The Last Page

It's a little bitter sweet, but here's the last page of the sketch book I've been dreaming in for the past four years. I would say the final image is definitely an unabashed celebration of color!

"Green Dragonfly" - Mixed Media Collage on Canvas- 5x7

Sketchbook Page for 08.11.11

The new glitter glue is not exactly what I'd call "3D" as promised on the box, but that's really not why I purchased it in the first place. There were just some fascinating color combinations like the gold glitter with black specks that I used here.

"Home is Where The Cat Is" - Digital Collage

Because I couldn't bear to end the day without a finished piece of art, I sat down with my laptop and put together this little digital collage. I love digital collage and what one can create with Adobe Photoshop. The Dragons of Mariarosa are a case in point.

The following are the images that I used to create this particular collage.

The background is created from this Bomomo piece.

This collage was created in 2005 and sold a year later and is called "My Ants' House"

 

And this little guy was just created on Monday when I was doing exercises from "Drawing for Mixed Media Artists." The lesson was "drawing cats in bed"... no lie!

Sketchbook Page 08.09.11

Seriously, I'm doing more than working in my sketchbook, it's just that nothing else is ready to publish yet! :D

Full Time Artist

As many of you have probably heard by now, I'm back in my studio full time and couldn't be happier. 

Part of being a full time artist means that I can spend time on those little things that help an artist become better at their craft; like spending time with my sketchbook.

My current sketchbook is one my son made for me four years ago. I had found a used hard back book for $1.00 with an interesting intaglio of a chestnut tree on the front cover. My son took it, removed the existing pages and replaced it with pages of Rives BFK in tan, my most absolute favorite paper. 

For four years I've worked in this sketchbook off and on; most especially during 2008 when my studio was closed for a year while we closed down and sold our primary residence and moved into our second home. I created some very interesting pages during that year. I've always treated my sketchbook as a "dream" book. A place to play, experiment and just have fun.

Most recently I purchased some new permanent markers and a new assortment of glitter glue. The page shown here is one I finished yesterday "playing" with these new tools. I don't use glitter glue in my "serious" art and I don't use line work enough in my serious artwork. You'll find a lot of both throughout my sketchbook, though. 

There are only four more blank pages left in this current sketchbook. I'll miss this particular book which has been my friend for four years. At the same time, I'm very excited about beginning a new book of dreams.

Grace In My Studio

 

Today I had an occasion to play hooky from my "real job" and in the process, I hijacked my employer's 9-year-old daughter, Grace, and brought her home to my studio for a couple of hours. Since our first meeting a year ago, Grace and I recognized each other as sister artists and I'm always amazed at what she creates around the office with just simple office supplies. And her design ideas are truly amazing.

So today, I seated her in my chair in the studio, showed her all my supplies and let her have at it. The image above is her creation. Her collage is just as unreserved and uninhibited as she.

When she was finished and it was time for her to leave, she absolutely insisted upon cleaning up after herself and relished returning the art supplies to their respective "homes" in my various drawers and containers. What a delightful guest artist whom I'd welcome back to my studio any time.