Oil Portrait

One of my favorite oil portraits. 6 x 6" on panel.

Gift Wrapping with Your Scrap Bag

For those that like to save those bits and bobs for art projects for collaging, abstracts, and such things...there is an additional usage of these items. Gift wrapping. This video shows you what I did some of my extra scraps!

Room Scape

This is another small oil painting that I have enjoyed because of the shadows on the walls.

Calla Lily

Another of my 6 x 6" oil paintings on panel.

Photo is a bit blurry online, but you get the gist! I have been thinking about flowers lately and started a couple new pieces with flowers in them. They weren't going well, so I pitched them and have started a third one. Sometimes it takes more than one attempt......

What Inspires You?

I am sure that everyone has a different answer to this question. I don't profess to be an expert in the area, so all I can do is theorize about what works for me. Generally speaking, I would have to say that I inspire myself. I have to go searching for images or views in the world, paintings in museums, walk through art galleries and shows.

Some days this requires a good deal of work. You can look out your window and get inspired by a lovely sunset or the rain. But it really begins with your mind set. I have to be willing to BE inspired or it won't happen. If I am blue or funky and grumpy and I don't feel like exerting myself...inspiration does not arrive in my home.

This image was inspired out of necessity. I was doing a lesson for one of my classes, happily making marks and not thinking of any particular direction to take the painting. Suddenly I realized that I had a total mess on my hands and I had to get creative quickly in order to complete the lesson for my students. The image below is what it looked like initially.

Nothing about this piece inspired me in the slightest. I was embarrassed by the mess that I had created. After a little quick thinking, I began searching online, had a Bright Idea, and then I was able to video the process of my thoughts as I revamped the mess and made it into an Eggplant Still Life. Whew! I pulled that one out of my hat!

Aluminum Foil Tape

This stuff is very cool and I have continued to use it in other mixed media projects over the years. You can buy it at Home Depot and Lowe's for a few dollars and it lasts a looooong time. One of my Small Faces pieces was made last year using this same stuff and it looks superb!!

Another Older Still Life

I have an obsession with Still Life pieces that has been with me for many, many years. Sometimes I feel withdrawal pangs if I haven't made one for a few months.

This one is done with water soluble oil pastels on a canvas panel that was coated with self-leveling clear gel. This made it similar to working on Yupo paper or using watercolors. Once my pen and ink drawing was completed, I added the oil pastels in several thick layers, mixing my colors and experimenting.

I was not pleased with the initial results, so I continued building layers and adding various colors. Finally, I took a very wet cloth and washed away most of the layers of colors and the stains remained. I like this grungy look!

The Story of a Painting

Many artists add stories to their work, or tell stories with their work. This is something that has never preoccupied me when I work. Some years ago I decided to make up a story about one of my abstract/pop art paintings...it was completely off the cuff and done after the creativity.

I was somewhat surprised to discover that there was a good deal of story in this piece. During its creation, I was completely oblivious to this story and I'm not making this up. What I am making up...is the story that I added in this video. Enjoy!



On the painting below, I very definitely had a story in mind while I made it. This abstract is part of the series that I did at that time:

Apple

It is fun to paint fruits and I enjoy the simplicity of them. This is a little spring time apple that I did in oils a few years ago.

What is ACEO?

This video explains the difference between ATCs and ACEOs and where ACEOs originated. Part of my personal collections of ACEOs is showcased in this video along with a few of my own originals.

Bunny Rabbit

In honor of the upcoming Easter holiday, this little bunny rabbit is my image to celebrate the day. To all the kiddies out there...enjoy the treats! I'm staying away from them myself and where this will power is coming from I surely don't know.

Pitcher

I am currently reading books, car shopping, and trying to get myself composed after the recent loss of a dear friend. I thought I had fully recovered from this, but I discovered this week that I haven't yet. so on we go!!

The Cow

This little oil painting is another one that I did some time ago. Now that I have no online connection at home anymore, I can't post any of the new stuff that I am doing. But I am still here!

