Oh Boy!! Awoke to SUNSHINE today!! Supposed to climb to 60 degrees today!! So excited, I am heading outside to do some work with the stylus tool. Hopefully there will be new stuff to post after today! Here's a little something to enjoy in the mean time...

Round and Round

I have been trying to vary my substrates a bit. Mostly I use wood that I have gleaned from other places. When I worked at Pratt and Larson I would visit the workshop and gather cast offs from where they make the display boards for showing tile. At one time the company my husband worked for had wood samples in a variety of sizes which was fun to work on too. I still have some of that to work with but I was looking for something else that would make a great gift item. 
I came across a great deal on Lazy Susan's recently and purchased a few - what a HOOT to work on! Literally having to think outside the box was a challenge! I traced and drew out several ideas on paper months ago... I didn't like any of them! So recently, I just decided to just go for it, do something on one of them. I loved working on the round surface because it spins! I disliked working on the round surface because it spins! I found ways to overcome and stop the spinning when necessary but embraced the versatility of the spinning surface, it made it easy to adjust hand positions and approach the subject from different angles to achieve different burn strokes. 


Here I started off just sketching on the surface: 

Next was to do the woodburning. I had to do this in stages over the course of several days. Perhaps it was the type of wood or the way it was cured, but it was tougher than birch to burn on. 

Given that the subject matter was small and detailed, that probably made it take longer to work on as well. I had to do a little research on dogwood flowers to remember what they looked like and what the leaves looked like! 

After adding some paint and then a little finish over the paint, I think it looks quite nice! 

Looking forward to the next adventure!! 

fishy, fishy

I know, I need to do more. More art work, perhaps less job searching! The job searching thing is bringing me down, way down. 
But I have some artwork to post so that makes me feel happier :) 
I worked on a piece for my husband for Valentines day which took quite a while to do but since he was out of town for the weekend, I was able to work on it freely! It is one of the most detailed pieces I have done. I thought the heron on the bookshelf was intense but this took the place of that intensity! 
Here's a picture of 'in the beginning' : 

It's a Salmon by the way.... 
                    And now for the finish.... 

It has a bit of a shine on it in this photo but I did put a finish just on the burned image, hopefully you can still see the details!  
More to come shortly! 

Beginning to End Bookshelf for the Chair Affair

The table & Chair Affair supporting the Community Warehouse

THURSDAY     MARCH 15, 2012

CASTAWAY   1900 NW 18th Avenue

     Portland, 97209

                              www.communitywarehouse.org/

This year I was invited to participate in the table & Chair Affair which supports the Community Warehouse. A great organization that helps folks to set up house for the first time or after experiencing hardships in life. It's a great place to donate all of the home goods that may not be needed at your house any longer. Towels, sheets, mattresses, toasters, silverware... You get the point! 

As a fund raiser, the warehouse allows artist to come in a pick out a piece of furniture or they can find a piece on their own, alter it in an artistic way and bring it back to be auctioned to raise money to support their efforts. This post is to show the transformation of the bookshelf I picked out and it's progression.

In the beginning, it was an old, way over painted bookshelf. After 2 chemical peels and a day plus of sanding, the wood grain was revealed and inspiration began bubbling. 

I took inspiration from a place I see several times a week, Delta Park Dog park. There is a wetland bird sanctuary located right beside the 'park'. Great Blue Herons, Eagles, multitudes of ducks, hummingbirds, and various other birds inhabit the wetland area. I love watching the birds and observing how the weather and light changes there from season to season. One day while pondering what I should do with the bookshelf a heron passed overhead and landed just a bit away as if to say, "pick me!". So, I did! 

 

I really wanted to capture the essence of what I see at the park with the cat tails, tall grasses and the water. The top of the bookshelf had a gorgeous band of wood grain that I wanted to emphasise and the idea of the wet land played perfectly with that. I began by wood burning the grasses, then went back and painted each blade and then sealed each so the color would show even after painting in the water and sunset. 

