Shhhhhhh....

This is a mixed media piece that I've made as a gift for my brother-in-law for this birthday this month. He collects great contemporary art, and I think this piece will really appeal to him.

It might just be my favourite piece of all time.

I LOVE how the colours look together and how the film adds to it. I also love using these little square canvasses on top of other canvases to give a painting a different dimension.

What do you think?

The cutting is from a book that I've used in the past. I love its descriptive detail, and the part about the vacuum cleaner just seems so random. 

Again with the texture. I love how it gives this piece depth. 



Hiding

ahhhh mixed media.

Isn't it lovely?

I just love going through my bins of ephemera and collected objects in hopes of finding the perfect combination of items to create a piece of art.

In this case, I am creating a piece of art to swap with a student in one of the clubs that I sponsor at school. The club is a Manga club, and while I'm not passionate about Manga, the girls in the club are very funky and love making art in their own sketchbooks.

One of the girls shared her latest works with me, and I asked if she'd like to swap art with me. I explained to her about how each artist has their own style that makes their art unique, and that to swap art with another artist would mean bringing something different into her realm. 

(I also didn't want her to think that I was going to create a Manga character for her!)

With this student in mind, I created this piece.

 I thought a lot about how it must feel to be a unique entity,
an artist in a school over almost 2000 other teenagers who tend to dress alike, do their hair in the same style, and speak the same way. 

Sometimes hiding is a much better deal. 

I used two canvasses for this piece. The small one has been glued to the large one, beside which sits a small square glass mirror. These two layers, the puzzle piece, the mirror, and the paper-doll dress (without the doll) are all very symbolic of the feelings that I sense from some of the teens in my classes.

I think that teens are much worse off today than when I was in high school with the constant stimulation of technology and more-abundant-than-ever presence of enticing and influential advertising. I could go into more detail, but I think I'll save these thoughts for another day.

In the meantime, what do you think of this piece?

Your comments are loved and deeply valued. Thanks for taking the time to look at my art. 

Textured Backgrounds - Part Two

In yesterday's blog post, I showed you the first of a pair of paintings that I finished this week.

After experimenting with other techniques for a few weeks, it feels good to come back to what I know and love. These paintings are very indicative of my own style.

Don't forget to scroll down to yesterday's post to see the other picture in this pair. Both are now available in my etsy shop.

And look to the very bottom of this post - I'm looking for some guidance from you, my friends, on whether or not to share these techniques with you.

This piece is inspired by a child's yearning to explore and learn.
Manifesting at its best, since we're planning to have kids in the near future.

This photo shows the texture of the piece, sides and all. 

I have a vintage typewriter that I used for the letters.
I love the way that the ink goes onto the page (the messy  letter "e" for instance.)

So after showing you these two pictures, my question to you is, are you interested in learning how to make these textured backgrounds in your own work? Leave me a comment or send me an email. If there is some interest, I'll put together a video to show you how I build pieces like these.

Your comments are always so greatly loved and appreciated.

Textured Backgrounds - Part One

I've been working on some small pieces, playing around with textured backgrounds.

Lately I've been experimenting with different styles and techniques of art, but I always come back to my roots.

These types of textured backgrounds are where I started with art. I love their depths, and with a coat of glossy spray varnish, they are gallery-worthy in my mind.


I've made a set of two pieces. Today I'll show you one; tomorrow will showcase the second one.

It's now available in my etsy shop.

This is the first time that I've used ink as paint (for the tree branches).
"Plant a seed and grow roots" refers to my monkey's and my desire to have a baby.  

A little blurry, but you can see the edges of the work in this photo and a lot of the texture.  

I used a spray ink to get this effect over my textured background. 

This shot is my favourite. I feel that it really shows the textures and the quality of the piece. 

Paying it Forward, Part Two

Here are some of my finished works from what I started on the weekend.

Hop on back to Monday's post to see what these pieces are all about :)

I'm hoping that I can send these without having to spend an arm and a leg. The larger ones are 8x10 stretched canvases.

I didn't do much to this one after the initial stages. I thought that it was quite lovely as it was.
I particularly like the mixed colours behind the brown stencil.  

I love red, aqua and brown together, and this piece is inspired by that colour combination.
I think that after studying Teesha Moore's style in January,
I have realized how much depth a border can add to a piece of art. 

