2017 30 Day Challenge - Day 15

Bird on a Perch

Mixed media Collage

Day 15! I'm half-way through the challenge. I've made it through an out of town family funeral, and a 3 day workshop and I have still managed to post a daily piece. I can be organized and focused when I want to be, and that's the challenge. Not so much that I make great or even necessarily good art, but that I focus on what I want to do and that's to finish 30 pieces in 30 days. Sometimes I know life is going to get in the way  of creating so I double or even triple up on some days to get ahead or to catch up if need be. 

I'm starting to love the lighter oranges and yellows. I don't think I've made friends with a true orange color, yet; perhaps as an accent but not as a dominant color. I have one more orange and then I think I will move on and start a new color series of abstracts.

Day 9 Dancin" To the Music

Dancin' To the Music

Collage, 6 X 6

It was the acrylic transfer of the figure that inspired this one. I'm not sure where this figure came from but I've wanted to use it for a long time. It's such a simple graphic but looks so joyful it needed joyful colors and some playfulness. Nothing serious going on around here. 

I also learned a good lesson. The painted tissue, which is what the dancer is on, is very thin and fragile. When I put the dark shading on the collage I wipe it away with a baby wipe. On most papers I can get pretty vigorous with the wiping; not on the tissue. From now on the tissue gets and extra coat of gloss acrylic before the shading so won't get rubbed away. I had to do a little patching on this where I rubbed to vigorously. 

A friend contacted me and wanted to buy the collage "Night", so I have priced them at $40.00 each, unmounted, plus shipping. 

Thanks for all the wonderful comments! 

Day 8, Cool In Blue

 

Cool In Blue

Collage, 6 X 6

The swirly blue paper is a copy of some paper that a friend brought to me from Italy. I can't bear to tear it up so I copied it on my printer so that I would feel OK using it. The green corners are altered magazine pages, the solid blue is painted and glazed tissue and the script is printed tissue paper, another favorite.

Thanks to everyone who has made comments on my earlier posts. They are appreciated!

Day 7 Gold Hills

Gold Hills

Collage 6 X 6

The inspiration for this piece was the yellow gold paper. It's a hand molded paper that was originally white and I painted it with quinacridone gold, one of my favorite colors. I really like all the texture in that paper! The blue, green and cream papers are commercially printed and the brown is a packaging paper. I find that I'm saving just about everything. Soon I'll need a warehouse. It's so much fun to have a variety of papers to work with. All of them have been coated on both sides with acrylic gloss medium and heat fused to a piece of 140# paper. All my collages can be framed, fused to gallery wrapped canvas or a cradled board. They are sealed with UV varnish.

Day 6, Night

Night

Collage, 6 X 6

The inspiration for this was the title of a poem that I had torn off. I looked through my papers for something that was dark but interesting. I found this tissue that had been painted with a gloss medium and acrylic paint mixture. I chose pieces of that for the whole collage and added the calligraphy piece and a gold moon as the only other papers. It leaves a lot for the imagination to work on.

Day 5 Nevermore

Nevermore

Collage 6 x 6

This collage and I made friends right away. It was one of those pieces that went together easily and told me what was needed. Some days I think there really is such a thing as a "muse". When finished, it made me think of the poem I learned in childhood; I don't remember much but the line, "Quoth the raven, nevermore". Was it Edgar Allen Poe? I think it was rather dark and spooky. Nothing spooky about this guy, he just likes saying, "Nevermore."

The collage is made from hand painted papers, altered magazine pages, printed papers and stamped paper coated with acrylic and heat fused. Finally, coated with UV varnish.

First Collage of the Year

In the Pink Collage

6 X 6 

I'm participating in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. I'm choosing to "paint" with my papers. I may mix it up with some watercolors, too, in the future. There are so many things that can distract a home artist from making art, but when there's a deadline, I put the chores and distractions on hold and get into the studio. 

