Back in Blue

Hello Blog. Remember me? I used to post here about my art. Then a funny thing happened. I started doing even more art and didn't take the time to blog. But now I'm back, at least for the moment. I'm still doing art, but the pace has slowed a bit as I'm in the midst of my academic year as a teacher and have less time for fun.

I'm taking Carla Sonheim's 2016 year long class, Y is for Yellow to help me stay inspired and motivated. Each lesson has a different theme beginning with a letter of the alphabet. For 'B' we painted in the style of Picasso's Blue Period using layers of watercolor and gel medium.  I haven't done much of this type of study and found it to be a wonderful exercise.

"Contemplative Woman in Blue" after Picasso

My version of Picasso's Mother and Child 1901

And my favorite painting from my blue period is this original portrait I did of my great great grandmother.

It feels good to back. I hope to post more soon. 

"Partial Clearing" Mixed Media Collage

Partial Clearing
Mixed Media Collage on Canvas
8" x 8"

I've been busy listing this piece along with some of my other recent work in my Etsy Shop today. This is an original mixed media collage that I originally blogged about here. It is a very textural piece, due to the papers and modeling paste used to create texture under the painting. Thank you for your interest in my art! I'm happy to answer any questions. 

Flower Power: Art Journal Page

I have to admit I love drawing and painting flowers. I've been doodling flowers forever. There are so many possibilities with colors, shapes and lines.

In this journal page, I'm focusing on looking for the positive. Lately I've been hearing so many complaints from my kids. Nothing seems to be right, and certainly I am never right, at least according to them! (Why didn't someone warn me about the teen years before I had kids?). Anyway, it's too late to dwell on that now, so I am reminding myself to look for the flowers. There will always be weeds, but there is also so much that is good and wonderful all around us. I've noticed my own complaining, too, and I'm trying to stop myself and try to set a better example as a parent.

 I had so much fun painting, drawing and doodling this page. I'm afraid it got a little busy, but I like how cheerful it is.

The mysterious figure in the corner is a museum guard, you know those guards who have to sit all day watching to make sure that no one touches or steals the art? I cut the photo out of a magazine because I was intrigued by it. She certainly seems serious. I hope that she gets to see some flowers at some point during her day!

I've been painting lots of floral and garden themed paintings recently. If you're interested in seeing more of my work, go here, or just scroll down my recent posts here in my blog. I also have even more posted at Flickr.

I'm linking this to Art Journal Journey. Check out the other great Flower Power art people are posting there! Thanks so much for visiting my blog. I always appreciate your comments.

Growing Stronger, Updated

This is a piece I've been working for awhile. I started it in January and let it sit for awhile. To see what it looked like then, go here. The more I looked at her, the more I wanted to add more color. I love using the watercolor over gesso technique, but sometimes I want more color. I felt like I was putting her makeup on this morning as I dabbed some pan pastel color here and there! She may be done, or maybe not. I don't seem to be in a hurry with this one at all.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today. I always appreciate your comments.

I'm linking this with the 29 Faces Challenge . Check it out to see some fabulous work from artists all around the world.

Silence -- Art Journal Page

"Enter a place of stillness and simply be where you are: 

not moving forward or backward but simply being utterly present,

 suspended in the space between past and future."

                                                                  Ruth Barrett

Growing Stronger - Work in Progress

Another year has started, and I feel that I am getting closer to figuring out what I really want to do in my art. Over the past two years, I've been like a sponge, absorbing and learning all I can about mixed media and collage, as well as striving for a more abstract style in my work. I'm more confident about drawing again and finding ways to integrate drawing into my mixed media pieces. Drawing brings my process to the forefront, exposing all of the messy twists and turns of the process, giving an  expressive quality and depth that I like. The imperfections are interesting visually to me. I love creating a sense of mystery in my work, leaving at least part of the meaning up to the imagination of the viewer. I've been working on my painting, too, and find that sooner or later, I come back to watercolor. I'm using watercolor over gesso in this piece, along with collage.

For all of the reasons, I feel I am growing stronger as an artist, and that feels really good!

Corrugated Cardboard Art: Christmas Garlands

I love making gifts at Christmas, if I can think of (or find) good ideas. This year's inspiration came from Jessica Sporn's fabulous Holiday Garland Tutorial. As soon as I watched her tutorial, I knew what I would make for gifts this year. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to order her lovely stencils and had to go ahead on the project without them.

