Finch Postcard Set Now Available

Finch Postcard Set

6" x 4" (15.3cm x 10.2cm)
printed on paper on
$5 plus $2.95 shipping and handling in the US

New Work

A Few Last Birds

top: Winter Tufted Titmouse, 9x12 | middle: European Robin, 12 x 9 | bottom: Florida Scrub Jay 12x9

I am going to be taking a break from birds. I've decided to do some small fruit pieces next, 8x8. And then on to 20x24 for more detailed work. I feel like I have done all the birds I can handle for a while, time to mix it up.

Here are the last couple of birds for a while, these were produced late last night and into the wee hours of this morning.

Fresh Fruit

Mango and Banana

I have a collector who purchased three fruits from me some years back. He recently contacted me and said he "needed more fruits!" I am posting here to show him that his fruits are finished, and I hope that they are to his liking. My style has grown and changed since creating the original fruits and I hope that this new bounty will blend well with the others.

No pressure Jaime! if you don't like them, I'll keep them.... they are "growing on me"

A Very Special Commission

Part Five: Finished!

For Michael | 12x10 | collage on wood panel

Here is the finished piece. This very special commission is of a Blue Bunting, which is a bird that has special meaning to the woman who asked me to create this collage. She asked me to create this Paper Painting for her sister, who had lost her only son, Michael. You can see that I worked his name very subtly into the tree just above the bird where they intersect. If you zoom in on the church, you will also see that the text that creates the white, is about blue birds.

The drippy painted effect at the bottom is from the under-painting -- in the end, I decided that I wanted to let that show through. At the bottom and the very top, there are small areas of wood that are exposed to show the viewer what's underneath, I really like showing the color and the texture of the birch wood panel. Around the tree and it's branches are pencil lines that I have been experimenting with leaving in the finished work.

The DVD overview of the process that I am working on, actually highlights this piece. I have gotten so much positive response about the video that I am considering adding a voice over to it (the first version will simply be set to music for galleries to play in the background) that will in fact make it instructional. The video portion covers the process from start to finish, I just need to describe, in detail, what I am doing along the way. With an added voice over, this video would offer step-by-step instruction on my collage process. I hope to add this to the project and make it available for purchase in the next several weeks!

My First Painting

Easter Basket, Tempera on Paper

This weekend my husband and I have been working on a DVD of my collage process. When I talk about myself and my art at workshops, in my bio, and on this DVD, I often tell people that I always knew I wanted to be an artist. I say that I can remember the first painting I ever did, and it's true... I was in Kindergarten at Moseley School in Western Massachusetts, it was spring and we were painting Easter scenes. We had to don a trash bag smock and take turns going into the hallway to work at one miniature easel that had baby food jars of paint set into a wood shelf at the bottom. We got to use those big fat brushes that they give little kids, and I can still smell the tempera paint! (this art, by the way, is a blue easter basket with green grass and pink eggs and lots of colorful clouds)

My mother did me a wonderful favor, she kept this painting for me until I was an adult. When I went to collage, I took this painting with me and managed to keep it safe until many years after I graduated. When I moved to Florida and got my first job in marketing, I was voted "employee of the month" and received a check for $100. I used that money to frame my first painting.

Today this painting hangs in my daughter's room with the little photo of me and this artwork stuck into the lower right hand edge of the frame.

Buy it Now!

Framed or Unframed?

I am offering this piece framed. If you are interested in having the piece framed, you will need to use the PayPal button to buy the piece, and then use the second PayPal button to buy the frame, all costs include me assembling the art into the frame and sending it out ready to hang. If you choose to take the piece unframed, just purchase the unframed option.

Orange Tea--Unframed
12" x 12" (30.5cm x 30.5cm)
Collage on Panel
$100 plus $6.95 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Natural Wood Gallery Frame
12" x 12" (30.5cm x 30.5cm)
Natural Wood
$25 plus $4 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Lunch with a Fiber Artist

Green Apple by Ellen Lindner

Do you believe that this collage is made of fabric? I had lunch with Ellen Lindner in Melbourne, FL last week. Ellen was familiar with my work, even posted me as her "favorite artist" on her website some time back. Ellen was unable to make it to my You Call That Art? talk at LoPressionism Gallery a few weeks ago, so she invited me to meet her when I picked up my work.

Ellen and I shared art techniques and marketing strategies and spent some time comparing and contrasting paper collage to fabric collage. This Green Apple piece she brought to lunch to show me, it's beautiful! She's glued the fabric to a gallery wrapped canvas and varnished it. She uses "directional cutting" (I guess there is no directional "ripping" when it comes to fabric!) to wrap her fabric pieces around the form of the apple, just like I do with the paper. Her shading technique is amazing, considering that she is using existing fabric colors and patterns. What a huge collection of fabric she must have!

Ellen Lindner is also a teacher, you can take classes from her online or in person. Check out her website for more amazing samples of her work, and check out her blog to see what she's up to lately!