Reflections

"Reflections" - Enhanced Digital Photo

Maria Lucia & Her Bunny

I'm long overdue in posting this photo. This is my dear friend, Mary Beth and her sweet new baby, Maria Lucia, whom I've yet to meet. When I heard that her nursery was to be pink and green, I couldn't resist doing this bunny up as a Tangy Zoodle just for her room.

White Hydrangeas & Pink Roses

"White Hydrangeas & Pink Roses" - enhanced digital photo

Last weekend my niece, Olivia, got married and the wedding was all about white hydrangeas and pink rosebuds. They were everywhere, except for the bridal bouquet which was white hydrangeas and white rosebuds. (I absolutely adore white flowers!)

I was fortunate enough to be able to take home one of the table centerpieces which is the subject of this enhanced photo.

Pink Bunny

"Pink Bunny" - mixed media collage

Pink Bunny is finally finished and soon will be on her way to her new home with Maria Lucia who is the new baby girl of my good friends Mary Beth and Rich. I wish I could take the painting myself, but the United States Postal Service will just have to do.

Pink & Green

The pink bunny for Maria Lucia is still a work in progress.

Getting back to the painting for Maria Lucia; as I suspected, the rediscovered green stamped paper in my sketch book makes a lovely background for the pink rabbit and butterfly. I was mixing paints together one day to form a specific shade of aqua and I was failing miserably. So, I took the mixture and painted it onto a stamp that I had carved into a piece of styrofoam and stamped it into my sketchbook and rather forgot about it until I was working on this project. I'm so glad I saved this! I think this piece is developing nicely, if I do say so myself. :D

Camellias & Azaleas

"Camellias & Azaleas" - Enhanced Digital Photo

Believe it or not, I haven't always been a fan of digital photography and digital photo manipulation. You couldn't tell it from the way I love to play with photos. 

Recently, my mother brought in some cut camellia and azalea blossoms from the yard and floated them in a floaty thingy (technical term). Of course I found them to be extremely photo worthy. Below is the "before"  photo and the one above is the "after." ;-)

In The Pink

Tonight I constructed this little pink butterfly to go with yesterday's pink bunny. I also discovered what I think could be the perfect green background while flipping through my sketchbook. I was making an attempt at mixing up greens for another project and I stamped the mixture onto a page in my sketchbook with a styrofoam stamp which I'd carved some time ago. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will all come together as I've imagined in my mind. 

Gift for Maria Lucia Under Construction

I know you've seen this bunny before, but not quite like this. My friend, Mary Beth, and her husband, recently gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Maria Lucia; a name as beautiful as she. Of course I want to make her a keepsake for her nursery which is a lovely old-fashioned and very feminine pink and green; coincidentally, one of my favorite color combinations. 

Today I finally began work on the piece of artwork I intend to give her and I started with the focal point. This particular zentangle is called "Cadent" and it reminds me of Herend china which I have long admired but never been able to afford. I thought it would be fun to make my own "Herend china" figurine (on paper of course) for this piece.

Below is a photo of the real thing. You can see that the pattern is similar, but not identical.

Rethink the Pink

A recent addition to our pre-lit Christmas trees at work has given me fits. In fact, I got to the point that I couldn't stand looking at it and I decided I had to do something about it. 

The tree itself is pretty; nice limbs, nice shape. But, the lights! They are the standard colored Christmas lights with red, green, blue and yellow-gold bulbs, but the manufacturer decided to throw one more color into the mix... pink! My mind just can't reconcile it. 

This photo shows my attempt at dealing with it. I decided to decorate it in silver, gold, clear crystal and white ornaments with a silvery leaf garland. Gold floral picks and three white silk magnolias serve as the tree topper. Using colored ornaments was more than my optical nerves could handle.

The brightly colored displays of T-shirts on the left and greeting cards on the right are not the perfect backdrop for this tree, but I'm liking it better than I did previously. 

And the cat posing below it helps make it look better, too! :D

Tapestry Butterfly

I think I must be going through a butterfly stage. I guess it could be worse.

"Tapestry Butterfly" - digital collage

Pink

Exploring the concept of digital art journaling. I'm part of an art journaling group on Facebook and I'm learning all kinds of things from this group. It has been such an inspiration to me.

Flamingo, Party Of One

"Flamingo, Party Of One"Available on Etsy 

Tall, long skinny legs and a style all their own? Well of course I like flamingos!

Jacobean Flowers

"Jacobean Flowers" - 7.5x8.75 - Mixed Media Collage
Available on  Etsy  

Yes, I know. More whimsy. I'm not sure what's bringing this on, but I'm rolling with it. 

When I was a teenager, back in the 70's, I really got into doing needlework. I'd buy kits and make pictures, doorstops, etc. I was really drawn to patterns that were referred to as "Jacobean" as I loved the fantasy-like flowers depicted in them. I got pretty good at crewel work and became a master at French and bullion knots as well as the more pedestrian satin and chain stitches. 

Wanting to create designs of my own, my mother made a muslin smock-top for me that I stitched on as the mood struck. I also had a short, short pair of cut off denims that I also stitched on and practically wore as a uniform for more than one summer. 

Long story short, the flowers I've created in this piece remind me of those needle craft days. The background layer of paper is actually a piece of paper that I made one summer. You can almost always identify paper that I've made because it has glitter in it!

Whimsical Garden

"Whimsical Garden"- 4 1/4 x 8 1/2- Mixed Media Collage
Available at Crabulous Fine Art on Etsy   

I was struck by a fit of whimsy today. I make no apologies and I make no promises that it won't happen again. Whimsy happens.

Retrospective Part 2

"Pink Poppies" - Oil - 8x10 - 1998

Yes, I dabbled in oils. Off and on. I never quite grew to love them though. And I could make the biggest mess with them, too. I found I preferred the directness of pastels and I loved the way you blended colors with pastels directly on the support itself and not on a palette. I always had the messiest palettes. I did sell a few oil paintings though and some remain in the family. Most notably with my mother and my cousin (who has the second largest collection of my works). When I moved from my home in Maryland I gave all my oil paints to my son and gave them up for good.

"Seashells & Coral" - Oil - 5x7 - 2002

Retrospective Part 1

"Two Pears" - pastel - 4x5 - 1996

I'm currently visiting with my mother who lives 650 miles from me; so I don't get to see her often enough. Being the supportive mother that she is, she owns the world's largest collection of my artwork. This collection covers the gamut from my very beginning days until now. It's always great fun and a great education for me to review these pieces whenever I'm visiting and it has inspired me to create something of a retrospective exhibit within my blog.

I was 39 before I discovered that I had the ability to draw. I was never one to take art classes in high school and I really never doodled or dabbled in art. But, I've always been an art lover, a frequent visitor to art museums, and a collector. Finally, one day, I just had to see if I had the ability to create anything of my own.

My first foray into creating art was learning to draw with charcoal and pencils. Unfortunately, I don't think any of these early works are in existence. I was over zealous in cleaning out my studio one day and... whoops!

After spending time just honing my drawing skills, I stepped up to using color. Pastels. The little piece above is the very first pastel I ever did. When my new box of Nupastels arrived, I broke them in and practiced using them by creating pears. Ever since then, whenever I try something new, I almost always experiment by using pears as my subject. My art friends tease me about it being my favorite fruit. As far as I'm concerned, the shape and countours of pears allows you to fully experience the extent of the capabilities of a new medium.

Shortly after the pears, I painted the image below from a photo of my parents' back yard.

"In A Southern Garden" - pastel - 18x24 1997

This was probably my first attempt at flowers and you can see I had a tough time with them. I love their silliness. I became much better at flowers later on.