Dusk

It has been so long snce I have posted. I have been busy making art. What fun I am having and entering shows and getting in. It's always exciting to have your work recognized. Right now I'm at the Riverside Art Center in Ypsilanti Mi. with the Ann Arbor Women Artists Juried Spring Show. So much wonderful art and artists who are always willing to share their expertise with you. This piece is called Dusk. It is a Mixed Media with photo transfer and then acrylic and colored pencil.

Ladies in Waiting

I've always known I've had some gifts that I was suppose to share with the world but I never knew what they were. I thought if I could only learn more, become the best at something. I was on this constant course of self improvement. It's taken me many life lessons to stop the urgent race to fulfill my special and unique potential. I am now ready to allow myself to be ordinary me and find comfort in the being rather then in the becoming. It's what I love about art. It is all in the doing that I love. Finding new ways, methods, playing with the materials. I understand now that the biggest waste of a life is never being present in it.

This is a watercolor I did awhile ago called Ladies in Waiting. I would apply washes and then bring out the figures by just using a brush filled with water to get back to the white of the paper.

Creativity

I love this quote from Rita Mae Brown. "Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work." I have been working a lot lately, doing photo transfers and then adding paint, collage even some colored pencils. I have been entering some juried shows and getting in. The latest show was called Aging with Attitude and this was my piece. It's called Nana's Love. It was hard to photograph because there is beeswax over the transfer. I hope to age with as much grace. It always helps to hold a little one. 

Journey

It's funny how titles of my work come to me. I really don't like art work that is "Untitled " followed with a number or a letter.Words are important and hold meaning to me. This painting is a watercolor pour and then I used some of the papers that I poured on to use as a collage in the piece. When I finished and put it up to enjoy and the word -journey - jumped out at me. There is a saying about it is not the destination but the journey that will bring you the joy. In my art it is all about the journey, the joy of exploring a new media and having fun with the process.It is also about balance and finding that space for some quiet time. You can't meditate fast. I am still working on finding the balance that worked for me.

Busy, busy,

I can not believe I have not posted in such a long time. I had all these good intentions of doing this at least twice a month. I have been busy getting work ready for some shows that I am in. This picture is of a piece I did back in college and just went off with my son across country. He is started a new job in California. I call her - The Lady -  She is done with crayon, colored into little squares. I was very proud of her. They say you should look at your work across time. I guess I was always interested in the dignity of faces and stories that they tell or perhaps the stories that the viewers give them.

Success

Don't you love it when things work out? I had this transfer and I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I started to clean up my work area and saw all these scraps left over from a watercolor pour that I had done and just loved how they looked, so collaged them onto the transfer. I really like the look. I called it - child of god - . Sometimes it pays to have chaos in the stuudio

Experimenting again

I was going to do thos once a week but life got in the way. This piece is another photo transfer over an unsuccessful monotype. Then I decided to put some beeswax over that and then I collaged some painted art paper. This was the technique from my Yahoo Art Techniques group that I am a member of. I attached the paper with beeswax. I'm not sure if I like the affect. The title is  "silence".