Entries Tagged as: collage
The Key to Winter
December 20th, 2008, Comments (44)
This is the painting I've been working on. It started out so very differently, based on an intuitively created sketch in my sketchbook. In the original sketch the key was attached to the heart of a person buried underground. It had a dark and Victorian feel to it that I decided to bring to life in a painting. But as I painted it, it became a little too dark for me. A little spooky even. I let it sit for awhile, tried playing with it in different ways and then at some point decided I needed to take it in a different direction. It takes a bit of courage to jump in a new direction sometimes, but I got a rush of energy and just began.
First, I put down collage elements from old architectural blueprints and then tore some of it off, I added some paint to make a snowy ground and some more collage elements, including maps of Lewis and Clark's path. I added circles and numbers in the sky and I knew I wanted the string hanging from the key to become like roots or an upside-down tree in the ground. It speaks to the potential that is hidden beneath the ground during winter. It speaks to tapping into that potential during the darker days when it's hard to see anything bright or inspiring. It's a reminder that even when everything seems cold and dead, there's magic happening underneath it all. It also reminds me of a quote I keep pinned to my bulletin board:
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer -Albert Camus
I could try and explain this painting to you more, why I chose this element or that. But I like it when people can find their own meaning.
The snow is still coming down outside. All of the sudden, winter is here in full force! O.k., I gotta run!
Bird 17
November 26th, 2008, Comments (14)
I had fun with this one. I decided to do something a little different today, simply playing with layers. I put down collage first (although it is completely painted over now, it started a nice base for me. And then I layered and let dry many layers of paint, building until I had this image. I started another small one (because I sometimes would get impatient waiting for things to dry before I pulled out a hot air gun to speed things along), but that one isn't done yet. This one, which I'm calling "Bird 17" is 6"x6" on wood panel.
So, I apologize for not posting about the calendars today. I was totally bummed out about them. The proof was o.k., but not up to the standards I would want to sell (the colors were good, but the paper was too thin for my taste), so I'm working on another and I'll let you know when it's ready to go!
I've been off in art land all day, sending out some artwork at the post office, but other than that, I've mainly been arting away while listening to the final Harry Potter audio book. I'm going to go do the level one exercise in Soul Coaching and visualize myself in nature for 15 minutes. I think it'll be relaxing.
Which Way the Wind Blows
November 24th, 2008, Comments (23)
Today's artwork is, "Which Way the Wind Blows." I'd created the collage part earlier and put it under some books to dry where I totally forgot about it until I rediscovered it last night. The design in her dress is a print from a stamp I carved earlier this year and then incorporated into this collage. I went over it today with acrylic paint and ink to created this wintry scene. Again, there are lots of repeating circles, in her dress, in the bicycle and in the moon. Even the woman's face is a bit round. I think I'm drawn to circles because they are a feminine shape to me and they represent the cycles that are everywhere, in our bodies, in nature, etc...
I've got a new piece up in my art shop today, the "Lollipop Trees" is now available as an original or print. And don't forget the free shipping offer I've got going on through December 15th! You just need to type holiday08 in the coupon section during checkout.
Lantern, Still in Progress
November 21st, 2008, Comments (13)
This is the Lantern piece in it's current state. Not done yet, but coming along nicely so far. I'm letting the work just flow at this point, things are developing that I wasn't quite expecting, so I'm still not sure exactly how it will end up. It might not be very different from how it is now or it could change dramatically. Even thought I'm doing AEDM, I don't want to rush it, so I'm letting it develop at it's own pace.
I'm planning a fun and creative weekend, a craft fair with my bff, and maybe a movie and a trip to the art store too while the hubster watches football. Hehe. I hope everyone has a wonderful one!
