Day 26 Bye, Bye Blackbird

Bye, Bye Blackbird

Collage, 7.5 X 5.5

We are winding down to the last few days of the 30 Day Challenge. I must admit that the subject matter is getting to be one of the biggest challenges. I think I'm just about out of the collage ideas for this format. This one is not one of my favorites but I do like the bird flying by. It needs something else in it to tie it all together but so far my imagination has not helped me. Any ideas out there? I'd love to hear your comments and I so appreciate the comments I have had during this challenge. Thank you!

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 24 Sailing the Sound

Sailing the Sound

Collage, Acrylic 5 X 6

I can't let the month go by without doing a sailboat collage. The background is from a tourist brochure with a map of the waterways around the area, the sail boat is from painted tissue. The little sailor is painted in.

The water is pretty shallow, especially in the winter, so I don't think there is too much sailing unless you have a boat with a shallow draft. But I do see lots of sailboats that motor out to the deeper water through the waterways and on the river. It's a very lovely place to sail or motor or paddle a kayak or canoe if you prefer. A day on the water is almost as good as a day making art.

Day 23 I've Got Mail

I've Got Mail

Collage, 5.5 X 7.5

It's bound to happen; when you start making collages, you start saving things. In this case, a beautiful red envelope and stamp from Nepal. The envelope looked like it was hand made paper and such a gorgeous red I knew it was collage material. The other more unusual piece of material in this collage is a dryer sheet which is the red stripe on the left. The rest of the papers are altered magazine and reproductions of manufactured papers. 

Day 22- Favorite Things

Favorite Things

Collage, 5.5 X 7.5

I couldn't decide what I should call this collage until I realized that I used a lot of elements that I like to use the most; the checkerboard design, the snail swirl, calligraphy, gold and a touch of red. This isn't a particularly good design but it has the things I like so that makes it OK with me. What it lacks in balance it makes up for with fun. Now I must get to work on the project for tomorrow.

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 18 A Snail's Pace

 A Snail's Pace

Postcard Collage, 3.5 X 5.5

Today I'm traveling to Boca Raton Florida for the Florida Watercolor Society convention. It's something I look forward to every year. Each year it's in a different location. The artist's demonstrations and lectures are so interesting, full of new ideas and innovations. There is also a section of vendors that come and they sponsor artists to demo as well. We travel at anything but a snail's pace. The time goes very quickly and we're home, exhausted on Saturday night. 

This collage is done with altered magazine pages, and tissue, heat fused to watercolor paper, and sealed with acrylic medium.

Day 20 Musical

Musical

Postcard Collage

3.5 X 5.5

Day 20 means there are only 10 days left! When I look over all the marvelous paintings that are posted at the 30 Day Challenge web site I'm amazed at how good they are and how they are getting so much better. There are really so many that I could spend all day looking at each one of them. Being in the studio or wherever you create each day is so beneficial. 

I love using player piano paper in my collages for the slightly yellowed hue and the interesting perforations that are on it. The little dashes at the bottom of the collage are from that. The other papers are hand painted and decorated tissue and altered magazine pages. The wavy keyboard transfer is in reference to the player piano. 

Day 19 Blackbird

Blackbird

Postcard Collage

3.5 X 5.5

By itself this little collage just didn't seem to be very interesting. I looked through my transfers and nothing seemed to fit. Then I thought of the phrase from "Portlandia", "Put a bird on it!" Why is it that anything seems more interesting when it has a bird on it? 

PS, If you don't know about Portlandia, put it in your browser, I think you find some you tube videos. 

Day 17 The Sun Will Come Out

The Sun Will Come Out

Mini Collage, 4 X 4

Sometimes we have those "iffy" days, maybe the sun pokes out once in awhile. I'm wishing I had put my sun transfer a little more in the yellow section but once they are down, there's no changing it. It reminds me to not be too hasty in my decisions. 

Day 16 Stormy Day

Stormy Day

Postcard Collage

One thing you learn about Florida is that a rain storm can pop up at any time. You don't leave windows open or convertible tops down, especially in the summer. Today, for instance, it was bright and sunny until suddenly dark gray clouds rolled in, lightening flashed, thunder rolled. It will be raining buckets in one neighborhood while two blocks away it remains dry. Not like the area wide rains we would get "up north". So this little collage shows the blue skies and the thundercloud with the wind whipping everything around. It's made from tissue and altered magazine pages and heat fused to 140# watercolor paper. It is sealed with acrylic medium.

