Friday, January 25, 2013

The Savannah Series - Brave Mascot

Another collage from the Savannah Series. This one features the winged lion statue in front of the Cotton Exchange. Both the exchange and the winged lion, also known as the Red Lion, have an interesting history. 

"Brave Mascot" - 6x6 - Mixed Media Collage

Thursday, January 24, 2013

The Savannah Series - Key To The City

In honor of my new hometown, I have decided to launch on a series of collages which depict those places and things which make Savannah so special and dear to my heart. Here is the first of the series.

The digitally enhanced photo depicting Savannah's riverfront was taken from Hutchinson Island in the Savannah River. And, of course, the green swirly pieces are strands of Spanish moss; which are so encased in acrylic that no little critter could possibly be living in them.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Zentangles 1 - 22

I was in Barnes and Noble last month looking for a birthday present for another artsy friend when I ran across this book One Zentangle A Day. Just one look at the cover and I was hooked!

Simply put, Zentangle is a meditative art form that results in miniature abstract works of art. Creating art came rather late in life to me. I had no idea until I was 39 that I was even capable of drawing; I was never even a doodler. And I've always envied other artists their ability to create random, abstract line work and wondered at their ability and apparent artistic freedom. Therefore, purchasing this book was a must and I'm at it nearly every day. I have not yet completed the six week course of self-study but I know I will as I've been enjoying the process immensely!

So, I can't resist sharing the tangles I've created thus far; and if you want to keep track of my progress, here's a link to my Zentangle Album on Facebook.























Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Wordy Hydrangea

"Wordy Hydrangea" - 6x6 - Mixed Media Collage
OK, time to get back to talking about  my artwork. I've had fun setting up my new studio in Savannah and experimenting with new materials. I never thought for a moment I could get such great results from the most prosaic items.

The image you see above began with an inexpensive wrapped canvas. I further wrapped it in a sheet of newspaper and then to that I applied a scrubbed on layer of latex wall paint that I found among the paint samples at Lowe's. Then I made random swirly patterned designs with gold glitter glue and wrapped all of that in a layer of cheesecloth which I had dipped in acrylic metallic paint. 

Next I took a quilting iron and pressed it against some crayola crayons in various shades and let it drip onto a sheet of newsprint; using the iron to then swirl the drips around. After the crayon wax dried, I cut the newsprint into leaf shapes.

The hydrangea blossom itself is made from randomly tearing magazine photos selected for their colors so I could create a range of tonal values from light to dark. I accented selected blossoms with glitter glue and gold fabric paint, outlined the leaves in fabric paint and then, of course, splattered the entire piece in a wash of gold metallic paint. Fun!!!

Oh, and did you notice my new signature? I developed that while launching a self-study course on the art of Zentangles. More about that in a future post. ;)

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Winner, winner!



Using the Violets Are Blue random number generator, Karin Vercamer was selected as the lucky winner of the free art giveaway celebrating 300+ "likes" on Facebook. Thank you all so much for your support!!! And Karin, please send me your mailing address. Congratulations!

Wednesday, January 2, 2013


Hey! Yay! I'm giving away art again!

I'm so tickled to have reached the 300 mark on my "likes" on my Facebook page, that I want to share the love. The last time I did this, I went to an online random generator number and used that number to decide which Facebook "likee" should be awarded the gift. Well... that backfired. The would-be recipient was unaware that I was offering to give away a piece of art, became skeptical and refused to give me his physical address. Or, maybe he really, really doesn't like my artwork.

Anyway...

In order to avoid a recurrence of that incident, I'm asking that any of my Facebook fans, who is interested in receiving a specimen of my artwork (don't you love that? specimen?) comment on this blog post. Just say something like... "pick me, pick me!" or, "yes, I'd like some free art!"

Come Saturday, (January 5th) I'll choose a winner from among the comments posted below.

Thank you, everyone, for following me on Facebook and being a fan of "a crabulous life!)

And, yes, if you're not already a fan on Facebook, you can still become one and enter the "giveaway!"