Leafing Out...

Welcome to Blogtoberfest Day 15!

 This weekend, I worked on the leaves and branches of my big painting. The leaves were blocked in first with a dark green and after they were dry, I used a lighter green to sweep a highlight on one side of each leaf. This looked pretty good, but not quite done, so I lightened that color up even a bit more with yellow, and dabbed another highlight over each of the first. At this point I was almost there, but not quite, so a bit of white, tinted with yellow was just the thing to give them a nice glow. The same multi-layered technique was used on the branches to give them some shape and depth and I began blocking in the olives with their base coat.

That's all I had time for over the last couple days...

Except to create my "ocean" inchie for Every Inchie Monday!

Until next time...enjoy!

Just Start Adding Paint...

Day 4 of Blogtoberfest finds me with some color smeared on my large canvas. I hemmed and hawed and had a moment of uncertainty. It is so easy to freeze, worrying over things like ruined canvas and wasted paint. All I can advise is "Just start adding paint!" Don't worry about things like value and worth. I have paid more to see a movie than I spent on this canvas, so Hey, it's just for fun, right?

I like working in blue and aqua, and I do have a habit of lightening the intensity towards the center. 

 

 I also worked on my owl element, on a separate paper. This is why I like mixed media collage so much. I can work independently on a single element, until I have it just how I want it to look, before adding it to the final piece. I will often make color copies at different stages of the drawing,  then do finish work on the color copies, especially when working on details like eyes and expressions. It saves a lot of heart ache over ruined attempts.

 This little pretty is sketched, then colored in using ink, color pencil and oil pastel...

Here she is, along with the basic branches, that are currently just blocked in with their base color. I haven't yet decided if I will use strips of paper to add texture to the branches, work solely with paint, or, most likely, a combination of both, along with more oil pastel.

I usually have more paint on my pallet than I like to waste, so I spread some onto an extra 8" X 10" canvas I had. That lead me down this path...

It is hard to see in this picture, but I added a flourish cut on my Sizzix. It blended in a little too well, so I started adding a bit of shadow using a bark colored Inktense pencil, and smudging it with a wet paint brush. It visually lifts the flourish up off the canvas, and adds dimension. On the lower left side, I tried the shadowing effect on the torn layers of paper. I like it, so will do that on the rest of the piece.

Well, that's my time in the studio today, until next time...enjoy!

A Little Nonsense Now and Then...

I had the chance to catch up in the studio over the weekend. I have been setting the alarm for 5 am, in an attempt to get the outside projects finished before the sun slams me into a small melted puddle. The theory is, if I work early enough, I can then come into the air-conditioned comfort of my home, and continue to work on sorting boxes, and cleaning house. The reality is that after working from 5-1, I am done in. There is nothing left, even if it is cooler. Sigh..."The best laid plans..."

  But I had the unexpected pleasure of a summer shower yesterday, not really a shower, more of a deluge. One of those storms that makes you anxious and has you calling loved ones to make sure they are undercover. The kind that throws you into a primitive mind set, staring out at the mercilessness of nature, wondering if the world is ending...

The storm sent me in early, and I was able to work on my last Inspiration Deck. As you may remember, my Fly Tribe online has decided to make and exchange these decks, and somehow the due date slipped right past me. But they are all packaged up and ready to go. I am looking forward to receiving my three decks, one mixed deck for everyone I submit. I plan to keep one, give one to a friend, and use the third one as a giveaway either here or on my Facebook page. What do you think of that plan?

I also got a little silly, and painted a small canvas based on a comment made in jest in our Facebook group.

I had a lot of fun with this one, tried not to take it very seriously and painted the whole thing while standing up, because the storm frightened Storm, and she claimed my studio chair for the duration...

...but the sun is shining this morning, and I still have a carpet to clean in one of the rentals, not to mention pulling about a million nails and staples out of the walls so that I can patch and paint. So back to work I go!

Oh! Last, but not least, the theme for this week in Every Inchie Monday is "black", and, due to yesterdays gloomy weather and high drama, I was feeling very Poe...

Until next time...enjoy!

Outside the Box...

