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!

Finished Painting : The Healing Tree

Hi there.

I'd like to share my latest mixed media painting, "The Healing Tree", with you. It's my new favorite.  I've been working on this on and off for the last 6-7 months... not straight through (thank goodness).  It's driven me crazy and caused many labor pains to be born into this world, but it was well worth it.  

It had quite an interesting start...as it didn't start off as a tree at all... but a peacock feather!  This was the first stage below.

A nice start I thought... loose and free, but then something went horribly wrong and it evolved to this below.  I had something in mind, but now I can't remember what.  OK, it's not THAT bad really, and I really like the depth and texture that was added by the torn papers and stamping...you can click on the photo to see it better.

So after that I put it aside and let it stew for a bit.

Then one day I suddenly wanted to paint a tree.  NOW!  I looked around, saw this canvas and thought "Nope.  Not feather..... TREE."  (what am I, a caveman?  no sentence.  just word)  Umm...yeah...

So I painted over the whole thing, drew a tree with orange water-color crayon, grabbed some aqua paint and a spiral suddenly appeared.  Hmm... ok... I like it.

Then I started on the tree and tore some vintage book pages into leaf shapes.  I created even more leaves with cream paint and others with green.

Then there was a lot more painting, glazing, and layering to create more depth, vitality, and luminosity.  I also used a few water-color crayons to give it some "pop" and bring out some details.  Don't forget to use a spray sealer after using these crayons, or it'll easily wash away.

One of the final details was adding the rain.

Sometimes when I create a painting, it's just to have fun and make something pretty.  Other times I have a deeper meaning in mind (and heart) before starting.  And sometimes it starts as the first one, but then evolves to become something much more significant.  This is definitely the last one.  It started becoming more meaningful when I painted the spiral and just kept growing from there.  It's not something I can completely explain or even understand, but as I was working on it, I could feel it.  I could feel that this painting is about more than just a simple tree, that there is a deeper, spiritual meaning to it.  The title "The Healing Tree" came to me when it was almost finished.  It is obviously a huge part of it the message, but there's more to it than that.

It's in the details...

 The spiral.
The branches.
The white leaves.
The rain.
The falling leaf.
The tree itself.
Maybe even the book pages.

The meaning isn't always revealed to me as I'm working on it.  At times it can take a while after I've finished it for it to come.   I've yet to completely grasp this one.  I've had some whispers, but not the whole message.

Whatever it's full meaning is, it speaks to me.  I'm going to hang on to this one.

Orange Post : Koi Carp

Ok,  I guess I didn't make the lil' sneak peek hard enough for you smarties... most of you knew it was a Koi fish (and to the nut who said "or an under-ripe tomato that looks like a Koi", I just went to your blog and now I understand, LOL!)  So here's one big cyber pat for all of you who guessed right  ** PAT  PAT**  Thanks for playing along.  It was fun!!  I think I'll do that again, but maybe make it more of a challenge next time!

This was inspired by a few photos I took of  Koi Carp in the pond at Fashion Island in Newport Beach.  I started off with a 9x12 inch canvas.  I printed out three separate photographs of mine onto regular computer paper and glued them down onto the canvas.  Then I used Heavy Gel Medium to create lots of "yummy yummy texture", to quote Jenny and Shelley (thanks ladies!).

Once that dried I added layer after layer after layer of paints and glazes.  Then a few more layers.  To finish it off I popped out  a few details on the fish with permanent pen.

These are the photos that I used in this mixed media painting.  The first ones are of the Fashion Island Koi.  The last photo is of our very cool chandelier in our bedroom.  I took the photo looking straight up at the light.  I like that you can't really tell what it is!

So here is my Orange Post for The Summer of Color.  I was SO excited to read that there will be a Summer of Color 2 next year, Yay!!  Hopefully next summer I won't be a week behind in all the posts,  LOL, but this was so much fun!  I now have some cool artwork that wouldn't have existed if it weren't for this challenge and the wonderful  Kristin!!

Shadow Shot Sunday : Iron Scrolls

Time for more shadow shots! 

This is part of a beautiful bakers rack that we have outside that used to hold plants.  No plants on it now (don't ask).  But it does create some pretty great shadows against our house.

The ironwork has gotten nice and rusty over the years, yay!  

It's a long weekend for us here in the States!  Yipee!  Hope you're all enjoying your weekends!  

To join in Shadow Shot Sunday with your own photos, go here.

And if you're interested, I'm having a giveaway for my one year blog-o-versary/birthday.  Either scroll to the post below or follow this link.

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

Painting: Flowers and Swirls

24x40

I painted this for my sis and her hubby a few weeks back while we were visiting them up in Oregon.  I've been wanting to make them something since they got married (4 years ago...oops..sorry guys), so I finally did it!  I drew my inspiration for the painting from this gorgeous pillow my sis bought from Anthropologie .

 Oh, and most of these pictures were taken by my sister, who thinks she isn't creative...do you see this photo of the pillow...with the light and shadows and stuff...WOW!!  Impressive, right?  Face it Beth...you rock!  Without her I wouldn't have any pictures of the finished painting, I only was able to take pics of the beginning stages, so thanks sis!

I started this on our first morning there.  I had only taken a few art supplies with me because I didn't know if I'd actually work on something while there, and figured if I did, I would just go buy what I needed.  They were out of town that day and we didn't have access to a car, so my husband and I raided their garage to see what I could use.  I love a good challenge!  We found this 1/4"thick plywood, so my husband cut it, then I drew out a sketch onto it.  I then found some wall paint that they used inside their house, and started to paint my base.  I wanted the swirls to be formed from the bare wood showing, because it had such a nice, rich feel to it, and it would make it a bit more masculine and modern so my bro-in-law would like it too (hopefully).

My son was helping me decide where to put the final swirl.

After the main background was done I got a foam stamp that I had packed on a whim, and brushed the same paint on it thickly and stamped it randomly onto the painting.  I put the paint on thick enough to leave a nice raised pattern when stamped. 

The second day I worked on it, I started with a few washes of color, then used a pretty stencil that reminded me of the background pattern on the pillow (at this point we had finally gone to my favorite lil art store "Collage" in Portland to buy some much needed, fun supplies, and that's where the stencil came from). 

 Here is a close-up of the pillow so you can see the cool pattern on it.

The final day that I worked on the painting, I added a few sprays of flowers.  I did this by getting a stamp I had just bought (yay) and colored on it with a brownish water-soluable (WS) crayon, then wet it and stamped it on to form the flowers.  Then I got a green WS crayon and drew out the stems and leaves.  I then took a brush and wet the leaves and stems to soften and blend them.

I sanded some areas to distress it and to bring out the original thick stamped pattern, then I brushed on a raw umber glaze to antique it and bring out the wood tones.  My husband built a little frame behind it and mounted it so it is flush up against the edges to make it more sturdy, and make it look  like a thicker piece of wood from the side.  I then painted over the edges with the raw umber (brown) paint.  

I've never worked on a canvas this big (well, except for walls...but that's different), and I've really been wanting to, so this was a lot of fun for me, and quite a challenge.  I didn't plan the painting that much, I just let it happen, and a lot of the time I didn't know what would come next.  There were many times when I thought I had bit off more than I could chew, because I didn't know how I would finish it, but there was always an idea in the back of my mind telling me the next step.  If I didn't doubt that voice, this would've gotten done a lot sooner... but then they wouldn't have the other 3 pieces I made the day I was avoiding finishing this!  I'll explain later, along with pics of those pieces.

 I really like how this turned out.  It's a different style for me, and I like it.  It's amazing what limited supplies, a pretty view, a nice challenge and a bit of creativity will do!