Masking Tape Technique

Masking Tape decorating creates an interesting texture on journal pages and in mixed media art pieces. This short little video shows you how easy it is to do!

Glass of Water

This is another of my earlier oil paintings. And no, I haven't yet started my Daily Painting routine...still talking about doing it, but haven't made the commitment yet. This is normal for me!

Can I Do It??

This was a painting that I did a couple years ago in a class that I took. I used Alkyd oil paints on this one. I am currently CONSIDERING working on a Daily Painting project using oils to improve my painting skills. It all looks so easy, but doing Alla Prima work requires much more knowledge than I currently possess. Or experience, or both.

I'm not sure why it is so difficult to create a small painting every day, but for me it is. I envy people that have that much discipline!

Florida Series

Here is another acrylic painting demonstration from my Florida series.



Several years ago when I was first doing outdoor art shows, I decided NOT to make paintings that were tropical in nature because every other booth at the shows were of manatees, fish, dolphins, palm trees, etc etc.  I wanted to be different!  So I refused to paint them

What I didn't realize at that time is that the public was buying that style of art and that is why so many artists were making it.  So I sat with my fruits, flowers, frogs, abstracts and whatever I was making at the time and hauled most of my inventory back home with me when the shows ended.  After doing this for about 12 consecutive shows, the penny finally dropped and I realized the error of my ways. 

I began painting small tropical pieces in bright and wild colors on 16 x 20" pieces of paper and dropping them into my print rack at my shows.  They FLEW out of the display at $40 each, much to my surprise.  Thus began my Florida series that became over 60 pieces in total.  I did various mediums and sizes over the years.  It was the best selling of all my series by far.  I don't do art shows anymore, but if I did the entire display would contain Florida pieces.

Creating Through Grief

Today has not been a successful art day for me as you can see from this image:

I have redone and reworked this mermaid at least 4 times so far. Adding a face, painting it out, doing a new one...over and over. At one point today I had her in the trash bin and later I was scrolling online and saw this one painting, and I thought "Mine looks better than that". So I dug my mermaid out of the trash bin and started painting out and sanding over her face yet again. I don't know where this will finally end, or even if I should be trying to paint anything today. Sometimes it is therapeutic and sometimes it's frustrating.

One of my friends of 30+ years is dying at any moment. I jerked awake dozens of times last night when I thought of her, so the sleep was more of a nightmare than anything restful. I'm doing what I can to process this event and although it is a part of life, it is one of the most difficult parts to accept. Even though you know it all comes to an end for all of us at some point in time you still have to go through all of the emotions that come with the territory. Death is not a new thing to me and I have already lost dozens of people that I loved very much.

None of that seems to matter when Mr. Death comes calling. I do not have the same view of death as most people do, either. But even with a reincarnation viewpoint about life and how it continues it's still not any easier to experience. I'm just dealing with this as best I can, and moving on when I am ready. Today it is music, a walk on the beach, some more art, and whatever emotions come out are okay with me.

A Florida Painting Demonstration

This video is a demonstration of how I painted one of my Florida paintings.

Faces #15 and 16

Putting a bit more intention into getting caught up on this challenge after being down for the count last week.





I find it fun to do faces of males from time to time. There's not so much importance placed on how beautiful or pretty they are and I like relaxing a bit when I sketch. Smudging and smearing the ink is fun, too.

Bottle Babe #7

I have been working on this one for some time now and I have finally gotten it to an acceptable point.



This close up shot shows the top part of this Bottle Babe.



This is a shot of the entire piece. #7 in my wild and wacky series that I call Bottle Babes.



Quick sketch to add another face to my 29 Faces Challenge!

New Tools !!!

I am already 5 days behind on this month's challenge to complete 29 faces.

Today I forced myself to go out. After all, there was a 50% discount coupon for Michael's that expires today and I needed some new sculpting tools for projects that I have planned. It was worth the trip because I got a great set of tools and saved money and got out of the house for the first time in 5 days. YAY!!!!!!


