Collage & Change

I spent the morning creating the collage above from photographs I have taken over the years.

I love this time of the year, the slant of light and the lengthening shadows  ~  such beauty ~ so delicious this golden light that spills through the tree branches just outside my window, turning the leaves into shimmering liquid gold.

During the fall, I find myself longing for the haystacks of my youth. The heavenly smell of  hay mixed with the dampness of the earth. The early morning mist kissing my face and the exuberance of youth.

Over the years I find that I have come to value the fall of the year more and more ~  the day by day changes.  The mellow richness and different textures that hone and shape us as we age. The laughter, the tears and everything else in between that makes each one of us unique and beautiful.

So I breathe in the ripeness of the world around me and embrace this inevitable change. The waxing and waning  of the year.

Collage Monday

The Opened Heart – Mixed Media

The mixed media piece above is a combination of digital & Traditional painting. The center is a Mixed Medium/Acrylic/Watercolor/Ink  8 x 10 inch painting on canvas that I decided to play around with using Corel Painter 7 and Photoshop. For the background I used scanned papers, fabrics, vintage ledgers and anything else I could think of. Wow, did I have fun!

Later, when I went to the market they had pumpkins and gourds  stacked on bales of hay reminding us that change has come and sweet autumn is here. It all made me feel so grateful for being a part of the eternal dance of life from one season to the next.

thought for the day:

In the deep fall don’t you imagine the leaves think how
comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees themselves, especially those with mossy,
warm caves, begin to think

of the birds that will come…six, a dozen…to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond vanishes, and the white field
over which the fox runs so quickly brings out
its blue shadows. And the wind pumps its
bellows. And at evening especially,
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.
– Mary Oliver

Eat Dessert First

Yesterday was a cold, blustery rainy day. Imagine my surprise when I found a flier neatly tucked under our front door inviting us to an ice cream social. I don’t know about you, but ice cream is the last thing on my mind when the weather is so dreary and cold.

The funny thing is, later on, we couldn’t stop thinking about ice cream! lol Hopefully by the time the event takes place in two weeks, the sun will be shining and the weather much nicer than it has been.

However, for me, there is an upside to all the rain. It gives me more time to explore and let my creative wild woman out to play. The mixed media collage below is what happens when some Japanese stamps, gesso, newsprint and one rain crazed baby boomer woman with a glint in her eye meet on a blank canvas. I had such a great time I started two more collages.

Yes, for every season there is a time to play, to create and eat dessert first!

See You There – Mixed Media Collage -8 x 10 inches on canvas

thoughts for the day; “Nourish your eye and spirit with inspiring things. They will bloom with your tending.” – SARK

“The point of art is not simply to express ourselves, but to create an external, concrete form in which the soul of our lives can be evoked and contained.” – Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Journey Of Courage

It takes courage to try new things and explore uncharted waters. Especially when our inner critic keeps whispering in our ear  . . . I wouldn’t do that if I were you!  You really don’t have time for this! Remember how frustrated you can get with Photoshop!

Today, I played around with some photographs taken over the past couple of months, and tried my hand at creating a photomontage/collage using Photoshop & Painter 7.

I tried several different techniques I had read about, and ended up merging them all together in this one image. Some of the techniques worked and some didn’t, but I sure had fun!

Photoshop and I have an uneasy relationship, and one of these days I am going to take a class. I know it would make my life so much easier!

thought for the day;

“Another word for creativity is courage.” – George Prince

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.” – Mary Lou Cook

A Healer’s Touch

Yesterday as I was cleaning the studio, I came across a couple of watercolor and acrylic paintings, which were works in progress. They were my first attempt to break out of the cyclic creative block that I seemed unable to shake this past week.

One of them represented the different emotional and psychological imprints that can happen when one has a chronic illness. The woman figure symbolizes a medical practitioner, the flower in the vintage lab beaker is representative of our creative adaptability and  innate biological ability to heal. The bird symbolizes tapping into our own creative and healing energies.

I had covered the other canvas with sections of one of my favorite articles about a grandmother who used plant medicine to heal her granddaughter, and her ability to blend her will with the energies of the earth to nourish and sustain her family.

As I looked at these two separate paintings, I suddenly felt inspired to scan both images and thought why not combine both of them together, so I did.

I had to cut, rearrange and then merge all the different images to make them fit together. The whole process took me a couple of hours and it really helped me to break out of my creative slump. I used Photoshop & Painter IX to create the image above  from my original paintings.

So  here’s a very heartfelt thank you to all the women, mothers and grandmothers who inspire, nurture and sustain us throughout our lives.

Monday

I have been a busy bee over the past week or so. Unfortunately, this means I have had less time for blogging.

I’ve been in the studio everyday from early morning to late afternoon working on two paintings for the Egyptian series. Yes, I have been hard at play and loving every moment of it!

Sekmet -Acrylic Art – Mixed Media Collage – 17 x 21 inches on paper

thought for the day: “If you want to get better at painting or making art, then do it everyday (passionately/religiously) as if there is no tomorrow. Let go of the judge within, and be surrounded by positive, supportive people. Be gentle on yourself and others. Give. Never hold back. – Nancy Davies Bilbro

Butterflies in the Garden

There were butterflies in the garden this morning . . . .  So beautiful and so fragile! They inspired me to want to do something creative. I have been so busy with other projects, I haven’t had the time or inclination to work in the studio.

At times when I am feeling blocked, but feel the need to create something, I pull out my stamps, watercolors and various papers and create whatever comes to mind. I find it helps me to get the creative juices flowing again.

When I had finished this piece, I took it into Photoshop and added one of my favorite  quotes.

“Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.” – Arthur Koestler

“You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.” – Nietzsche

Spring Cleaning

I didn’t get much done in the studio yesterday, but was I ever busy with Spring cleaning!

I spent most of  the day raking and cleaning up the backyard, and I was one tired puppy when I finished. I had planned on getting some work done in the studio, but that never happened.

My plan for tomorrow is to get back in the studio and work some more on the painting below.

The imagery came from two dreams I had recently. One dream was about a beautiful portal floating over water, the other was of a large winged bird creature surrounded by fire.

The creature was so beautiful, and I could feel the wind from his wings brush against my face as he flew across the sky.

There was a full moon riding high across the sky and I was dancing below as the bird flew overhead as if we were participating in some ancient tribal ritual from the distant past.

In my dream, I somehow knew the creature was a messenger and guardian.

Water, Wind & Fire – Acrylic Art – Mixed Media Collage – 8 x 11 inches on paper

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