2017 30 Day Challenge Day 5

Shimmer 5

Mixed Media 3.5 X 4.5

This may be the last of the Shimmer series, I am moving on to some collages but I may go back and do some more of these. I like the textures that the rice paper and mat medium make. The watercolors on top can be added and removed easily until you get the look you want. This one with all the green begged for a spot of red. Is it a house on a hill or just two red spots? You decide.

2017 30 Day Challenge Day 4

Shimmer 4

Mixed Media 3.5 X 4.5

A slight change in color again, but still the shimmer is there. It reminds me of looking down from an airplane at the landscape below. Everything has a flattened perspective and you can see roads, trails and rivers all on the same plain. The link to the 30 Day Challenge iswww.saetastudio.com/30-in-30.html

2017 30 Day Challenge Day 3

Shimmer 3

Mixed Media 3.5 X 4.5

I've been so busy creating that I almost forgot to post day 3! I have a little variation in the color of Shimmer 3, I've added some blue and green. The rice paper picks up the paint in the creases and wrinkles and naturally makes the lines that go across the page. I have darkened some of these with Inktense pencils. 

2017 30 Day Challenge, Day 2

Shimmer 2

Mixed Media 3.5 X 4.5

This is a companion to yesterday's piece. The two of them would look nice side by side in either a single frame with a mat with two opening or hanging in two matching frames. 

2017 30 Day Challenge, Day 1

Shimmer 1

Mixed Media 4.5 X 3.5

Here we go again with a 30 Day Challenge. I don't know about you but after the holidays I need a push or a challenge to get me in the studio and working again. Let's face it, it's really serious "me time". I have some challenging events this month so I don't know if  I'll get 30 done or not. 

I've decided that I will do abstracts or non-objective pieces. Some of them may have a recognizable something in them but I want to push myself to do as many little abstract pieces as I can.

This one is done on illustration board with random pieces of rice paper glued on with mat medium. Then the watercolor, watercolor pencils, inktense pencils, and irridescent medium and gold acrylic to add the shimmer. Too bad the shimmer doesn't show up in the photo, it's a thin layer and adds interest.  

Christmas 2016

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

I wish you all a very blessed Christmas as we celebrate the traditional time of the birth of Christ. May you be filled with the same awe of the shepherds who saw the babe that first Christmas night, the joy of the angels who sang and the faith of the wise men who followed the star. 

December Activities

Colorful Sails

Watercolor 15 X 22

The first weekend in December I participated in a watercolor workshop with Linda Lucas as the instructor. I've been away from watercolors for a little while so the first painting we won't even photograph. This is the second painting which turned out OK. The unique thing about Linda's work is that she uses very diluted acrylic ink for her background painting. Then she uses watercolor for the subsequent layers. Why haven't I thought of that before? This allows the background colors to remain bright and unmuddied  by the watercolor layers. In this painting we used clear contact paper as a mask for the sails and waves. The acrylic ink was applied over wet paper and allowed to run across the page. When that was dry we removed the contact paper, wet the painting with no fear of removing the background since it is acrylic and allowed our watercolors to flow across the sails. This was a fun and easy way to a watercolor. 

Since the workshop everything has been Christmas! Cards, decorating, making ornaments and baking cookies and bread.

Palm Ornament

Old watercolor and glitter

Glass Ball

Alcohol Ink, acrylic pen, stick on rhinestones

Wishing you all a very blessed Christmas 

and

a prosperous new year!

On the Sparrow

On the Sparrow

collage, 4 X 6

This is one of my favorite quotes, "His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me." It's from an old song of faith and assurance that if Almighty God knows when a sparrow falls (Matthew 10:29), He certainly knows about me and whatever I'm going through. (Right now it's a respiratory infection like a big percentage of the rest of the country. It's good it get it over with now and not have it during the holidays).

This collage is all hand painted paper with one of the little sketchy bird stamps that I found. I've embellished it with some gold colored brads, just for interest and to repeat the dots on the other side. It's sealed and varnished and ready to be matted and framed or fixed to a panel.

