Work in Progress
I have always enjoyed making masks and over the years I have made them out of clay, plaster, paper mache, porcelain, and leather. Lately I have been using rigid wrap over a mold. The rigid wrap is durable, light weight and easy to attach to a canvas.
On this piece I wanted a very organic looking finish and tried several products, but golden’s crackle medium turned out to be just what I was looking for. I had to do several masks and push the medium as far as I could before I got what I wanted. I love this stuff!
I have also used the crackle medium with acrylic and watercolors and I really like the way it adds a bit of interest and texture to my paintings.
This is the third mask in a series I have been working on, and I am now beginning to attach bark and natural fibers for the hair etc …
Metamorphosis #2 – Acrylic/Mixed Media/Collage – 15 x 30 inches on canvas
Metamorphosis # 1 – Acrylic/Mixed Media/Collage – 15 x 30 inches on canvas
“For if in any manner we can stimulate this instinct, new passages are opened for us into nature, the mind flows into and through things hardest and highest, and the metamorphosis is possible.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly,” – Richard Bach.”
Daily Warm Up Exercises
Below is one of the images from my daily warm up exercises this morning.
I started by spreading a layer of heavy gel medium on watercolor paper and drew patterns into the gel with old plastic cards, rubber stamps, and various sizes of old margarine lids.
I then used my sculpture tools to define certain areas by scooping out the excess gel medium. When the gel had dried, I floated acrylic washes over the surface and let that dry.
Next I added another layer of acrylic over the first layer and used plastic wrap in certain areas to create more texture.
When the pieces had all dried I started to define and bring out the organic patterns that I began to see develop before my eyes. What fun!
The image here is the one that I decided to work on first. I will let it sit for a couple of days and come back to it with fresh eyes.
For right now, I see all kinds of images dancing in the medium and my imagination is in overdrive! Time to take a break. lol
Acrylic Art – Mixed Media Collage – Friday warm up exercise #3 – 9 x 12 inches on paper
”An artist’s early work is inevitably made up of a mixture of tendencies and interests, some of which are compatible and some of which are in conflict. As the artist picks his way along, rejecting and accepting as he goes, certain patterns of enquiry emerge. His failures are as valuable as his successes: by misjudging one thing he conforms something else, even if at the time he does not know what that something else is.” — Bridget Riley.
Ancient Symbols
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I hope you are celebrating and having a fun day. Don’t forget to wear green so that you won’t get pinched!
May the luck of the Irish be with you!
Ancient Symbols – Acrylic Art/Mixed Media Collage – 7.50 x 11 inches on paper
I painted this piece spontaneously from my imagination. Unfortunately not every painting I do in this way works out. Although it’s really wonderful when they do…
“Spontaneity is the quality of being able to do something just because you feel like it at the moment, of trusting your instincts, of taking yourself by surprise and snatching from the clutches of your well-organized routine a bit of unscheduled pleasure.” -Richard Iannelli
Happy Accidents
Today was another gorgeous, wonderful day here in northern California!
Today, I prepped a couple of sheets of watercolor paper for tomorrow and did this painting in the afternoon. It was one of those happy accidents.
I accidentally spilled some watercolor paint on the paper and as I was trying to clean it off, this winged figure started to appear. I then began developing the painting with acrylics, colored pencils, inks, and pastel pencils.
This was way to much fun!
Threshold – Acrylic Art – Mixed Media Collage – 5 x 7 inches on paper
“Where the water whispers mid the shadowy rowan trees I have heard the Hidden People like the hum of swarming bees: And when the moon has risen and the brown burn glisters grey I have seen the Green Host marching in laughing disarray. – Fiona MacLeod
Continuing With Treescapes
Here is a new painting that I finished today. It was inspired by all the rain storms we have been having over the past couple of weeks.
The view from my studio window has been very dramatic with sheets of rain pouring down and thunder rumbling overhead. It was all rather exciting to watch Mother Nature at work. I love it!
March certainly roared in like the proverbial lion!
March Storm – Acrylic Art – Mixed Media Collage – 9 x 12 inches on paper.
“March bustles in on windy feet
And sweeps my doorstep and my street.
She washes and cleans with pounding rains,
Scrubbing the earth of winter stains.
She shakes the grime from carpet green
Till naught but fresh new blades are seen.
Then, house in order, all neat as a pin,
She ushers gentle springtime in.”
– Susan Reiner, Spring Cleaning
When Trees Walked The Earth
Last night I had the strangest dream!
I dreamed that I was watching trees walk out of the ocean onto land. They walked in small groups, communicating with each other by waving their branches back and forth. The sky was orange with red and gold light playing across he landscape. The dream was very magical and I felt so happy and free. It was at that moment I realized I was a tree too.
After writing my dream down I got up and grabbed a cup of coffee. Then I decided to make a painting of my dream.
Even as a child I have always had unusual dreams, which include a great deal of detail, and I always dream in full technicolor, with all five senses engaged.
For more info on dreams and dream cards go here.
When Trees Walked the Earth – Acrylic Art – Mixed Media Collage – 9 x 12 inches on paper.
Monday
I finished this abstract painting over the weekend and now it is packaged and ready to be mailed out. It is an acrylic art -mixed media collage on watercolor paper with deckled edges.
Deep In The Woods – Acrylic Art-Mixed Media Collage – 5 x 7 inches on paper.
Detail of “Deep in the Woods”.
Here it rained all weekend and is still raining. According to the Celtic calendar, March is the second month of Spring, and for us it seems it has started out as a wet blustery month.
The wind was blowing strong last night and this morning we found that there were dead branches and leaves strewn all over our yard. It was as if Mother Nature decided to sweep and clean out the old to make way for the new.
I love Spring with all the daffodils bursting from the soil, with their vibrant yellow heads stretching towards the sun and the cherry tree blossoms floating through the air. For me, this time of the year is like a living breathing poem.
” An optimist is the human personification of spring.” – Susan Bissonette
When Angels Dream
I wanted to be productive today and paint something so I created the abstract painting below. I am still working on this one.
I need to work some more on the angels and the background. I am thinking of adding some touches of ink and metallic paint to spice it up a bit.
This afternoon, I prepped several sheets of watercolor paper with gesso and tissue paper for a project I want to do and they are drying as I type this.
Tomorrow I plan on letting my spirit out to play!
When Angels Dream – Acrylic/Watercolor – 8 x 10 inches on Watercolor Paper
“In order for my work to continue to evolve, I become involved in playfulness and take the opportunity to look at the ‘what – ifs.’ Whatever the result, it expands my vision by letting go of who I think I am and discovering the spirit within.” – Jean Deemer
Work In Progress
I am still working on the Lady of the Forest painting. Below is a photo of my progress so far. It’s been a slow go, but only because there has been so many other things needing my attention. “C’est la vie”
I am looking forward to this weekend because we don’t have anything important planned and we can spend some quality time together, and maybe do a bit of sketching around town or stay home and play with paint.
Lady of the Forest #3 Acrylic/ Watercolor/Mixed Medium – 16 x 20 inches -on Canvas
”The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.” -Picasso.
Acrylic Warm Up Exercises
I started out this beautiful sunny morning with some warm up exercises using acrylic alcohol resist techniques and metallic watercolor paint.
The beauty of these is that they can be used as a start for a painting or you can tear them up into interesting shapes and use them as collage material for other paintings. You can also leave them as is and frame them.
Sorry, the photo is a little crooked (not the painting).
Acrylic/Watercolor – 11 x14 inches on Watercolor Paper
“A painting is never finished – it simply stops in interesting places.” – Paul Gardner