Paris On My Mind (Another Petite Eiffel Tower)

I've had Paris on my mind lately.  

I can't escape it.  I want to go back so bad!  Last time I was there was 12 years ago for our honeymoon. It's calling me back.  So is Italy.  So since I won't be going anytime soon, I'll let my dreams of travel spill out onto my canvases instead.

   I've been wanting to work on a Europe series, inspired by my photos from my travels, for a while now. I think now's the time to get started on it.  I still have other non-Europe pieces to finish up first...or during.. but I'm excited to see what comes from this inspiration.  It's been brewing in my brain for a long time and now it's time to take action!

Speaking of... here's a sweet little textured Eiffel Tower piece that I just finished. I started it for the Petite Valentine art show at Zinnia, but it didn't get finished at the time so I pushed it aside for a bit. 

This is done on a 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 inch piece of wood.  I copied one of my personal photos of the Eiffel and glued it down onto the wood.  The heart and the 'ribbon" across the bottom are both made from plaster cloth. I used Heavy Gel Medium to create raised stenciling and the rest of the texture, then painted over it all with acrylic paints and glazes.  I also drew over my photo with a Pitt Artist Pen to bring out some details.

 

So I know making these pieces is not the same as traveling there, but it still inspires me.  Maybe if I make enough art inspired by Europe, and sell them, I'll be able to go there again sooner than I think? 

  Maybe? 

 A girl could dream right? 

And while I'm dreaming, I'll continue to create these pieces so you can enjoy them and dream along with me.  

Deal?

Au revoir!

L'Artiste Texture Painting (For The Love Of Art)

Hello there.

I have a new textured painting to share.  Well, ok, it was finished a month or two ago but it's new to you because you haven't seen it yet... unless you've been sneaking around my studio ;-)

This painting came about because I wanted to use one of my paint palette hearts.  I use paper palettes often to squeeze and/or mix my paint onto, and quite a while ago I really liked the way one of my paint palette papers (say that fast 5xs) looked, so I didn't want to throw it out.  It was loaded with globs of dried paint on both sides.  I remembered seeing some birds done by Robert Burridge in which he used dried paint globs that were peeled up from plastic (or something like that).  Very cool.  So, inspired, I cut the paint-loaded paper into a big heart shape, knowing that I'd use it sometime later in my art.

And that's just what I did.  I glued the heart onto a canvas with heavy gel medium, then proceeded to add texture all over the canvas with the medium.

I also glued down some lace, dried flower pods from the tree in our front yard, a very old square nail, and  a bit of mesh.  

 I was struggling with the colors on this for a bit.  There were so many colors on the heart that I wasn't sure which color(s) to bring out.  In the very bad photo below you can see what it looked like for a bit, kind of a terra-cota color.  I ended up painting it mostly red after that (no photo) and hated it, so I painted most of it out with an off-white.  

I love how it looks with the red peeking through, not as the main focus.  To make it all blend together better I went over the heart with the white also.  I'm really loving the red/cream combo!

This piece to me is about my love of being an artist.  

There's nothing like it. 

 I love being able to paint and play, and to know that it's what I am meant to do.  

It is truly a blessing!

A Close Look At Amour...And Two Other Mixed Media Art Pieces

Hi There.

Here are the close-ups of the other three art pieces that'll be for sale (only $35!!) in the Petite Valentin art show at Zinnia, starting tomorrow.  Stop by and say "Hi"!  The opening is Sat, the 11th from 6-9pm, but the show will continue for the rest of the month, ... what doesn't sell right away that is!!  They're going to be selling the art right off the wall so you can take yours home right away!  Zinnia is an amazing little art store in South Pasadena.  I'm planning on hanging out at Zinnia for a while, then cruising around the area.  The opening is part of the South Pasadena Arts Crawl, so I want to check out some of the other galleries too.  I can't wait!  There's going to be lots of art, live music, and food in the area!  Yahoo!

Ok, speaking of art...

This is "Amour".  

It's made on a 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 piece of wood.  I started it off by glueing down vintage French book pages, then layered some heavy gel medium over them.  I used a stencil and the gel medium to create the word "amour", then when it dried, I painted over the whole thing. I drew the Eiffel Tower with graphite and glued down a piece of black lace across the bottom.  I added copper tacks, a tiny crocheted circle, and a heart I cut out from plaster cloth and painted red.  Then, as with all six pieces, I sealed it to protect it and keep things from smudging.

Next up is "Be Gentle".  

I love this one.  OK,  I love them all, (each one is a favorite!?), but this one doesn't look as great in photo as it does in person..the subtle colors and textures, etc..  It's done on a 4 3/8" x 5" piece of wood.  I also started this by gluing down the vintage French book pages and covering them with heavy gel medium and paint...

 I cut a piece of plaster cloth, wet it, folded it in half and layed it to dry on a piece of wax paper.  When it was dry, I used an exacto knife to cut out a heart (I used the inside heart shape on "Be Still") and glued down the "heart window" over the base.  I painted and antiqued it, and added copper tacks and twine.  I filled in the center of the heart with clear crackle paint (to show how fragile the heart is) and when dry, I antiqued it to show the cracks then used paint to stamp the message, "Be Gentle", on it.

The last piece below is titled "Treasured".

  It's on a 4 3/8" x 4 3/8" piece of wood.  I wet a piece of plaster cloth and wrapped it around the wood, smoothed it a bit then left it to dry on wax paper.  I painted over it all and scratched into it with a sharp tool, then antiqued it...

