What's Coming in 2017!

My calendar is beginning to look pretty booked up for 2017.  Starting in January, I will be traveling to a few places I haven't been too in several years,  January through October, I will be teaching several classes & workshops that I am really looking forward to.  Subjects include: Watercolor, Screen Printing, Paper Collage, Abstract Acrylic, Gelli Printing and more!  Plus I will be taking a few workshops this year as well. I love to learn new things.  It's going to be a fun, productive year!

Image is of a gelli print I made a few years ago. These make the most awesome backgrounds for greeting cards, art journals, ATC cards, etc. 

On Vacation

Well, that was the original plan, but with the selling of our home and the packing involved, it was anything but a vacation so far.  I was able to meet up with friends during a Monday paint group and attend Tom Howard's workshop last Saturday. This week I did all of the things on my never ending list of To Do's, in order that I might get to go paint with my friends again tomorrow.  I will be there!




Recently I have been playing around with paper collage and this is just one of the many that I have created.  It's currently in the Wishing Spring Gallery, Bella Vista, AR along with some fabric arts, giclees of my watercolors and in the near future, some mixed media jewelry.




In the meantime, I will be participating in the 48th Annual Bella Vista Arts & Crafts Festival, of which I was honored to paint the poster for this wonderful event.

On-line Mini Workshop

I recently was the lucky winner of Tracy Vertugo's "Animalisto Mini MOJO Workshop".  It is based on those adorable hand painted, whimsical wood carved animals from Mexico.  I'm sure over the years you've seen a few.  They are decorated with fun bold colors and funky patterns.  I tried my hand at doing an owl but it began as an angry owlette.  I finished it this morning and while it isn't exactly whimsical in the style of animalistos, I like it.  

Fallen Leaves

This painting was started months ago but was set aside while I was on vacation.  Today I found it in a stack of old paintings I was going to recycle and decided to go ahead and finish it.  Because the paints I used were cheap liquid watercolor I knew I needed to be careful in my approach.  Or better yet, just try to accomplish some depth and shadows.  I love negative painting and I still have a lot to learn but it's also a ton of fun just playing with the various wet media.  I ended up using walnut ink, acrylic ink and more watercolor in a violet & deep yellow.  

New way to post

I am testing out my options for using the new Galaxy Tab 4.  I am hoping to be able to post to this blog directly without any technical issues or posting problems.  Here we go.....

Success!!  Just terribly slow to process and post.

Welcome to the Artistcellar Blog Hop!

It is my privilege to participate in this current Artistcellar Blog Hop and Thank You for joining in on the fun.  I hope you have had a chance to visit all the other blogs on the list of participants (see below if you missed one!) and I hope you left comments along the way to be entered for a chance to WIN this amazing stencil set!  If you leave me a comment before midnight, Oct. 31st, I will enter your name in my drawing as well.  Please be sure to leave me a way to contact you along with your comment.  (If I cannot contact you, I have to disqualify you and I want everyone to have a chance at WINNING!)  Please visit the Artistcellar website to view many more designs and get your creative Mojo on!  The other Participants are:

Oct. 25^th – Lisa Cousineau (Artistscellar) Official Start Date of this wonderful Blog Hop!
Oct. 26^th – Effy Wild
Oct. 27^th – Lisa Chin
Oct. 28^th – Cheryl Sleboda
Oct. 29^th – Paula Phillips
Oct. 30^th –Cindy Powell (YOU ARE HERE)
Oct. 31^st –Cecilia Swatton

My technique for using Cecilia Swatton’s “Kaleidoscope Series” of stencils involves something unusual.  It involves the art of watercolor.  Much like acrylic painting, watercolor is a fascinating medium in that it is usually transparent and can be removed. 

 

In order to design backgrounds in a free form painting, I like to incorporate a variety of techniques but one of my favorites is removing paint through a stencil so that it leaves an imprint of the stencil behind.  (Similar to a ghost image if done correctly) 

 

Since I am using a 140 lb. watercolor paper I must be careful not to scrub the paint off, but gently remove it with a slightly damp sponge.  If the sponge is too wet, it will seep under the stencil and create an undesired effect.  (Just like too much paint on your brush). 

Another way to remove watercolor from the paper is to use a baby wipe, but these are moist towelettes, so if using them, this process needs to be done carefully.  Moisture from the towelette will seep under the stencil, but if you blot it on a paper towel first-like a sponge, it can be used with wonderful results.