Last week I was a day late, this week I am a day early because Mr. How2 and I are going camping up at the lake for a night. We have been working pretty hard and steady, and wanted to get out over Memorial Day weekend. But the parks and lakes were jam packed with people that had the same idea, so we skipped it. So here is an early treat...

  A while ago I took a class in the art of stained glass. Mostly I was interested in learning the proper way to solder so I could make small pendants using my collage art. But There was so much more to learn! The glass was wonderful and came in so many incredible colors...Here is the project I made in that class;

A simple starter panel, but I am happy with the way it turned out. I loved my experience and was very fired up about making stained glass art a part of my life, but found the supply costs prohibitive. I am sure they are not so bad if that is the only art you do, but you may have noticed by now, I am an art junkie. I love everything having to do with art and craft, the paints the textiles the colors, Oh My! It was once speculated aloud by an exasperated Mr. How2 that I should just open an art supply store, I would need to purchase stock for years...(Ha, the jokes on him, I would love to have my own art supply store, and offer classes and rent out studio space...)
  Long story short, I decided I just could not justify starting an entire new art genre, complete with a separate studio. (It really isn't a good idea to have to much else going on in a glass shop, due to the fine glass dust created during the cutting and grinding process. Especially nothing textile based!) So I let my interest slide, and pursued my other loves...
 Until last week end, when a chance comment at our local library book sale led me to the home of a lady that had decided to give up her stained glass studio to follow her new passion for quilting! ( See, I told you the two just don't jive.) She was willing and ready to sell me everything, lock, stock and grinder for a very reasonable price. I hemmed, I hawed, and I did! I jumped in!

A very few things are duplicates of the basic hand tools I purchased for the class...

 But many are things I didn't even know about...

 and glass...lots of glass!

Not one, but TWO grinders...

 but only a handful of books.

So now I am in search of a safe spot to set up yet another studio, someplace I can close up, since my stained glass artist friend pointed out that the cats should not be allowed anywhere near it. (They walk on the glass dust and lick it off their paws...) and , of course, nothing with carpet. She feels it should really be in a separate building, for safety's sake and for the health of my pets. An issue to be resolved...

But here is the other fun part...as I was rummaging through all my new pretties, Mr. How2 said he was interested in learning stained glass! This took me completely by surprise, but I am delighted! My wonderful husband of 21 years is a very hardworking and serious kind of guy, and he has always been very supportive of my need to make art. But he thinks he isn't creative...the guy who has rebuilt and redesigned too many houses to even remember! I try to explain that creativity comes in many, many forms, not just the traditional fine arts, but he has never truly believed me. But he feels that with stained glass, because there is a pattern to follow and he doesn't have to "make it up in his head" that he just might be able to handle it. Also, he loves precision and is often frustrated with the poorly built/measured/designed buildings he fixes, and he thinks that fitting the glass pieces together may be just the thing for him.

So now we need a two space glass studio, where we can both explore this amazing craft. Don't worry, I am still a mixed media artist, I am having way too much fun with all the possibilities. But it's nice to stray a little off the path now and again, and this time I may just have a companion in my adventures...Until next time...enjoy!

This week, the theme for Every Inchie Monday is "street". Seriously, this is only 1"x1"!  Go check out the other lovely entries...

Developing a Style...

A little something to ponder...

  When I made the decision to focus more on my art, I really didn't have a particular style. You might say I was "all over the board". I tried many different techniques, and looked at piles of images online, read hundreds of tutorials. I truly feel that is the only way to find the style that suits you. Trial and error, waste some paper, waste some canvas and paint. Looking cloesely at the art that appeals to you, what calls to you, what inspires you...

   Eventually you will find that perfect combination that sets you free and allows you to continue your creative journey along a path that is uniquely your own. Keeping in mind that every journey, even into uncharted regions, begins with preparation, planning, practice and on paved roads... Until next time, enjoy!

This weeks Every Inchie Monday theme is "Dragon" and here she is...

Find other artists inchies at the Every Inchie Monday Blog!

Painting While the Sun Shines...

