed media collage 9 X 9

I'm deviating from the abstracts for a day or two since I'm still working on my beach house series. It seems like I've done more than 3, I guess because I keep going back to them from time to time. 

I used hand painted tissue, altered magazine pages, geli printed paper, coffee cup holders and painted brown bags in this collage. It's all coated with gloss acrylic and heat fused to 140# paper then varnished. It can be mounted on a wood panel or matted and framed.