Soul Inspiration...

There are so many different ways I love to go about making a new piece of art... but serendipity is one of my favorite creative "tools". In life, there seem to be so many unexpected things that pop up... needing more effort, requiring more resources, and expending more energy to complete... just to accomplish your original goal. But with art, I don't mind working with what I have and seeing where it takes me. It's an escape of sorts. And this escape took me to the circus!

My freeform background started with some collage elements, covering up with white paint... but letting a few of my favorite ephemera peek through. Top it off with an obnoxiously bright neon palette of yellow, pink and orange... and we're on our way. I had no idea where it would go, but the CIRCUS — a remnant of an old ticket — was begging to be turned into a striped tent. And so it began.

The little pierrot was actually from an alphabet book, and was in a garden of tomatoes. But I turned them into juggling and balancing balls to stick with the theme. In my dreams I actually thought of creating a balloon around SOUL InSPiraTioN text...

And a circus girl dressed like a bear was the perfect compliment to the entire piece. I gave her orange hair to pull the nice, bright orange through the scene visually... and then added some clouds as an afterthought. I loved how the neon colors peeked through the sky like an early evening sunset just beginning. I just chalk it all up to my soul's inspiration.

Holding On To Love...

Recently I've been creating lots of work with wild colors, patches of paint, a multitude of marks, and an abundance of ephemera. And while that kind of art is very soothing to my brain right now... I just needed a little break (very little!).

I had seen an assemblage in Somerset Studio magazine that used a turquoise, red and white palette and those colors made my brain sing! I decided to use them in the simplest way possible — adding a touch of black — so the colors were as much the star of the piece as the elements in it.

I wanted to make art that was graphically illustrative work with a strong message. Starting with a wood panel, I burnt in the outlines and then painted with a few layers of paint for each area to add just the slightest hint of visual texture. A bird, a heart, land, and sky. The simplest of elements with a mighty statement. Holding on to Love.