Just look at these awesome tools in this little zippered case! Now I can get more detailed features into some of my pieces.

Florida Series

Here is a video of pieces from my Florida Series. I currently have over 60 paintings in this series. This video is from 2008.

Today Has Been Cancelled

On my way to the hardware store yesterday, I stopped at the local Dollar Store and bought these items:

I have big plans for these childrens' items. They are going to become part of my Bottle Babes series. Unfortunately, I can't get started on them today because I am dying. Not literally....it just feels like it. I started a new vitamin and mineral program and my body is detoxing and I can barely move because every cell of my body hurts. I considered taking a baby aspirin, but that defeats the purpose of the detoxing.

Hence I have nothing new for the 29 Faces Challenge today. Perhaps I will be able to scribble something later tonite and post it in here if I can get my hands to stop shaking. What is this....withdrawals? Gee whiz.

Okay, here is my daily entry for the 29 Faces Challenge after all:

On the Table

This is one of the new pieces that I am working on.

I'm on my way to the hardware store today to get some materials that I need to develop a new idea that I had last week. My Bottle Babe series was initially created to be vases or candle holders, but now I have another possibility in mind. It could take me several weeks to work this out, but in the meantime.....

Mermaids on the Beach

This video is of my Mermaids series of paintings that I began several years ago. There have been additional mermaids since this series began, and some of them were commissioned pieces.

2 Charcoal Sketches

Charcoal easily adds contrast to a drawing. Even a simple line drawing can appear more finished. It's messier than other drawing substances, but I enjoy the effect that it creates.

Bec's Art Journal page

I have been working on a personalized journal for my sister. The text in the pages of this journal are about our lives and times together.

These pages are about our 4 years living in LA in the early 90's. Suffice it to say, they were some of the craziest years of my entire life. All hell broke loose during the time that we resided out there and when we decided to leave, we went in different directions with our lives. We continue to be close, but then who couldn't love my sister??

A Nude in My Art Journal

This little whimsical gal was added to the same journal as the Lounging/Languishing in Love. Both are done in acrylics with some collage bits and gel ink pens.



This page was done some time ago, but this video will count as my Day 6 of the 29 Faces Challenge. I'm sure that no one will object since I have been busily working on some other art projects. Right??

Nevermind...I felt guilty about not doing a new face for the Challenge today, so I quickly sketched this one over an old line drawing and added some water soluble oil pastels to her face.

Done.

The Egret Regrets

I really enjoy doing line drawings. It's easy and fun.

I call this one The Egret Regrets. A friend of mine was going to write a book with that title and she asked me to do some sketches in preparation for illustrations for her book. Plans have changed, but I can still do sketches of him quickly and easily.


He is being added to my 29 Faces Challenge for Day 5.

29 Faces---day 4

Today I opted for a series of quick and easy peasey sketches again.

I'm just not in the best frame of mind today, so I took an easy out again on this challenge. I'm working on some other art projects. Some are going well. Some aren't. Some days are just like that, so you just roll with it.

Day 3 of 29 Faces Challenge

Keeping it very simple today. There is a lot of football pregame coverage to occupy my time today and I was up at 6 AM watching Mike and Mike in the Morning. Hence, my little face for today has not absorbed much of my time or attention.

I love doing these simple line drawings. They are Easy Peasey. I make them fast and loose by grasping my pen very high from the nib point. Then I can make swift strokes with the pen which are relaxed and loose. I used to practice this a lot when I was doing outdoor art shows.

Small Faces #20

This one is part of my Small Faces series that I first began creating last summer. This particular piece was started in December, but because gold leafing is so tedious and time consuming, I never finished it until today.

This piece is done on a 6 x 6" masonite panel using many different substances. The whole process is explained in my two classes: Mixed Media and Small Faces.

I'm very happy to have it completed at last. It has so much texture!!!

Lucretia

Scribbling fun with water soluble oil pastels in a whimsical journal page.