I glued down a stamped strip of paper across the bottom with heavy gel medium, and added a small crocheted circle.  I made the heart years ago by stamping the heart image then I covered it with glue and tiny clear beads.  I love that some had fallen off.  I added a few more touches with paint to finish it off.

So there you have it, the rest of the six art pieces that I made for the Petite Valentin art show.  To see my other three pieces that will be in the show and get more info (if you missed my last post) click here or just scroll down one post. 

Hopefully all will go well and you'll see me and my (not-so-Petite) Valentine David cruising the art scene.  Oh, and happy birthday Honey!!  I love you!!  You're the best husband ever! xoxo

Hope to see you all here!!

I'm linking up with Paint Party Friday.  To join in or check it out click here.

My Petite Valentine Art

Hi there.  

I mentioned in the last post that I was painting like a mad woman trying to finish my art pieces to submit for Zinnia's Petit Valentin art show, so here they are.  The show goes up this Saturday the 11th with the opening from 6-9:00 pm.  I'm planning on being there so if you are in the South Pasadena area Saturday stop by and say "hi" and maybe even go home with a fantastic piece of art!  My pieces are priced to sell at only $35 each!  There will be tons of other PetiteValentine (all had to be under 5") art pieces there from other artists too, with varying price ranges.  Zinnia has around 250 pieces for the show so there'll be plenty to choose from, but since they have so many they won't be able to put them all out at once.  They said as the art sells off the wall they'll keep replacing it with more, so if you like a piece of mine but don't see it there just ask them... it might not be sold, it might just be in the back.  I'm so excited to go check it out Saturday evening, and I can't wait to see what everyone else did.  Lot's of hearts, hearts, hearts, I'm sure!

Click on the flyer to be able to read it better.

Today I'm only going to share close-ups of three of the six pieces.  I'll post the close-ups of the three plaster pieces (from the top row above) in the next day or two.

First up is titled "Be Still".  It's on a 5" x 3 1/2" piece of wood.

Love all that texture!  The crinkly background was made from painted tinfoil.  You can see it in the top right in the photo below while the foil was only partially covered with paint.  The soft green swirls are from a cool cut-out scrapbook paper that I painted and made all thick and crusty with heavy gel medium.  The heart was cut out from plaster cloth and painted.

This photo below was an in progress shot taken with my phone.

Next piece is titled "Pinned".  It's on a 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 piece of wood.

For "Pinned" I used heavy gel medium for the main texture and glass bead gel inside the heart.  I added copper tacks, wire, around the heart.  I then used the heavy gel medium to glue a small piece of copper sheet that I had previously stamped, to the side of the piece.  A foam stamp was dabbed in paint then used to stamp the pattern on.

The final piece for today is titled "Fulfill". It's done on a 4" x 4" canvas.

The olive green is paper that I smudged with red paint, then I drew a heart and smudges with graphite.  The long screw and bolt were from an old glass drawer knob from our house.  I used silver leaf along the sides and edges, then antiqued and sealed the whole thing.  Actually all pieces were sealed for protection.

I'll be back soon with the close-ups of the other three and any info I might have forgotten.  

See you soon!

Love Bird Journal Page

I finished a whimsical little journal page and wanted to share it with you.

  

I started it last month but I didn't get around to finishing it until today.  I wanted to work on some other art pieces but felt a bit rusty since I haven't been able to do art regularly these past couple of months, so I decided to work in my art journal and finish this fun page instead. 

She's my sweet little Love Bird and she's got a special delivery for you!

Heart On A String

Here is a card I made recently.  This is the one I was supposed to be working on when I "accidentally" made this collage instead using the same materials.  

I first glued down some papers from my new vintage books (oxymoron anyone?)  onto the background to create a nice base and texture.  I painted over it with off white, then added some soft washes of color.   I tore the bird's shapes out of various scrapbook papers,  glued it all down, then added some crochet bits to add additional texture.  I drew in some details with a pencil.     I wanted a bit more depth on the heart so I put 2 layers of heavy gel medium on it.  The stars/dots on the red are a raised silver pattern that was part of the paper.

I've had the image of a heart tied on a string and hanging from a bird or a tree in my head for quite a while (a few years actually!), so I decided to do one with a tree too.  I made a quick 5x7 inch collage on watercolor paper with vintage book pages glued down as a base, and then painted over with fluid acrylics.   I added some details with a pencil and scraps of paper.  

  It's a bit different from what I've been doing lately, but that's part of the fun of art. Experimenting and having fun and following your inspiration .  I'm not done using the heart on a string image, I think it'll continue to pop up here and there.  I'm not even sure exactly what it means to me yet, but that's ok. I do know it has to do with sharing your heart and being open, but I think there's more to it than that.  I'm not too worried about it right now though. 

 I know these things usually reveal themselves in time.     

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.

A Little Art Exchange

Gorgeous, huh?  I think so too!  This was made by the wonderful Bev over at My Awakened Heart.  She wanted my painting "Don't Lose Heart" which I posted here,  and I love her art, so we did a little art exchange.  I love this piece... the colors, the bird, the message, the way she paints on and in between the papers so they look like tiles.  It's wonderful.














It's going to hang in my studio to inspire me and remind me to remember to slow down, be still, and listen...something I am not that good at, especially lately.

Thank you Bev, I LOVE IT!!!


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This is what I sent off the her....Here's a little refresher of what "Don't Lose Heart" looks like (the red heart is not as bright in person...sorry, not that important, but it bugs me...perfectionist, remember).


















I made a coordinating card (below) for Bev...

 painted a bit on the box...

and wrote a little message that came to me, before sending the art off to it's happy new home.