 

I have used Cecilia’s stencil collection for many art projects including of course the Gelli Printing Plate to create background pages for art journals.  I won’t go into details as there is an over abundance of information out on the web about this topic.  But I will give you a tip:  I paint a lot of paintings on some of the most fabulous papers, but, not every painting is a keeper.  I never throw them out; I recycle them into awesome art journals by applying acrylics & stencil patterns over them.  Once bound, they become books full of ideas for future projects and experiments.

Whatever medium you use, stencils can add such interesting depth to your work, so I hope you will give this a try in your art journal or fine art piece.  Experiment and have fun with these unique stencils by Cecilia.  Don't forget to leave me a comment below to be entered to win one of these wonderful sets.  Or browse the Artistscellar website for more designs.

My Passions

Most of you know that I have been studying the art of watercolor for several months now, I think it's going on like 9 months and I'm still overwhelmed with all the information that I have yet to devour.  LOL!  I recently purchased a video of Soon Young-Warren's painting water and have watched it several times now, trying to get a feel for the methods she uses in her own work, while incorporating a few of my own tricks along the way.  I haven't been sharing any of these paintings with you only because they were either not good enough, or barely good enough to be juried into a local show.  I have 2 currently hanging at the Sandy Senior Center here in town for our Spring Show-2014 and one waiting to see if it will be juried into the UWS Spring Show in Provo this year. 
Anyway, this little painting is of a photo I took of a koi down in the pond at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vega, and using some of my mixed media techniques, I was able to get a pretty good likeness of the real fish.  To do this again on a larger scaled painting will be the challenge! 

Kandinski Circles

I recently found a new project that inspired, motivated and relaxed me all at the same time!  Kandinski Circles.  I painted these with watercolor but you could color these easy designs with just about anything.  A great art journal project or a wonderful way to spend a rainy afternoon with the kids.  They're simply circles drawn inside of circles and colored in.  When drawing these move your hand to the end of the pencil and loosely move your wrist to get some interesting shapes/circles.  Follow up with crayons, watercolors, pencils, markers, acrylics, etc.  Relax, listen to music, talk to friends, and just have some fun!

A New Blog

 

I've decided to create a blog for a new adventure exploring water media, which has unlimited options and I didn't want to bore everyone by posting all the time about this one topic.  Over the past few months I have been so engrossed in this new love that I've spent 90% of my waking hours learning more about water media, i.e. watercolors.   I've read every single book and magazine I could get my hands on, watched a ton of youtube videos and now I am ready to branch out.   I want to include my true loves, all water mixed media and I would like to invite you to join me.   You can participate by leaving comments, posting links to your own work and of course, share your own knowledge.  For a more detailed description of what I am proposing, visit this new BLOG.
And I started a Facebook group.  Please come and join me HERE.

Paint It

 

I think this book would be a welcome addition to any child's (young or old) library.  While it is clearly designed for the beginning artists who want to explore the many options afforded by mixed media, it carries some of the projects into an intermediate level, but still remains doable for all ages.  At first I was skeptical only because I am an experienced mixed media artist, but the further I investigated the projects shown in the book, the more inspired I became.  The book is full of useful information, inspirational projects and easy to follow instructions.  Published by: Capstone Young Readers publishing company, it is precise in its instructions, has great photos for guidance and I am impressed with all of the information this one compact book supplies.   The mixed media projects include: Creating "Color Fields"-(which are modern day abstracts), making your own scratchboards (I remember these from elementary school and I loved creating designs by scratching off the black surface), indirect & direct painting with oils, and Chinese Brush work.  This book touches a bit on surrealism, plein air (outdoor painting), mosaics and so much more.
I'll be adding this book to my Granddaughters library for Christmas.  I'm going to love doing these projects with her.  Share your time, share your art. 
PS.  If you do art journaling and want to learn about a variety of supplies and techniques, this is a beginners book that would help you incorporate many forms of mixed media into your journals.  From: watercolor, to oil pastels, to acrylics and applying textures, this book covers what you need to get started. 

Please note-I am an affiliate of Amazon and I do receive a few pennies for every book you purchase via the link.  It adds up and allows me to purchase a book or two each year.  So thanks for clicking on....