A Work in Progress – Lantern
November 20th, 2008, Comments (23)
I've been drawing an image in my sketchbook of a woman in the woods, a couple different versions this month. Today I was thinking maybe I'd use a 14"x14" wood panel that I'd prepared, but wasn't sure. I still get this moment of hesitation when working with materials that I might find precious, a larger canvas or panel, or an expensive art supply. I was thinking that doing art every day helps lessen that feeling and then I had a funny bit of synchronicity. I had brought in the mail and saw a new Anthropologie catalog. On the last page was a picture of a woman standing in the woods holding a lantern, much like the images I'd been sketching. And the dress she wore was called the Lantern's Glow dress. Well, that does it, I thought! I set to work collaging the panel, here you can see the panel at that stage.
In the afternoon, I began to paint in the image. I'm not done yet, but here it is so far.
I'll work on it more tomorrow. I'll write more about my Soul Coaching journey tomorrow as that's all the energy I've got for computer time at the moment. Toodaloo for now!
Transform
November 10th, 2008, Comments (17)
Today, I decided to play on a piece of watercolor paper. I had cut out a few silhouettes of people from magazines that I thought I might use as stencils, but then the back of one figure had these neat green swirls (I think part of a landscape) on it, so I decided to glue it to the paper, back-side up. I put down some texture with gel medium, let it dry and then came back into it with some fluid acrylic paint and an image started to suggest itself. A bird-like shape was over the woman. The silhouette I had cut out was only a torso and head, so I added black and some gold-green to it to make a dress. I ended up trimming away part of the paper to make this long shape, which I'm liking. The image seemed to be a sort of transformation, as if the woman was becoming a bird. I also saw butterflies in some of the brush strokes, so I'm calling it, "Transform." It's about 6"x11.5" on watercolor paper.
For Soul Coaching today, the exercises involved some cleansing, so I cleaned some areas of my apartment. I especially loved the effect of wiping down our coffee table with some wood cleaner and a rag. Oddly satisfying. And then I took a shower, concentrating on washing away the negative and making room for the positive in my life. The next exercise was about choosing the meaning you give to difficult moments in your life. I feel like I've done a lot of that over the last 10 years, it's what's helped me most when it comes to living a happier life. Not that I don't ever complain or wish certain things hadn't happened in my life. But I understand now, that those difficulties, such as the experience of being molested or the trauma I experienced receiving medical testing for a disease I had as a child or the tendency towards depression, all these things made me who I am today. They brought me to where I am. They made me a stronger and better person. They've made me a kinder, gentler person with more compassion and understanding towards the difficulties others face. They've given me a certain depth of character and perhaps a certain depth to my artwork that other people can relate to. I used to think, "why me?" a lot. But now, not so much. I'm grateful for all the experiences which led me to where I am today and that includes the difficult ones.
Sometimes it seems easier to do this with the most difficult experiences and it's certainly easier with things that have long since passed. For me, it can be harder to do with the smaller things, like not taking someone's actions or words personally or in dealing with a rejection. I might obsess for a day over a harsh word or cool glance before I can let it go. But I do try and see all those little things as part of my path, and not turn them negative. And I try to remember that it's not about me all the time. 
And now, I'm off to relax a bit. Hope you're all having a wonderful start to the week!
De-clutter and Dance
November 7th, 2008, Comments (15)
I finished up "Walking in Circles" today. It's about 9"x11" with acrylic paint, ink, gel medium, and a bit of collage on watercolor paper.
It was rather gray out today, but I didn't mind one bit as I spent the day doing some more de-cluttering. Boy oh boy, was I overdo for some clutter clearing! I'm not going to beat myself up about it because, well, I'm making progress, bit by bit. I focused on my desk today, filing my to-be-filed pile and sweeping away the build up of dust around my desk chair. One little corner at a time. Progress feels slow, but excellent. Soul Coaching focused a bit more on de-cluttering today along with a look at how you relax and have fun. I often feel lazy, but I have a lot of trouble doing nothing. Something to look at. I put another ipod session to good use while folding laundry today. Good, loud music can make chores so much more enjoyable! What do you like to listen to when you're cleaning? Do you listen to anything while you create?
