East meets West

This piece is on an 8x16 canvas with pictures by Itkupilli. I've used them before but separately on 5x7 canvases. I really like these two ladies, so I thought I'd give them a chance to do a duet.

Now I know the title is misleading. It isn't really east meets west, but for some reason when I was trying to come up with a name, that's what entered my mind first, and I liked it. It's art, it doesn't need to make sense right?

I'm especially fond of this piece too. I really like the colors and how certain areas came out.

As usual my favorites are very problematic pieces to begin with, and this was no exception. The last half of creation on this one had me completely stumped, nothing would situate properly, and I felt I would never get it right.

But finally with a lot of persistence (working til 3:30 in the morning) things finally clicked. At least I think so. :)

Right now, I'm working on another problem child. Same kind of situation. I'm almost done, but it's not coming together. Something is missing, but I don't know what.

In this case, I'm trying out my new Kelly Rae techniques, so I'm in unfamiliar territory. I've been taking pictures of the process all along the way, and I admit that I have been pleased up until now with how things are going.

I sure hope I can fix this one, it was such a cool idea. And pretty too!

Fabulous Fifties

I was shopping around the other day for collage supplies, when my eyes landed on these cardboard ladies. Now most of you probably don't know this, but I'm a secret wannabee fifties housewife.

You would never know this if you knew me, because it's not like I clean, cook, and sew all day, but for some reason the "idea" appeals to me. I can't seem to put it into practice, so I'll just let it be a fantasy for now.

Anyway, I could not pass these gals up, and had to pay a little tribute to the fabulous fifties with this collage.

It's an 8x24 canvas, and I wish I had more, because I really like this size. I'll have to wait though, because I've been banned from buying any more canvases. If you saw the plethora of new canvases strewn about my art room you would understand why. Better get busy painting!

Under the Sea

Ooooh, I'm in love with this piece! I don't normally gush about my own art, but I really love this. I just love how the colors turned out.

I also really like the size and shape of the canvas. For some reason right now I'm into the long skinny canvases, and this is a cool in between version.

I'm supposed to take this in to the coffee shop to sell, but honestly I am not ready to part with it just yet. In fact I made five canvases this week, and they are all supposed to go to the cafe, but I just started filling my walls again, and I don't want to go blank again so soon. Still, it must be done. Guess I just have to keep making more!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I'm over on Deviant Art now where you can go and buy prints, cards, mouse pads, magnets, postcards, mugs, even puzzles of my art.

I'm giving this site a shot, since a fellow art friend highly recommended it to me. I've been meaning to set up an Etsy site like everyone else, but this was so much faster and easier. Yep, I can be lazy like that.

Anyway, if anyone is so inclined, Go on and check it out over here ....

Red Fairy

No more 3x3's right now, though I am working on an ATC sized Alice in Wonderland canvas. It's pretty cool, but I need to find a couple of tiny Alice-y embellishments to stick on. I didn't realize I had almost nothing to add to it, when I started it last night. Gives me another reason to shop!

Anyway, this picture is a 5x7 canvas. It's actually the first old style piece I did after my little hiatus from art last year. I liked it enough that I just kept going to make the 3x3's and a couple more pieces that will be revealed next week after I get pictures taken of them. One of them I adore, and can not wait to show off. I think it might be my new favorite.

Right now I've got 4 pieces going at once if you include the Katherine Howard mess that I put away earlier last week. I have to admit, when I walk past it now, I don't cringe nearly as much, and I am starting to think it might actually have possibilities.

I wish I could say the same for the collage I started in December and am still trying to finish. I tried working on it again last night. I can't figure out what is wrong, because the picture I used is really cool, and it has all my favorite colors, yet no matter what I do it will not come together. Anything I try to add to it, looks terrible.

I'm at a total loss, and seriously think I should paint over the whole thing and start again fresh. Yesterday I added more paint and color to it, and now it looks like a preschool. Very frustrating. Thank goodness I have a new one to work on with a theme I love. Think I'll go work on that right now!

Lounge Lizard

Okay working backwards, this is the first 3x3 canvas I did. By the way, all these inchie pictures are from Itkupilli.

As you can see this is a lot more simple than the others. It also seems kinda of clumsy, but hey it's my first time working so small, so I'm giving myself a bit of a break. :)

I do love the colors though!

Oh yeah! I got my new Somerset Studio magazine today (can't wait to read that!) and no, my Alice in Wonderland piece didn't make it. I am bummed, but I understand. I really didn't have time to make it like I wanted.

I'm pretty sure if I was able to submit that first one it would have gone in, but unfortunately I didn't think about copyright issues until nearly the deadline, so I didn't have a whole lot of time to come up with something new. Oh well. Live and learn right? I am submitting for the Halloween piece though. Maybe I'll make it then.