Continuing with the playful and nonsensical in the 2D format. I'm attempting to build a crown at the moment to add to one of my Bottle Babes figures and it's giving me a headache. Building 3D figures is a whole new area for me, so it moves slowly. Mistakes happen, but I am learning. This is a good thing.

29 Faces Challenge

My friend Martha is continuing with her very successful challenge of making 29 faces in one month.
Click on the image to go to Martha's 29 Faces Challenge. Last year she did this Challenge several times on her site and it was fabulous. Me? Should I join in? Can I make a commitment to do a face every day for a whole month? Okay, I am allergic to commitments of any sort...but this time I think I need to give it a try.

I once was successful at doing a painting a day challenge for 3 entire months. Seems like a century ago that I did that! I even made a video for each of the 12 weeks that I did this. I don't have those videos anymore...maybe one remains. But it really kept me busy and highly productive, I must say.

Do You Journal?

I used sketchbooks for many years, but in recent years they have become something else entirely. They are now more of a finished piece. A statement of something. I like to follow themes when I do them now.

10 years ago I carried my sketchbook with me constantly since I was in and out of hospitals and doctors' offices routinely.  Someone that I loved dearly was dying, so I was attempting to maintain my sanity in the only way that I knew how.

Normally with my artwork I go completely overboard on color but all the drawings and sketches during this time period were done in black and white.  It was simply too exhausting to consider colors.  I was already drained from crying every day, and the black and white also signified how hard I was trying to keep my composure.

Today I decided to return to one of these old journals and add some text and colors to one of the sketches.  I made up a story for this woman.  I might just do this to more of these old sketches.  It was fun!

Here is another one. Claude.

Bottle Babe #6

When I began this piece 6 days ago, it was inspired by American Horror Story. This weekly tv show is utterly violent, macabre and horrific and I was mesmerized with it this winter. Normally, I would not be interested in entertainment like this, so I surprised myself by watching it alone, in the dark, and not getting scared half to death. I used to be a total chicken and for two weeks after I saw the movie, Exorcist, I could not sleep.

This week I became enchanted and fascinated with the history of Egypt. There were a series of documentaries on the History channel and this Bottle Babe took an unexpected turn in the direction of Egyptian art. The influence is there, but not the hieroglyphics. I simplified my design considerably from what I had first intended for this one.

I was planning to add some red "blood" to the piece last week under the American Horror Story influence, but this week under the Egyptian influence she is devoid of blood. Speaking of the Egyptian influence, this first one that I did last year definitely was inspired by Egyptian art.

What Inspires You?

I am sure that everyone has a different answer to this question. I don't profess to be an expert in the area, so all I can do is theorize about what works for me. Generally speaking, I would have to say that I inspire myself. I have to go searching for images or views in the world, paintings in museums, walk through art galleries and shows.

Some days this requires a good deal of work. You can look out your window and get inspired by a lovely sunset or the rain. But it really begins with your mind set. I have to be willing to BE inspired or it won't happen. If I am blue or funky and grumpy and I don't feel like exerting myself...inspiration does not arrive in my home.

This image was inspired out of necessity. I was doing a lesson for one of my classes, happily making marks and not thinking of any particular direction to take the painting. Suddenly I realized that I had a total mess on my hands and I had to get creative quickly in order to complete the lesson for my students. The image below is what it looked like initially.

Nothing about this piece inspired me in the slightest. I was embarrassed by the mess that I had created. After a little quick thinking, I began searching online, had a Bright Idea, and then I was able to video the process of my thoughts as I revamped the mess and made it into an Eggplant Still Life. Whew! I pulled that one out of my hat!

When Is Enough Enough?

I have long subscribed to Over Indulgence...after all I was born in the USA and we love excess here more than anything. How the economy could possibly be in trouble is beyond me, because we continue to buy crap by the carload.

Does it look as if I need any more art supplies?? I don't think so. But I am clearly addicted to buying and saving them...just in case. I have a set of Gouache paints that I bought back in 2004 when I was madly in love with the work of Stephen Quiller and there are still several tubes that I haven't opened yet! 9 years later!!