I am constantly reminding myself to take a breath and slow down. This piece is an ode to that mantra.
Again, the black dry-brushed border gives the piece the depth that I was looking to achieve.

This and the next one are inspired by a stamp that a friend of mine had at a recent art club meeting. I did use the stamp on these pieces, but it did't work very well on my backgrounds. I went over where I thought the shapes would be. 

Perhaps one of my favourites, I touched this up with some white highlights
and did a light black dry-brush around the border.

It's Primed!

My Duracell box is now primed and ready for action.

For some reason I'm hesitating to really dig in to this.

Maybe I will feel better once I become more comfortable with a clear idea of how I will decorate it.

Anyhow, here it is with a fresh coat of primer!

Paying it Forward

Today I began to make some headway on my pieces for Pay it Forward 2012.

I have 5 people on my list, and so I decided to make little pieces of art for them. Some of the pieces are a bit large - I'll have to figure out how to send them without paying a fortune in postage.

Other wise, this has been a fun experience so far. I love making art for other people.

Since I really don't know the recipients at all, I am creating freely without trying to customize my work.

Here is a sneak peek from day two. Tomorrow I should be able to make the finishing touches.

Here is a shot of all six pieces (I'm going to keep my favourite for myself.) Can you tell that I just bought a new stencil? :)

Postcards Are Rolling In!

Are you getting some great postcards? I can't beLIEVE some of the art that I'm getting.

In honour of Valentine's Day, I'm sharing some "link love" with all of you.

I've taken some photos of my favourites so far... have a look.

This card is from Carlene Taylor Simmons.
I was so tickled to get this because of the texture that she has created using fabric and her sewing machine along with the paper and paint...
I LOVE your work, Carlene!

This one is from the talented Pippa Gore. Have you checked out Pippa's blog?
She updates it about three times a day - you wouldn't believe how much art this woman makes.
She is truly an inspiration!

This is another card that really blew me away. It's from Pam Parker in Australia.
Get this: the leaves on her tree are made from APPLE STICKERS! Cute and clever.
Pam is just starting out her journey into mixed media and I'd say she's doing a splendid job!

Mark Montano has to be my number one idol in so many ways. I love what he pulls together.
He is like the MacGyver of Art, craft, and DIY.
Who else would put Mary, skulls, butterflies and glitter all in the same place?

I've never seen my name look so beautiful. I dream about being able to write in such a pretty way.
This is how Mark Montano addressed his (butterfly) envelope to me. 

WIWO Wednesday - It's What I'm Working On

Today I want to show you the finishing touches that I put on my postcards for the International Mixed Media Postcard Swap.

They went in the mail on Friday of last week... you may already have one in your mailbox! :)

My materials:
- watercolour paper
- watercolour paints
- tissue paper and acrylic medium for texture in the background
- magazine clippings for the hearts
- fabric for the flowers
- alphabet stamps and black Stazon ink
- sewing machine stitching for the embellishments and border
- black Micron marker for doodles

I also printed out a cute vintage postcard back to fasten onto the backs of my cards. You can see it in the picture here:

Here is a close-up of the stamping, stitching and magazine heart. I doodled around the heart with a black Micron marker. 

Although all of the cards are different, each one has the same elements and follows the same theme of finding "bliss"

How did your postcards turn out?
Post a link to your postcards in the comments of this blog post so that we can see them! :)

I LOVE Texture!

I think that one of the things that drew me to Mixed Media in the beginning was the texture. It's hard for me NOT to touch something that has a texture. Maybe I'm a touchy-feely kind of person, but when I see an artpiece that has raised areas or patterns, I immediately feel the need to run my fingers along it.

I went though one of the free fashion magazines that come to my house with the mail and found a bazillion textures. Think about it - fashion magazines have so many different fabrics on their models, creative backgrounds in their photo shoots, jewelry and wallpaper advertisements. In fact, I am currently of the opinion that fashion magazines are a GREAT source for textural inspiration.

Case in point, today's journal page. I went through a magazine and cut out a bunch of squares of some textures that I was drawn to. Then I pasted them onto a background of teal acrylic and stamped "I love textures" around them.