I had so much fun making these garlands! They basically consist of a series of mixed media collages done on a corrugated cardboard substrate. The backgrounds are watercolor and/or fluid acrylic with stamping and other embellishments. I made my own very simple stencils and masks for the tree shapes this time, but would love to try out Jessica's beautiful stencils with some Christmas projects next year. Here are some photos of the individual collages as well as the finished garlands. I'm so excited with how they turned out. Thank you Jessica, for so generously sharing this great idea!

Hmmm... I did my own lettering on the first set of collages for my 'test garland' and decided not to do lettering on the rest. Plus, it gave me a good excuse to keep one of the garlands for myself! 

I ended up making four garlands (one for myself, of course) and one for each of my sisters. Making gifts like this is such a win-win situation. I get to do what I enjoy most while making something special and unique for the people I love. It sure beats rushing around in the stores, looking for gifts to buy. I hope you all had a chance to slow down and create during the busy holiday and that 2014 is a year full of time to paint and create!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today. I always appreciate your comments.

Cityscape, Wabi-Sabi Style

Partial Clearing
mixed media on 8" x 8" canvas

In the wabi-sabi style, textures are rough, colors are subdued and mystery is admired. That's what I had in mind while working on this painting. For texture, I pressed wire mesh into modeling paste. I hadn't used modeling paste previously and was surprised at how long it takes to dry! But the texture is great. I also have some wonderful, gauzy paper that looks so beautiful in collage. I'm not sure if I'm finished yet with this one or not -- I'd like to build up the layers of paint toward the top, but I don't want to over do it, or ruin what I already am liking about this piece.  

Thanks so much for stopping by -- I always appreciate your comments!

The Evolution of a Gel Print

This story begins here, with a few solid colors printed on a piece of watercolor paper.

There were so many things I liked about this original print. The colors are soothing and the overall composition is quite nice. I could have stopped here and been happy. In fact, it may be fair to say I should have stopped here, or at least been a bit more cautious as I proceeded. But as you can see, I forged madly ahead with handmade stencils and more passes on the plate until I ended up here:

Yikes! This definitely falls into the it-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time category. Even so, I really love how the bottom half came out. As I looked more at this print, I decided it had a split personality and I wasn't sure what to do to make everything work together. So, I cropped my favorite parts, ending up with three smaller pieces.

The beauty of printing on watercolor paper, is that it's sturdy enough for collage. I ended up doing a lot of collage on this part of the print.

 

There was a lot I liked in this section, but I wasn't so happy with the red and gold, so again collage came to the rescue!

And finally, my favorite part of the original print:

For a very process-oriented artist, as I tend to be, this is such a satisfying and enjoyable way to work. 

I'm linking this to Carolyn Dube's Colorful Gelli Print Party and to Paint Party Friday. Check them both out to see all of the wonderfully creative things people are doing with paint! Thank you so much for visiting my blog!  I always appreciate your comments.

Face #20: Resist

Have you tried using a resist yet? Ayala asked this in a post on Facebook today, which reminded me that I hadn't tried using a resist. So thanks to Ayala for suggesting this. I love using crayon resists with watercolor. It's like magic when you paint over the crayon and the lines appear. I did use a reference for this face, which I am finding very helpful, even if I am not striving for realism or an exact likeness. As I worked on this face, I added shading and details with pencil and marker. The leaf shapes were an unexpected bonus in her hair that I couldn't, um, resist.  

Face #19: Pretty in Pastel?

I'll be honest -- this is not my favorite face that I've done this month, but here she is, #19. I used pastels, which I don't normally use to try something different. I was trying to do an abstract face and ended up with this sort of stylized face instead. I wouldn't mind it being a stylized face if that is what I was trying to do. Even so, I'm glad I experimented with something new. There is always value in the process, no matter how the product ends up. I actually cut her face out because I didn't like the right side at all. Then I put her on one of my new place mats to take her picture because it seemed to go nicely with the rest of the composition.

Face #18: Doe-eyed Abstract

Another attempt at an abstract face -- this one is a mixed media sketch in my sketchbook, beginning with ball point pen, then adding a bit of pencil, charcoal, and colored pencil. I kinda like her!

