Art For Life!!

On November 18th the Humane Society of Hamilton County will be hosting an annual fundraiser dinner and silent auction called Tinsel and Tails Holiday Petacular! They will be sharing survival stories and pet adoption stories about the animals. It's sure to be a tear jerker, so bring tissues!

An art friend at AFA was wise enough to recruit several artist to create and donate pieces to include in the auction. This is one of my pieces I lent to the cause.

I looked through the Pet List for adoptable pets, and when I read Pearl's story and saw her face, I knew I had to honor her. She is the sweetest thing, and I hope she finds a good home!!! If I wasn't so far away, I would totally take her. And I would love to be able to attend the event. If you live in the area, I would encourage you to go. And bid on my piece.

My First Moley Exchange Begins!

Very excited to be a part of my very first Moleskine Art Journal Exchange! I get to participate in a year long art exchange with artists from Australia, to Canada, and throughout the United States.

A Moley Swap/Exchange, is where 8 to 10 artists purchase a Japanese Accordion Style Moleskine Journal, decide on a theme, and do the first few pages in the book to set the tone for colors, theme concept, and travel plan. Then the book travels to the first artist on the "Travel Plan" who will create a 3-4 page spread, then send it on to the next artist on the list. By the years end, the journal returns to me, complete with each artists interpretations on my theme. Cool huh!?!

I chose "A Days Dive ~ In Search Of Atlantis" for my theme. My idea for the layout is to have the diver just heading underwater in the morning out on her/his dive. Then the bulk of the layouts should depict underwater scenes one might encounter if they were looking for old ruins, relics, and the like in search for Atlantis. At the end, I've asked the last artist to depict the diver coming back up to the surface, under the evening sky! As if the entire journey underwater was merely a days dive.

Here is the cover of my moley book.

I wanted it to seem as if you were looking out through a porthole of a ship.

This is the Travel Plan page. Or in this case, I've called it the "Divers Manifest"

This is the list of artist and the order they will be working in my moley.

This is what the beginning of my layout looks like. I drew the diver separately, and glued it in after the fact. I've also added the diver buoy that has the title of the moley on it. But I didn't get any photos of it.

Favorite Artists Inspiration Swap

I recently joined an ATC Swap at atcsforall.com where we are to create an image inspired by our favorite Famous or well known Artists. I love color! I love the energy and movement and depth the use of color can create. That is why I chose artists, who I feel, really express color in this way. These are the four examples I submitted.

The first artist represented here is Katie Sevigny. She is actually an Alaskan Artist who I just LOVE her style, and use of color! Whimsical, and natural at the same time. I think her work is just beautiful, and I hope to someday have one of her pieces in my art collection. And I love that she is an Alaskan artist who isn't just painting the usual Mountain Landscapes that you mostly see around these parts.

(above)

My rendition of "Blue Octopus" by Katie Sevigny

"Blue Octopus"

by Katie Sevigny

Joan Miro, a Spanish artist, known for his surrealist/abstract paintings, is my next favorite artist I chose to emulate. I love examining the timeline of his work because it is evident to me that some of his inspirations could have come from Matisse, Kandinsky, Van Gogh, and Picasso. And I love the use of color and line and the freedom of expression I feel when admiring in his artwork.

(above)

My rendition of "Daybreak" by Joan Miro.

"Daybreak"

by Joan Miro

The third artist of inspiration shown here is Henri Matisse. I love teaching about Matisse, I love learning more about Matisse, I love most everything about his work. His "Green Stripe" ~ Madame Matisse, is one of my favorites.

(above)
My rendition of "Green Stripe" ~ Madame Matisse

"Green Stripe" ~ Madame Matisse
by Henri Matisse

The last of my four favorite artists is Russian artist, Wassily Kandinsky. If you go do an image search of Miro's work and Kandinsky's, I think you will see the similarities I referenced to earlier.

The piece I chose for inspiration was more challenging than I originally thought. It is also I piece that isn't my favorite example of his work. But, it is one that I was less familiar with, and I wanted to get to know it better. It is very different from the 'high energy', paintings of his that I love from his later work. Much of what I am typically drawn to in his other paintings, is his use of organic and geometric line. To me, that is where the energy comes from in his work. When I look at Kandinsky's paintings I hear music! Often lively and full of energy, and at times, poetic and rhythmic. I could stair at his paintings all day. They just make me feel good.

(above)
My rendition of "Farbstudie Quadrate" c. 1913
or "Squares with Concentric Rings"

"Farbstudie Quadrate" c. 1913
by Wassily Kandinsky

Out Of Africa!

So here are some ATC's I did for an Out Of Africa Swap that Joss, in London, is hosting. I missed out on her first swap, and didn't want to miss out on this one. This time we could do people and animals, so I did a couple of both. Giraffe Resting

(acrylic)

African Mama

(acrylic)

Mother & Child

(acrylic)

African Zebra

(soft pastels)

One Eyed Monsters! Oh My!!

