Free Spirit

6" x 6", Mixed Media

"I have fallen in love with the imagination.

And if you fall in love with the 

imagination, you understand

that it is a free spirit. 

It will go anywhere, and 

it can do anything."

        -- Alice Walker

This is another one of my paint skin people. I really like this one. The "face" was lifted off the palette just as it is. I love when that happens... 

I am linking this to Paint Party Friday. Have a great weekend everybody!

Dancing with Wolves

16" x 22", Mixed Media

I just finished taking a class on painting animals in nature. I am so excited about everything I learned! The first project was a wolf. I'm working on the one from class now. I thought I would try a "practice" wolf first. I have a book about wolves so I picked this photo as a reference:

The painting is a stylized version loosely based on this photo. The main thing I learned was how to paint the fur texture and how to jazz it up once you are finished. NOW I am painting the wolf from class. He has a more menacing presence and I hope the painting will result in a more dramatic scene. 

This is the first in a series of wolf paintings I will be doing. I love everything about the wolf. We have a wolf park very near here and I LOVE to go and watch them interact with each other. So be prepared for more wolves in the coming weeks... 

Have a great weekend everybody!

Color Pencil Play

I've been re-discovering my art supplies through Jane Davenport's Supplies Me workshop. She has given all alumni lifetime access to her workshops. Woohoo! I've taken three so far.

Anyway, colored pencils! I have tons of them. So instead of having the supplies lay around unused we are to dig them out and play! I am trying to perfect the burnishing technique (blend, blend, blend that face). So this little lady emerged. Then of course I scanned her into Photoshop and played with some backgrounds.

I'm working on a big project I hope to show soon. It's very exciting and something totally new for me. Stay tuned...

Holy Cow!

Approx. 6" x 10", Alcohol Ink on Yupo

Yes, I painted a cow! Hubby teaches in the College of Agriculture and I painted this for his office. There is a really cool website called PaintMyPhoto.ning. It allows photographers and artists to work together. You find a photo you want to paint, give the photographer credit and you can use it as a reference. This is from a photo by Nicola McLean:

It is painted with alcohol inks on Yupo paper. I'm still working with that medium. I'm learning to manipulate the inks better. 

I will link to Paint Party Friday when the link goes live. And thank you, Eva, for pointing out that Nic McLean is also a member of Paint Party Friday! Ha! Small world.  ;)  Have a great weekend everybody! 

Surrender

5" x 7', Alcohol Ink on Yupo

"To the mind that is still

the whole universe surrenders"

-- Lao Tzu

Looking at Grief: A Journal Page

"That time

I thought I could not

go any closer to grief 

without dying

I went closer,

and I did not die..."

-- Mary Oliver

This journal page materialized on its own. I added the two figures and bumped up the color with markers and Photoshop. 

I often use CitraSolv painted onto National Geographic magazine pages in my art and my journals. You can see more about the process here. When I was tearing out the solvent-soaked pages from the magazine this one emerged. 

Usually I'll have a page spread of pretty colors all melted together. Then I'll tear them up and use them in my art. This one, I LOVED just as it is. I scanned it into Photoshop so I'll always have a copy to play with. The original is framed. 

I've started another blog where I post just my art journal pages. It's here if you want to check it out. Have a great week everybody! 

Among the Flowers

5" x 7",  Alcohol Ink on Yupo

"There are always flowers
for those who want to see them."
-- Henri Matisse

I had to paint another hummingbird so I would have two paintings to hang together. ;) I'm working on a few special projects that I'll share soon. Have a great weekend everybody!

Hummingbird in Flowers

5 x 7, Alcohol Inks on Yupo

I've been experimenting with alcohol inks on Yupo paper. There are a lot of paintings in progress. This one makes me happy!  More to come...

Happy New Year everybody!

Abstract Flowers

5 x 7, Alcohol Ink on Yupo

"There are always flowers

for those who want

to see them."

-- Henri Matisse

This is just a small section that was cropped from a larger painting. I thought it looked like an abstract flower. I adhered it to some nice black paper, attached it to a blank card and mailed to a friend.  

Have a great weekend everybody!

Wrestling with Angels

"I have wrestled with the Angel

and I am stained with light

and I have no shame."

-- Mary Oliver

This is a page from my journal that I am going to also paint onto a canvas. I'm still playing with color combinations, paint choices, etc. I am taking the most awesome class by Kate Thompson called Fractured Angels and am learning so much! 

I have always loved the poetry of Mary Oliver. Kate used this quote from Mary in her class. So glad Kate passed this on! It's a very inspiring verse to me.

You will probably see this image again in many forms before the final painting is complete.

Moongazing

Moongazing, 8 x 10, Alcohol Ink on Yupo

One of the things I like about this technique is that you can often see different images every time you look. I see a figure on the right gazing at the moon. It looks like a face shape, wearing a tall headpiece and a robe. That's what it looks like to me.  My husband saw something entirely different. So it becomes whatever you see when you look at it. That's pretty cool!

None of this is planned ahead of time. The paint flows where it flows. It's later that you look at your piece and see what you have. Then you crop to that image. This one is now hanging in my living room. 

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Mixed Media Warhol

Young Warhol, 12 x 12, Mixed Media

I searched through the archives of my many Warhol images and found a photo of him when he was younger. He was leaning against a wooden post and a dilapidated building was in the background. The photo was in black and white so I took some liberty with the colors. 

This was an image I had sketched many times in my sketchbook. I settled on the one I liked best. Translating that onto the cradled wood and then painting it (mainly with the Pebeo mixed media paints) was all very challenging. Then I decided to just go for it and throw in some mediums I rarely use: fiber paste, light molding paste, foils, etc. This is truly a mixed media version of my sketch. 

I'm learning how to manipulate the Pebeo paints more, mix colors with them and see how the different types of paint interact with each other. Always experimenting! It feels good to be back in the thick of it again...

Linking this to Paint Party Friday. Enjoy your weekend everybody!

I'll Take You There...

I'll Take You There, 7 x 5, Alcohol Ink on Yupo

I Know a place

Ain't nobody cryin', ain't nobody worried

...I'll take you there

-- I'll Take You There, The Staple Singers

Every once in a while I like to TRY and figure out alcohol inks. They are beautiful colors that really pop on metal, plastic, glass, etc. Paper... not so much. EXCEPT on YUPO paper! (which is a kind of plastic) The trick is to get them to move around like you want. For me, very challenging...

June Rollins has an entire series of paintings with these inks called Dreamscapes. I have her DVD and attempted to do things her way. I did get much better results than when left to my own devices. :) So, here is a dreamscape done in all my favorite colors!

Enjoy your weekend everybody. I am also entering this in the Paint Party Friday lineup. 

Amazed

Amazed, 12 x 16, Oil

This is another oil painting I completed recently. I have to laugh every time I look at it. Her expression! I didn't plan it that way. It just happened as I was fiddling with the mouth. So, you go with it... I wonder what she is seeing that has her so captivated! ;)

Linking this to Paint Party Friday. Check it out! 

Have a great weekend everybody!