This time of year it is so difficult to stay indoors and work in my studio. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the weeds are growing... but I am so driven to continue exploring this new style of art, that I am afraid much of my outdoor work is being neglected. I did stop long enough to combine these two passions, and created some flower baskets to sell at our local nursery...

  I collect vintage and unusual containers through out the year, 
and make them up in time for spring...

But I am still drawn back into my studio to pursue my first love...

This is a series of four Artist Trading Cards I made for our
Flygirls ATC Group trade this month, "May Flowers"

I will just have to figure out a way to better mange my time... until then, enjoy!

Outside My Comfort Zone...

When my daughter started designing her new living room, she took a walk on the wild side by going with an African theme. She surprised me by asking me to create a piece of art that would work in the room, but also had some personal imagery. This sort of request is way outside my comfort zone. More painting than collage, custom theme, not really cutesy...But I decided to give it a try.

I started with a 14"x18" canvas panel, and layered it with papers and ephemera. I found magazine photos of elephants and giraffe, a map of Africa, and a great line on cardstock called Safari Chic, by DCWV. I gave it all a really good coat of gel medium and used my brayer to smooth it out as best I could. The magazine pages gave me some real fits, right from the start and even after they were down flat as can be, when I started adding paint, they lifted right up again, and made bubbles, which I don't like, but have to live with...
I added washes of color, and used the brayer to added thicker, grungy layers of acrylic paint. Then painted the mountains and background, working my way forward to the tree.

My daughter is a redhead and became the warrior in the piece. She is very fond of her cat, so I made him a bit larger, more of a panther sized, to be a companion in her wanderings. I was pretty nervous about painting the two figures, so I created them on a scrap of paper first, using a sketch and watered down acrylics, then cut them out and collaged them to the painting. I left the foreground mostly untouched, so that more of the collage papers would show through. I can't seem to do anything about the wrinkles in the lower right corner, and I am trying to accept them as a "textural element"...

I added a coat of acrylic encaustic, which did help smooth the pieces out a bit, and blended the figures into the background, so they didn't seem so "cut and paste". So here it is, my finished mixed media canvas; "Forever Fierce". I hope she likes it...

This weeks Every Inchie Monday theme is "makeup", you can see the others in this challenge right here!

Wise Soul and Scheduling Creativity...

I have been working on canvases to enter in my Etsy shop, which I finally launched last week! I cannot believe how nervous I was, or how incredibly simple the process actually turned out to be. Here is a 5" x 7" canvas panel I just finished and am listing this morning...

I am so pleased with the way my little owl turned out, and the colors just went together so nicely.
I have made the commitment to myself and my art to work on something everyday, and still find it difficult to get everything else done around the house. I told a friend over the weekend that I wished I were three people, because it seems like everything that needs to be done, can only be done by me, and cannot be hired out. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the weeds are growing. My next step is to make myself a schedule, with items listed such as "wash the dishes", "plant the lettuce", and "go make something in the studio"...Things like, "get some exercise" and "scrub the bathtub" aren't even in the running right now. I am still learning how to pace myself, and still get everything taken care of.
  The thing is, creativity is very difficult to control like that. Inspiration has no sense of timing, and my muse doesn't really care about dishes and laundry or whether there is food in the house. So I am perpetually dancing from one mundane project to another, then into my studio in a fever of ideas, then back out to a chore whose importance is increasingly difficult to remember. By dinner I am exhausted and have a dozen partially completed tasks, and nothing crossed off my list! Sigh...
Never the less, I am enjoying this creative journey I am on, and know I will learn a better way to organize and utilize my allotted time. Are you like me, scattered to all corners of your life, or are you one of those enviable people that "has it all together"? Got any secrets to share? Bring 'em on, maybe we can make something of this mess...
  By the way, it is Every Inchie Monday, with this weeks theme being simply "blue". Right away I started thinking of the pretty mountain blue birds that nest in my birdhouse out by the tool shed every year, and decided to depict one in my own little way..

Oh, that reminds me, I need to get that cleaned out, both the shed and the birdhouse...
The theme for this month's creative Every Day is "language" and I have a poem to share;

My Studio

by Sally Rose

Paint, brush, and canvas.

Paper and easel.

Inks, dyes, and crayons.