Drama Queen

Drama Queen

Collage, 4 X 6

Drama queens, we all know them; sometimes we get sucked into their vortex even when we try hard not to. Then we are left dizzy, wondering what happened to us. Then there are times when we get a little to dramatic ourselves! Time to take a deep breath and stop spinning. That's what this collage reminded me off. It's the busy paper around her head and the stance with hand on hip. You know she's about to get into it, time to leave the room! 

She's made of hand painted brown paper with a little glitter spray and painted tissue. It has brads and a stamped figure and words. It's coated with clear acrylic and UV varnish. 

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving day with as little drama as possible!

Another Series

Random Thoughts

8 X 8 Collage

I found a package of clear stamps of these sketchy women in interesting poses and I incorporated them into some collage paper that I painted on brown paper. It's an easy way to put a figure or a portion of a figure into a collage. I got a little crazy that day and also sprayed the paper with Krylon Marbelizing Spray (that's how they spell it); some in white, some in black. It was great fun. I also tried some Krylon Glitter Blast. It's easy to get a little heavy handed with glitter, I discovered. The circles are punched out of a painted book page to indicate thoughts. All the papers are coated with acrylic and heat fused. Then they are coated with several layers of acrylic and acrylic UV varnish. The piece was entered into a Show titled Words and Images at our local art league. 

My Happy Place

Beach House 2

Collage 6 X 6

With all the election stuff going on we need a place where we can go and find some peace and quiet. How about a little house on stilts out on the water. No internet or TV, just the waves, the sea and the sunset. Ah, makes me happy just thinking about it. 

This little collage is mounted on a gallery wrapped canvas and is paired with  Beach House 1 that I posted earlier. The papers are all hand altered or painted and heat fused to 140 # watercolor paper. The collage is sealed with UV acrylic to resist fading. 

Playing Catch Up

 Circular Thoughts

8 X 8 Collage on wood panel

I've been doing a lot of collage lately but not keeping up with the photography and blog posting. Today seems like a good day to do some catch up work. This is an older collage that just felt unfinished to me. I finally decided it needed a blackbird and some embellishments. The circle bead embellishments are harder to spot in the photo but there are 3 and they have some dimension to them and I think they add some interest to the collage. I was thinking about how some thoughts keep going around in your head and that's how I came up with the title.

Paris Skyline

 6 X 6 Collage 

If you've followed my blog you know that I like to incorporate Paris into my paintings and collages. This is an actual Paris skyline on the top, other elements are stamps and collage papers that have been painted or altered in some way. 

I love the intuitive nature of  collage and how it can be abstract and still have recognizable elements in it. This one was started as a demo that I did for the art guild in Sun City FL. It took several weeks before I added the tower and tree. Like painting with paint, when you paint with papers sometimes it takes awhile before the painting "tells you" what it needs.

I have 7 more collages that are in that stage of waiting for the finishing touches so stay tuned.

Some Little Additions

 Beach House 1

Heat Fused Collage 6 X 6

Beach House 1 Side View

I just thought I'd show you how I'm mounting my little beach house collages. I'm putting them on deep gallery wrapped canvas that has been painted and collaged on the edges. While sorting through my stuff I found some little bicycle embellishments that I thought went very well with my beach house. Many Sanibel Islanders get around on bicycles, especially in the winter season when the traffic is thick with tourists. I have another beach house finished and I will be posting it soon.

I've done a major art room reorganization. I sorted all my collage papers by color and cleaned off a shelf so that the clear plastic boxes have a home. It's so nice to be able to go to a box for the color I need. The whole thing took hours but it has been worth it. If only I could get the rest of my life organized! 

Starting Small

Pink Roof Beach House 1

 Collage 6 X 6

Wow, was it ever nice to get 3 comments on my last post! Thanks everyone.

I'm starting my Beach House series small to start with. I think I'll continue with my series a little larger because it's easier not to have so many small pieces to work with. 

