Still Life, New Product

Orchid 1

Watercolor 5.5 X 6.5

Orchid 2

Watercolor 4.5 X 6.5

I was so excited that my orchids were blooming for a second time that I just had to try painting it. It's quite tiny, white with purple speckles. I could have protected the white areas and tried to splatter paint from my brush to make the speckles but I thought an easier way would be to use a new product that I recently bought. It's Brusho Crystal Colors. It's a powdered watercolor that comes in little plastic jars. You can punch a hole in the top of the container and shake the pigment out like a salt shaker. So, I wet the area where I wanted the purple and shook a little onto it. Voila! I had my speckled orchids. Then I could go in with my brush and make the petals and the centers. Of course you get a little bit of pigment outside of your wet area which you can blow away or make into a light wash. I did both. The purple pigment was a combination of red and blue so it made a nice range of color in the flower. The yellow in the top painting was from a spray bottle with a little powdered yellow pigment and water. Like instant sunshine. 

More From the Workshop

All Hands on Deck

Collage 5 X 6

I started this at the workshop I attended and finished it last week. It's an example of what can be added to a collage for embellishments. On this one I added some stamping, hand, circle and squiggle punch outs, brads, heat set silver foil and finally a heart shaped bead. It's a sampler of embellishments, not meant to be a serious work but mostly play. It's mounted raised on mat board.  Play is good!  

Collage Workshop Week End

Red Roof House of Music

5 X 7 Floating collage

Last week end I was at the Naperville Art League attending a workshop with Laura Lein-Svensner. It was a floating collage workshop. The pieces of collage are mounted on foam core so that they are raised up from the surface of the mat board on which they are mounted. For the first project of the class we all made a little house with a red roof. We were to have earth and sky background, a house with windows and a door and a red roof. The rest of the design was up to us. We had a wonderful variety of red roof houses. Mine has sheet music for the house, a treble clef for the chimney and notes on the red roof with a night sky. 

Ancestors

Floating collage, 12 X 12

The next day we worked on a larger project for which we made our own papers (first day) and included some of our own photos. This collage has a picture of my parents; the map in the background is of South Dakota where they were born. This collage is a keeper for me. 

To see other collages from the week end go to Laura's blog. (Click on this link)

Abstract Collage

Abstract Collage 1

8 X 8

The collage class is going well, the students are learning a lot about making papers, choosing colors and color combinations and putting together their collages. They look simple but abstracts are much more difficult than they appear. It's hard to get that look that you are going for. It takes lots of practice. It's so much easier, in my estimation, to do pieces with objects or subject matter. I like the challenge of abstract or non-objective work even if it is frustrating at times. Even if I start out with a plan I often don't stay with it. I get lured away by a pattern or piece of of paper that I just have to use, then I just go from there. I think this one tied together pretty well. I will use it to show my class how to heat fuse it to a wood panel. Then it will be ready to show or sell. 

Collage Class Demo

America!

Collage, acrylic 6 X 6

I made this little collage as a demonstration piece for a collage class I've been teaching. Where do you start? For this piece it was the paper with the flag that got me started. What would make a good background for it? I searched the paper box for compatible red and blue and some neutral tone as well. Then I began piecing it together, sealing it down with a hot iron while protecting it with a piece of non-stick paper. Then the flag was added and then the paper with the words and, finally, I punched stars out of gold paper to add. The torn edges were sealed with burnt umber acrylic which was carefully wiped away so just the edges were stained. Then it's given a coat of acrylic gloss medium. The last steps will be to adhere it to a gallery wrapped canvas and give it a couple of coats of UV varnish. 

America's prayers go out to the people of Belgium and may God protect traveler's everywhere. 

Getting Ready for Class

 Skinny Collage

3 X 9

Aquarium 

Collage, 3.5 X 10.5

I like the challenge of doing a composition on an irregular shape, in this case long and narrow. I did Skinny with odd pieces of this and that and then added the transfer at the end. 

I thought the painted tissue lent itself to a water like texture so I made the aquarium piece out of scraps of that. I may put this on a long skinny wrapped canvas that I have. 

I don't start out with a design in mind when I start these practice collages, I just pick the colors and papers that I want to use and let it build itself from there. It's very much like play and is very relaxing and freeing way to work. 