Day 15 Halfway 30 in 30 Days Challenge

Wine Time

Collage 4 X 4

I don't know about the rest of the many artists who are doing the 30 day challenge, but this is getting into the "challenge" part for me. The hard part is keeping the momentum of the theme going and keeping the work fresh. Some days I'm just lucky to get a collage or watercolor put together. At the same time I'm trying to keep it fun and not be too hard on myself. I'll be going to the Florida Watercolor Society convention at the end of the week so that's when things might not get posted. I'm sure I'll come back with lots of fresh ideas and creative energy to finish the rest of the Challenge.

Wine Time was made with hand painted papers and altered magazine pages. I like the subject and I would like to try to make a larger one.

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. 

Day 6, Autumn Day Collage

Autumn Day

Collage, 7.5 X 5.5

The next few day's collages are a bit bigger, they fit in an 8 X 10 mat for framing. This one, with the orange and green made me think of the early days of fall when some of the leaves have turned and some have kept their green for just a little longer. The papers are painted tissue, water stained tissue, and an altered magazine page. Acrylic paint is lightly wiped on and wiped off in places to bring the piece together, then it is coated with gloss medium.  

Day 4, 30 In 30 Challenge, Postcard Collages

Caravan

Collage 4 X 5.5

This collage came together when I was looking for a piece of orange to place in my collage. I spotted this orange with camels on the back of some prepared paper  that had not been affected by the Citrasolv. I like to put in something that is objective now an then and people really like to see something recognizable in an otherwise abstract piece. I have gotten a very positive response to this collage and I think that's why. All the rest of the papers in this collage were magazine pages that were altered with Citrasolv and coated with gloss medium, then heat fused.

Day 4 Post Card Landscape 3

Moonscape

Mixed Media Collage

4 X 5.5

Here we are at day 4 and I have another postcard sized collage. The papers are hand painted tissue, jelly printed paper and magazine page with the ink altered with Citrasolv. The circular forms on this paper remind me of photos of the moon with the craters. I hope you are enjoying the 30 Day Challenge as much as I am.

Day 3 Postcard Collage 2

Sunlit 

Postcard Collage

This looks like a sunlit cliff shoreline to me, especially in the photo. You can't tell that the little strip of yellow is the gold acrylic that I put on the torn edges of the paper. That is what makes the cliff look sunlit as well. These are the same kinds of papers that I used yesterday. I'm loving experimenting with these little landscapes. Check in with me tomorrow to see the 3rd in the series.

Day 2- Post Card Landscape

Post Card Landscape A

Collage 4 X 5.5

I decided to make post card sized landscapes for the first part of the month of the 30 day challenge. It gives me a chance to experiment with differing horizon lines, colors and papers without having a large piece to agonize over. They go fairly quickly and leave me time to work on larger pieces which take longer to complete. 

This collage is made up of magazine pages altered with Citrasolv and colored tissue that has been altered with water. Everything is coated with gloss medium and fused together with heat on 140# watercolor paper.

Day 1, 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

I'm going to participate in the 30 Day Challenge again. I plan to do my collage "paintings" as well as some watercolor and mixed media. My theme is "My Neck of the Woods", mostly focusing on Florida scenes but I will be doing a lot of non-objective pieces as well so I'm not being ridged about it. 

Time Span 

Collage 3.5 X 4.5

I've been learning how to make papers with National Geographic magazines and Citrasolv, a natural cleaning product. It dissolves the ink and makes one able to manipulate it into interesting, random patterns. All the papers in this little collage were made this way, coated with gloss medium and heat fused to 140 pound watercolor paper. It was then enhanced with acrylic paint and coated with another layer of medium.

Collage-o-rama

Going With the Flow 

Collage, 8 X 8

I've been on  quite a collage kick again lately. I'm surely addicted to the medium. I love working with the colors and patterns on the papers, the assembly, and making order out of what seems to be chaos. This was made with hand painted papers, text, stamped, and altered National Geographic papers. Out of my stacks of papers I pick two or three colors I want to work with, decide what kind of composition it will be, then I start tearing and placing papers until I get something I like. I didn't know it needed a fish until it was almost finished. This is stamped from my own hand carved fish stamp with copper acrylic on a thin paper. Next I wipe over the collage with acrylic paint and then wipe it off. This colors all the white edges of the papers and unifies the piece. If you enlarge the picture you should be able to make out fish images in the blue area above the stamped fish behind the net effect. They are all headed the same direction, going with the flow. The final step is to coat it with a UV varnish to preserve the colors. It can then be matted and framed or adhered to a gallery canvas or wood panel.

