A Real Treat...

Playing in my journal has become quite a habit lately... as have my visits to Dunkin Donuts. My favorite? One chocolate frosted donut and one chocolate glazed donut and if I'm in the mood, a coffee coolatta to top it all off. Mmmmmm. So when I decided on the color palette for this page, I wanted to pay homage to my favorite place to treat myself.

After laying down the pinks, oranges, browns and throwing in a little green for good measure, I added this cute little bear I quickly painted on an old dictionary page. Only problem was, no matter how I painted him into the page... I didn't like how it looked. I changed colors and highlighted various areas but I never got to liking him at all. I told myself I needed to sleep on it and just left it alone for the night.

And while laying in bed that night, I had an idea.... I'd turn him into a balloon! Yes, that was it! And so I let the page evolve around Mr. Balloon Bear and all was right with the world.

The whole page ended up being an actual Dunkin Donuts theme (I had originally just wanted the color palette!). But when the muse calls, I pick up and say, "hello!" Lots of serendipitous things happened along the way and I just went with it.

I figured if it was my fast food breakfast cravings that inspired my color palette, why not let the whole page be inspired by the actual craving. And I was right.... it was so good!

True Free Spirit...

I know... I know! I keep mentioning Mindy Lacefield and her online workshops that I've been taking. But that's because PLAY is my word for 2013, and they are just so darn fun, and...  I'm "trying on" lots of new styles in an effort to discover my own. Wheeee!

I had made a practice sketch in my notebook (before putting paint to canvas), but had decided to turn her into a wood burning instead! I love burning wood and it had been awhile. So I transferred my drawing to a wood panel and started my adventure!

Mmmmmm... can you smell the burning wood? Smells just like a campfire! I was totally in my element.

The flowers came about on their own, and the stars were made with a special attachment that came with my wood burning tool. A nice balanced composition was shaping up. Now for some color.

The magic really happened as I started to paint. She began to come alive! I took my time and made a point to enjoy the process, as my perfectionist side does not like to get paint on the wood burnt outlines! So I painted slowly and methodically, choosing colors carefully.

Did someone say pink and teal?

I wanted to add details and embellish the piece and torn vintage music sheets really fit that bill. I aged it a bit using Antique Linen and Tea Dye Distress Inks.

I also added a moon using the music paper, but the print really took away from the composition. So I painted a light wash of white over top to tone it down and that made it blend in much better. A pink ribbon bow on top of her head and she was complete! I love her so much and can't stop looking at her. Creating this piece really brought out my true free spirit! Hooray!

Prints Now Available...

Well, I finally photographed a bunch of my original whimsically weird art and had prints made, which are now available in a special section of my Etsy Shop! Seeing them all together was quite exciting and I plan to be painting more and more as the Fall season turns to Winter. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed painting them. Happy browsing!

Can You Sugar Coat It For Me?

Goody-goody gumdrops, and cotton candy too (of course)! After I had so much fun with my pop art ice cream cone, I decided to make a cotton candy version as well (actually, my brain has created a whole series of candy art... now I need more canvasses!).  And since cotton candy is all sweet and sugary, I thought that gumdrops would make the perfect accompaniment. But after I stared and stared at the finished piece, I thought the gumdrops looked a little naked.

So... I covered them with glitter! Big, fat, chunky glitter! Now they really look like gumdrops.

The final, final piece is totally sugary and 3-D! But I still can't decide if I like the gumdrops with or without the sugar. But that's how it is with original art.... sometimes you just have to take a chance. There's no "undo" button.

Having Fun With My Little Monster...

No... not that little monster! Romeo kitty is a good boy (mostly). I was actually referring to this little monster... from my sketchbook...

Inspired by the work of Jesse Reno, I wanted to create a collage where the main subject stood out from the background, but in a reverse-masked-out kind of way. I love the circus and thought a funky primitive elephant was a good place to start.

I recently bought a vintage mirror — that I disassembled to make an earring display —and the backing was an old piece of cardboard from an air conditioner box. It was so thick and full of fun graphics, that I wanted to use it as a base for the collage.

I started with one of my favorite techniques... creating circles with different sized bottle caps and jar lids.

Then I continued with acrylic paints, pencil, sketching, adding vintage papers and such.

Then more layering with more paint, more drawing, masking, vintage photos, tissue papers, ephemera and the like. When I got to where I liked it, I stopped messing with it!

I enlarged my elephant sketch — who by now has evolved to take on the name Monster of Love — and made a transfer of it.

On to "masking off" the image with acrylic paint. I decided to stay in the pink family, but go a little lighter. I did many, many, many coats of paint... starting with a watery mix at first and then slowly graduating to a dry brush technique.