Today I was attracted to the hounds tooth check and thought that pink would be the perfect companion to it. The check is a printed paper, the solid pink and black are painted tissue, the script is from a printed paper, the poppy is copied from a napkin, and the grey crosshatch is a security envelope. Everything has been coated with gloss medium and heat fused to make a smooth piece of art. I did some outlining with a pen, shadowing with acrylic paint and coated the collage with UV varnish.

Day 28--Shell Collector

Shell Collector

Watercolor, 7.5 X 11

This is a common sight on our beaches which are full of sea shells. The shells are so pretty and unique it's hard not to get involved with searching for the perfect specimen. Even when you've been here a long time like I have they are hard to resist. It's always amazing how many varieties, colors and sizes there are. Our Creator's imagination far surpasses mine. After a couple dozen I think I would have said, "That's enough." and quit. 

I enjoyed this picture for the light and shadows, and the shoreline. I had some fun with iridescent medium in the water which does not show up in the reproduction. 

Only 2 days left in the 30 Days Challenge and I actually have a couple of left over collages. When I do them, I do several at a time and pick out the ones that interest me the most. So, we'll be back to collage tomorrow. See you then.

Day 25- Sea Grapes

Sea Grape

Collage, 5.5 X 7.5

The sea grape is one of my favorite Florida plants. The smooth, round, leaves change colors from reddish to shinny green and back to a deep red and brown. In the spring there are long clusters of small white flowers that mature as a grape like cluster of fruit. They get eaten by the wild life before I even get a chance at them. I'm told they make a good jelly. The downside to them is that they grow at an alarming rate and must be trimmed often if you don't want them to take over. 

This collage was made from painted tissue paper for the background and the leaves, stems and berries were made from altered and painted magazine pages. They are heat fused to 140 lb. watercolor paper and finally coated with UV varnish. 

Day 21 Copper Canyon

Copper Canyon

Collage 5.5 X 7.5

Twenty one days down, nine to go! I'm really glad that I'm keeping up with this challenge. I feel like I've grown and I've gotten a lot of good ideas for future work, both in collage and in painting. I think I'll be incorporating some of these designs in my watercolor work and into larger collages. This collage has copper acrylic on it to blend with the peachy color scheme. I've worked in a horizontal format this time instead of vertical, I need to switch it up now and then. The papers are all altered and painted magazine pages. I really like all the textures and colors I can get working with these pages.

I just got home yesterday from the Florida Watercolor Society and I feel energized by all the creative "juices" that were flowing all week end. We saw some marvelous artist demonstrations, took lots of pictures and notes to keep the information fresh in our minds. The trade show was terrific and the vendors had artists doing demonstrations in their areas, too. Lots to see and take in. I wasn't going to buy anything but that resolve cracked when I saw that there were Gelli Plates for sale. I've wanted one for a long time but didn't want to pay shipping on top of the price. So, now I'm the proud owner of a Gelli Plate and I'm sure I'll have fun experimenting with that.

Day 14 Transformation, Mini Collage

Transformation

Collage, 3.5 X 4.5

I'm back to my small collages; this is the size that is required for the donation to the Art League that I am associated with. They are matted and put in a clear bag, then they are displayed at our annual show and sold for $10.00. It's our major fundraiser for the year. I thought the organic shapes that the painted tissue made were perfect for a butterfly transfer. 

Day 13 Red Reflections

Red Reflections

Watercolor 9 X 12

For day 13 of the 30 in 30 Day Challenge I did another watercolor. It was the reflections on the water that captured my attention when I looked at this red sailboat. Red is like that isn't it? It demands to be noticed. I was at a marina outside of a restaurant where we were having lunch. The line in the background is the bridge over the Caloosahatchi which connects Ft Myers, FL and Cape Coral. It's a very scenic spot to have lunch looking at the boats on the river which flows into the Gulf of Mexico. This time of year the traffic is pretty sparse but in the winter it's very busy with visitors and snow birds. 

I used masking fluid to protect the white on the sailboats, dock and water, something I don't usually do but there's no other way to get around the light areas of railing and deck top. For the clouds, I dampen the paper and just paint around them, that way some of the edges are soft. We are almost to the halfway point in the Challenge, I hope I make it to the end.

