February 30 in 30 Days- Day 10

Orange and Blue # 4

Birds on a Wire

Mixed Media Collage Tissue, Art paper,

Acrylic transfer heat fused on paper 

mounted on black card stock. 4 X 4

This is another "Little Gem" in my orange and blue series. All but one little bird is watching the sunset over the water, perhaps the nonconformist is watching the reflections. I'm 1/3rd through the 30 Days, I hope I make it to the end and that my friends who are painting the 30 in 30 will make it too.

February 30 in 30 Days- Day 9

Orange and Blue #3, Butterfly

Panted deli paper, tissue, collage 

paper, acrylic transfer, and ink on 

paper mounted on black background.

4 X 4

I call these little collage paintings "Little Gems". I try to keep the design simple with something recognizable in it to mount on a little canvas or put in a small table frame. They make attractive hostess gifts or souvenirs. 

February 30 in 30 Days- Day 8

Orange and Blue Series #2 Dragonflies 

Painted tissue, altered magazine pages, 

acrylic, and ink on heat fused on paper. 6 X 6

Late posting today; I'm having fun keeping up with the painting and posting every day. It will be a true challenge this month, my busiest time of the year, to keep up. Good luck to us all!

February 30 in 30 Days- Day 7

Cat Series # 3 Sits Silently

Mixed media collage,  5 X 5

Acrylic, altered magazine pages, ink, gloss medium

There's a poem I learned as a child about the fog coming on little cat's feet. It sits silently looking over the city. I always thought it was a very charming metaphor. Thanks to google I can attribute the poem to Carl Sandburg. This little collage reminded me of that poem. 

February 30 in 30 Days- Day 6

Cat Collage #2, Stretching

Altered magazine pages, stencils,

and acrylic. 6.5 X 4.5

Another one for the cat lovers. I've always admired the flexibility and agility of cats and wonder if we all wouldn't be more that way if we got up from rest leisurely and stretched instead of hitting the ground running. This is one of those difficult works where I think, "Is it too much?", "Not enough?". Then I give up and just let it be. I can't hit the bull's eye all the time but I can enjoy the practice. 

February 30 in 30 Days-Day 5

Cat Collage Series #1

Hand painted papers, altered magazine pages,

book pages, acrylic and ink on paper sealed 

with acrylic gloss medium. 6 X 8

I'm drawn to paintings with blue and orange for dominant colors. I wanted to work more of that into my collages and paintings. It's another area of exploration for me because I haven't used those colors together very much in my work. Painting every day gives me the freedom to stretch myself and try new things. Why does life get in the way of doing that all the time? 

February 30 in 30 Days, Day 4

Together

Liquid Watercolor on Yupo

13.5 X 10.5

Now I have really ventured into the unknown. I have worked with regular watercolor and also acrylic ink on Yupo synthetic paper, but I had not tried the liquid pigments. I knew I wanted to put some impressionistic figures in the painting but I had never done that before either. This is how I learn, by trying. The wonderful thing about Yupo is that if you don't like the first results you can wash it off and have a "do-over". I did this until I got something that was at least acceptable to me. I discovered the more I played with it, the more messed up it got so I quit and let it dry, then sprayed it several times with fixative so that I couldn't keep trying to "fix" it. I will revisit this technique in the future, it's fun to do something different. There's something about the 30 in 30 Days that gives me the freedom to try a new thing.