Getting comfortable

I just had to share this image I took this morning while working on a painting.

 Biscuit, our cat, decided to try out my little suitcase that I use for recycled tea bags as a bed.

I guess it must be pretty comfy and  cozy because here she is again this afternoon!

It's pretty cute to watch while I'm busy working.

O' Oh Oriole

I'm kind of happy with this little guy.  I really love how the oranges turned out.  I feel happy when I look at them.  It makes me want to do more oranges, maybe oranges and limes are in the future. 

Making the oranges was a little time consuming.  I drew my images on the paper first, and then I cut all the segments and the outside of the orange separately and then glued them into place.  The outside of the orange is painted coffee filter and the inside is painted tea bags.  The tea bags have a nice sheerness to them, allowing little bits of the background to peak through.  The oriole is ripped pieces of painted coffee filter.  At first I was going to put leaves or flowers in there with the oranges, but I decided to keep it simple and not distract from the beautiful bird and his yummy snack.

An early spring! (according to Punxsutawney Phil)

In progress

I'm loving the oranges in this painting I'm working on.  Look closely and you will see a little birdie hiding in there!

A push start

I'm finally getting back into my studio.   I've been having a hard time finding even the smallest little urge to paint or draw.  All of the ups and downs of life this month have made it difficult to find any creativity or inspiration, so one afternoon I made myself sit down and just draw.  I spent a good hour  doodling in my journal to try and loosen up my tight brain.  My first attempt at a painting ended up getting partially cut up, but there might be hope for it yet.
This painting was my second attempt which thankfully came about pretty quick and easy which is something that I really needed. 

 "Sunset Flight"

As much as I love to paint, once in awhile it is so hard to get started.  Why is that?  All I really needed was a good little push, like a push start for my creativity.  

Bison

Bison are such a unique and amazing animal.  One of my  highlights when we went to Yellowstone was waking up, looking out our window of the Old Faithful Lodge and seeing the bison.  The morning was cold and foggy, but their big dark figures contrasted beautifully against the colors of the geysers and hot springs.  It was one of those moments that will be etched in my mind forever.

Last summer on one of my running routes, there were two bison that were always out to pasture.  As I would start running past them, the one would come running up the field towards me, it always frightened me a bit as it came bounding through the long grass, only an electric fence between me and it, but just as it would reach the fence it would change direction and then it would  run the length of it with me.  A little unnerving, but kind of cool.

This piece came together pretty quickly.  I recently saw a picture of bison walking through Yellowstone and the hot springs and was inspired by the bright red, orange, and yellowy rust colors of the hot springs.  I painted a bunch of tea bags in these wonderful colors and tore them in strips and glued them down over coffee stained paper.  The dark brown strips in the painting are from a very concentrated coffee.  I love how rich the color is when I do that.  The clouds and sky are watercolor and gesso together which gives it a wonderful feathery kind of appearance.   The bison are cut from painted coffee filters.  I didn't do a lot of embellishing to this piece because I feel like it works just as it is and has the feeling that I'm looking for.

Mr Moustache

Here is her partner.

   And here they are together:

I'd like to think that he is hiding a little smile under that big moustache.

Have a Happy Weekend!

And a New Year begins

Hello and Happy New Year!

 

I woke up on New Years Day and decided that I would spend most of the day painting and drawing,  totally guilt free, not worrying about all the Christmas messiness that surrounded me.  I thought this would be the perfect way to spend the first day of the year, doing what I love and also knowing that this was what I wanted for the rest of the year too.

And what a productive little day I had.  I need to do this more often.  I tend to paint a little bit here and there, whenever I can sneak it in, never quite getting into the flow.  So maybe my New Year's Resolution needs to be to commit to one day a week of nothing but painting and drawing.  A day where I can work without worrying about vacuuming or dirty bathrooms or laundry.  I think it might be a fun resolution to try and work on.

I've been thinking about taking Misty Mawn's  "Face to Face" with Mixed Media Art:  A study of portraits and beyond and I think that is how this painting came about.  This piece started with my usual coffee stained background and then I glued tea bags over the top of it  and it created a wonderful brown background with subtle tones and variations.   Her face was created with light colored tea bags, charcoal and acrylics.  Her hair from painted coffee filters.  Her dress is part coffee filters, tissue paper, gesso and charcoal.  

Fischer my son looked at her with a wrinkled up nose and said "she looks like she is from another country"  and I think he is right.  My niece left for Spain the day after Christmas to study for a semester, perhaps there was a Spanish influence? 

I'm imagining her partner with a big black mustache.

A colorful little bird

Have you ever heard of a Cuban Tody?  I hadn't up until last week.  I saw one in a magazine and at first I didn't think it was even a real bird.    It has these crazy hot pink spots on its wings that look as if someone took a spray paint can to it, besides the pink it also has red, light blue and lime green feathers.   Its head is kind of big for its body and it has a thin pointed bill.  I love it!

Here's my mini version (4" x 4"):




 I hope everyone had a Happy Holiday, I know we did! 

Around here

Trying to get into the holiday spirit here.  We went and got our Christmas tree last weekend and it was 50 degrees!   

Fischer was in charge of cutting it down this year.

I did my first holiday faire last weekend.  I did okay.  It's a pretty small fair and they like to have mood lighting in the rooms which might not benefit my work very well.  I find I have much more fun at this fair when I'm with the kids and we can go do crafts, listen to music and wonder around and socialize.  But it's always good to get some exposure for my work.

"peace"