The beach houses around here have taken on a Key West vibe and have been painted in pastels and brighter colors. Some even have polka dots! I found this paper in an art store and just had to use it just the way it was. The roof is from some Geli plate printing that I did; the sky, sea and trees are altered National Geographic pages and the sand is hand painted printer paper. I finished it with acrylic paint and some pen work. It's finished with a coat of acrylic UV varnish ready to mat and frame or adhere to a 6 X 6 panel.

Sketchbook Collage

I have an idea for a series of collages, beach houses.
I have made some in my collage sketch book. I just used ordinary magazine pages and a glue stick to quickly put together some ideas for little houses by the sea. These are good practice and reference  for some larger collages. I find that Pinterest is a great source for ideas and confess that I spend more time pinning pictures on my board than I do making collages. It's quite addictive. I especially like the one in the middle #4. Now to make one bigger with the heat fused method.

Finally Home

Summer Bouquet

Watercolor 11 X 15

August was a month of travel seeing friends and family "out west and up north". It was good to get away and be out of the heat and humidity for awhile. In between trips I worked on this little watercolor, first laying in a very wet background of cobalt blue, quinacridone gold and opera rose, and some salt for a little texture. After it was dry and days later I found flowers and a vase in it that needed to be further revealed. I probably worked on it over a period of 6 weeks, whenever I was back in town and finished it last week. Well, maybe it's finished, we'll see.

Trees in Silhouette

Trees in Silhouette

Watercolor 15 X 20

I saw a painting similar to this in Oregon when we were there visiting our daughter. I thought it was so striking I had to try it myself. I didn't get my background as bright as the one I saw so it looks more like a winter scene than fall. Still the starkness of it looks striking to me. I added a little dog to the figure so it looks less lonely. I may try it again and try to get my colors a little brighter. I wonder how it would look with yellows and greens? Maybe purples and blues for a night scene with stars. I think I may have a series to paint. 

Finished Piece

Souvenir From Paris

8 X 8 Floating Collage

After shopping hardware stores small and large I found turn buttons at Michaels. Who knew? There were no choices as to color or size but at least I found some in a package where I didn't have to buy 50, plus shipping. 

And, yes, the answer to my silly riddle is from the last post is insane, or "in Seine" for the two of you who wrote comments. Thanks, for that. I love getting comments, real ones, not spam. 

Summer is a good time to play around with new ideas and materials. Last week I started making paper for collage in larger format. I'm using paper grocery bags and brown craft paper. They will have many layers on them so they are not finished yet. I'll post pictures after they have as many layers as I want on them. 

I'm thinking about joining the 30 day challenge again in September. Yes, I'm insane, and not in a river! The challenge really gets my creative juices going and I try not to pressure myself but to just have a good time and crank it up a bit. If you're interested look up Leslie Saeta on the internet. I'll try to post the link a little later if I decide to participate.

Before and After

Before

After: Paris Souvenir

Shadow Box Floating Collage 8 X 8

The before you can see had some of the inside paint continuing to the outside, it's harder to tell that the outside paint was a rather dingy tan. I was not happy with my choice so I decided to go with an all off white outside. Four coats of paint later I finally had what I was looking for. It's hard to tell from the photo how the collage floats. It is raised from the back by a foam core base and the top piece has another foam core spacer. It's a nice effect and one I learned from Laura Lein-Svensner.  http://lonecrowart.blogspot.com I still have to put a piece of glass on the front which is held in place by turn buttons. 

Now for the question of the day; What do you call a person who jumps in the river that runs through Paris? Leave your answer in the comments.

Painting outdoors

Sample Palette and painting 1

Sample Palette and painting 2

While visiting our daughter in Oregon we went with her to the stable where she boards her horse. As she rode we sat outside in the shade and enjoyed the setting, read, and I painted. I had picked up two sample palettes from Golden's Qor watercolors at the Florida Watercolor Society trade show last year. They were handy to do a couple of quick watercolor sketches. I used sample colors on each packet for the paintings, then I added some pen and used a watercolor pen for the fences. The paintings are about 4 inches square. I enjoyed the challenge of mixing the colors I needed from the palette that was provided.

A very large bird flew across the sky which I tried to capture in the second painting. I should have painted  in the horse and rider but they just wouldn't stand still!