emerging...

sometimes from humble beginnings paintings emerge....

loved the colors that were emerging as i was working on this one.

had a bit of color-love going on (still....)

had these colorful circles pop up...

loving this view across the paper....

happy saturday!

square love

i have been so enjoying painting smaller lately. painting up more of the matboard tiles, including more mini's, and i found 6"x 6" wooden cradles i had bought, and painted those up too.

just like almost everything, i put down a skim coat of gesso to start and worked from there. the wooden cradles paint different than canvas and if you use an ink on the cradle without gesso the ink will be absorbed by the wood.

as a point of interest- i only the gesso the actual front panel and not the sides. i like how if the ink or wet paint runs off the front panel that it is absorbed by the sides of the cradle.

on this bottom cradle i used a strip of painted paper and attached to the board after i had gotten my background done. and can you see i have had a circle obsession?....can't seem to help myself, but, i love them....

happy friday!

collaging/ art journal- feeling creative

i was on a roll yesterday afternoon/ evening and was grabbing and gluing paper tidbits off my counter as fast as my eye was spying them....this is the start of one of my new art journals that i purchased from Kasia over at czekoczyna. she made this amazing journal with eclectic papers for me. she makes very inspiring pages!

i was loving the vintage hangar paper- "lord baltimore" ....you don't see those much any more; or maybe it's because i don't use the dry cleaners much. i am a wash n go girl...maybe i shouldn't be if they still give you those cool papered hangars.

i am still very much in love with my stencils...the diamond shape, and i had picked up the circles- which i also love! the other side of that page is a conversation with our daughter- it was very funny. she likes to add things in the middle of a conversation that mean absolutely nothing- like "pink larry bananas." i love her carefree whimsy that she still has at age 15 by some grace of the good Lord.

i love the little blue edge of paper off to the left. it was a painting that i had cut up and i couldn't bear to throw away any scrap from the painting away (silly,i know)...the vintage pic of the ladies was screaming for some hats, which of course must mean that they are important- thus the queens. everyone wants to be a queen for a day. the back ground falls onto the next pages which are not finished, but, i wanted to show this page anyway- the queens were making me laugh.

this is beginning collage in my other art journal. i was loving the vintage "work" papers that were lying around in my studio and had to put them to good use. i can't hardly throw away any vintage paper- every scrap must be used for something. i think this page needs some color now that i see it in a pic, but, has a good base.

here is a sneak peak at my new painting. my best friend and i scored these wooden board things, and i of course took a pile. i left some at her studio space and only brought home a small stack. i did confess to my husband when he took them out of the back of my truck that i had another pile and he offered "of course you do sweetie." 22 years....he knows everything. :)

re-work

this original painting hung in both galleries that i am in but did not find another home. sometimes whispers tell me to re-work painting....which is what i am in the process of doing now. the words on the painting, were part of the original painting, and, i wanted to keep those. i was thinking i was almost finished with this and then, decided to layer the white- it was quite bold underneath. while contemplating what i had just done, i noticed the purple india ink....and decided that was needed too. 

i loved the circles, but, before they were really in your face....now, with the layering i like how the circles softly come through. i love how the purple ink ran- this particular layer was really  wet.. i will show more after letting it "cook" for another day or two. happy monday!

painting- aaaahhh!

i had started this painting and it has been "simmering" in my studio; waiting for me to decide what the next step was. i added the portion of a definition for a square; the circle, and textural diamonds (love those! ;).

i really liked the squares to begin with....and wanted those to stay. added some more circles last night and some of the textural elements as well....

i am still loving the diamonds....

i decided it needed a little pop of color...so added that. i am thinking i am almost done. i will let it "cook" today and see what i think later. your thoughts?

passion for paper

but, not just any paper will do....vintage papers are the best! now, i think i can be fairly creative, especially with my papers, but, check out this.....this creative soul's work was recently featured in martha's spring wedding 2010 issue!! (yes, we all know martha who...)

for those who follow, you already know i have a thing for circles, dots...and love to sew on paper, but, this garland is the coolest! i am loving this!

thanks to polkadot barn (jan-you are one of the coolest!)for the shout out about the coolest garland and giveaway ever! and to enter the giveaway you just need to visit...olivebites!

my favorite one is the vintage hymnal garland!! i'm gonna keep my fingers crossed and hope a little karma blows my way.....which is your favorite?