Thursday, March 22, 2012

Mixed Media Frenzy

One of the things I love about my teaching work at a local community college is that I get wonderful breaks between quarters to pursue other interests. I wasted no time after turning in my final grades this week to work on art projects. First up, a small painting I started awhile ago:

It's a combination of watercolor, ink and acrylic, with stencil and alcohol spritzing for texture.

 And here is a little flower sketch I did to try out my new Daniel Smith watercolor sticks.

I decided my little flower might look nice on a background I'd already painted, so I collaged it on and did some stamping with my leaf stamp.


Then it was time for encaustic class. This week was our last class, so I decided to work on painting in a representational way with the wax, something I hadn't tried much of yet. My inspiration came from this African mask:
Here is what I managed to paint in class.
 My nose avoidance technique was in full operational mode during class, so I'll definitely have to work more on that!  I'd like my colors to be more muted. The "palette" in encaustic is a black pancake griddle, so it can be difficult to see the true color until it's on the painting. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with my mask so far. I'm going to work on some more next week while the kids are in school and I am still on break! Did I mention that I love my job?

 I also set up a shop on Etsy this week -- on a very small scale -- any tips you might have are welcome.

 Thanks a lot for visiting everyone! I appreciate your comments very much.

35 comments:

  1. wonderful use of all different kinds of media!

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  2. What a great flower sketch and I really like the energy and the colors in your mask painting nose or not...LOL. Happy PPF! #25 Robin Panzer Art Studio 33

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  3. I am an expert as nose avoidance too.... love the work this week and that flower is lovely... have a great week and good luck with setting up your etsy shop...xx

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  4. Loving all your pieces. Happy PPF and enjoy the weekend, Annette x

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  5. Love the flower on that background and the mask is fantastic!:)

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  6. Love your creations ~ they are all wonderful ~thanks, wishing you a great weekend ~ namaste, carol ^_^

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  7. I so enjoy your art. Each piece has it's own life, it's own depth and character. The mask is my fave. REALLY???!!! LOL

    Nicole/Beadwright

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  8. You are having an incredible Spring break, and it really shows in the new paintings. The top one reminds me of a tile in a Spanish palace, I love it!

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  9. I like your style. Great creations. The mask is awesome. Happy PPF and great weekend to you.

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  10. Love the background on the first one!
    Rinda

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  11. Yay! A fellow encaustic artist. I am so happy to find you through PPF. The mask is looking great. Will go and check out your Etsy store now :)

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  12. Hello Debbie, you've got some lovely pieces here, You're loving art and it shows, keep on with the fun and colour! Well done for your etsy shop...I wonder about that at times, should maybe look in to it, if you have any tips for me, would greatly appreciate, was it easy to set up? Have a great week-end and thanks for sharing with us!

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  13. I love your flower sketch!! Your mask is cool too. You sound like a happy clam. :-)
    Good luck with Etsy and keep having fun. (love your Dr. Seuss quote) Happy PPF xoxo

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  14. Love the first watercolor, wonderful colors and rich texture! Love how you did the collage, too! Happy PPF and have a great creative weekend!

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  15. nose avoidence mad me smile, thats a good one! Beautiful work, you sound like a very busy woman,

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  16. beautiful work, I especially like the first piece, the movement, color and flow is lovely.

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  17. Love all of it and you cracked me up with the nose avoidance!!

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  18. Gorgeous, Debbie. Love your flowers.

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  19. I love your mixed media piece. The flower is beautiful, love the colors. Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. Have become a follower and love to see more of your work.

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  20. Your paintings are awesome especially your mask! I LOVE African Masks and have been wanting to do a series of paintings with them....you have totally inspired me to get started!!!

    Congrats on your Etsy shop!!! Have a fabulous break!

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  21. Everything is gorgeous! I really want to learn encaustic at some point, it looks so dreamy and fun but seems intimidating for some reason. No tips for the Etsy shop as mine is sitting empty but congratulations and best of luck! Happy PPF!

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  22. Your top piece looks like it's done on batik fabric. Lovely.
    I like the mask too. Noses are not easy! I like your representational style on your African Mask. Well done.

    Thanks so much for coming to my blog today and leaving your much appreciated comments. I had to smile realizing they were coming from an art teacher. Wow! I felt like I'd just earned an A! Thanks again.

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    1. Thanks, Lynn! Actually I am not an art teacher. I teach ESL. But I do some volunteer art lessons at my sons' schools. I'd love to teach art, though. Maybe someday....

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  23. You've been very busy making wonderful art!!

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  24. oooh three really gorgeous pieces and I especially love the mask painting...fabulous!
    hugs
    Chris x

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  25. I love all of these. That flower in particular is awesome!!

    Happy PPF!

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  26. beautiful work! i love using alcohol too...it's one of my favorite 'tools'...i will 'favorite' you on etsy too! happy ppf!

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  27. Gorgeous work, love the combination-effects! Valerie

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  28. really love the color combos here! The first is my fav! love it!

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  29. You have been very busy!! Love all your projects!! Have fun while you are on vaca!

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  30. "Nose avoidance technique" - I really like that :). Great variety of techniques you used here. They are all looking fabulous!

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  31. It is so interesting to watch how you combine so many different techniques. Each stands alone but together they are fascinating. Thank you for sharing.

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  32. Delicious textures on the flower. Cool concept to collage it on a previous background.
    It´s great to see you enjoy both your job and your art. :)

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