I wish they were 3D! Still, they serve as great inspiration for upcoming art! :)

WIWO Wednesday - It's What I'm Working On.

So if you've been reading my recent posts, I've been working hard on a 16-page book inspired by Teesha Moore.

It's been fun and challenging coming up with that many different way of expressing myself. As always, I'm in a major rush to get it done. I'm more of a "finished product" person than a "process" person. Sometimes this can be good if you're working on a deadline, but most of the time I feel like I miss out on some things as I whip by them in my process...

Anyway, I decided to do a big mandala for the front cover. I am still working on it, so this really is an in-progress post. I've designed it so that it is not centered and so that it flows over to the inside flap and back cover of the book as well.

Here is a sneak peek:

I'm trying to decide if I should outline each different element in black to really define it. I think that the colours look a bit yucky like this and that a black outline would crisp them up and make the entire design pop.

What do you think?

Destiny

This weekend I've been thinking a lot about Destiny.

For those of you who don't know, I teach French and beginner art to secondary students.

But.

Am I destined to be a school teacher?

I do love my students so much. The reason I became a teacher in the first place was to inspire youth and help them learn values and attitudes that would guide them into their adult years.

I do feel that I accomplish that to a fairly considerable degree, but I find that my own growth and progression has been stalling lately.

I can't help thinking:


Is this it? Is this to be my existence, my routine for the next 25 years?


I decided to turn to my art journal to try and express myself creatively. I still haven't found an answer; I suppose it will come to me over time.

In the meantime, here is my creative result. I think the right-hand fish's outfit makes me feel the ultra satisfied with this page. That, and the pink crown on the left-hand fish.

"Bigger Fish"
Materials: Acrylic background, ink markers, paint markers, chalk pastels, magazine collage.

WIWO Wednesday - It's What I'm Working On.

Zombie Girl

Materials: Magazine clippings, acrylic paint background, felt pen, alphabet stamps + Stayson black inkpad

WIWO Wednesday - Postcard Swap Prep - MY Postcards

I'm getting my groove on to make 10 postcards!

This is my inspiration - blue, green, white and purple fabric. 

I love watching watercolours move and bleed as they dry... Isn't this pretty?

Even though I used watercolour paper, the cards still curled up when I applied the paint to them.

I've decided to make 12 cards so that I can send the two extras to some special international friends :)

How's your process going?? Post links to your postcards in the comments section so that we can all see!

The Philosphy of Love

 Angels have no philosophy but love.

Materials: Acrylic paint, white Sakura Jelly Roll pen, paper towel, magazine cut-out, sharpie fineliner.

Materials: Acrylic paint, white Sakura Jelly Roll pen. 

Materials: Acrylic paint, foil stars in silver and gold.

Art Journal 2011 is Complete!

This journal has a bit of a history in that it was my first art journal EVER!

I rarely did art in it for the first while - just pasted in artsy things that I liked and admired.

I started the journal in 2005 and then put it aside for an entire 6 years! I found it this summer and got right into it! I had completed other journals this year and last (this one, for example), but this was the first larger one that I had tackled.

 I loved working in it and I'm going to choose the same size (9x12) for my next journal (which I have already started!!)

Without further ado, here it is - Art Journal 2011. 

Grey = Moody Melancholy

For today's instalment of Building a Rainbow, the colour is grey.

I found an awesome quote about a mirror, and I thought I would use it for grey since
a) mirrors are greyish and
b) mirrors rarely show us either the black or white of ourselves - there is always an analysis being done when we look into the mirror...

"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it" - Edith Wharton

I studied Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth in university, so when I saw her name I paid a lot more attention to this quote. I won't go into my interpretation of its meaning. You can interpret it for yourself...

Materials: Acrylic paint, watercolour, white Sakura gel pen, punched lettering, foil photos

Coming Soon - Mixed Media Postcard Swap.

Contact me with your email and mailing address to be included or for more information.

Details will be posted this Friday!!

I Believe in Pink

This quote from Audrey Hepburn really inspired me today.

I believe in pink.
I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner.
I believe in kissing, kissing a lot.
I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong.
I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls.
I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.


- Audrey Hepburn

I took my favourite parts and pasted them into my art journal. Because of this quote, today is a pink day.

And yes, happy girls ARE the prettiest girls.