Katherine Howard

Finally!! I finished the Katherine Howard piece. As you can see, It's another new technique, which I actually really like, and originally wanted to do collages like this about 10 years ago, but never managed to quite get it.

If you remember I started this in early Feb, and absolutely hated how it was coming along, so I set it aside for nearly a month and a half hoping I would grow to like it.

Just the other week, I picked it up, and started playing with it again, and I managed to finally get the look I was going after, for the most part anyway.

It's not perfect, but I am pleased with it. And believe me, if you saw it before you would see the improvement.

This is a collage on canvas (of course), and for the collage pieces, I used her signature, her portrait, a letter written by her, her motto, and her badge.

As usual this was done by trail and error, and there are several layers involved, some covering up the original papers completely, and I actually had to print them out again, because too much was becoming obscured.

Most of the painting was done with a brayer, but some was done with a wet paper towel if you can believe it. I actually really like that effect, because it's blends the paints so nicely and discovered it by accident when I was trying to wipe off a mistake. Love it when that happens! Though if you aren't careful, the paper towel starts to shed all over the place which of course could be really uncool.

I also tried the paint splattering technique with red paint. It wasn't until after, that I realized it looks a lot like blood splatters, and gives the piece a rather gruesome effect.

Especially if you factor in the fact that she had her head chopped off. I could see how that might lead one to think that the red splatters were meant represent her blood, but honestly that wasn't what I meant to do. I kept it in because I like the accent, but I do wish the splats were bigger.

That's all for today!

Things are a changing...

First off, I'm sure you've noticed that I've changed my blog look. I was getting tired of the old one, so I had a peek over at Itkupilli's again, and chose these cool steampunk one.

She has so many cool backgrounds, and I really wanted something colorful this time, but I swear I must have tried nearly every design, but the colors just didn't go with my art, so to compromise, I chose this one. Then I went over to Pigs in Pink, and was wondering why I was looking at my blog with someone else's artwork on it. It took me a minute to realize she was using the same background too. Guess it's a popular one. :)

Now, I know the black background highlighted the pictures better, but I'm so done with black right now. Spring is coming and I'm looking for a new start.

In case you are curious, this picture is another oldie that I did last year. I guess I forgot to post that one too.

It's a 5x7 on canvas with images from.... uh oh. I totally forgot it was so long ago. I know it's someone on Flickr. Forgive me for not remembering at this time, if I remember I'll update this post it may have been Lisa Kettell. Gee whiz, It's been awhile It could also have been Suzee Que.

Anyway, I'm super excited right now, because yesterday I got my new business cards!! The only bummer is, I can't give them out yet because the website listed on them is still very much under construction.

So that means I still can't reveal my new name and site, but I hope to soon! Also I'm still waiting to clear a few things up before I talk about my other exciting news. It's not terribly exciting to others I suppose, but it's a huge step and beginning for me!

Exciting News!

Here is a piece I did last year, and totally forgot to post it. And thank goodness I did, because I have news to spread, and I didn't want to do a new post without a picture. That would have been terribly boring.

So, first things first. This collage is titled "Lily", and is an 8x10 canvas. The picture of course is by Itkupilli. It is pretty simple for me, but I actually like it that way.

Okay enough of that, let's move on to more exciting things...

I have a new online store!! No it isn't Etsy. Yet. I will get one set up soon ( I hope), but I do not have the ability to make prints yet, and all my originals are on vacation around town, so I don't even have those to sell.

What I do have is a Zazzle account, which can be found here and also on my side bar there is a Zazzle widget you can click on.

Right now I'm sticking to basic stuff like mouse pads, mugs, magnets and totes. I won't have any prints or cards made from them, because they put a Zazzle logo on the back, and call me fussy, but I don't really care for that.

I'm adding new stuff everyday, so keep checking back!

Also I will have a new web presence soon. I'm in the process of creating a website (yuck!) and changing my name. I'm afraid the Cat's Pajamas has to go because that domain name was already taken, but I did pick out a new one, which I hope you all will like.

Of course I'm not going to tell you yet. :) I'll reveal that when all is done, plus I will have some other exciting news to tell soon too! So stay tuned!

Flower Power!

Here is my latest piece. I only did one this week, due in part to "artist block", and not feeling well.

This is done on canvas as usual, but I totally forgot what size it is. I could get up right now, and measure it, but I'm pretty lazy at this moment, so let's say it's somewhere in the range of 18x36.

Anyway, this piece was originally supposed to have a Venetian Carnival theme, I even drew a mask and everything, but no matter how hard I tried it wasn't coming together.

