Crazy, crazy, CRAZY!

I havent posted in forever, not because I havent been doing art, but just because I have only had enough time to squeeze the art in between everything else thats been going on lately. Zero uploading time available! After having my Dad, step Mum, and Little Sis and Bro visit during October, we had two weeks to get organised for my eldest's 5th birthday and here we are into November already- panicking for Christmas!

 Here is the birthday cake! Including a chocolate chest filled with edible jewels!

Here is a picture of the mural I made for the birthday party- that has now been relocated to his bedroom!

Parisienne

Parisienne was an experiment in pushing a tutorial from an old issue of Cloth Paper Scissors past what it said to do. The central image more or less follows the glue and paint and paper layering techniques in the tutorial, with a little of my own improvisation added.

The end result turned out nicely, but I wanted to take it further, so i flipped over a stretched canvas, added the french music sheets inside it, and added some of the papers from the central images around the outer edges to make the "frame".

I added painted sections, and then hot glued around all the edges of the papers. I painted the glue a mix of gold and bronze, and then aged everything with a wash of black paint.

This piece is currently listed at my Etsy store.

Now, where's my beret?

Prizes from August's Competition.

I know I have been lazy of late with posting new stuff, but alot of the non-art part of my life has been invading the scheduled art-part of my life, and leaving me a bit behind.
Here are the two pieces from last months call for "lab-rats". Stacey McKinnon and Carrie Danczak have won these Affirmailtions; "Adore" and "Cherish", and even got a mini studio tour to check out what I was working on next!

They have both decided to be selfish (or inherently intelligent-depending how you look at it) and keep these Affirmailtions for their homes.

Congratulations again! Now...back to work-guess i have to get started on this months prize!

Heirloom Pumpkin Patch

"Heirloom Pumpkin patch"

After having so much fun making my last batch of pumpkins, I decided to go with Wanda's idea of a pumpkin collage (thanks!), and this is the result.

I used the inner roll of brown cardpaper from the gift wrap i used on the weekend, and sewed it onto some heavy watercolour paper. Then I cut squares of canvas and sewed them to the background.

I drew up my three pumpkins, to make a pattern for the scraps, and made the nine pumpkins out of various paper scraps, including music manuscript, newsprint, rice paper, straw paper, some veiney paper i saved from a christmas gift basket, some sewing patterns and some cheesecloth.

Then i sewed these to the squares, all higgledy piggledy (i cant sew neat even if i wanted to anyhow).

I glued everything to a square of masonite (recycled from an old mirror frame), lightly burnt the edges of the watercolour paper, and painted both the showing masonite, and the watercolour paper cream.

I coated everything in beeswax, and embedded some vintage buttons Wanda gave me around the edges on the masonite.

I am so happy how this whole piece turned out, it was one of those works that i couldnt leave. I was thinking of entering it into the Cloth Paper Scissors Artisan Search, but as luck would have it, I read the fine print and the damn thing is only open to U.S. residents! Well pooh!

At any rate, I have a great new artwork to put up on my wall this thanksgiving when my Dad and his family comes over for the first time. Excited...YES!

Fall is here!

The weather is cooling off, the leaves are turning. Fall is Here. I decided to get my fall on and create some cute pumpkinny postcards. These are still in progress, but are they ever fun to make.

Propaganda for my Etsy Store!

I am getting ready to set up for art walk tomorrow, and so I've been making print ads for my Etsy store; Propaganda style!

AffirMAILtions

I have started on a series of Postcards that incorporate images with inspirational words that can either be mailed to someone, or just kept as a piece of art.

Im thinking of calling them Affirmailtions. I am hoping to make enough of them to take them to the Chase CornStock, and then later add them to the Etsy store Im hoping to get up and running by the end of August!

They incorporate bits of paper, paint, ducting tape (the shiny type for actual ducting) and machine sewing.

Cosmos

16”x20” on stretched canvas.

Acrylic paint, various papers, various fabric scraps,
used dryer sheets,diaper liners, eyeshadow, tiling grout.

Cosmos began as an experiment using tiling grout as a modelling
medium.
The resulting “ripples” reminded me of a time-capture photograph
of the night sky, and so a celestial body was born.

This piece was lots of fun to make. I started by collaging papers onto the canvas, followed by applying tiling grout (yes the stuff holding your tiles together in your bathroom!) all over. I then let the grout set up a little, and then used a toothed trowel to model the grout into ripples.

After it had fully dried, I collaged more materials (softer, flexible items that would mold to the ripples) to the piece. I then started applying washes of colour until i was happy with it. After all the paint was dry, i brushed luminescent eyeshadow powder in places to add some sheen and highlights.

It resulted in a cross between space and the ocean. It has so much yummy texture, it just sucks you right in!

Thalassic Swell

18”x24” on stretched canvas.
Acrylic paint, various papers.

Thalassic swell stems from my childhood spent on the mid-north coast
of N.S.W., Australia. The power of the waves crashing against the rocks
is something that has always left me in awe of nature. The persistence
of the ocean slowly wears away at the strength of the rocks, turning
them into the soft sandy beaches. This transitory act of nature inspires
me.

I started this piece by collaging various textured papers to the canvas. I then started washes of colour, originally planning a dawn scene, with a quiet ocean, using reds yellows and oranges. The quiet ocean didnt gel well with the large rock outcrop, so i added some waves- which in turn clashed with the sunrise in the sky!. I then darkened the sky and turned it into a blue dawn, with little flecks of stars in the sky.

I actually did alot of this painting using my fingers, applying a separate colour to each finger and then brushing my fingers lightly across the surface of the painting to apply the paint. It was alot of fun, and allowed me to "feel" the right places to put the paint.

Pelagic Dawn

Ok, so I know I have been super lazy at updating my blog, but I have been so super busy with every day stuff, that I just havent had much time to spare.

So here is one of my latest mixed media pieces, "Pelagic Dawn". It is an exercise in the Japanese Aesthetic of Wabi-Sabi (finding beauty in the imperfect, the aging and in solitude).

I started by covering my canvas with torn scraps of paper, and then painting strips of cherry, blueberry and paynes grey paint over the top.
I then went back and added muted colours, wiping back in areas to let the original colours to come through. I added bits of netted packaging, and some cheesecloth, and loose threads, before painting in the land, the sunrise, and put the detail into the sea.

I finished off by antiquing the edges to add an "aged" appearance. The texture and the layers turned out yummy, and although it appears quite somber, there are little hints of the bolder colours showing through. It is a painting that I find myself wanting to immerse myself in, to get closer and closer and revel in all the bumps and pits of the surface.

Sold July, 2010 at the Shuswap Festival of the Arts.

Shuswap Lake Festival of the arts portfolio-Pages 1&2

I had to submit my application for the Shuswap Festival of the Arts today, so I made a portfolio of the artwork i want to show, using some of the collaged materials that were used in the art as matting for the photos. I think it turned out pretty cool.

Shuswap Lake Festival of the arts portfolio-Pages 3-7

Shuswap Lake Festival of the arts portfolio-Pages 8-12