My collage class was supposed to start this week but a family emergency put it on hold for a week. Now I'm busy getting ready for the first class on Monday. 

Workshop- Day 3

Papa John

Watercolor 15 X 22

Just a quick post about day 3. We did a portrait painting of Papa John. It was very fun to do this man with the bushy beard. The strong light and shadow make it a delightful study. My painting on top, Maggie McClellen's below. Once again I had a heavy hand with the dark, I guess I've had too many teacher's telling me to "get the dark colors in!" 

Papa John by Maggie McClellen

Workshop, Day 2

Old Barn with Truck

Watercolor, 15 X 22

This was the second painting that we did in the Maggie McClellen Workshop. Once again, it was her drawing that we worked from. 

Maggie's Barn and Truck

I'm not sure if this is Maggie's final on this painting but it's the last picture I had. As you can see I had a much heavier hand with the dark colors and also changed the color scheme. I have to do something to make the painting mine, I don't want to just "paint along". There was no masking fluid used on this painting, every thing that was light was painted around. I much prefer this to applying mask then removing it and dealing with all the hard edges. 

  

One of the new things that I learned is the ideal color ratio. According to experts at color, the compliments should be in the following ratios; yellow to purple-10% to 90%; blue to orange-30% to 40% and red to green-50 % to 50%. I'm guessing that this is supposed to be more pleasing to the eye but I'm not at all clear how the ratios were derived. I'm not sure if I achieved a 10 to 90 ratio but it explains why my shadows and sky are to the purple shade. 

A Watercolor Workshop

On February 18, 19 and 20 I took a watercolor workshop with a wonderful watercolorist, Maggie Mc Clellen. Painting someone else's subject in their style and mode of painting is always a learning experience, especially when the style of painting is a little different from your own. I always enjoy it, even if it does stretch me. For a painter you can't complain about 3 days of doing something you love. The first day we watched Maggie's manner of painting as she demonstrated painting an old fishing boat. Then we attempted to do the same. At the end of the day I had my version, and Maggie had hers. And that's why she's the teacher and I'm not! Still, for a first time, it's an acceptable painting. If you are not learning anything, why attend a workshop?

My boat painting

Watercolor 15X22

Maggie Mc Clellen's painting

Watercolor 15 X 22

It's Always Exciting

First Place

It's always exciting to win an award. Today I won First Place in the Small World Category at our local art show.  A Small World painting may not exceed 25 square inches and must be framed no larger than 8 X 10. The subject must be 1/6 or less than actual size. All my little 30 in 30 Days collages paid off, the judges said they had a hard time choosing between the four that I entered. I feel blessed! 

The King

 King Fisher # 1

Watercolor, mixed media 11 X 11

This  was my first attempt at doing one of Karen Knutson's "wire drawings". See her work at www.karenknutson.com. It's supposed to be a combination drawing, zentangle, with added collage and paint. Well, I got the collage and paint part OK but I didn't like the busy background (permanent ink) behind the bird. I tried to tone it down with gouache, then naples yellow, finally I used white acrylic. See the next picture. I also modified the background colors.

 King Fisher #1 modified

I liked this one much better, I like the bird but thought the background could be better and I could do without the messy acrylic behind the bird.

The King 

Watercolor, ink, and collage 11 X 11

I'm happy with the way this one turned out. I left the circle behind the bird just the white of the paper. The viewer can decide if it's a sun or a moon. I used the "old fashioned" method of collage, just cut and paste for these. I used "Yes" paste to start with so whatever I didn't like could be removed. When I was finished I went over the pasted pieces with matte medium so they would be permanent. Other than the drawing done with ink there was no zentangle going on. I like the idea and I will probably do some more and try to incorporate some of the zentangle or wire drawing. 

Day 30 Over the Moon

Over the Moon

Collage 6 X 6

The last day of the Challenge! I made it! There were many who signed up but not everyone made it to the finish. It's not easy and I congratulate everyone who made a commitment to do a piece of art every day. It's huge! Even if you worked everyday but didn't complete a piece that day it's still a commitment to be in the studio and put the effort in. The real challenge now is to keep up the effort, do the work, and get better at what you do. Don't take the next week off, but keep on. (That's me giving myself a pep talk). 