I sometimes do and sometimes don't. In the last few months, I've thoroughly enjoyed listening to the audio versions of the Harry Potter series read by Jim Dale (who is simply awesome.) I loved the books and never really thought about listening to books until recently. I was introduced to the wonders of audio books when a post at Christine Kane's blog convinced me to check out the audio version of Martha Beck's Steering by Starlight (Beck reads her books for the audio versions and she's so funny!) and then branched into the Harry Potter series on the recommendation of Jim Doran, which has been great fun. I find these audio books great company when doing my least favorite chores (like dishes), when I need some convincing to go on a walk, and sometimes when I'm painting and want to shut out the world. I laugh out loud while I listen.
As for music... well, for cleaning purposes I generally want music that's upbeat and fun, sometimes funny and always great to dance to (dancing while you clean is highly recommended.) Today's listening included Weird Al's "Trash Day" (very appropriate), George Michael's "Freedom 90," Supertramp's "Dreamer," Beck's "E-Pro," Destiny's Child's "Lose My Breath," Scissor Sisters' "Music is the Victim," and Prince's "Kiss." Other good ones for shakin' your tush: Missy Elliot's "Work It," Liz Phair's "Whip Smart," Cake's "The Distance," and Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." Well, that gave me an idea...here's a little treat for you. I put together a mix-tape of the songs I just mentioned. Feel free to use while you make art, clean up the house, or dance around in your underwear. Enjoy!
Two if By Sea
November 4th, 2008, Comments (15)
Another spontaneous, intuition-directed piece tonight. I prepped a few wood panels with gesso last night and today I pulled some materials for collage. I arranged different pieces together including some scraps from experiments on paper and a drawing I did last week. I brought some acrylic paint into it and some ink and here it is. I wrote on the left side, "One if by land" and I'm calling this painting, "Two if By Sea." It's 6"x6" on a cradled wooden panel. I think it's super sweet.
Hope you're all enjoying the evening! I am!
Mermaids, Hope, and Other Tales (or Tails)
September 7th, 2008, Comments (9)
I worked on this all day Friday and it's already different from this picture. But it's fun to see work in progress pictures I think. I had the idea for this mermaid ages ago, but it kept developing in little sketches and doodles until I was ready to go. I incorporated a bit of collage. As soon as I received it, I knew that the vintage postcard that Tammy from Sunflower Studio sent me because she just felt it belonged to me would be going in this piece. I love it when that happens. As much as the image has been played around with in sketches and doodles, it's already entirely different than I thought it might be and I still don't know where it will end up. This process is definitely a metaphor for life.
I was feeling oh so tender around the edges yesterday. It was a lovely day, yoga in the morning, cleaning and movie watching in the afternoon. It was so incredibly muggy and I was dripping sweat and generally feeling sad and teary for no particular reason. The hubster was out of town and late at night we chatted on the phone lying in beds in different countries. The talk made me feel much better and then I slept like a baby, a baby surrounded by snuggly cats.
Today I'm feeling so much brighter, my ups and downs seem to be mirroring the wild weather. When I was feeling blah yesterday, I saw this meme on Elizabeth's blog and decided to do it. What is it about memes that are calming? Simple, a bit mindless, short answer, lightly creative.
Song you love: The song the hubster wrote for our wedding.
Word you love: Lately i've really enjoyed saying Hawai'i (not just for the meaning behind it, it's just fun to say.) I also love the sound of the word "ciao." Go figure.
Academic subject you love: art history
Hobby you love: getting lost in a book
Type of baked good you love: warm chocolate chip cookies
Type of sky you love: fiery sunsets, starry nights, stark blue against tree branch silhouette, poofy clouds, so many skies.
Beverage you love: coke
Vacation you love: Exploring a new place
Restaurant you love: Blue Ginger
Way of getting around that you love: walking
Person you love: the hubster
Room in your home (or ideal home) you love: studio/office
Movie you love: Clue
Book you love: The Artist's Way
City you love: Seattle
Future plan you love: owning our first home, starting a family
Form of communication you love: art
Junk food you love: m&m's
A huge good luck to Elizabeth (not that she needs it!) in her first year of the Squam Art Workshops! I wish I could be there, but I'll be on the opposite side of the country for a wedding.
