Textured Painting: Just Be

Just Be.  Just be what?  Well... let's brainstorm a bit shall we?

Just be_____________.  (Fill in the blank)

still, silly, interesting, silent, loud, motivated,  unique, artsy,  spontaneous, strong, vibrant, juicy, magic, constantly growing and evolving, comfortable in your skin, bold, daring, humble, childlike, fearless, free, a bit of a loon, etc...
















Just be... whatever you want to be.  Even if you have to pretend.... even if just for a few minutes here and there.  Example #1.  If, when I said Just Be ________, you thought "The Queen of England", then go ahead and get or make your self a crown and pretend to be the Queen.  Grab a chair/throne, announce to anyone in the room (your royal subjects) that you are the Queen and you are not to be bothered, unless they are going to tend to you or entertain you...etc...  Go with it.  "Pardon me, Rick, but would you please spit shine my shoes and bring me a spot of tea?".  Now I'm not saying your royal subjects will be as entertained with this as you are, but they'll probably get over it.  Eventually.


Example #2.  If you thought "A real artist", then go and get your art supplies (if you don't have any then go buy some, or a pencil and paper can work just fine) and pretend that you know exactly what you're doing and just have fun.

Oh, by the way, you are a real artist.

We all are.  Everyone is born as such and just needs to find their confidence and particular medium that helps them to express themselves and get back to the childlike sense of wonder they had at the beginning stages of their life.  But that's a whole different post in itself.

So once again, just be.  Just be what?

 Just be...

YOU

New Painting : The Chemistry of Copper

So what happens when I get into my studio regularly?

1.  I'm way happier, calmer, and happier (yes, I know)

2.  The house stays a mess

3.  I don't care about the mess

and most importantly...

4.  ART GETS MADE!!

We need more of my art in our house, so I decided to do a painting for our den.  I grabbed this 12 x 36 inch canvas and went to town!  

I wish the photos would show the colors better.  It's mostly this gorgeous grey/green with copper and verdigris blue accents.  It has a soft metallic luster that's not too shimmery... it's just right.  And of course it has... what?.... LOTS of texture!

So just for fun... because I love seeing other artist's processes... here are photos I took with my phone during the process.

Just ignore my feet ;-)

I started by gluing a bunch of papers down.  The main paper I used is from a vintage CHEMISTRY book. 

 I don't remember what my original plan was, but I thought the paper would still show through.  Hmmm... maybe next time.

I added layers of paint and stamping and liked it, but I started covering it anyway... that's just how I roll ;-)

I recently found a bunch of my old faux finish products hiding out in our garage and decided to start using them before they go bad.  They are BEAUTIFUL (and expensive) products by a company called Faux Effects.  I started by troweling their product Lusterstone (the light color in the photo above) through a stencil, then onto the rest of the canvas.  

Then I started adding a darker color (made by mixing Metallic Silver Palette Deco with a few darker colors to make this gorgeous metallic grey/green), and troweled it through a honeycomb stencil.  I then troweled more of this mix onto the rest of the canvas.  I dipped a wet rag into this mix and rubbed a thin coat of it over the whole canvas to tone down the contrast (below).  I also added touches of a verdigris blue color.

The final touch was adding the copper stenciling (Lusterstone mixed with copper).

Voila!  A great art piece for our den made with products I had just laying around. 

While I was working on this I started another small canvas using these products... and guess what?  When it's done I'm going to have a lil' giveaway.  Just sayin ;-)

So stick around!

Charity Art Auction

If any of you out there want to own an original art piece made by me, AND donate to an amazing charity for autistic children, then now's your chance to do both!  It is the very same piece that I have as my blog header above.  I donated this crown collage to A. Skate Foundation a while back for this purpose.   If any of you are in the area, the silent art auction is this Saturday evening, April 2nd in Venice Beach, CA.  To find out more go check out Upper Class Label (the host of this wonderful event).

















Read about Crys Worley's story and why she started A. Skate in her  bio here.  She is one amazing and inspiring woman.

When I created this piece, I modeled it after my original crown collage with Proverbs shown here.   It reads "Wisdom will set a garland of grace on your head and present you with a crown of splendor"  Proverbs 4:9  I can't remember the exact dimensions, but I think it's around 9x11inches on 1/4 inch plywood.  When I made this I used a lot of copper/bronze along with turquoise and sea foam green so it looks like metal which has that wonderful patina from aging.  I kind of wanted it to look like it has been sitting in the ocean for a while...maybe buried in a treasure chest...or something...

