Listener: mixed media painting

So I needed to jump start a new series of work using a ink transfer technique I've been doing quite a bit. I decided to do a play on words and illustrate a series of paintings based on words or phrases ending in "er"























The lone image of a white deer on a textural background of joss paper and French music gives an interesting impression. Animals are great listeners, they have good hearing, and that helps! But they also are very aware and alert to everything around them. It's interesting to reflect how hard it is for most of us to listen, really listen, and be mindful and aware of all the beautiful things around us everyday. Appreciate, have grace, be present.

Dragonfly original spinning mobile

After many hours of thinking, fiddling around with my dragonfly drawing color schemes and finally, when I actually assembled this (it didn't take too long) and THEN figuring out how to photograph it with my SLR in Aperture Priority mode (seriously people).
























I finally assembled this original dragonfly spinning mobile that spins and delights in a window or corner of a room. For more information go here. I'm working on some origami pieces next, stay tuned.

Her Dress, original charcoal drawing

I've had this piece for a LONG time. Her Dress, an original drawing in charcoal on Rives BFK paper, was dug out of the archives, put in an Ikea frame and is now hanging in my house! The original is posted on Etsy.






















This one might be hard to let go, but I'll be interested to see if anyone likes this one as much as I do.

My dear-love card

I agonized over this one too much today. A simple concept should result in a simple implementation. Not so much with this one, got too picky, changed a bunch of stuff, and then went back to the original. Sigh, sometimes it's good to trust your gut on the first try!

Heart all a flutter

A little gem for Valentine's day-I just posted this one in my shop for $10. I think I will do a few small pieces to give a variety of images at that price point as well as an opportunity for customers to buy in 2s or 3s or create a group. We'll see. In the meantime, I won't be letting go of the original anytime soon, It's just gorgeous to look at, I must say :) I'm just drawn to shiny Joss paper, that's all.

New drawing in Etsy shop!

This is a gesture drawing from my collection of life drawings on paper. The image was drawn from life in one minute using charcoal on newsprint. The image is available as a print in varying sizes. Contact me for a quote! Click here for purchase information online.

Queen Bee

I had this drawing in my sketchbook for awhile and never got around to actually working on it. I'm playing around with ink transfers on paper, which is a bit challenging because the watercolor underneath tends to lift up pretty easily. If I let go of the imperfection of this technique, then some nice "happy accidents" occur with interesting texture and overlays of color.

New Shop on Etsy!

I finally got it together and put up a shop on Etsy. It showcases prints and original artwork (coming soon) for sale. Artwork is available to purchase of mixed-media works on paper and canvas. This is good for me, because I do a lot of personal work that goes into a drawer and doesn't get seen by many people. And it will help me to work on my fine art side, maybe work on getting a show...who knows? But it's just time for me to get my work out there and break out of the solitary studio where I crank out illustrations and design for clients all by my lonesome, sniff :)

The Good Things List

I was inspired by a "good things" list by Penelope Dullaghan awhile back and thought since I haven't posted anything regarding the new year, this would be as good a good excuse to write down what I'm thankful for and be a cup of overflowing optimism. I'm not very good at new year resolutions, so instead, maybe I can look back on this list next week, month or year, when I'm grumpy or impatient with my kids, yelling at the insane drivers on 285 or eyeball rolling any of my husband's air-brained antics:) and be inspired by these good things:

The Good Things

-the beach and all the wonderful and amazing things that go with it
-that it can be 70 degrees in January like yesterday
-my cat gives me unconditional love and is a great security blanket
-Marly, 2 1/2 saying "no, I want a piece of you!"
-finally knowing a mechanic who will not rip us off-and even fix our car at cost this time!
-Karina is attending the amazing Friends School
-discovering another level of creativity through my 5-year-old
-having an almost completely purged basement with a space carved out for my studio!
-my neighborhood, my dear friends
-book club, and all the wonderful memories made so far
-martinis with olives
-being healthy, finally
-yoga, and more yoga everyday
-the farmer's market, so glad it's down the street from me
-Twilight vampire teen horror series, yes, they are so good
-lentil soup, black bean soup, crab bisque, shrimp and grits-yum
-chai tea
-starbucks coffee, and proud of it
-peonies
-juice plus vitamins
-going to lunch with a girlfriend ( I really need to actually do that soon!)
-connecting with friends and family through facebook

