Sunday, January 31, 2010

Life drawings






























































I was finally motivated to photograph some of my life drawing work from college for my sister-in-law who requested some prints for their apartment in Chicago. Most of these pieces were done on 18x24 newsprint and they have been sitting in my flat files for over 15 years! And there were few others done with oil pastel on Rives BFK. Rives has such an amazing buttery quality and I still have a stack of leftover sheets in my flat files. It may be time to pull some out and experiment with a few ideas. Some good nostalgia was stirred up paging through these old drawings and inspires me to get back to traditional drawing roots.

The three images she picked to create a Parisian feel, oo la la!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Oiseau 2-the melody story























Here is the second piece in my story box series entitled Oiseau 2. (bad photo though, it was rainy outside and didn't get to shoot it in natural light) Both of my oiseau pieces are over at the Decatur Gallery and will be displayed through February 19. Decatur Gallery is having a reception on Saturday, February 13, 5-10 pm on Valentine's weekend and then they will be moved to the Avondale Community Club for Art Night on February 20. A little traveling show, if you will. There will be more of these 10" x 10" story boxes to come, it will be cool to see where the theme takes me!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Story boxes-new series























A new piece just finished over here entitled "oiseau" and it's part of my "story boxes" collection. Actually, my sister-in-law gave me the idea because that's what she called them when she first saw them and it just was the perfect idea (thanks Nicolette!). My daughter found this little red bird on the ground during the Christmas village event at Stone Mountain and so this piece revolved around that "find"

I was struggling with titles and such, and I thought since I've got this thing with birds going on (and who doesn't lately?) I would title the series "A Melody Story" These story boxes will have a recurring theme of music and birds, nature and singing, just down-right loopy, happy, whimsical references to all that makes your imagination soar, when you hear a song, a bird sing, or even the sound of wind through trees. The magic of sounds that put you in a certain mood, trigger a memory or just plain make you appreciate today.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Great finds at Decatur Estate

















Yesterday, I visited Decatur Estate after running some errands. I LOVE this place which is full of mid-century, vintage and antique items in 6000 sq. ft. of space. I usually hunt for old books and frames, antique plates and odd furniture, but today I found some really out of the ordinary items. An old wooden fabric stamp, which will come in handy for some paintings where some nice texture is needed,



















four decoupaged Japanese trays that will be re-purposed into some original works,


















a really interesting Japanese publication full of black and white photography and line work-the pages of characters will be used for collage elements.

















And finally, a couple old books, one of which is a 1949 copy of Wuthering Heights. I've been trying to read this book for years, and I know it's a classic and people rave about it, but I am TRYING to get through it, keep putting it down, starting again. I will finish it one day and be one of those people who rave about it, but until then I have this lovely copy to admire.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

The art block winner






















I meant to post the winner of my Been Caught Stealing art block! Sorry ya'll. Anyhow, I was really inspired by all of the posts but was very touched by Jessica's:

"I would love to win this, because I would use it in my classroom! I am an English and Journalism teacher at a small town high school in North Carolina. I am always looking for new ways to inspire the kids and bring out their creativity. It would be very easy for me to get my hands on reclaimed wood, so I would use this in my classroom as a class project at the beginning of the 2nd semester, which starts right after Christmas! I would ask them to paint something that represents who they are INSIDE, and then they can share it with the class! Thank you for creating such inspiring art!"

Isn't that so sweet? I hope she sends me an update about her project, it will be so cool to see what her students come up with!
Congrats Jessica!

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Little Love bird ornament




















So in honor of twelfth night (I know, it's now past 3 kings day), the official end of Christmas, and I'm going to show you one remnant of the holiday season anyhow! I created this little bird last spring right after Valentine's Day and she was hanging in my studio over K's art table watching over her daily creative adventures. I always like to make an ornament for our exchange but didn't have time to create one specifically for the event, so I reluctantly took down little love bird, wrapped her carefully in tissue and off we went to the party. My friend Dottie ended up snagging the little tweet after being stolen 3 times (the limit) I'm very happy to see my little love bird go to a good home even though I'll miss her spinning around overhead. Adieu my dear.

Saturday, January 02, 2010

Taking Flight























I was looking for some books on creativity the end of this last year, and decided on a book called "Taking Flight" It's been awhile since I've read a creativity book and thought it was good timing with the new year to be inspired with some different techniques and subject matter. I have a few ideas so far and just received a big order from Dick Blick of paint, paintbrushes, mediums and cradled wood boxes. So exciting to get new stuff! In addition to my smaller works I like to create, I'm going to start painting a bit bigger, 18x18 and 24x24. With the new year, it's so motivating to get a fresh start after a nice break! I'm really looking forward to the kids going back to school next week-it's just perfect timing and I hope to have a lot of sketches to show soon-stay tuned!
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