Bead Embroidery Collage from Susan Sorrell's class

I interrupted my painting progress for a bit. I’ve been taking an online class with Susan Sorrell on Personal Symbols. I have always been intrigued by her work and I’ve also always found embroidery a very relaxing and healing thing to do. So, when I saw about her class, I decided to take it. Six weeks, online. I can go at my own pace. This week, we created paper collages on Timtex and then embroidered over them, adding in buttons and beads. Some people added lace and other trims, as well. I’ve posted my version here. Enjoy!

Lantern completed - Mixed-Media on 24" x 36" canvas

A few weeks ago I completed all the detailing on the lantern Ive been painting on the 24 x 36 canvas. And I made some changes to the background to give it a bit more depth. Im happy with it. I added some of the detailing with watercolor crayons and sealed the details and then the whole canvas with matte medium. After adding finishing coat, I brought it to the intended recipients- my in-laws. We immediately hung it in their dining room.

Florence Baptistry - photo reference for next painting

I’ve also started another painting. I have been looking at this photo for a while now, wondering whether I was ready to take the plunge and start painting it.

Well, just before Art Unraveled, I did. I drew in the main parts of the buildings with a watercolor pencil and then I added some water to create sone depth and shadows. This helps me to understand the space each area will take up. Then I started to add in some base color. I know the colors look like a cartoon version of this scene, but it will get there. Its all part of what has become my process. Right now, rather than Florence, Italy, the painting looks like it is of Key West, FL!

Baptistry - Step 1 - Sketching in the main shapes

I’ve done more today on the painting, but it still has a long way to go. All the white areas are now painted in and they have several layers of color. The blue background has been painted over so it doesn’t look like water or sky. I don’t have a photo because the light changed in the studio, but I’ll have more to show as I get further on in the painting.

Baptistry - Step 2 - adding in base color

I’m planning to try to blog more often, even if it’s just a single image and a short statement. The way I currently blog takes a long time and that’s why I go weeks without anything for you to see. I hope this will keep me more on track!

Classwork from Experimental Watercolor with Alex Shur

I took 3 classes this year. The first was Experimental Watercolor with Alex Shur. Alex has a very interesting approach to watercolor painting. Whereas most of the time when we’re doing watercolor we decide upon our shapes and our subject, Alex creates backgrounds on quarter-parent sheets of watercolor paper. After they dry, she looks for objects in the backgrounds. It’s a very intuitive way of working. I have to admit that it took a bit for me to be able to get into that mode of searching for shapes in clouds, but once I did, I found quite a few things in the backgrounds. I still have to finish some of them, adding in some details and some white gouache or china white watercolor, but I like where this is going. Some of the images are really small. Others are larger, like 1/8 of the parent sheet of paper. It was a good exercise to get me out of the comfort zone I’ve been in lately with determining my painting subject before starting. I think it will be an exercise I use going forward.

Classwork from The Land of Odds with Katie Kendrick

The second class I took was with Katie Kendrick. Katie is a giving and loving soul. I’ve taken classes with her in the past. I mostly took the class because it was a different subject (not a face-painting class) and I just needed a dose of Katie! We brought to class five or six paintings from an artist who inspires us and used those as jumping off points. For me, it was Chagall’s paintings. In particular, I was drawn to his paintings of couples who appear to be flying or floating. I also like that he has more than one subject in his paintings. He seems to have things that appear unrelated, but are related to each other in the painting. I often paint just one main subject and then go back and finish off the background. So, like Alex’s class, this one was a good stretch for me. It was forcing me to embrace a less-detailed method of painting.

Classwork from The Land of Odds with Katie Kendrick

My third and final class was with the fabulous Judy Wise. Judy has so much expertise to share and there is always something to be learned in her classes. Judy is dynamic and giving as an instructor and a person. Her art has always fascinated me and I have some of her prints up in my studio. She shared with us how to get a multi-layered encaustic (wax) painting while using collage and acrylic painting techniques under the beeswax layer.

