Work in Progress

Rooster for Juxtapose Gallery

underpainting | 20x24 | wood panel

Gerri at Juxtapose Gallery informed me that she sold the rooster in December! December was a big HUGE month for me in terms of sales with galleries. Gerri sold four (or was it five?) pieces in New Jersey, Chris sold two in Sarasota, FL, Casselberry Art House sold one in FL. I am very thankful for my success in December.

Gerri said that the rooster got a lot of attention and now that he has sold she wanted another to replace it, I always give Gerri what she needs in New Jersey because she sells more than anyone else! I have been working this weekend on a rooster for Gerri that is a close up, quite different from the full body rooster she sold. I hope she will like this different format, I've put the barn in the background to give it some atmosphere. I've not done a rooster in a while and I must say that I am really enjoing working on this piece!!

Next entry will be collaged/finished!

Derwent Ink Tense Pencils

Art Supplies for Christmas!

My wonderful husband purchased a full set of Derwent InkTense Pencils for me, what a treat! These pencils go down like a colored pencil, then you can go over them with water, and they blend into very intense color! What's best about this is that once they dry, they have the properties of ink and not water color, they are permanent!

I have been experimenting with leaving some painted backgrounds in my collage work lately and I thought that the pencils would be a wonderful way to do some mark making in the background. After some experimentation I decided that I like leaving some of the line as well as washing some of it out. I wondered though, how would the varnish application affect the line that had not been washed? I did some digging and decided to purchase some Lascaux spray acrylic varnish to put over the pencil areas in a light coat before applying the brush Golden UV Acrylic Varnish coat. The spray varnish should seal the pencil marks without blending them, and then I can apply a heavy brushed varnish coat on top.

Some photos of the pencil line work show what a nice addition this is to the painterly background.

DVD Inspired Work

Robin Gay White
Robin emailed me last week about how much she enjoys her Collage Overview DVD. Her cats came out wonderful, the eyes are just stunning! I feel like she really got the fur effect with her use of multiple shades of browns and a paper with fuzzy edges when torn (not cut!) The whiskers are some fine detail work, I'm impressed! Find Robin's work here: www.artisanartsblog.com


Thank you for the opportunity to share how much I have enjoyed watching your Paper Paintings Overview DVD...over and over again!  

Not only is it beautifully produced but your informative, cut-to-the-chase descriptions of your procedures leaves the viewer full of inspiration and encouragement! You have opened up a whole new world for me as a painter of which I cannot wait to explore!

Since Christmas was quickly approaching I decided to start with making gifts for my children... using your simple techniques I created Paper Paintings of my grand-dog and cats!  I had so much fun and was pleasantly surprised with the outcomes... and so were the kids!  Already, I have received requests from other pet owners!

Thank you so much, Elizabeth, for sharing your love of art with the rest of us so we can be further encouraged and expanded!  

Painting Paper for Paper Paintings

Making the Most of Art Store Papers
I have mentioned in the past that I gave up using colored art store papers due to light fast or fading issues. Now I only buy white papers and paint them my own colors with artists fluid acrylics.

I do however, still like to utilize the printed patters that often come on art store purchased papers. This week I painted some papers with gold printing and iridescent patterning. What's fun about painting these types of papers is that the pattern resists the acrylic paint and so you still have the benefit of the printed pattern PLUS the benefit of your own painted color palette.

The gold patterned paper started out brown, I painted some brown, some red, some blue and some purple. I stayed with dark colors because the paper started out dark. The iridescent paper started out white, so it was a wonderful starting point for any color I wanted! This paper was thin, so I used sheet music underneath it to catch the extra paint, and the end result was a bonus!

I purchased these papers in person at Binders Art Supply when I was in Atlanta, you can buy these papers online as well at places like DickBlick.com, I like them because they take PayPal.

DVD Inspired Work

Today's Featured DVD Inspired Artist: Sandy Oveson
Sandy's panda came out great! She originally struggled with white edges on her green paper in the background. I suggested a ripping technique to her that helps eliminate the edges, but in the end Sandy went back in with more paper to cover over some of her edges. If you paint a more porous paper, the color will bleed all the way through, and you won't have white edges at all! I did tell Sandy, I don't mind white edges in some instances, it creates some interesting patterns! I think Sandy used the black paper to her advantage by pulling out the "fuzzy edges" to create a fir like feeling that really works.

Sandy told me that her final artistic decision was to crop the panda down to simplify the background and I think it really works! I love this composition with the yellow bamboo framing his face, this was really emphasized when she cropped off the extra green to the left and right of the bamboo and made the composition square rather than horizontal.

Here's what Sandy has to say about the Paper Paintings DVD which inspired her: I'm excited because today a friend of mine helped me mat and frame my little panda collage that I made after seeing your dvd!  Because she thought it was so cute, I'm anxious to start  another.  I also got some nice comments when I posted the final on my blog.  You already know I think your dvd is great! 


See more of Sandy's work as well as Panda in progress: http://artjourney-sandy.blogspot.com

More From Atlanta

Quinlan Visual Arts Center Invitational
I was so impressed with the "Q" that I feel it deserves another blog entry. Today in my e-mailbox I received an invitation to submit to their upcoming Bird's Nest Invitational. I have done two small nests which I love, one sold and one is at the El Monte Sagrado Living Resort & Spa Grand Bohemian Gallery in Taos, NM. Looks like I'll have to create another nest! (coincidently, one of my three pieces on display at the Q currently, is a nest!)
Click Here for the info and the entry form for the Bird's Nest Invitational. I think that if you work in a small to medium format, you can easily ship to the Q and you can see from my photo above, this is a very upscale arts center and their gift shop is to die for! (I think I spent as much time in the gift shop, showcasing original art, sculpture and earrings for sale) They have tons of wall space, and if you can ship it (or maybe you live close by), BIG pieces work really well there, the place is huge!

Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine

Heart Art Featured in "Musings" Section of Magazine

The current issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine features my Heart Art which incorporates underpainting, sketching and Scrabble tiles, in the Musings section of this wonderful mixed media publication. I have been featured in CPS before, a feature article and a photo of my own paper skirt in the Musings section. I very much appreciate my relationship with them and look forward to future opportunities!

If you are interested in purchasing my one-of-a-kind original Heart Art for your sweetheart, combined with a copy of Cloth Paper Scissors (I will include with the art)... here are the details

Heart Art - unframed
15" x 17 ½"
Collage on Panel
$195 plus $9.95 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.