If you are interested in this piece, but are not in the area, let me know SOON and maybe your bid can be included in the silent auction.  Sadly something came up and I won't be able to go myself.  : (  But I hope if you are in the area you will go and support this cause and maybe even go home with a cool piece of art!

Potential Unleashed

Potential.  We all have TONS of it.  Yet how many of us truly live up to ours?  How do we tap into it... and unleash it?  What holds us back?

We do.  We hold ourselves back.  Oh yes... we have our excuses, but that's all that they are.  Excuses.

Hidden gems revealed

We all have these wonderful gems that we've been given...our true light... I say stop keeping it all locked up inside and let it all come exploding out for everyone to see!  Let your light pour out.  It's time!

I struggled with this painting, perhaps because I was struggling with coming to grips with my own potential.   I've been an artist my whole life.  It was never a secret to any who knew me, but I didn't think I was any good for the longest time...in fact most of the time.

I thought I had come to terms with it, but I still held myself back until something finally snapped in me a year or two ago.  I realized that God gave me this gift, and I thought I was using it, but deep down I knew better.  I finally realized all that I had, all that others saw, was kept in my tight grip.  I was so afraid of messing up and so wanted to please people.  What if they didn't like what I made?  What if I proved that I really wasn't any good...just like I thought all along?

But what I realized was in doubting myself I was doubting what God had given me.  I mentioned it before, but it must be said over and over until it sinks in for you too.  God doesn't make mistakes, so if you doubt your gifts and your potential, then you're doubting Him.

Our true selves and struggles are released onto the canvas...each one a self-portrait of sorts.

To sum this up way better than I could, here is one of my all time favorite quotes.  This is so darn powerful.  It gets me EVERY time I read it.  Copy it.  Paste it where you can read it everyday.  Let it sink in.  It will change you.  It will help you unleash.  Let it.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

--marianne williamson

Finished Texture Painting : True Colors

 Hi there.  I've got a new painting to show you!  Just finished the final little details on it today.  It has many of my favorite things...texture, a peacock feather... which of course includes peacock colors, copper (well actually a combo of copper and soft brass), and lots of texture (yes, I know I said it twice!).

There are SO many layers on here!  Heavy gel medium, which I drew into when wet, then layer after layer of paint and glazes.  

It is painted on a gallery wrapped 9 x 12 inch canvas.

And speaking of gallery, that's why I've been so quiet around here.  This painting and many others you've seen here, along with others that are in progress, will be on their way to hang (and hopefully sell)  in an art gallery soon!  I'm so excited!    And I will also be working on getting my jewelry AND photography there too!  What a dream come true!  More details to come...

And just for fun, I though I'd show some in-progress photos of this piece.  The first one below shows the first layers of paint.  I had a bit of a different plan for the painting.  I was going to do it in the EXACT colors of my "Finding Balance" painting so they would hang well together, but the painting decided that's not what it wanted.  So after adding several more layers of paint and glaze over this...

I finally decided to listen to what it wanted.   

To be an artist is to be brave so...I had to be brave and do this...

paint most of it out with Titan Buff (off white) and start the new layers!  Eek!  But I was excited to take that step because I knew that's where it needed to go.  Things go a lot smoother and are a lot more fun when I listen to the art and my own intuition.

Try to do the same for yourself...be brave and listen.

Lovely Jewelry!!

I've been wanting to share some jewelry that I made a few years ago, so I finally had a fun little photo shoot with a few of my favorites.  Turns out I not only like making jewelry, but I also love photographing it!

I did not make the beads, but I did do all the wire work.  I love working with wire.  For the chain mail one above I made and cut all the jump rings from sterling silver wire, then linked them all together...very meditative.  hmm...need to make another one of these soon...

I made this one above with sterling silver wire also.  Sigh...so pretty.  And I love that red bead.  Just don't wear it with an open weave sweater...one guess as to how I know this...

These first three pieces were from classes taken at Brea Bead Works.  This bracelet I made below was taught by Sharilyn Miller.  She is brilliant!!  Check out her website...she has amazing DVD tutorials and books on jewelry making if you can't take a class from her in person.  

Fun rings made with sterling or copper wire and natural stones.

This great pendant I bought has the sun on one side and the moon on the other.  I designed a pretty scalloped beaded chain for it.

