Little Girl and her Bunny

I don't always paint large.  In fact, I rarely paint large.  But sometimes I just want to. This baby is 20" square on stretched canvas.  What I love to do most, is to just plunge in an make a background without any thought to what I'll put in it.  The first stage is collage....  For this I used maps, tissue paper, vintage music sheets, printed pages, printed pages for this piece. 

This step used to freak my out.  But now I know that it is going to get buried so no worries if it doesn't quite go.    Next I add a layer of paint.  Some is a paint wash so the print still shows and some places are more opaque blobs of paint  I'm going for pinks and turquoises and a bit of lime.   I'm liking it by now.

Next stage is to add more paint, some texture in the way of stamps and dots.  I use glitter waste,  bubble wrap in different sizes ( Love DOTS!) and some packing material that had a cool grid inside suitable for stamping.   It was bedtime, but I though I saw a little person and her pal showing up.  

The next day I painted the girl and her bunny.  Once I did this I felt the background was too busy, so I made spaces of "rest" in the way of more solid paint places.  It also seemed to need the black to break up all the light pastels.  I like that you can still see musical notes in her forehead and print in her dress.  

Yes, my painting is "different".  Since I've been taking an e-class by Mindy Lacefield, I've been having fun with this looser style which is very playful to do and to look at.  I reckon it belongs in a kids room.  

Today I made an 7"square print and put it in a frame and it is going up in this kid's room.  She makes me happy cuz she is sweet and likes bunnies.   

New Beginnings

 We're only two weeks into the New Year and my head is a-spinning with all the new intentions, thoughts, ideas, actions and plans I have begun.  Each new day is a New Beginning for me as I invent this new chapter of my life. I am learning that it is never too late to do what you want or learn what you need to.  While on Pinterest one day, I came across a picture of this lady who is my new inspiration and hero.  

                                                     

Her name is Beatrice Wood and she was an artist and a writer who lived to be 105.  What I was attracted to was her spirit.  She claimed her most productive years were the last twenty five of her life...which means from the age of 80 to 105!  Wow!

When asked what the secret of her long life, she said, "art books, chocolates and young men”. She was my kind of lady. 

Another thing I appreciated about her was her philosophy:

"Do be true to yourself, whether it's bad doesn't matter. The important thing - you have to copy while you're studying. And culture is - each of us - is like one pearl added to another to make a chain. We each contribute to the other. And that's all right. But once you're on your own, do that which comes from within. And I feel this very strongly."  

How reassuring it is to read and realize, while in your own learning stage, that even the masters "copied" each other.  That is why so many of us are taking these AMAZING online classes from other artists we admire.  Before last fall, I did not even realize they existed, this whole world of beautifully orchestrated do-at-your-own-pace classes and reasonably priced to boot.

I am currently enrolled in two classes.  One of them is a 5 week course by Mindy Lacefield, who has a whimsical style of painting that I admire.  I am learning to get away from realistic drawings and paint little urchins like these.  (just for a change)

Flower Girl with Attitude

Girl with the Cool Socks

I love to watch Mindy at work.  She has a calming teaching style that invites you in and inspires you to get busy. I have been a fan of her art work for a few months now.  Here is an example of her work.  

 So cute... I love her use of greens and blues in the faces.  

My other class is a year-long class called Life Book 2013.  organized by Australian artist Tamara LaPorte, this class has many guest artists who teach lessons throughout the year.  The lessons are all done as videos with PDFs to follow.  By the end of the year, we participants will have a couple dozen finished journal art pages that will be bound together in a book.  I am already learning so much. 
I'm not crazy about anything I've produced yet, but standby for some cool pages.  I plan to redo them, until I get it right.  I just watched a lesson by Christy Tomlinson,  another mixed media artist I have admired. I cannot wait to get started making a page from that lesson, soon to show up on this blog.  

My hopes with these classes and with the art retreat I will be going to in February is to feel freer and in my own style. Just as writers suffer writers block, artists face the same issues with a blank canvas. I want that to be a thing of the past.  

So...this is blog circle Thursday, where you can follow the links to other artist blogs who are all blogging on a common theme, this month "Beginnings".  Make sure you connect to Chandra Merod at Juniper Goods HERE. 

Thank you for visiting.  Have some cookies and leave me a note.  ;+) 

THe Stunningly Strange Gallery in Edmonds, Washington

This week I took myself on an "Artist Date" to a little gallery in Edmonds.  This gallery is owned by a fellow "flyer" from an online class I took,  Kaitlin Phillips Goodey.  Look at her gorgeous store!  Everything in there was made by her!

After introducing myself I got to go "backstage" where she has her studio.

Kaitlin's Workspace.  YUM!

Here are some of her cuties she is working on.

In her gallery she has a series of these encaustics.
I love the muted tones and the texture that only wax can create.

Kaitlin also features a lot of her sculpted art forms.  She uses paper clay as her sculpting medium.

More sculpted dollies. 

And some sewn dollies. 

She makes jewelry

and little hand painted pictures in frames. 

Look how cute the little pearl bikini is!  

 I was so impressed by all the different types of art that were displayed.  The shop is definitely unusual and quite fresh.  I loved my visit and came home inspired to get to work!

Very Inspiring Blogger Award!! Me?

Thanks to the amazing  Wendy Poling at http://wendypoling.typepad.com for nominating me!  

Rules for Accepting the Very Inspiring Blogger Award

1.  Display the award logo on your blog.        

2.  Link back to the person who nominated you.      

3.  State 7 things about yourself. (see below)

4.  Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link to them. (see below)

5.  Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements.     

7 Things about Me you Might not Know...

1.   My only pet when I was growing up was a rooster named Archie.

2.   When I was a kid I would rather be up in a tree than stuck to the ground.

3.   I need an equal balance of being alone and with people.

4.   I like pink..

5.   I am happiest when I am creating something.

6.   Or when I am  with my family.

7.  I am going to Paris for 3 weeks in May and I cannot wait!!

My nominations for the Very Inspiring Blogger award ( in no particular order):

1.  LalyBlue  Mixed Media Artista and Dreamer    http://www.lalyblue.com

2.  Danita Art    http://danitaart.blogspot.com

3.  Sleep and Her Sisters  http://katherineq.blogspot.com

4.  Katie Kendrick  Joyously Becoming  http://joyouslybecoming.typepad.com

5.  Kristal Norton  http://kristalnorton.com/blog/

6.  Jenny Rotruck   http://www.sewfabulousquiltshop.blogspot.com

7.  Ginger Deverell   http://redpearcreative.blogspot.ca

8.  Kaitlin Goodey     http://www.stunninglystrange.com/blog

9.  JoAnn Stevens-Flores  Doodle Paint Draw  http://doodlepaintdraw.typepad.com

10.  Kerry Estey Keith  Woman on Wild Mountain  http://www.womanwild.org

I was supposed to nominate 15, but I could only come up with 10 for now.  Many blogs I visited have not updated in months (tut tut)!  I will add to my list as I am inspired to do so ;+)

Anyway,  I think it is cool to be noticed.

Happy New Year!!