I've been feeling the need for a short blogging break and the time I'm away on my honeymoon makes perfect sense for that. I'll still be checking my email of course and I'm sure I'll pop in on occasion, but for the two weeks from Friday the 12th through Friday the 26th, I'll be enjoying checking out San Fran for a wedding and then soaking up the rays in Hawai'i with the hubster. I'm SO excited! I will still have the weekly posts where you can share what you've been up to. And I know I'll be back with loads of inspiration. And I'll still be blogging this week too.
How bout some links? Yes? Yes.
- Mother Henna has a great post over at JustBeConnected that is fabulously filled with great links.
- One of the links Kara (Mother Henna) shared was to MIT's OpenCourseWare, a selection of classes posted for free online. One of the classes is called, "The Creative Spark"! Yeah! I loved this quote from the description of the course: Creativity - "the mastery of information and skills in the service of dreams" (Hirschberg).
- The sweet and talented, Jes has an article about artist's studios on the wishstudio zine blog here. There's a little bit of my studio in the post! And Jes is looking for more info about artist's studios, so check out the article and get in touch with her if you have something to share about your space.
The upcoming election has me partly excited, partly angry, partly scared, partly hopeful. Speaking of hopeful, I love this kind of news. The Maine artist who made the pop icon of the word LOVE has created a new piece for the word HOPE with proceeds going to Obama's campain. - Have you ever wanted to make a bowl out of an old record? My bff recently let me pick through some old records she was bringing to a thrift shop. I'd like to use the covers in some art and she mentioned she was going to keep a couple records to make some of those funky bowls. If you'd like to try it out, here are some instructions from P@perSeed.
- I received two copies of Patti Digh's Life is a Verb: 37 days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally
Still behind in emails I'm afraid. Hope to be caught up soon. I hope you've all had a lovely and creative weekend!
Random Tidbits
September 4th, 2008, Comments (15)
Some images from a sketchbook for a swap I'm participating in. I love to doodle and see what comes out. I guess the change of seasons was on my mind!
I'm surrounded by cute kitties at the moment, feeling sleepy after a day of errand running, and getting excited about my honeymoon trip in about a week! Wee!
Speaking of kitties, I loved Amy's post on the lessons her cats have taught her. Too cute.
I was tagged by artandtea to post seven random things about myself. I'm a bit wishy-washy about tags lately. I mean no offense if I don't pass on a tag, I'm just following my energy. I always wonder if I have seven random things to share that might be new. But there's always something right?
- I'm short, but I'm not big on wearing heels. They hurt my feet. And while I'll where them to a wedding on on random occassions, most of the time it's just not worth it to me!
- I love yoga, but I'm not naturally flexible at all.
- I'm not sure if it comes across here, but I'm incredibly silly. I regularly do goofy songs and dances for the hubster and he does the same for me.
- I can't figure out lipstick. I put it on and I think it just looks funny on me, so I don't wear it.
- I love having plants in my home, but can't because one of our crazy kitties likes to chomp on them. I sometimes get fresh flowers and put them in a couple spots that are out of his reach.
- I feel such a sense of spirituality when I'm near the ocean and I'm looking forward to being near it in Hawaii.
- I've never flown first class before, but we splurged for it for our trip to Hawaii and I'm really looking forward to the flight!
- And a bonus: I got some embroidery supplies today because I've been itching to try it. I also got Sublime Stitching
In the meantime, I've been feeling inspired to sketch in my sketchbook and have some new ideas to bring to fruition.
A big thank you to Shelley for the i love your blog award she passed my way. Shelley recently did the most gorgeous collage pieces as part of a 6"x6" collage supplies swap. I love Shelley's collage work and her eye for design.
O.k., it's late and time for me to hit the hay. Well, that's not very friendly, I won't hit the hay. I don't even have any hay to hit. Hey now.