Most of the original work is covered up in paint now, but underneath there is actually loads of paper pasted down. I was doing the patchwork collage technique, but as I went along, more and more would get covered when I tried to cover up the colors I didn't like.

I can't even remember the original colors for this but I do know it had dark purple in it, and that was messing me up big time. It threw everything off. This is not the first time. Purple and I have a somewhat spotted history when it comes to my using it in artwork.

For some reason, I can never get anything to go with it. Although the purple that is left in this piece I do like, and goes really well I think. Go figure. I've now come to the conclusion that it is fine for a supporting color, but not as the main character.

Anyhoo, a few hours in, I was fed up with the whole mess (this happens often I know). I took the cat for a walk to get a break, and then it came to me. Make a flower! The colors by now, were perfect for flowers, but not so for the mask theme I wanted.

So, as soon as I got home, I sat down and drew the flower, and after screwing it up big time trying to color it with pens (the color would not match), I decided to paint it, which surprisingly took several hours, and half a pint of ice cream.

Long story a lot longer, this is end result of a huge mistake, and guess what, I actually think it might be my favorite. :)

Ta ta for now!

Mushroom House

This piece is a 15x30 canvas. One of the biggest I've done with this technique.

Believe it or not, this was inspired by my Kelly Rae book. It looks nothing like her stuff, but I did use her patchwork collage technique, or my version of it anyway. I can't actually follow directions, so whatever I try to copy always ends up totally different. Which is good and bad at times.

On one hand, I certainly don't want to copy an artist outright, but on the other, I would like to actually learn the technique I'm trying to do. I guess I end up learning it in my own way, and usually things turn out nothing like I'd imagined.

That is exactly what happened with this piece. Like I said, it's good and bad. Oh well. It's all definitely a learning experience.

During the creating process I took pictures of every step I did. Which is the first time I've done this, and I really like going back and seeing how it all developed. I might actually post all the pics on flickr someday to show a step by step process.

Now however, I need to get back to painting!

Yes We Have No Bananas

You will have to excuse the title. I couldn't help it. What with her banana outfit and all, it was only natural that the "Yes We Have No More Bananas" song would get stuck in my head. Obviously I had to give it that name.

This is another 3x3 on canvas that I did a few weeks ago. I thought I'd already posted it, but I don't think it did. I do remember posting it somewhere though, I wonder where that was? If it is a repeat, so sorry about that.

I've been trying all week, to get some art done but for some reason, I seem to have artist block. I'm not really coming up with any good ideas and it scares me. I think tonight I will just sit down and play around and see what happens.

I've been scared to do that for fear of "ruining" or wasting canvas and supplies in case I don't come up with anything, but I really need to create. I think if I don't I might get discouraged again, and I do not want another 3 or 4 months to go by before I can paint again.

Wish me luck!

Suzy Homemaker

I'm really liking this collage now. It's a 10x10 canvas, and believe it or not, I started this last September.

I drew the girl and started the background, and then never did anything else. It sat on a shelf until now.

I just saw it again the other day, and thought I wonder if I could apply Kelly Rae's technique to it?

So I stuck a bunch of papers on and slathered it in paint, added embellishments and this is what happened.

The dress I actually did last year too, and it is made up of various fabric scraps I had lying around. I was afraid at first that it would be too busy, but I think it actually works ok.

That's all for now.

Learning to Fly

This is one of the Kelly Rae inspired pieces I've been working on lately. In fact this is the piece that had the brown pastel mishap. I think I fixed up pretty well. Thank goodness.

It's an 18x24 canvas, which means it took a lot of paper and glue! Wow. I was super surprised at how much gel medium it actually took. The other collages I do, are usually smaller, so I don't normally use half a bottle of glue in one piece! And it was new too!

Originally I wanted this piece to be titled You can Fly When You Want To. Which to me that means, you can do whatever it is you want to do in life, whenever you are ready to let go of everything that is holding you back. Such as fears, anxieties, etc.

I really wanted to put that saying in this piece somewhere. However, I did not have all the letters to complete the saying, and my handwriting looks like that of a three year old, so I chose to omit the phrase altogether. I just couldn't justify yet another trip to the art stores when I'd been there 5 times this week already.

I'm not sure why I think we have money to spend on art supplies seeing as I've been on disability for the last six months, and therefore not contributing to our household income. But whenever I step into a Michael's or Aaron Brothers it's like I forget all financial woes, and go crazy. That feeling lasts until the credit card slip is signed and then I'm like holy cow, how, and more importantly, why did I just spend $130.00 on embellishments and paper?!