Pencils and pens.

Sewing machine, fabric,

thread, twine and string.

Unfinished projects, sparked ideas

that then sputtered.

Magazines and books,

clippings, sandpaper.

Glue, tape and staples,

frames, shelves and plans.

Some baskets to store things,

not nearly enough.

Bags, boxes and cabinets,

and piles of more stuff.

Snippets of floss,

bright colors spilling.

Buttons and ribbon and

“Where did that go?”

“I didn't know I had it!”

and, “Isn't this pretty?”

Files and magnets,

and needles and beads.

Lost orphans, found items

and stories to tell.

Inspiration bombarding,

and me with no helmet.

Not enough lifetime

to fully explore it.

Story of my creative life...until next time, enjoy!

Studio Play Day

Over the weekend, Mr. How2 and I went to Spokane to visit with family. It has been a long winter and we hadn't seen many of them for months. I was pleasantly surprised to get an e-mail invite to a Quote Collage Studio Play Day hosted at Spokane Art Supply. I was able to wiggle our visiting schedule around enough to attend and had a wonderful time playing with other local artists for the better part of the day.
   Our instructor was Maryjo Mcgraw, and she is not only an amazing artist, but she is generous with both her knowledge and her art supplies. You can learn more about her, see her art and consider taking her new online class by clicking here. Here are the canvases I worked on that day...

 This one, I felt, I had ruined, the top portion lost much of it's detail while I was experimenting with Montana Spray Paint, and stencils. However many of the other artists there said it was their favorite...

I really love how this one turned out but I don't believe it is finished yet, so I am waiting for inspiration to hit me...

  If you are like me, you spend a lot of time alone in your studio learning your style of art. But art shouldn't exist in a vacuum. It is meant to be shared, otherwise why bother to get it out of your head and into the world? Next time the opportunity arises, go out there. Go to workshops, classes play days and art shows. Meet other like minded souls, learn from them and then teach them what you know. You and your art will be better for the sharing, and you never know what may come of it...
Today is also Every Inchie Monday; and today's theme is "River"...

Thanks for visiting me this week, until next time...enjoy!

Gadabout Artist: Home Again!

After a rather uneventful three day trip, we are finally home, safe and sound. The last few days have been all about emptying out the motor home, getting paper work together for taxes, and just generally trying to catch up on everything, and with everyone. The kitties seem to have fared well, they either missed me or not, cats are so sphinx-like, it's hard to tell. I haven't spent a whole lot of time in my studio yet, except to unload all my art supplies. The place is a bit of a mess, but I did stop long enough to make a birthday card for mom-in-love...

My main focus, now that we are home, will be to finish putting together my submissions for the Art-o-mat project. I am still trying to learn how to better leverage my art, but haven't had as much time as I would like to learn more about digital art, so I am using a bit of both new tech and old. Here is a raven I painted, and scanned into my computer...

I then reduced the size, printed it out and cut and added it into my finished piece...

The words at the bottom read... "Tempus edax rerum"...meaning; "Time devours all things"...which is a somewhat  theatrical way of saying time marches on...

I will start posting some of the works I made during my travels. Until then, enjoy...

AEDM Day 30: The End, and the Beginning...

      I have had an amazing time participating in Art Every Day Month! What a fantastic idea, to get a huge group of creative people into their studios and creating on a daily basis. The journey has been difficult, frustrating, exciting and challenging, I am sure I have only begun to see the far reaching effects this will have on my life as an artist. All I do know for sure right now is this;

I will get into my studio on a regular basis. Perhaps not daily, life just doesn't work that way, but often.

I will make the commitment to treat my art seriously, not just squeeze it in when it is convenient.

I will trust that I am right where I need to be.

I will start to show my work to other people, with the ultimate goal of gaining recognition as an artist. Validation!

Thank you all for this wonderful month and all your beautiful support! Keep flying, keep dreaming and, above all, keep creating! Enjoy...


I created this collage using Picasa 3, which is a free download, and very easy to learn. Thank you Deborah Velasquez, for the inspiration for this piece. You are right, it is hard to do, but once you learn it, you get it! 

   http://picasa.google.com/