Classwork from Captured in Wax with Judy Wise

One distinct thing about Judy’s encaustic work is the black halo that is around the artwork and she was willing to share that technique with us. It was a fun class. I haven’t done collage in a while, so again, this stretched me as I created the main figure for my painting. She is made up of collage elements and paint – a combination to make her all mine. I’m not sure yet if she’s done, but she’s certainly on her way!

After Art Unraveled, Joanne and I went to Sedona for four days. I’ll post about that next!

Open Your Own Artfire Studio

I’m excited to share that I have opened my own Artfire.com Studio. What is Artfire? Here is how the company describes itself on the site: “The premier online marketplace for handmade products designed by artisans around the globe. Our free community is designed for artisans to buy and sell their works, while celebrating unique handmade items and designs.”

Similar to Etsy, in that individual artisans have their own shops, the beauty of Artfire is that it is searchable through Google and there are no listing fees. It also links easily with other social media, like Facebook, Etsy, IndiePublic, and my blog, making marketing much easier. In addtion, there are also no expiration dates on the merchandise listings, which makes it much easier to manage than the 3-month Etsy limit.

Light blue and turquoise MP3/Cell Phone Case

I found the product uploads much faster and easier with Artfire.com than with Etsy. If you’re a crafter or artisan, I invite you to try ArtFire, as they’re running a special for $7/month for life, and that’s the only fee you will ever have!

In the shop are 14 products that have never been listed before, including arty business card holders, cell phone/MP3 players, ablums, and a painting.

This week, I hope to get additional pieces up in the studio. Today is my IV treatment, so I’m sitting here with the IV while I type this!

Embrace the Face Challenge - Day 2 WIP

Here is today’s progress on the face I’m painting for Embrace the Face! I reworked the background, added some detail to the face, and I collaged on the lace for the challenge. I think the face is more youthful than it was last time. I’m happier with it today, but it’s time to let it sit for the night.

It’s not done, but I need to figure out what needs to go on the left. Any ideas?

Last week I had my treatment. It was a difficult one. I’m just starting to feel better, but I’m still quite fatigued and having some of the negative effects of it.

Catalyst 30 - The decision to go to Brandeis University has shaped my life.

CreativeTherapy Catalyst 30: What’s a decision you made that ended up determining the direction of your life? (Or at least had a strong effect on how your life turned out.)

This one was easy for me to choose. The decision I made that shaped the rest of my life happened 23 years ago. I decided to leave Florida and attend Brandeis University, in Waltham, MA. I had only seen pictures of Brandeis. I had never been on campus, and I had an alumni interview in Miami. The day I arrived at Brandeis was the first time I had actually seen it. It was magical. From the beginning, the first thing I saw was the Usen Castle. It is a remnant of Middlesex college, which the property originally came from. Another important symbol for me at Brandeis was the Chapel Pond. It is a reflection pond, surrounded by three chapels. They were constructed so that at no time does one chapel overshadow another. The chapels are a symbol of the unity of all religions and tolerance. For me, they were a place of peace. I would often sit on the wall around the reflection pool and write or think.

Attending Brandeis really did shape the rest of my life. I met some of my best friends there. I felt safe, I grew as a person, and I found my voice through writing. It was because of my decision to go to Brandeis and to be involved in campus activities that I landed my first job out of college, I had the skills to get a second job, and I met my husband. The greatest joys of my life are the result of this decision.

Technique Highlight: Pen and ink with watercolor washes on 90# watercolor paper.

Catalyst 31 - Book that impacted my life

Catalyst 31: What novel or book impacted your life and why?

I don’t remember how old I was when I first read Death Be Not Proud. The book is filled with wisdom about living your life with courage and with purpose, taking every advantage you can in the limited time we all have. It’s part of how I personally have lived my life with chronic illness.

Technique Highlight: Background: 140# CP Watercolor paper sprayed with Color Mists. Scrapbook paper cut up and doodled on; text written by hand of a quote from John Gunther’s book, Death Be Not Proud.

There’s more to share, but I’ll save it for tomorrow. Have a great week!