I've done another little valentine for today. It's sort of says what I'm feeling about everyone who has been reading my blog. I'm over the moon for you! Thanks for putting up with my chatter and my collages. I'm blessed.

Day 29 Safari

Safari

Collage 6 X 6

The large patterns in the papers of this collage were made by stamping with a hand made stamp. The small ones were from a store bought stamp. The patterns and colors made me think of African textiles so I found a postage stamp from Zambia in my ephemera collection to add to the collage. That's how I came up with "Safari". The papers are all altered National Geographic pages. 

Day 28 Paris Memories

Paris Memories

Collage 6 X 6

My 30 day collage odyssey has almost come to an end. I'll be ready to put away the papers for awhile and pick up a paint brush. I do love the design aspect of collage making, some things work better than others. This one doesn't quite work as well as I hoped. Every collage is a learning experience. What could I do to make it better, what other colors could I have used are a couple of questions I ask myself. Learning good design helps in all kinds of art. 

This collage was made from a placemat, a French map, bleeding tissue and acrylic paint.

Day 27 Rainy Day

Rainy Day

Collage 6 X 6

We are having record rainfalls in south Florida this year. It's the wettest January that I can remember. In the last 24 hours we have had 5 or more inches of rain and it will rain most of tomorrow, they say. I keep reminding myself that at least I don't have to shovel it. As this collage came together it looked like the rainy day we are having, so I found a transfer of a girl with an umbrella to finish it. I'm looking forward to the sunny week end that is promised. 

Day 26 Horsing Around

Horsing Around

Collage 5 X 6

I made this one a little smaller to fit into a 5 X 5 opening in a mat and frame. It's made with hand painted tissue, altered magazine, security envelopes and a part of a page of a poetry book that has been painted. It was that scrap of poetry that sent me in the direction of finding a horse to use as an acrylic transfer. The marks were made with a watercolor stick then sprayed with fixative. Using watercolor sticks makes it easy to erase until I get the marks that I like, then I fix them before coating the collage with gloss medium.

Four more days to go...stay tuned!

Day 25 Why Not?

Why Not?

Collage 5.5 X 5.5

Day 25, Why Not? is colorful and a little whimsical. As I was putting this one together I was indulging in a little dark chocolate therapy, Doves Dark Chocolate, to be exact. They always have something written on the inside of the wrapper, mine said "Why Not?" I thought, why not put "why not?' in my collage. I finished it off with some stamped notes to go with the notes in the paper, a stamped circle to go with the circles in the green paper, and considered it finished. I think it's a fun one. The papers are hand painted, printed and the pink from an envelope. 

Day 24 Before She Flew

Before She Flew

Collage 6 X 6

The text that I found gave me the title. It's nice to have that taken care of because sometimes it's hard to come up with a title. This collage has some interesting paper sources. the image on the left was a copy of some paint left over on a disposable palette paper. It was interesting, so when it was dry I made a color copy of it and prepared it for collage by coating the copy with gloss medium. The lower brown piece is a cone coffee filter. I love the texture of the seam. Above that is some painted tissue, the music and more painted tissue. The bird is a copy of one that I found in my stash, the text from a book of poetry that was painted and the top piece from a Geli Plate print. The papers are made up ahead of time, most of them months ago, then I look through them to decide what will make up my collage. There's more to it than meets the eye. 

Day 23 Attitude

Attitude

Collage 6 X 6

While digging through my papers I came across one that I had made on a Geli Plate. I made a copy of it, not wanting to use up the original. It had this quote on it about attitude which is always a good reminder. Sometimes one must do an attitude check up and do some adjusting. I call myself Joyful Artist, not Grumpy Artist although some days the later would be more appropriate. Truthfully, I'm more joyful making art than when doing just about anything else. Like anything, it's a choice, any attitude is. 

Other papers used were painted tissue, altered magazine pages, packaging and printed papers; I also used acrylic and Inktense. 

Day 22 A Happy Place

Beach Palm

Collage 6 X 6

Whenever I need to get away either physically or mentally I go to "my happy place". It's usually a nice beach with a palm tree for a little shade, a gentle surf, and no crowds. Lucky for me I live a short ride from such a place except I'm likely to find it's not at all secluded, especially this time of year. It's OK, there's plenty of room for everyone. This collage is made from painted tissue and copy paper, the inside of a security envelope and acrylic paint and gloss medium.