Lost and Found

Purple Mountains

7 X 10 Watercolor

Have you ever "lost" a painting and then found it years later? I found some magazines from 2001 in the bottom of a drawer, and I began looking through them. In the back of one of them was this painting. Obviously, it was painted during one of my trips west, I'm not sure which one. I thought it was a fun little painting and so typical of the sunset scenes one sees in Arizona,  or New Mexico. Usually I date my pictures that I paint away from home and keep them as a diary of my trips, but this one wasn't dated. The only thing I have to go by is the date on the magazines. 

Sailboat series #2

Red Sun At Night

Watercolor 15 X 11

This is the second in the sailboat series, very much like the first one only larger. I love doing the colorful skies, getting the colors to blend into each other is one of the most fun things to do with watercolor. I must be doing the boat OK because a sailor recognized the type of boat it was before I put the insignia on the sail. That's a good sign. 

Painting Sailboats

Red Sun in the Morning

Watercolor 8 X 11

I'm doing a series of sailboat paintings so that I have some to show at the Regatta in October. This is the first of them painted with watercolor. I wet the sky area being careful not to get the sail wet. Then I started with the orange and allowed the colors to blend into each other.When that dried I used masking on the lines and railing of the boat, then I wet the water area and put in a blend of ultra marine blue, and a touch of permanent magenta. After drying I could add the touch of orange from the sky and the details of the boat. This was my practice piece for a larger painting but it turned out OK so I thought I'd post it. 

A Bird in the Bush

A Bird in the Bush

Collage, 8 X 8

This collage has been patiently waiting for me for weeks to finish it. I'm so glad that it was begun so that I had something in the works one afternoon when the men were working on the kitchen and I had to be on hand for questions on details. Since my art room is right off the kitchen it was the perfect place to be. Over several days it entertained me during the completion of the kitchen project. The collage was begun with hand painted papers on 140# watercolor paper which were heat fused then coated with acrylics and stenciled. Finally it will be sealed a coat of satin acrylic varnish. 

Zentangle Butterfly  

4 1/4 X 3 1/4

With the remodel going on it's so crazy at my house I had to get away one afternoon to do something creative. Starting or finishing a painting was not an option, so I got out my colored pens and did some Zentangle. It's relaxing and absorbing at the same time. It takes your mind off of what is going on in your life and you combine your colors and doodles with abandon. It's small enough to finish in an afternoon and I come away with a sense of accomplishment. This will make a nice "mini" for our art league's sale in February. 

Moon Rise

Moon Rise Over Montana

Gouache on paper 7.5 X 7.5

It's been such a long time since I've posted a painting. I've been doing some summer travel to witness grandchildren graduating from High School. Such a milestone in their young lives! Add remodeling the kitchen and it leaves little time to paint.

This painting was done quite some time ago and I don't know where it's been hiding but it just surfaced and I thought it would be a fun one to post. I did a whole summer's worth of painting with gouache one year and really enjoyed the medium. It's a nice transition to go from watercolor to acrylic because of it's opaque qualities but it's still movable with water after it dries. I do hope I'll be able to get some painting in soon, I miss it when life gets in the way.

A Simple Design

Sailin'

Acrylic, 22 X 28 (framed) 

Every year our art league has a competition in conjunction with a local sailing club. The club members choose one painting from the show to put on their Regatta T shirt. This year my painting, Sailin' was chosen for the T shirt. Two years ago I had another painting chosen so this is the second time I've received this honor. 

For the painting I made a simple graded blue background in acrylic; mixing the paint with polymer medium gave it some shine. After it dried I drew simple boat and sail shapes on the blue background with chalk, erasing and redrawing until I had the placement , sizes and shapes that I wanted. Then it was a matter of boldly taking a brush full of fluid white paint and following the chalk lines. I had to move quickly to keep the lines smooth. It took several tries, washing out the white acrylic before it dried. it was a fun experiment, something I've never done before. It was so simple I almost didn't enter it but in the end decided I had nothing to loose. Now, I'm happy that I did. When the T shirt is printed in the Fall I'll share a picture of it.