Day 12 A Watercolor Day!

 Rainy Season

Watercolor 7 X 10

One neat thing about doing a painting a day for 30 days is that you can try things that you've always wanted to try but haven't. I've wanted to try to paint rain for a long time. Summer time is the rainy season in Florida, we see a lot of rain storms, usually in the afternoon. The wind will blow, there will be thunder and lightening and the rain will come down in buckets for 10 minutes to an hour. Then, it's done. 

For this little painting I painted the palms first and let them dry, then I made a big puddle of gray-blue paint and painted over the palm trees with a big brush with one swipe so that I didn't move the palm paint too much. Then I spattered and spritzed clear water to make the dots and drips. After that dried I enhanced the drips and drops with white and blue paint.

Day 11 One of My Favorite Subjects

Paris In The Fall

Collage, 10 X 10

Yes, I admit it, I'm one of those people who loves Paris. Something draws us back to that city again and again. I can stay a few days and I'm satisfied, although I often wonder what it would be like to be able to stay for a month and really be able to explore in a leisurely fashion. Our first trip to Paris was billed as a Christmas shopping trip, three days in Paris, three in London in November. We just got a taste and knew we had to go back even though we had a tiny hotel room, it was expensive, confusing, cold and rainy. We since have been back spring, summer and fall, each time to a different neighborhood. It's a wonderful city to explore, there seems to be no end to the interesting new place you can find each time. 

This collage is made with stamped and painted tissue, altered magazine pages, printed pages and acrylic paint. 

Day 10 One Third of the Way!

Lariats

Collage 10 X 10

This collage was made from altered magazine pages, hand painted paper and tissue, printed paper and acrylic paint. It has lots of texture that can't be appreciated in a photo. When you get into making collages you start to save interesting papers. The red in this piece was from an envelope of unusual paper that was sent from India. The hand made papers often hold memories of when and where they were made and who was there creating with you. Making a collage, like painting a painting, carries a piece of the artist in it. 

Day 9 Getting Bigger

Petroglyph

Collage 10 X 10

I've been saving this one because I wanted to show the smaller ones first. This whole piece is done with pages from the National Geographic that were altered with the Citrasolv. The organic quality of the pages lend themselves to a landscape format and with the layers I thought it looked like the side of a cliff. I found this giraffe transfer in my stash that just seemed to be waiting to be put on this piece. Is that serendipity or what? 

For those who are kind enough to leave comments, I'm sorry that I've had to reinstate the comment puzzle thing. I found that I had hundreds of spam comments in my spam box which I was unaware of until I stumbled upon it while looking for something else. I do love the comments and appreciate the time it takes for you to leave them. 

Day Eight, Before and After

Landscape, Day 8

Heron Lake, Day 8-revised

Collage, 4.5 X 6.5 in 8 X 10 mat

As I looked at this collage I felt that it needed something. So, I looked through my images for image transfer and thought the heron was just the thing. The size and scale was right and it fit the feel of the piece. To transfer an image I coated the printed image with several coats of gloss or gel medium and allowed it to dry. I cut it as close to the image as I could, placed it face down on my artwork and fused it with the iron. Then I rubbed the excess paper off with a small, damp cloth. What is left is the printed image on the layer of medium minus the paper. I first learned about the process in a Golden Paints workshop, I think they have tutorials on line if you want to know more. Just search "acrylic transfers".

Day 7 Abstract Collage

Writing On the Wall

Collage 4.5 X 6.5

I have one week down and three to go! I hope we all make it to the end. This collage is made up of altered magazine pages, stained tissue and printed tissue. All of it has been coated with gloss medium and heat fused, then sealed with gloss medium and UV varnish. I love this process because you can design your collage and fuse it without taking it all apart to glue the individual pieces down. Once you arrange it, it's practically done. I like the limited palette on this one; red, black and gray are always a good combination. Did you know the phrase "The writing on the wall" comes from a story in the Old Testament? You'll find the story in the book of Daniel, chapter 5. It's quite interesting.