A Pear of Lilies .....

" A Pear of Lilies "

paint and paper collage - framed

A New Art Adventure ......or How to Work Small in the Winter....

A series of cups!

  These are collage offerings of watercolor, speciality papers and fabric, along with some hand stitching.  (A big thank you to my sister Kathy, who shared her vast knowledge of paper stitching !)

The images are  adhered to blocks of wood measuring 7"X7" X 1 7/8" with a hanger on the back.  Also, because of their thickness, they will easily stand on a shelf or table.

 

 

 

 

This is a closeup showing some detail (sorry about the glare) and the addition of vintage looking upholstery nails for added interest.

I plan to introduce these soon to the galleries where I am represented.  I think they would be wonderful and unusual Mother's Day gifts.  We shall see, but you, my readers, have a first look right here. !  Enjoy!

My Online Sketching Class is Over .......

Lesson 5 was all about shoes.   I found this exercise difficult, but I think my second effort was better.

 

This is my polka dot every day shoe ....



 

This is my polka dot boot.  Most of my shoes (as well as jeans and jackets) have paint on them.

Lesson 6 was to draw something machine made....particularly something that is symetrical.  I enjoyed this lesson a lot!

 

 

Here is the olive oil dispenser we bought in Sorrento Italy last November.  It is a very special memory.

 



In My Defense, It Has Been A Very Long Winter .....

Back before "the crappy winter of 2014", during "the crappy winter of 2013", I bought this black hemp jacket at my local resale shop for $1.50.  When that is the price, I get all crazy about the possibilities.

The first thing I did was splash some bleach on the jacket.  The bleaching action was almost immediate and I discovered that bleach on black hemp creates these wonderful pink/beige spots!

  I was expecting white!

I immediately washed and dried the jacket, to stop the bleaching action.  If I had not, I could have ended up with big holes.

Then I began the transformation.  I found some fabric with dragons and flames on it, a box of white sequins, some fabric paint in tubes, and some white acrylic paint that I applied with a variety of round sponges in different sizes.

This is a detail from the back of the jacket.

This is the entire jacket back. ( or most of it)

This is a detail of the right shoulder area .....( my first adventure with sequins)

This shows some of the buttons.  I removed the boring ones, found some replacements, and then painted them.  The one white button "face" is actually a bead.

This is a photograph of one of the pockets.  Because the jacket is a short one, it was really awkward to put my hands in from the top.  So, I opened the pocket on the side, added the dotted ribbon for stability, and sewed the top closed.  Now I can slip my hands in from the sides.  In the process of all this, I inadvertently snipped the fabric, creating a hole.  So, to take care of that, I sewed a VOGUE dress label over it .

This shows the left shoulder area. (more sequins as well as some beads.  A real bedazzled dragon !)

Here you can see most of the jacket front.  If it ever warms up, I will be able to actually wear it.

Yeah.  It really has been a long winter ......

So, go find a cheap jacket and give it a go!  You will have fun and something quite unique to wear.

More sketching/painting images......

Last week's lesson was sketching flowers.  A wonderful excuse to go out and buy a bouquet, since, of course, there are no flowers in NW PA in February.  I did enjoy doing these!

 

 

Next week the assignment is to sketch our shoes (grin). That should be interesting!

Meadville Council on the Arts, Member's Exhibit and Celebration

Last night was the opening reception which brought out many, in spite of the fact that the temperature was 3 degrees.  I was delighted to have three pieces represented in the show and it was nice to reconnect with the art community. I tend to stay holed up in the winter months!  These  are some snapshots from the event. 

" Moon Seeds"

 "Music of The Spheres"

 



"Passage"

Class Continues ....

This avocado was the last piece I did in the "greens" lesson.  I added the grocery store sticker..love it!

 

 

The next lesson was to sketch an object, using ink (no pencil and eraser) and using a continuous line, without lifting the pen.  This was hard!  However, it forces you to really look at the object, figure out how to do the continuous line and not lift your pen.  I did miss my pencil and eraser! On the other hand, I gave myself kudos for attempting to paint glass. 

 

This was another example of continuous line drawing, without benefit of pencil and eraser.  I swear this acorn squash is really quite round.  Something got lost between my eyes and the pen!

 

Stay tuned for the next lesson!