 

Moved by an Audubon post to my facebook page regarding how hummingbirds pick the fuzz from cat tails to make a nest, the inspiration for the last panel was born. I chose to put a male and female Anna's hummingbirds on the last side. (Anna's hummingbirds stay in Portland year round!) 

The final step was to put on the grasses. I painted grasses on craft paper, layering red, then greens in long strips I then cut them out and glued them on with matte medium. I will add that I used some blue & black spray paint and black gesso to paint the inside area of the bookshelf. The entire piece was then painted with a satin finish poly acrylic to seal the deal :) Here are the finished pictures, enjoy! 

 

Is it wrong to love it too much?

I'm in love with this drawing.
I can't help it, every time I see it I just want to reach in and scoop this little precious thing up and hold it, pet it, feed it and make it feel loved! But alas, it's on paper so I can only view and enjoy. I sketched it out in pencil, went over the key lines with a waterproof ink and then added color with watercolors. It's called a Bewick's Wren and I see them often hanging out with sparrows and house finches often in the backyard. I have enjoyed them so much because they are so cute!
Since I enjoyed this so much I made one for a friend of mine for his birthday and then drew out another.

This time I cut it out and applied it to a mixed media piece. This is one of those where I wood burned a branch over a background of leaves and stained the board. The paper square in the bottom right is actually a piece of metal covered in paper. I wood burned around it to make an attempt at depth. If I knew how I would have 'carved out' the space and sunk the metal into the board. I made the magnets too which was simple. Those are so easy; just paint a little picture cut out a circle and paste onto the back of one of those glass dots made to be accents in topiary and cut flower arrangements. For the final bit of interest, I used an extra large embossing crystal. I think they are supposed to be melted in a pot and then from what I have read, pour the substance into a form to make clear embellishments. But, I didn't use it that way. Attempting to place them on the leaves, some places it worked and other places not so much but then heated the crystals and the way they melted made it appear as if it were dew on the leaves. So I was happy with that experiment. I think it turned out well and it makes me happy!
Experimenting can turn out some cool stuff don't ya think!?!

Moving Forward... I hope

I have been creating a lot recently and have just a touch left to do on a piece for a show coming up. That means a lot of time in my basement studio which has been chilly but also rewarding. However, it is a must to get out and shake up the thoughts and expectations in order to allow fresh ideas to come to mind. I have stepped quite a bit (WAY) out of my comfort zone this past week because I had things to do and am trying to make contact with other beings. I have been looking for inspiration and motivation for more works.  However, inspiration does not move the obstacles in my way.
There is more to it than that.
I have to face it... I have fears. Everyone has fears and to be sure, I do not stand alone in the feelings that make me feel stuck. Pretty much I think there is a fear soup out there and all artist at one time or another have stood knee deep in this bowl. Some will swim in it, some may drown, some may sit on the side with just their feet dangling in it, some will climb out and jump back in from time to time. But the first step is to realize you are in the soup; the soup of fear.
I have  been repeating to myself - "face your fear". Whenever I am feeling stuck (ok - this is really new so please don't get me wrong, I haven't made a habit out of this yet!), so when I get to feeling stuck or even unmotivated I just have to repeat...FACE YOUR FEAR!! Because that is what I feel that is holding me back. It may be a fear of success or fear that what I create won't be perfect or fear that I just wasted time because the creation wasn't good enough...reiterate... fear of success. Eventually, it has to be confronted and then let go. Face the fear, move forward and try.
It's been said many times in many ways... You just don't know until you try and if fear is keeping you from trying then Face It.
I am prepared to be smacked around a bit but I'll let you know how it goes :)

So, that is my thought for now. Anyone else have thoughts on this??

New Year; What next

It's a New Year! But alas, I have been in a fog. A snotty, ear hurting, fatigued, unmotivated fog. Almost like I am not here as in not present; absent from action.

I gave in and went to the Doctor, I couldn't take it any longer. So now I get to take an antibiotic- bummer. I have to get back into life to show up and be excited about it, therefore I have to take the medicine, rest and recover. I sure hope this does not indicate things to come in the new year! 

I have hope and medicine! Cheers to better life to live in 2012!!