Then the scary part! The outline. I wanted it to look sketchy like a charcoal pencil, but I didn't want it to smear. So I put a call out to all my little social media monsters and got some great ideas back, but eventually went with black acrylic paint... watered down at first, and then using a very dry brush to add that sketchy look.

I loved my little Monster so much, but could not stop at the original design. I added some feet... and he was just begging for a curly tongue... which then begged for something to drink. And that was that.

I think I'll be making a whole cavalcade of crazy circus creatures in this style! And maybe I could even teach this as a class. Because I had way too much fun!

Tickled Pink!

What can I say? I love the color pink. It's so happy and whimsical and flirty... it just makes me smile. And when I ran across this photo of these smiling retro-style ladies... well, I was just tickled pink! The overhead view of this circular piece (that ended up being a tabletop), just made me dizzy. Kind of like how I feel after doing an art show. There's lots of fallout, cleanup, tallying, re-organizing, and figuring out what to do next. I'll let you know when I figure it out. Stay tuned... you never know with me!

Thoughtful Thursdays: The Color Pink!

Ahhhh... the color pink. So pretty. So girly. So whimsical. So happy and flirty. It's my favorite color in the whole Universe, and it definitely inspires what I do in my artwork... in an almost amusing way!

You see... for awhile, practically everything I made was pink. I tried to get away from it, but I just kept going back to it. A little soft pastel pretty pink here...

 A little in-your-face, bright magenta there...

Or a spot of pink... even for hair!

I don't know what it is about pink. I guess it's like a favorite old blanket or that perfectly worn-in pair of shoes. On those days that you just want things to be a little more relaxed and go just right... you turn to your good old comfy stuff, and just sink right in. I know whenever I have trouble with a project, I add a little pink... and I know everything's going to be alright!

What's your favorite color and how does it inspire you?

Things I'm Drawn To...

Artist extraordinaire Claudine Hellmuth once said... make a list of all the things you like. And so I did. That list grew into about 5 pages of "stuff" and is still growing today! I thought I'd share a couple of my favorite things with all of you...

I definitely have a thing for well-loved paintbrushes. I make sure to only clean the bristles, so that I can see the history of the fun projects I've worked on.

I love a good leather-bound journal with a decorative front. Makes it so inviting, doesn't it?

I absolutely adore stripes. I think it has to do with my fondness of carnivals and growing up around the boardwalk. The page shown here was one I originally didn't like. I pulled off some of the items, gessoed over some others,  then painted stripes over top. Now I love it! It's ready for a new story.

I encourage you to start noticing the things that seem to repeat themselves in your art... or your life! What things are you drawn to?

*Oh, and can you tell I love the color pink?

Art Journaling Tip #36 (and a bonus!)

One of my favorite techniques to add interest on a journal page is to color in all the letters that are "closed". You can do it with stamped letters, printing, or cursive handwriting. They all look great. If your ink is fresh, you may want to heat set it or let it dry overnight. Then choose a marker or pencil color that coordinates with your theme... and you're set... Instant interest!

Another technique I have on this page is varying capital and lower-case letters. So as not to overthink it (that could take forever!) I did the vowels in small letters. And a few other miscellaneous consonants I thought looked good.

Putting The Right Foot Forward...

Remember as a child, when you were just crawling around on the ground? But you see all these people that seem bigger than you... walking around. Doing what they want, when they want, and getting there all by themselves. They have a vantage point you don't because they're standing so tall... just walking right along. So you want to do it too. You find something to prop yourself up with—anything—and just try it. Whoa! A little wobbly and uneasy... but here we go! Then...

CRASH!

Right back down on the ground. But you don't give up. You know it's possible. You've seen it done. It's your birthright. So you keep trying. You lift up your head and keep your eye on the target. On where you want to go. And you keep getting up when you fall. And you're surrounded by people who let you know you can do it. That this is something you can accomplish!

Sometimes when you take that first step, it's just because you have to. But as long as you put the right foot forward... and keep focused on your intentions... you won't have to look down at the ground anymore...

October Is...

Breast Cancer Awareness month. The program is dedicated to increasing the awareness of the importance of early detection. So check those cupcakes, ladies!

It's A Summer Thing...

I only have this three months out of the year, but it's one of my favorite things about summer. A peep of a sandal under a comfy pair of flaired jeans... tan toes... and pretty pink polish. Ahhh, the little joys of Summer...

Christmas In... May?

Yes... Oh, yes... the Tacky Style Gods have answered my long time prayers for a pink Christmas Tree! Not only that, but I got it for $2.49! Yes, that's right... two dollars and forty nine cents. Can you believe it?

You see, our local Cost Cutter is going out of business and I kept forgetting to stop by. But this evening, mom said... "hey, did you still want to go to Cost Cutter" and so we took a trip. Not too much great stuff left...

Except this egg-cellent pink tree, which was 90% off. Yay, me!