Abstract Self Portrait: The Eyes Have It

I recently joined the loving mixed media website which can be found here: http://lovingmixedmedia.com/main Today I tried the Abstract Painting challenge there, to basically take a photograph, cut it apart, rearrange into an interesting composition, and paint it. This is what I ended up with. It was a lot of fun to do! Although I love abstract composition, I'm somewhat intimidated by it and not sure how to create a successful composition. This was a fun exercise and gave me a new way to begin an abstract work. I had already prepared my panel with venetian plaster. I love the interesting textures it created!

Long Ago and Far Away

My husband and I agree that my "dark" pieces seem to be my best so far. I'm not sure why that is, but I'm not going to fight it! Even as a girl, I was drawn toward music in a minor key. This image reminds me of time I've spent in Europe, which sadly has been a quite awhile ago -- a distant and beautiful memory. I'm working to integrate more painting into my collages and here, I had a lot of fun with it.

Gesso Image Transfer

I love the dreamy color scheme in this painting. I started with a gesso image transfer and then added texture with collage and paint elements. Someday, I will look up the name of this beautiful plant, when I'm not busy working on another collage!

Journaling is the Thing

As I explore the world of mixed media art, I'm learning that journaling is a prominent component. I admit that I've never been consistent with any kind of journaling. Mixed media makes journaling a whole lot more fun! In these examples, I've used a combination of writing, collage, gesso and painting. What value is there in a journal like this? For one thing, it's less intimidating than a canvas or precious piece of watercolor paper. There is no pressure for it to be a finished piece. Rather, it's a place to play and experiment.

Scenes from the Coast

This summer, my family and I have been spending a lot of time at the beach. Here are a few sketches from the beach that I'm going to put into a small booklet. This will be the cover page. We always find a lot of sand dollars on the beach.

I sat on the beach and did this little watercolor. While I was working, the pelicans came and were swooping down to catch fish. It was a fantastic sight to see! In fact, I was afraid to try drawing the birds in, but then I did it, and realized a quick gesture was all I needed to do.

I'm always drawn to the interesting, organic shapes of the seaweed that washes up on shore.

A favorite activity of ours, especially with visitors, is to climb the local lighthouse.

It was fun to practice my watercolor and drawing this way! I need to do this more often.

Deja Vu!

Meadowlark, Fly your Way Down...

This meadowlark might look familiar to those who saw my earlier meadowlark collage this summer. I happened on an extra inkjet printout of it today when I was going through some papers and thought it was too good to waste. Plus, it gave me a chance to try a gel transfer with the gel medium I bought recently. I'm trying to integrate more of my own drawing and painting into my work. In this collage, I scribed leaves into gesso along the lefthand side and aimed for watercolor effects the in the background. I'm pretty happy with it as it is, yet it may be a work in progress, as I look at it and think about whether it needs anything else to feel finished.

Illustration Friday: Imperfect

I gave up perfectionism long ago, so imperfect is practically a motto for me. Almost anything I do would fit this theme! Last week, I spent some time at the beach with my family and found this battered piece of seaweed as I walked along the shore and decided to do a quick watercolor study. It seems like a great example of beauty in the imperfect.