Textured backgrounds

 Textured Acrylic Background

 

I think it must have been at least a year ago, probably longer, that I took a workshop from Libit Jones. She had us make colorful, textured backgrounds for our paintings. I did several smaller paintings in her workshop and made 2 full sheet backgrounds for future paintings. Then I stalled out. The backgrounds were stuck in the back of the stack waiting for an idea. I finally decided to try flamingos. I struggle with acrylic figurative painting because it's seems opposite of watercolor. You go from dark to light instead of light to dark, and then acrylics get darker as they dry and watercolors dry lighter. It's a learning process for sure.

My first attempt covered up the background and just allowed whatever I managed to scratch out show through in the water. Acrylics dry quickly and it was a challenge to get the top layer scraped out before it was too dry. You can see the under painting through the water. Click on the image to get a closer view.

 

 

Flamingo With Lotus

Acrylic 30 X 22

Palm Paradise

Palm Paradise

Collage/Acrylic 6X12

(Click for larger view)

 

 

This is the last collage I did for our collage class which ended in March. I wanted to show that not all the papers needed to be torn, some can be cut for hard edges. I cut some of the palm fronds and the grasses, it's too difficult to tear small pieces sometimes needed to complete your composition. The papers are altered Geographic pages, sheet music, printed papers and painted tissues. All are sealed with polymer medium, heat fused and the art is protected with UV varnish. Be sure to click on it so that you can see the little details.

I appreciate your comments so much. Thank you!



 

 



Zentangles

Hummingbird Zen

Colored Pen 4.25 X 3.25

Seahorse Zen

Colored Pen 4 X 6

I've been wanting to do some zentangles or doodle art with the many pens and markers that I have acquired over the years. I like the ones I've seen with a subject in them so I used a seahorse and a hummingbird as my beginning place. I tried to make them interesting and varied. Maybe my desire to make them artistically balanced gets in my way. I think they are colorful and fun, a great way to play with my "stuff" when I'm not working on a painting or collage. I think they will make fun note cards, too.

From Zambia

From Zambia

Collage, 8 X 8

I didn't know what to name this collage and finally settled on "From Zambia" because the stamps I put in it are from there. They have some wonderfully colorful stamps. The focal point is a stamp with a Rotary International logo on it. I thought it had an interesting shape and the orange is complimentary to the blue. The papers are hand painted tissue and deli papers, altered National Geographic pages, book pages, and decorative papers. All of them have been coated and sealed with polymer medium and heat fused to watercolor paper. 

New class, new students

Four Student Collages

These four collages were done by our new students last week. They are all 2 X 2 and were done from the scraps that my co-teacher and I save from our collages. They were embellished with little punch outs. I think they are all well done, we have some experienced artists in the group who wanted to learn the technique of collage without adhesives. It's going to be a fun class since there are only four new students and four returning students. We will have a great time making our papers and collages.

Spring Song

Spring Song

Collage 5 X 5

Often, when I begin a new collage I will do two with like papers. These papers are the same ones I used for the last collage; the music, player piano paper, gessoed and painted paper and altered magazine pages. I like the way the colors of the papers underneath show through the dashes of the player piano paper. With a little planning they can add quite a lot to the design.

Teaching, Creating, Blogging

Those Who Wish to Sing

Collage 7 X 7

It's been awhile since I've been blogging. it's amazing how much time it takes to teach a class, especially when you are new to it. Instead of making art I've been making plans for class. It was very rewarding to teach this newly learned skill to others and watch the enthusiasm for making papers and then making the collages. Eventually I just have to make something! I can't stand being around the papers and not start putting an idea together. I saw this quote on another blog, or Pinterest or somewhere and wanted to use it in a collage with music notes, player piano paper and finally a new bird stamp. Some of the other papers are altered from magazines and painted copy paper. All of it has been sealed in acrylic. 

A Great Sales Day

 One Fish, Two Fish

 Hydrangea

Message In An Aquarium

Today was the Pine Island Annual Art Show and Sale. It's our only show of the year and our big money making event. Of the many paintings that were sold today, 5 of mine went out the door! I am so humbled and elated at the same time; and very grateful. These are 3 that were sold and the painting that is the heading to my blog was also sold. The show is open until Sunday, 4 P M.