This last one is very simple and hung on a leather cord.  I think the heart was by Thomas Mann, but I'm not sure because I don't see it on his site with the rest of his hearts.  I wrapped it with copper wire and hung a little Swarovski  crystal on it.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of my jewelry.  I haven't even shown you my very favorite pieces yet.  You'll just have to wait.  This makes me want to make more, but there's lots of painting to be done first...  

I'm hoping to open an online shop in the next several months, and although I want to concentrate on my artwork and prints of my photos, I also want to sell a bit of jewelry too.  I have many beautiful beads that need to see the light of day.  Sigh...not enough hours in the day...

Also, don't forget about the gigantic blog hop I talked about in the last post.  I heard last year had around 1000 people!!  If you want tons of people to be able to find your blog, and visa versa, join us.  Click on the link above or in the sidebar to find out how.

Finding Balance with a Peacock Inspired Painting

I finally have a new art piece to show you, and I'm pretty sure it's now my favorite painting that I've done so far.  Well... besides "Branching Out".  And "Don't Lose Heart".

 I gave you a little teaser photo of this one a while back, and then mentioned in a recent post that I had one ALMOST done, which just needed the final details.

 Well...here it is ...finally complete!  

I'm so sorry that I haven't been posting much art lately.  Actually I just haven't been posting much at all  lately.  I've been obsessed with getting my studio in order.  I couldn't concentrate on anything else.  And no, it's STILL not done, but I realized I started feeling a bit "icky" and empty, and I knew what needed to be done. 

 Art. 

 That's my remedy.  My refuge.

  I tend to go go go on a project (in this case my studio) and burn myself out.  And I don't allow "play time". 

 I felt out of whack. 

 Off balance.

 So back into the studio I went, but not to clean.  I turned on some music, lit a yummy candle and started to play.  

Ahh....much better.

This painting was done on a 9" x 12" x 1.5" canvas.  I started it by slathering on a very thick coat of Golden's   heavy gel (matte) and then drew and dabbed patterns into it while it was still wet.  I let it dry overnight then painted it with Golden's fluid acrylics.  I then mixed those same paints with glaze and started to add layers of glazing to add more depth and bring out the texture more.

I didn't originally plan on adding an embellishment to this when I was working on it.  I figured the wonderful texture, pattern and luscious peacock colors would be enough, but once it was "finished" I knew it needed that little extra touch to make it truly special. The top half seemed a bit boring and "light" compared to the heavier bottom, but I didn't want to overdo it.  I new just what it needed. 

 It needed balance. 

I loved the bead and wire detail that I added to my "Wish" painting, so I  decided to do something like that again.  I wire-wrapped beads with copper wire and then made two long links out of wire to to connect it to the sides with copper tacks.

Ahh.  Balance.

So do you sense a theme here? 

 I noticed that a lot of artist bloggers pick a word to represent the new year for them.  Something they want or need in their life.  Something to strive for and focus on in that year.  I wondered if I were to pick a word, what would it be?  I started to write a list but nothing hit home. 

 So I let it go.  

A few days later this word kept on popping in my head.  Balance.  What did this painting need?  Balance.  More importantly...what do I need?  Balance.  I really do.  I need to find balance in all areas right now.  Art.  Family.  Health.  etc...

So folks, I'm going to give this word of the year thing a shot.  Why not? 

 I feel better already just writing it and putting it out there.

So that's my word for 2011. 

 Balance.

 

OOPS!!!  I just noticed that it's now 1am!!  Well....not off to the best start with this whole balance thing, but baby steps.  

Baby Steps.  

Mixed Media : Wish

So Tuesday I went to take some photos of this little piece, thinking it was done, but when I looked at it, 

it just didn't seem finished.  I already kind of knew this, but hoped it would magically appear finished the next time I looked at it...without actually doing any more work on it.  Talk about the piece being aptly titled "Wish"...well, no... I should add one more word so it would be "You Wish"!

It's done on a little block of wood that I painted, stamped, and collaged with a few bits of torn paper.  I then drew the dandelion with water-color crayons, and wet some areas to smear it and make it run a little.  It needed a bit more pizazz so I painted a little crocheted flower and nailed it on with a copper tack.  I wire-wrapped a few beads on copper wire to nail towards the bottom.

So that is where it stood when I hoped it was done.

  It wasn't done. 

 I painted three more crocheted flowers and nailed them to the top.

There.  That's what it needed. 

 Now it's done and I can get back to my unfinished projects for the fabulous Texture Town class I'm taking.

Can't wait to show you what else I've learned in the class so far, but that means I actually have to finish them first!  Hmm...an artist's work is never done...YAY!