So I was a little obsessed with making One Eyed Creatures Yesterday.

These are just a few of my creations!

One Eyed, One Horned, Flying Purple People Eater.

Lonely Monster With Red Balloon.


Far Sighted One Eyed Monster

Red One Eyed Monster Taking A Stroll Through the City.

Orange Dust Monster Under The Bed

Purple Deep Sea Monster

Send In The Clowns!

So I started a swap all about clowns over at atcsforall.com and have been obsessively drawing and coloring clowns for the past week or so. These are just some of the warped little dudes I've made recently.

A Clowns Gotta Eat - pancakes!

Happy Clown & Black Bird.

Chipped Tooth Clown Close Up.

The Family!

The latest installation in one of my Art Journals.

I was thinking about how different everyone is in my family and yet we are still a unit of Unconditional Love! The family above is not exactly like mine, but some characters do share resemblances to actual family members. I will not name names.

The quote reads:

"We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one anothers desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing $$$ (Money), locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kisses to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.

~ Erma Bombeck

I love the little dude at the end ~ my kids said it is Papa, their grandfather. lol

More Fun Dogs!

These little guys sure are fun to draw. I love their sweet faces.

This little guy is is patiently waiting for someone to play all with him.

On a Roll with the Art Journals!!

I think all the rain outside has forced me to find respite in the art cave! Yesterday I spent most of the day coloring in doodles in my Moleskine journal, Making larger Blind Draws, and reworking some old journal stuff. I wish all rainy days could be like this!

(above)

I did a slightly larger blind draw face and decided it had to be Marie Antoinette! Then I made up a background and tried to find a quote which I liked well enough & was fitting for the image. I chose this quote because I believe Marie Antoinette knew how to live life to the fullest and that is something I try to remind myself to do more often than not.

(above left) ~ "Sister Suzy Cyclops" and the "Jock Zombie"

These were recreations of blind draws I did, only a bit larger. And some other random doodles that I colored in.

(above right) ~ "Heart With Wings"

I was just playing around with the pastels to see how well they would work on the Moleskine paper. I put a layer of thin gesso on first, then colored the rest with pastels. Sprayed often with workable fixative, and finally a spray coat of Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating.

(above)

These are some doodles that I did on the airplane on my way home back from the Oregon Live Art Gathering in Hood River, OR. I finally got around to coloring them all in. I used Lyra Aqua Crayons, Prisma colored pencils, and a little B&W gel pens.

(above)
I didn't like what I had on this page before, so I coated it with gesso and reworked the colors with pastels. I actually like all the textured layers underneath now. I slapped on a Mermaid postcard I did sometime ago, and added a few other collage images around the edges for a fun underwater scene. The quote at the bottom of the page reads, "Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you. ~ Marsha Norman.

Back To Doing It With My Eyes Closed!

Yep - you guessed it, I am back to doing Blind Draws again. I can't help it they are just too fun!

Carson Loves His Armani, even if he is unemployed and has to ride the City Bus. He is determined to LOOK GOOD!

Jock Zombie - Still looking good in his Football uniform even for the undead!

Been Hanging Out In Seward lately!

One of the Puffins at the Seward Sea Life Center Looking back on Seward from the Point.

Looking up at Exit Glacier from the out wash basin. Our Boats Catch of the Day

Well I haven't been making much art lately, as it is difficult for me to want to go into the "art cave" when there is so much daylight to play in. One of the reasons I live in the Land Of The Midnight Sun! The last two weekends have been spent in Seward. Last weekend I went with the family to the Sea Life Center and hiked up to Exit Glacier. This weekend I went on my first Fishing Charter. Had a great time even if I made a fair share of "chum" for the fish. Been more rainy then sunny lately, but that doesn't stop me.

Colorful Dog Series for Project 365

These are just some silly little canines I was playing around with today.

Blue Buck-A-Roo

Melancholy Marty

Snarky Snooky

Nonchalant Nadine

Found Poetry ATC's!! A First For Me!

above titled: Old Flames Die Hard

digitally enhanced background, collage image, random text, decorative acetate.

So I have joined a Found Poetry A-Thon over Memorial Weekend. What is that you ask? It's where you find a page of text from an old book, magazine, anything really, and using only the words on that page, create your own "poetry" from those words. I struggled with the "poem" aspects of it at first, but I think I am getting a knack for it. You be the judge.

above titled: A Wise Man Once Said...
acrylic background, collage, and colored acetate, random text.
above titled: Unite Myspace
collage background, image courtesy of landofnod, random text.

Owls In A Different Style

I am going to Oregon in July for a Gathering with fellow ATC artists and I am making various cards that I think some will like. Been in an owl mood again so here are a few recent ones to share.