Promise of Things to Come...

The little Christmas cactus that sits on the windowsill in my studio is beginning to bloom - a Christmas miracle!

Oh Christmas Tree...

It's a rainy, cold day even here in SWFL.  I did manage my daily walk, but my brain was going faster than my feet.  We're hosting a dinner party in a few days.  I decided to make some small Christmas trees as a gift for our friends.  Perfect way to while away the time when it's so glum outside.

The trees were made completely out of miscellaneous stuff in my studio.  A little gold paint and glitter goes a long way to make these trees look festive.

2" wooden cubes, drill hole in middle (top)

torn scraps of book pages, ribbon, wrapping paper, trim, etc.

hors d'oeuvres sticks, wooden bead (painted gold), 

brass star (hole punched) adhered with 527 multi-glue

glitter added

glass marbles adhered with glue to bottom of wood cubes

(these will serve as feet)

stack torn papers in graduating sizes small to large on stick;

glue stick into drilled hole

VOILA!!

A Day at the Beach collage

I'm calling her done - may add a little paint to the flowers in her hair...gotta think about it a bit.

Bits and Pieces...#1

Continuing on with collage...

Determining placement of background inspiration

 first layer of background (paint)

adhere background inspiration piece using matte medium

incorporate background inspiration piece with paint

having fun replacing head on figure - head is bigger than the original - cut up dress to make a skirt - add legs adhere all to background using matte medium

It's time to think about her hair...the real fun begins after that - embellish!

Pieces of the Puzzle...

Sifting through images of figures, features, landscapes, etc.; cutting out, rearranging, putting together, theory of thirds, adding paint...what will it become?

collage...

I've accumulated a ton of magazines.  It's about time to do something with them before they overtake my studio.  Sorting through pages, saving only images and words I may use in mixed media collage...I've only worked my way through about a 1/4 of my stash of magazines!

SOLD!

Happily "Irma Packs a Punch" was awarded an Honorable Mention with a monetary award at last night's opening reception.  She will also find a new home with these fine people on January 7, 2018.

"Telling a Story"...

Telling a Story: Narrative Art

Reception, Friday, December 1, 2017 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.

Naples Art Association

585 Park Street

Naples FL 34102

going, going...gone?

I've been invited to donate a piece of artwork to the "For the Love of Art" fundraiser at Naples Art Association. 

Yup, my little yellow bird will find a new home!  

Three Like Minded Women...

I considered not adding details to the faces, but then I thought I have to title it "Three Blind Wives" - no, no, no!

I finished it this morning.  I'm happy.

The Three...

This is one of the largest paintings I ever attempted - 30x24 -

I'm planning at this point to keep it loose and not add too much detail to their faces...then there's the hair - maybe a loose, flyaway bun...we'll see what happens....

Yellow Bird and Friend

Paint is still wet - love how it turned out.  I'm filling my guest bathroom walls with whimsical paintings of my dear yellow bird!

The Slouch...

I saw myself in the mirror the other day and noticed I was slouching. (That'll NEVER do!!) thus the inspiration for this piece...

 just beginning to work on her...

Blank No More...

It's hard to start a new painting when one looks at a blank white canvas.  I created a background using green, blue and white titanium.  Once dry it will be a good starting point - surprisingly, the background may disappear once the creative process begins - but at least it wont be white!

Yellow Bird and Friend

I'm just crazy about my little yellow bird.  She keeps appearing in most of my artwork these days.  (Creating the little book was a bit of a challenge - don't ask how many times I started anew!)

Irma Packs a Punch...and more

It took a lot longer to wrap this project up than I thought it would - Miss Irma really messed up my time in the studio...so happy now - I finished these girls this afternoon! 

Giver Her a Hand Part 2...

addition of apoxie type clay - sanding, painting, etc. needed

give her a hand...

the beginning of creating hands for my art dolls...

Lot more to do!

Laugh or Cry...

On September 10, 2017 Hurricane Irma tore through Naples with a vengeance.  As a result, I haven't been able to work in the studio - I really miss it.  I didn't realize how much stress I was under waiting for the storm, going through the storm and finally dealing with the aftermath.  My husband and I were really lucky.  Our house had no damage.  The discomfort/inconvenience of no electricity, AC, cell phone, wifi or drinkable water was minor compared to thousands of people who were affected quite harshly.  Nevertheless, the storm took its toll on my psyche.

A couple of weeks ago, I made some armatures for art dolls I had in mind.  Over this past weekend I picked up where I left off.  So often during the time of the storm, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry - I did both!  That's the direction this art doll is going...

 

and then there were two...

These huge spiders are in a web outside the gate of my neighbor's patio - yikes!

armatures...

I'm in the mood to make some new art dolls...Christmas is coming!  I've got several ideas whirling around my brain...

I've pulled out a ton of supplies - never sure what I'll use or what the doll will look like.  I love how it just seems to give birth to itself.

Different views of the first armature...

Flowers in a Glass Jar

I've started over a number of times...time to put this away for a while!

Background 101

It seems like forever since I picked up paintbrush!  I'm anxious to get back to working with oil paints.  Since this is a relatively large canvas for me 18x24, I decided to do the background and table top in acrylics.  I like to save my expensive paints for the foreground.  (Burnt umber, titanium ecru, raw sienna, titanium white, portrait pink light, Payne's gray.)

This is going to be a still life which I'm still setting up...time will tell what it will turn out to be.