Magenta Series #6

"Blue On Blue" - 11x14 - Mixed Media Collage

The final piece in the series of collages that all began with magenta canvases. This one was the most difficult and very nearly ended up being destroyed. A last ditch effort to unify the background by painting it cerulean blue made the difference between life and death for this bird. ;)

Magenta Series #5

"Murky Waters" - 8x10 - Mixed Media Collage

I needed to make some crabs quickly! The name of my art business "crabulous fine art" confuses some of the public. They come in looking to find crab art and even art made from crabs! Having sold my only crab piece at the last show I realized that I needed something crabby in a hurry!

Magenta Series #4

"Shhh! It's A Surprise!" - 10x14 - Mixed Media Collage

The fourth collage in the series to have a magenta background is this funny little mermaid. I was up late at night working on her and the next morning I was asking both my husband and my 13-year-old grandson whether they thought she was cute or scary. I never did get a straight answer from either one!

Magenta Series #3

"Jonquils (Sort Of) - 8x10 - Mixed Media Collage

This is the third in the series of collage which all began with a magenta toned canvas. Once again, fantasy flowers, but this time in cheery yellow.

Magenta Series #2

"Con Spirito" - 8x10 - Mixed Media Collage

The spirit moved me to create fantasy flowers. Something not exactly flourishing in anyone's garden. The title comes from the directive in the piece of music; "with spirit."

The Magenta Series

"Yellow Iris" - 4x12 - Mixed Media Collage

This past Sunday I decided to hunker down and produce six new pieces in 48 hours. I had happily sold far more paintings than I expected on Saturday and I have a show coming up this Friday and felt a need to "fill in" (so to speak). 

In a stab at efficiency, I began by painting all six canvases in the same magenta paint. And one by one I'll show you the results. Please excuse any typos or anything weird. I'm exhausted!

"Yellow Iris" was the smallest of the six canvases. I really thought that I would do an abstract with this one, but instead this cheery iris appeared. I'm not complaining.

The Responsibility of Educating the Public

This past Saturday was my first experience at doing an outdoor art fair. I thought it was a lot of fun despite the 104 degree temperature and I look forward to more shows in more temperate weather. I always learn a lot when I'm dealing directly with the public and one of the things I learned this past Saturday is that there are not many people who really know, appreciate or understand mixed media collage. So, at the urging of my husband who is also my "roadie" and business manager, I composed the following hand out to help educate the public so they know exactly what it is they're looking at when they view my artwork.

Two Suns

"Two Suns" - 8x12 - Mixed Media Collage

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You've probably guessed by now that sunflowers are among my favorite flowers to showcase in my collage works. They are so much fun to do and the paper combinations to depict them are endless. But by far my favorite paper for making sunflowers is the orange-yellow paper with the ants printed all over it. I swear that someday I'll create an album of all the paintings in which I've included that paper!

Sailing

"Sailing" - 10x12 - Mixed Media Collage

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I love the site of sailboats on the water and have always wanted to do a somewhat abstracted collage of them. So, here it is!

The Earth's Crust As It Appeared On Thursday

"The Earth's Crust As It Appeared On Thursday" - 11x14 - Mixed Media Collage

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Every once in awhile you begin a composition that just defies you. It refuses to cooperate and end up looking lovely. I set out to create a collage depicting terracotta pots filled with nasturtiums. It's a favorite subject of mine and one I haven't done in a long while. At the end of the day it was such a mess that in order to prevent myself from fooling with it any longer I covered it with a layer of paint. The next morning, I realized that a layer of paint wasn't enough and I proceeded to smear modeling paste and coarse pumice gel all over it, too. And then I started sticking things in it. It's way over the top for me, but somehow immensely, personally satisfying. And yes, I did it on a Thursday!

First Love

"First Love" - 8x10 - Mixed Media Collage

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Another offering in my series of collages of children. Both of my boys fell in love hard when they were just preschoolers. They were adorable. And children are not afraid to express their affection honestly. What a shame that adults can't retain that same innocence.