Been dreaming of wildflowers and watery spaces, and dreams manifest themselves in very pretty places…
I find myself here often…
AND, I have three new sweet, simple cameo necklaces here
Here is one.
I am so excited to offer these cameos featuring mini prints of my paintings! There’s only three though, and here they are:
They are listed here
And I have been painting her (name forthcoming)…
A week or so when she’s dry I hope to make her into a new print. I am starting another one tonight. Hooray for days off and days (and late nights) of painting!
And yes (a few of you guessed in my previous post) the little plastic blue case is a sweet, sweet typewriter! ‘Twas a lucky find for three dollars at one of my favorite thrift shops.
My initial idea was to make an all-blue shelf and stash my blue book collection behind it. I wanted to display a birds nest on the type writer with robin eggs inside (because I know it is very unlikely I will use it much) but it won’t fit on my shelf, despite its small size.
Today was complete spring trickery! I went for two walks today through the woods with my spring jacket on. It was warm breezy with raindrops on and off, sun peeking through the clouds and going back in. I hope hope hope that it freezes over tomorrow because I bought a pair of ice skates yesterday. And how nice and smooth will the skating pond be after thawing and refreezing?!
a partial scan of an experiment…
I had fun painting this one and layering in things. My intention was to add textured ghost prints of antique lace such as in The Bear, Moth and Ghost Wolf. But when I tore up the lace it did not leave and imprint like it did in the previous piece….it just tore up the support paper and made a huge mess! I left the lace and imagined doing encaustic over the whole thing so I got out my wax…but after some research I discovered that encaustic waxes can not be done over acrylics. The piece ended with me deciding to put a thick layer of Golden gels over the entire painting, attempting to create a faux encaustic finish. Well, it turned out very plastic-y as a result of the yucky gels (which I can’t stand in the first place). I used gels previous to this but now they have lost my attention forever. I am happy becasue they have a terrible chemical smell anyways and they make my fingers itch. I am sticking with glue.
So where to go in 2008? My head is spinning with ideas (and I am literally spinning here in the playground, funfun!)
I love to paint detailed little scenes from concept sketches, but I also enjoy working more organically with collage more tactile materials such as papers and old lace. I would love to be able to fuse the two and create lots and lots of pieces in the new year. So now I am creating lists and doing little sketches. I am going to rework the painting above too, hopefully someday maybe.
Happy New Year!
Spent another afternoon in my snug painting room. I have multiple pieces in the works, mostly lush, layered and textured paintings with supports made from antique lace, canvas and papers. Work in progress (and the second one from the right is almost done and ready to be made into a print, very soon)
My work table
And obviously inspired by the texture and color of this broken dinner plate, unearthed behind my house in the bed of a little stream.
Tomorrow we are going to the Whitney and the Guggenheim mmmm!
Now that the original sold I have decided to make this little one into a print. Here’s a little snippet, see full print in my shop.
I love to sketch and many strange things become of it…
Her hair is to be made of feathers.
(a teeny part of one of my whole-page doodles)
And I’ve decided to sell the original painting of Under the Cold Cold Ground in my Etsy shop sometime on Saturday. Please check back soon as I’ll post here first! And don’t worry if you miss it, mini prints will be available as well.
~*~*~*~
Last week I awoke to a very white morning. Against the still golden leaves the iciness was a visual feast! November is a beautiful month, early snowfalls are much appreciated. Going out of the house requires a warm and wooley knit scarf. And to make my neck even more fanciful I don this sweet sweet stitched necklace.
Found over the summer at a tag sale amongst cameos and other little trinkets…
November has brought about many new sketchies too! I am working on a little project called The Strange Little Winter Garden painting up a storm this evening. Here’s one sketch straight from the frosty, frosty garden…
And brrrr…it is cold here! Its putting me in the mood to snuggle up with my paints and create!
I started this painting over a year and a half ago and I finally can call it complete. It’s changed and morphed over its lifespan and for me is very special (it’s going to be hung in my studio). It’s a ghost garden of sorts, and the woman and the wolf just might be from the same realm, it’s up to you to decide. One thing is for sure, the flowers are ghosts… they were created by pressing a century old piece of lace into the paint and slowly peeling it away. Bits of the cobweb lace are still lodged in the paint too. Texture gives me such satisfaction, and the fact I can replicate it in paint makes me very happy.
So here is is…The Bear, the Moth and the Ghost Wolf
prints are available in the shop
I am finally able to love my sketchbook to bits and not abandon it like ones in the past….tall figures, slightly distorted, shade of sepia, imprinting with found objects, lush textures, surreal objects and placements, a strange little winter garden…. more to come very soon.
Although I bought this antique desk for my sketching I often find myself on the floor. It is covered in a drop cloth so messes can be made without worry. Some new things to inspire~ pretty luggage, ship basket and blue cup (I have been very much into cobalt blue recently). Going to glue some papers and whatnot onto the ship’s sails. The basket is just so perfect, like a dream.
I have been scouring Etsy for vintage clothing. This dress was the purchase the other night from AlessiaC
Can’t wait til it arrives! I managed to a huge lot of vintage tights and I think it will look pretty with the red ones.
New chocolate-y patent shoes from ebay. Very vintage and they even came in their original, tattered box! The laces will be replaced with a faded, satin-y ribbon, I think.
And…THE plate (and some new yard sale goodies too)
So I have been busy sketching, and more paintings are on the way. I am going to do more work along the lines of these which are not quick paintings. These larger, detailed and layered works make me so happy. I have just as much fun coming up with the concept in my sketchbook and exploring the many layers of paint and paper as I do with the finished work. Here’s a piece of a litte sketch for the next one up (the sheep was a last-minute-throw-in but now the field will be scattered with them, I think). It’s going to be a little darker and colder than the others but I do think it will be my new favorite…
Have a good night!~*~*
A new print of a drawing “Her Braids” is available in my shop
This strange little colored sketch came about when I was going through my vintage lace collection and found this:
The wreaths of plaited hair were originally supposed to be lace doilies but somehow became hair after the sketch was complete. I don’t even know if the braids are connected to the girls head, I was thinking Victorian hair art and mourning jewelry. If you have ever seen these in person they are quite creepy. My grandma had a bouquet of hair flowers framed in an oval glass dome and I will never forget it, real hair!
Braids wrapped around little cabin colonies, wolves, snow…a peaceful dreamland for sure.
Also…I am so happy! Today one of my prints was featured in the Storque on etsy! The featured artist, Lisa Congdon, choose a few things on etsy that she admires and my print Forest Cabins and Salty Sea Ships
is one of them!