Face #14: Abstract Portrait

 Realistic faces are not easy to do well, nor are abstract faces for that matter! I really want to be able to do abstract faces. I'm not sure why. It's just what I want to do. So here is an attempt at an abstract face. I used a thick sharpie to outline shapes and then began painting, first with watercolor, then before I knew it, the acrylics were out again. I was keeping in mind the concept of suggesting dialog by having two figures in the painting as I learned in Diane Culhane's excellent between speech and silence class, hence the bird. I added a bit of collage again at the end, because I love collage, especially bits of text like this. I love languages, reading, poetry, and words, so I enjoy having bits of text in my pieces that give some interesting visual texture and hopefully create a bit of mystery as well.

Face #13 - Mixed Media Portrait

This is turning out to be one of those paintings that looks better on the screen than in real life, maybe due the reduced size. I focused on creating a multi-layered background before adding the face, still continuing to learn how to paint with acrylics and not go completely mad in the process. I think I'm getting the hang of it. Each time it's a little easier and more natural, and yes, fun!

White-faced woman -- mixed media portrait

I've been participating in Ayala Art's 29 Faces Challenge this month. At this point, I am quite sure I will not make it to 29 faces this month. This is face #11. I drew and painted, drew and painted, ending up with a rather crazy, or shall we say expressionist palette. I am still finding my way with acrylics, alternately loving then hating them, but hopefully getting better as I practice more. Today's painting session was very enjoyable. I opened up my container of little collage scraps and found some fun pieces to add for some additional interest and fun.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog! 

Face #10: Mixed Media Portrait

This is a mixed media portrait on a wood panel that I started recently. I'm experimenting with drawing and acrylic together in this piece. So far, I'm happy with the lines, collage, and colors, but less happy with her face. The nose is better than some I've done, but her eyes aren't matching so I want to go back in and work on them some more. 

Gel plate + Gel pen = Face #8

This is my face #8 for the 29 Faces Challenge and I have to say that I really like it! I did this one last summer on an index card. I was playing around with my gel plate, paint and a spray bottle. The textures turned out great. After it dried, I saw a face, just waiting for a few simple lines to bring it to life. My white gel pen turned out to be just right over the darker background. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Twilight Smile -- mixed media portrait

Twilight Smile
mixed media on paper
9" x 12"

  

This is one of the faces I painted for the 29 faces challenge (Face 7).  My obsession in this painting was creating layers - layers of stenciling, collage, stamping, washes until I was ready to draw a face. I did use a reference as I drew this woman, but I didn't worry too much about getting an exact likeness. I've doodled faces for most of my life, but I find that sometimes looking at real faces when I draw really helps me with getting the details and expression right. This woman's crooked half smile really appealed to me!

I'm also sharing this with Paint Party Friday.  Check it out to see some wonderful art and join in the fun. Thanks so much for visiting!!!

29 Faces 2013 -- 4, 5, 6

I'm playing catch-up in the 29 Faces Challenge again with some faces I did earlier in the year, January to be exact. These two faces all started with a journal I decided to make for myself at the beginning of the year, following a quest theme.

Since quests were big in medieval times, I found this lovely portrait of Eleonora of Toledo done by the artist Italian artist Agnolo di Cosimo in 1545 for the cover. I kept looking at her face and decided to sketch using Carla Sonheim's version of a Klee Transfer painting. In this method, you put a piece of carbon paper down on your paper, and draw blindly. The goal isn't a realistic drawing, but hopefully an interesting drawing. After doing the first carbon drawing, I added some color. 

She certainly looks much different than the original! I like parts of this drawing, but I hate that her nose is so long and her chin so small. Still, it was fun to play. After this one, I decided to try another one on a prepared background in my journal. Here is what the blind carbon sketch looks like before painting.

It's actually quite interesting how similar this drawing is to my first one, and how they both are so different from the original reference. But I like the proportions better in this one. Noses are just so hard, but I will keep trying!

After this step, I added some paint and pencil.

And here she is, Eleonora for the new millennium -- older and wiser, still pensive and serious, with perhaps a bit of attitude.

Thanks for visiting!

29 Faces 2013 - 1,2,3

It's halfway through September, and I've decided to join in Ayala Art's 29 Faces challenge. I participated in this challenge last year, and really enjoyed it! Since I'm waaaaaaay behind, I'm cheating a bit by posting some faces here that I actually did last summer. These are small semi-abstract mixed media doodles done in ink and acrylic.

Thanks for stopping by!