Assemblage

I met another fellow artist, Jeni Stallings this morning at yoga class (hi Jeni!) and was totally intrigued by her yummy encaustic, oil and collage paintings. Since my website is still under construction, I wanted to start posting some of my wire assemblage pieces that I was telling her about. Here's one of my faves. Cheers.

The shopping is finished and the big holiday of the year is almost here. The kids are excited about Santa coming and are watching holiday movies to pass the time. As I shout to them to the other room that they cannot have any more cmas cookies until the party tonight, I give in again. So I leave this post by saying Merry Christmas and officially sign off to spend more time with my kids, and counting down to a big martini at the Cmas eve festivities tonight!

The Time Traveler's Wife

The artist, Clare, in this book had an intriguing edge as it related to the time traveling character, Henry. Her paper assemblages of birds and a direct comparison to Anselm Keifer, one of my favorite abstract artists, was a great connection. Clare was driven to creating beauty in her work much of the time with her final dark bird creation at the end of this tragic story. An amazing piece of fiction with visually rich metaphors and symbolism-lots of good stuff for making art!

Wondertime

Outside it is frosty and crisp. Some of my favorite things I see out a window or walking up the sidewalk are simple things added over the years to the landscape. Everything is so beautiful anyways in black and white, no? And with the high-contrast of winter, it is almost a must to see all of it this way.

O Christmas Tree

Last night was the annual lighting of the giant holly tree in downtown Avondale Estates. We have gone every year since we moved here (5 years!) And it is magical every time. The kids are definitely in to it, but I have an adult love affair with it as well. I love singing Christmas carols, sipping hot cider and munching on Krispy Kreme donuts (yes, so decadent!) It has been really cold every year so far, and this year was no different-37 degrees! But the sky was clear, no wind and it felt so, so Christmassy! Seriously, in Atlanta, it is hard to come by sometimes. I really do miss the holidays in MI, the snow falling, the beautiful snow-covered landscapes, drinking coffee by the fireplace. Just the coziness and hunkering down when the wind is whistling hard outside and the crackle of a roaring fire inside. Welcome winter!

Happy Red

How alluring is this number? So cozy and very retro inspired.

On paper

Experimenting with my favorite element of collage-old dress patterns. I picked up a few packs of these from the antique market and love how this stuff layers in so many interesting ways. Portraits are becoming a bit frequent and the simplicity of line and color.

A Lucky bag

Working on some fun fashion pieces highlighting a very cute Lucky bag in this one.

Twilight

October Pick
A vampy, teen novel with lots of gushing adolescent lovey-dovey angst. With Halloween just last weekend, it was fun to have one last spooky gathering with this theme. Comfort food to the max, white bean soup, tenderloin sammies, lasagna, homemade brownies, brie and rasberry filled filo cups, chocolate truffles and apple crisp. Bloody marys and red wine, of course. Our group is especially pumped to see the Twilight movie on Novemeber 21.
One theme that resonated with me in this book was the ubiquitous prom scene. The magical lights and dreamy eye-googling is every teen girl's dream. Even Bella, who didn't want to go to her prom, can't knock this moment.

Ghost

Halloween is always a blast in our neighborhood, and it's very easy to get in the spirit of being ghostly. I did this piece a couple weeks ago, and now that Halloween is over, it's kind of sad, sort of like the let-down feeling after Christmas or something, Wierd, I know, but taking down decorations yesterday was done with a lot of sighing and wistfulness.

A bag to have from Squash Blossom

This lusciously beautiful bag is from Squash Blossom boutique in Decatur, GA. I love velvet and the red accent on this piece is just exquisite! The wildly colorful patchwork is so unique and would be an awesome accessory for going out this fall.