Over the years I have been purchasing fewer and fewer art supplies and those 40-50% discount coupons go unused ALL the time now. My budget is not what it used to be, but even so I have been unable to justify impulsive buying anymore. I used to think I could never have too many supplies or art books, but that is (for me) justification.

Meanwhile, I am reorganizing my work area. There are other stashes located in my studio, never fear...I will not run out of supplies for years to come......

Bottle Babe Series to date

The pieces showing in this photo are either finished or in progress. I have an additional 3 of them that are currently drying.

The plan is to begin adding wings and creating mythical type characters using the same or similar techniques. I'm seeing fangs, claws, and the usual hobgoblin and gnome features. I have ideas in abundance at this point because I have been wanting to do this for years and years so there is much to catch up on at this point!

A Pink Pig Does a Drawing

Some years ago during my You Tube adventures, I created a character named Petunia. Petunia is a Pink Pig and (dare I say it) hand puppet. Petunia had many adventures over the years, but most noticeably she did a beginning drawing video for me. Here it is:

So here is my little Petunia Pig. I hope that you have enjoyed this basic drawing lesson.

Art History

Here is my new home schooling book. heheheh

The first and last time that I took an Art History class, I got an F. I was mortified. History was never a strong subject for me, but I could care less who had painted The Blue Boy all those years ago. That was then. This is now.

I feel very differently about life and history today. There is much to be learned from knowing what happened before, so I bought this book to begin my very own home schooling project. What is lovely about this particular Art History book is that it doesn't cover only the art of Europe. Believe it or not, peoples in other parts of the world have been making art since the beginning.

Lucky me! I get to travel on the wings of the world, increase my education, and look at wonderful artworks along the way. In my pajamas. Brilliant.

Mermaid Paintings Videos

Here is the entire painting of MerMandy:



This video is MerKarrie:



And finally here is MerMichele:

Small Faces #21---Stone

Through trial and error methods, I was able to create this piece to add to my Small Faces series.

I was pleased with myself to be able to create this piece and make it look like stone. It took me some little while to achieve this effect, but now I know exactly what to do in the future because I wrote it all down and added it to my Small Faces Class and my Mixed Media Class. What a happy day!!

Another Pregnant Bottle Babe

It will be several days at least before this piece is dry enough to paint and finish.

I added one of my Small Faces to the front of her in the belly region. I am excited to start painting her but I must be patient until she is fully dry before I proceed any further. I think she will look grand with a small amount of flowers or buds in the top of the vase!

What's on my table today

I am making another video for the students in my Mixed Media class and these are the items that I am working on at the moment.

Behind the white pieces are ones that are already completed. It's the white ones in the front that are incomplete, but as I continue to work on them and video my process it will all be posted in my Mixed Media class. I get asked often what I am using, but I am not so forth-coming with that information these days out of respect for my students.

Book Worms

Last month I had another Bright Idea for a new series and I am beginning the preliminary steps to the first piece. I have never worked with Altered Books before, so I don't know how long this could take to get what I am planning to do. This is just the beginning of the front cover. I think the insides will take me a lot longer to complete.

I am utilizing tips and advice from other artists on how to proceed with altering a book. People have been doing this for years and years, but this is my first foray into this area. Wish me luck!

Technique Junkie

I will admit freely admit it. I am an addict. New techniques? I'm there. I have been obsessed with mixed media work for 20 years. The problem with this obsession is that I don't always consider design and layout, focal points, colors, or composition and I go flying off to try the latest and greatest techniques. Even if they have been in use by artists for 50 years, they are new to me. This piece below is a prime example.

I was so excited while I was creating this piece that I basically lost my mind and any direction. I was out of control. Only after the fact did I even begin to consider some type of layout, and the outside mat had to be created as an afterthought. Sometimes I enjoy the challenge of putting odd bits together and trying to make them cohere, and other times I wish I could plan ahead!

Whatever. I have tried to operate differently, but I seem to be completely incapable of changing my creative process. So I just go with it.......