Right now, I need to get off my butt, and into the studio. I spent all day yesterday and today shopping for art supplies, so I have tons of new toys to play with. Plus, I'm in desperate need of creating about 20 more pieces so my walls don't look like someone broke in and robbed us. I can't believe what a difference it makes in the atmosphere to have blank walls now that all my art is gone and living elsewhere. It's so lonely here. Time to fill it back up!

Another 15 minutes of Fame!

Here it is! My own "exhibit" at the local coffee shop.

The owner is super cool, and let me put my stuff up wherever I wanted, which means I had 4 walls to play with! I only used three, and now that everything is hung, I realize how small my work is. It's really hard to see in the pictures. Guess that means I'll be making bigger pieces in the near future. :)





Those are all my pieces in the back, except for the one on the very left, that looks like a peacock.

This wall especially needs larger work. These pieces are pretty hard to see, but hey it's all exposure right?

Oh and please excuse the photos. This day is very cloudy and the shop wasn't very bright at all. It looks much nicer on sunny days.




This shows my largest piece which was in the gallery last year. I really still like it so it's the only one that is not for sale. Someday I'll let it go, but it was such a project and my biggest accomplishment that I can't bear to part with it just yet.


That's it for now!

Blueberry

Well here is the 2nd 3x3 canvas. The one I posted yesterday was actually the 3rd one I did, and I think you can tell, because it is a lot more detailed and put together than the first two.

For some reason, I'm posting them backwards. Once you see the first one, you will see that this one, is a little bit better than the first with details, and paper/paint placement. Then by the 3rd (Pink Lady), I think I'm finding my groove with these tiny pieces.

The more I look at this one, the less impressed I am with it, but I don't think I'll change it. It's kind of fun seeing the progression of each canvas as I go.

Though I do wish I posted them in order... Ooops!

Little Pink Lady

I mean LITTLE. This canvas is 3x3 inches! The smallest I've done so far, and probably the smallest I'll ever do. It's loads of fun, but man working that small and finding teeny tiny embellishments isn't easy.

Since I've done my Om piece, I have manged to do 4 new collages in my regular style. I haven't done one since Christmas for my mom. I finally want to do them again. Very cool.

I found these 3x3 canvases by accident in an art store one day, and since they were so darn cute, I had to buy 5. Now I wish I bought more, because I have a whole sheet of these inchies that I want to use for the canvases. I'm going to make them all, and then maybe hang them together like a quilt.

I'm still working on my other techniques that I'm learning from my Kelly Rae book, but to be honest I got quite fed up with a particular piece, and switched over to my old stand by's.

The problem piece is my Katherine Howard collage. I'm trying to redo it, to make up the one I did last year, which came out terrible. I'm trying it again, using the new techniques, but unfortunately I chose a very difficult palette to work with, and I'm having a devil of a time getting the colors to flow together.

I'll take it out again, but right now I need to concentrate on these other pieces. Why? Well I'll tell you. It just so happens that ALL my art will be showing in a coffee shop here in my town! I'm know! I can't stop shrieking!

I'm setting it up later this week, and I'm super excited, because this will give me way more exposure than the gallery. Everyone goes to a coffee shop right? Plus I can put up all my pieces, and I get all the commission if anything sells. Eeeek! Keep your fingers crossed for me, I sure hope someone likes something I did, It would be neat to sell at least one thing.

Thank you Kelly Rae!!

I'm a little shy about posting this, since I haven't been around a loooooong time. I'm not exactly sure what happened to me, but somehow my creative juices dried up completely.

For 3 months, I had no desire to make art. At all. Even looking at my collages on the walls, left me feeling blah.

This was totally weird, because I was just getting into my groove art wise, and then all of a sudden it was like someone turned off a faucet, and left me dry. I beat myself up and felt guilty about this for quite awhile. Not surprisingly that didn't help me create anything new.

Thankfully a couple weeks ago, I found myself wandering the aisles of Michael's when I spotted a book, that changed everything.

It was Kelly Rae Robert's "Taking Flight" book. I picked it up and started flipping through the pages, and all of a sudden I felt the familiar stirrings of excitement running through me. The more I looked at the book, the more excited I became at the thought of trying a new project and new techniques. I couldn't put the book down, and decided to buy it right away.

When I got home, I immediately made for my new art studio upstairs (mold free!!), and got to work.

This is what I produced following her patchwork collage technique. A totally new concept for me, but totally fun. Right now I'm working on three more projects out of her book, and I can't thank her enough for publishing this gem, and giving me some inspiration again!

This piece is titled "OM'. I've been wanting to do a spiritual/budda piece for a while now, and so I'm super excited about this one. It has a place already picked out on my wall near my meditation area in my studio. Thankfully I have orange walls so it will fit right in. :)