Tag Archives: mixed media

Mar24

Holly, Moley

Posted on by
Image

 

Exactly!

I am over the purse thing.  After helping some of the girls with purses, figuring out my own design, and all the chaos that goes with a room full of purse painters…….I’m over it!

I painted two purses….one to small for me to use, a little  leather travel bag I purchased on Cedros St. years ago to travel with.  Turns out,  it’s so small it won’t hold my sunglasses, or much of my wallet.  So of course, I had to paint it.

Paint on leather

The other a canvas travel bag that should eliminate my wallet, but hold my sunglasses.  The thing is,  I got over it before I finished, and that is not good!  When that happens, I start making mistakes, and mistakes I made.  Dripping paint where is shouldn’t have been.  Smearing from the side of my hand, things like that.  So I did exactly the same thing I’d do in a painting.  There are no mistakes, only opportunities to be creative!  Well, I don’t know about that.  In this case I’m not so sure that worked.  Line work was used to pull it together and poka-dots were used to cover other opportunities.

“I should have stopped here!”

All in all…..

I meant to do that!

 

Mar7

Whats Next?

Posted on by
Image

 

Our Daisy dog

Cats, dogs, flowers, houses, trees,  what does one tackle next as a creative endeavor? We all want to do something different, but we’re probably subconsciously attracted to the thing that works the best.  On the other hand, don’t we like the challenge?  I do.

Even if it doesn’t turn out perfect, and we all know perfect is not probable!   I don’t even like perfection,  that is for cameras, not artists!  I uploaded a sketch of Daisy, our dog to  work on, and with a little effort it could be just a little wonky.  I love wonky, it makes me happy and creative.  It takes me to a place I was never allowed to go as a child.  So the wonkier the better…

There are other subjects I could paint, but while I’m finishing up the painting of my purse……

I’ll form a plan for Daisy.

The purse, well…after painting two, I’m getting over it.  Purses no longer intrigue me, and I’ll be lucky to finish this.  The cat has given me more trouble than I could imagine, as cats tend to do.   Whiskers…no whiskers?  Stripes, or no stripes?  Polka dots, or not?   Whatever I do seems to not be the way I had imagined it to look, consequently the cat has more layers of paint than my kitchen.    It’s all good, and it’s all in the name of experimentation.

The end result of the purse is yet to come, so  for good or bad, it will be finished!

Mar5

Craggy Crow

Posted on by
Image

 

Cragy Crow

Craggy Crow

Last week the weather was so nasty I stayed inside and made the most of being cooped up by painting, experimenting, and just plain having fun in my studio.  The rain was coming down so hard the yard and the patio were flooded, and you couldn’t see in front of your nose if you went out.

Opportunity!

Being stuck in one place gives us opportunity.   To curl up and read, bake cookies, watch a movie, or Paint are just some of the possibilitiess     So paint I did.

I played with colors, sketched out possibilities, played with different papers, and much more.  In my mind, I try to  play like a 3-year-old.  Just like my grandson use to do when he’d play in my studio.  I think letting him play in my studio was the beginning of me letting go, and not taking myself so seriously.  I’d give him a huge pad of paper, and he picked his own brush, and watercolors.  (After all I could wipe them up when he was finished.)   He’d pick the longest brush he could find and make a huge puddle of blue watercolor, he loved blue.   After he went home, I’d find blue paint all over my studio, the kitchen, and into the garage.  How can you ever get mad at one of your grandchildren? He loved blue, and he loved the way it looked on everything.  He is now twelve going on thirteen, he still loves blue, but fortunately doesn’t find the need to splatter it all over the house.  He’s a great kid, and is very creative.

The crow, well  crows speaks to me.  I love them, and can’t find enough places to put them in my art.  This time I just thought I’d make a big crow,  wet him all down like a watercolor, and drip blue ink into him.  This is how you get craggy!  Of course, once he’s big as life on a sheet of paper, he needs something to complement him.  Journal style seemed to work for me on a cold, wet, rainy day.  This is my version on playing in my studio this winter.

Feb7

Beyond Watercolor…

Posted on by
Image

When I ran into this video I realized this man  was starting with one medium, and working into that medium with another medium.  Confusing?  He works in both directions, and it was interesting to me.  I love mixing the mediums…paper, watercolor, acrylic, clay etc.  On top of all that if it fits, I can use oils for the frosting on the proverbial cake!

Take a look, and with any luck at all you will finish with some interesting ideas.

Jan31

Mixed Media Demo

Posted on by
Image

This seems a little outside the box, but everything I do is usually outside the box.

I thought this demo would be interesting because it’s a mixed media video, and I love mixing everything up and seeing what happens.  There is  always something we can get out of lesson or a class.  Sometimes it’s just being patient and keeping an open mind.

Thank you all for following me, I hope you enjoy the video.

Jan5

Experimenting With Ink!

Posted on by
Image

fullsizerender

My plan is to do a whole lot of experimenting with all types of medium this year.
What about you?  Are you set on the same medium?  Maybe you are really successful, or maybe your stuck!   Either way I always think there is something to be learned by just about everything we see or read.

I get bored with the same thing all the time, some people don’t.  They love doing what has worked for them, I can relate to that, but my comfort with doing the samething still runs out after a while.  I’m ready to learn, or grow, sometimes even just stop and refill my reserves.

img_0689

As far as I’m concerned, if I’m not pushing myself, I’m not growing and learning.   I love to learn and I always loved going to school and learning.  I’m always amazed at how diverse my community can be.  I’m facinated with people from different cultures;  how they love different colors, have different ways of living.   I have always loved people and their diversity.

The little painting above was created with  Acrylic Ink.  After painting three or four with watercolor, and experiencing the excitement of using watercolor, I decided to use something a bit different…like acrylic ink.  Ink works much like watercolor, and I love how it bleeds.  I make a real effort to incorporate each medium with other mediums like tissue, or stamps.  Who knows what will end up, as always?

Since this is Thursday, and that means it’s “Time out for Art!”  Check out Zebra Designs & Destinations and see what thay are doing in the New Year…