Here’s mine:

Catalyst 27 - A painful memory

I think we all have a catalog of painful memories. They can either define us or we can define them. For me, they helped to create the person I am today, but I don’t like to dwell on them. Instead, I prefer to look to the future and to let the past be the past. My mantra is, “That was then, this is now”. That’s why I created this journal page. Reminding myself of past hurts is not useful, not healthy, and not something I want to do. Celebrating today, living my life in a positive way, and being happy are the things that are important and useful. It requires courage to move forward and to imagine the beautiful life I have created for myself and my husband. I choose to be brave and focus on the future, rather than focus on a painful memory.

Journaling Reads:

Don’t dwell on the past or let the bad memories take hold of you and seep into your current life. Remember: That was then and this is now. It is a future and a present that you have created by looking forward and finding love and support while letting go of the past.

You hold the power in your hands. Grasp it!

“I can be changed by what happens to me. I refuse to be reduced by it.” – Maya Angelou

Technique Highlight:

Collage on hot press watercolor paper. Color, writing and doodling added with Pigma Micron, Permapaque, Gelly Roll Glaze and Souffle pens.

I finished the 6″ x 6″ piece and then decided it needed a stretched canvas behind it to make it easy to hang. So, I went to my stockpile of mixed-media acrylic canvases. I had one that was a perfect match to the dress of the woman I had painted.

Considering that I hadn’t painted in acrylic in a while, I’m pretty pleased with it. The gel medium holding the acrylic image to the background is still drying (notice the white around the central image!) but it’s done! Now maybe I can do some drawing…

In other news, I think I mentioned that I’m going to be putting some of my art in a friend’s new store/gallery. I’m pleased to announce that I will be the Featured Artist at the Grand Opening of Sun Spirit Studio in Bisbee, AZ! Andrea’s store is going to have her usual stock, but in addition, she is adding artists’ work. She asked me to provide her with some of my different mixed media work. The first group of cell phone/iPod pouches you saw were for her gallery. I’ve been busy working on other things, too.

I spent some time in the studio and I made some fabric collages and sewed them to cards and portfolio covers. Here is one example of what is going on.

		Each of these packets contains four cards. All the cards have different original collages on them. The portfolio cover also has a collage on it. All the collages in each stationery pack use the same fibers and fabrics to keep them a cohesive set.

I also had some gift albums from the days when I used to do scrapbooking. I took those albums and made small fabric collages on those, too. They’ll make great arty gift albums. To the right is an example of that. The one to the right is an 8×8 album, but I also have done some that are 6×6. Each features an original signed fabric collage in the front. I think they will make great vacation albums for the people who visit Bisbee.
So, I haven’t mentioned the CJ round robin I’m in in a while. I thought it was high time I share with you some photos of what I did in July’s claendar. Here you go!

	This journal was just a date book that had blank pabes and pages with images of Tuscany. It was a long month for me, so I was a bit stuck for most of the month. I also had been out of town for part of it, so I had to make up for the lost time. Deadlines are sometimes the greatest motivators!There were only four layouts to do. I took a photo from a magazine and then doodled all over it with my Sakura pens. I love my Gold Shadow Pens. That’s what I used here, along with some other Gelly Rolls.
	I followed the same basic idea here, but I also added some Permapaque Metallic pens and I did some journaling on her face. I had some fun with these.
	I loved this photo. It reminded me of photos of the Greek Isles. So I wanted to use an image of a woman as if she’s floating over the city. The image is from Anahata Katin and I altered it some by pairing it with other images and then adding some doodling and a sticker.
	This is another page that has Anahata’s images as its base. I had fun pulling together different pieces and then doodling over it.

So, there you go. That’s it for now. I’ve been busy creating lots of art, printing business cards, putting together my trades for Art Unraveled, etc. Everything seems to be ready for Monday’s class with Bev Brazelton. There will be many photos taken this week, and I’ll update when I can, but I do have a lot of artsy, girlie fun scheduled and balanced with rest time to conserve my spoons as much as possible!