Anyway, getting way off track here, (perhaps I'm feeling a wee bit guilty about my art addiction?), basically I could not go back to the store, and get what I needed to make the painting complete so I altered it a bit. Which now makes me thrifty right?

Anyway....

In other exciting news, I got a call yesterday from someone who had seen my work in the coffee shop, and they loved it so much they want to display it at the library too!

The only teeny tiny snag is... Almost all my work is at the coffee shop. I'm not sure when exactly they want to display my art, but I hope it's not right away. I sure hope they like the new techniques too, because that's what I'm working on right now, and all I have. Yikes!

Green Fairy

Here we are. Another 5x7 collage on canvas. The image is from Itkupilli, and you may recognize it from my big patchwork quilt collage.

A lot of those images I used in the patchwork collage, I really liked, so I'm probably going to do a bunch on 5x7's just to show them off better.

I finished that piece that was giving me problems the other night, and I think it came out quite good. It's very colorful! I'm having it photographed tomorrow so I won't be able to post it until then.

Now, I'm working on another Kelly Rae inspired piece, and as usual I'm having trouble. A brown oil pastel is to blame. I was using it to cover up a mistake, and well, things kinda got out of control, and now it looks like a brown pastel exploded on top of my collage.

I've been thinking all night and morning how to fix this little boo boo, and I think I might have an idea. I sure hope it works!

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. :)

Fairytales

Oh my goodness. I feel so ashamed. I can't believe how long it's been since I posted, and even worse since I did any art.

I don't know what got into me, but right after finishing that large gallery piece and the painting for my mom, I kinda checked out of the art world.

In fact, I can't seem to get back in. I have zero motivation, and It's really weird, because it seems like things were just starting to go well for me art wise, and for some reason, the fire went out.

Does this sound familar at all to anyone? I keep feeling so guilty for not wanting to go and create, which of course makes things worse. I even try flipping through magazines, for inspiration, but it doesn't help.

I think this whole thing started with my teeth. I know that sounds weird, but the day after my mom's painting was done, I came down with some serious tooth pain, which led me to seek a dentist, and find out I need a root canal. Well money isn't flowing that easily, so I decided to wait a bit.

I went for two weeks of serious agony, where the only thing I could do was stare at my computer screen, and watch my screen saver bubbles. Meds wouldn't touch the pain, and I seriously considered more than a few times, of pulling the tooth out with pliers.

Luckily after two weeks, the pain disappeared and I've pretty much been fine ever since. But the problem is, even though I feel better, I have no desire to do my art now. Arggggh! It's frustrating.

In fact, I've been addicted to the food channel lately, and I all I can think about is cooking now. Btw this is not a good addiction to have, as now I find I'm about 4 times as hungry as usual watching these shows. Crazy!

Anyway, this picture you see now, is a 5x7 collage on canvas I did right before Halloween. It's actually hanging in the gallery now with 6 other 5x7's for their Gift of Art show, but honestly I don't know that I really want to sell it.

I priced all my pieces high partly because of the commission the gallery takes, and partly because I won't be at all sad, If I get to bring it back home at the end of the month. I mean really, the wall looks kinda empty without it. This kind of attitude gives me pause. What kind of artist am I anyway? Isn't selling your work, supposed to be something we all strive for?

Okay so you can see, I'm in a serious rut here, and I need to get out fast. I do not want to stop creating my art, because I know how much I love it when I do it, but I just can't seem to pick up that darn paint brush. Help!! Please tell me this is normal....

Zen

Just when I thought I would have time to roam around and blog hop, I remembered I needed to make a piece for my mom's birthday. This is what I came up with.

Something new and different. It all started when I read the new issue of Cloth Paper Scissors and saw the article on Zentangles.

Boy did those look like fun, and they reminded me a bit of Hundertwasser's art, which I love. Needless to say I was totally intrigued to try some. I made one that night, and then another the next night which is the one I made for my mom.

This drawing was originally made on a square piece of paper, about 4x4, and then I took our handy dandy art projector and projected that bad boy onto a 10x10 canvas. I traced as best I could in pencil, and then set about to painting it.

What a change to be painting again! A lot more detail work that's for sure! But it was fun and it was meditative which was nice. I have another one in the works, which is more Hundertwasser-y I think, but I'm guessing it will take awhile to make. I definitely can't bust 6 of these out a night that's for sure!

Soooo, now I think I'm ready to finally catch up on blogs. I feel really bad, I've been neglecting everyone out there, but I hope to remedy that real soon!