Friday, July 28, 2006

Clean


acrylic/graphite/conte on wood
12"x12"
"the 3 graces take a dip"

For illustration friday's topic this week "CLEAN". I made this in honor of my friend Kim at the 3 Graces Gallery last year and thought it was pretty representational of "clean" as they are fresh from their dip!
It is going to go up for sale in our new shop, (so there is a shameless promotion ...)

If you are in the area tonight, go stop in and see Kim - her gallery in Portsmouth, NH is chocker block filled with art goodness. And then stop over across the street for some wine and cheese at Market 100. I have seven new paintings going up there. The opening is from 5-7 p.m.
Go see more CLEAN fun at Illustration Friday!

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Shiny Moment - Textured papers


Here is a collage I made with a variety of handmade papers I created with different texturing methods.
The wings of the bird are from this method below shown by one of my summer art camps held early in July.


Take out these supplies:
Cardstock paper
Prang or other highly concentrated watercolor paints
Roll of plastic wrap
Two containers of water
Soft watercolor brushes
Newspaper to cover the surface of the workspace

1.First paint the entire surface of the cardstock paper with clear water to make it wet. Save this water for just wetting the papers.

2.Then paint the surface of the paper with color. Make sure you have a lot of paint on your brushes - go all the way to the edges of the paper with color. Play music while you are doing this to enjoy the brush strokes more! (we listened to the sound track of Amalie whilst painting these)

3.Cut off a piece of plastic wrap the same size as the painting paper and put down into the wet paint.

4.All hands on deck! Tickle the plastic wrap into wrinkly shapes.
(Make another one and flip it on top of the plastic wrap so you have a sandwich of painted paper, plastic wrap and painted paper.)

5.Make a bunch of them in all your favorite colors and then make two in your least favorite colors. Make sure you have some in black and brown too!

6.Let them dry overnight .... don't peek at them until they are dry the next day.
Then, if you can stand it ... cut them into the shapes which you see in the beautiful papers you have made. Make a collage, a card or what have you?

There are so many different things which you can do with textured papers, I am sure you will think up something... let me know!

Friday, July 21, 2006

Art by the number


collage, ink, acrylic on cardboard
INSPIRE ME THURSDAY!
PI has always intrigued me. So I decided to include it in this Inspire me Thursday work... am I too late? No idea. I enjoyed making this mysterious piece with a mysterious number.
Sort of political ... marriage, adoption, adoption of American culture in other societies, you get the drift.

the Pi is rather calligraphic as well, it IS an elegant number. And so useful in Math, *so I hear*
more of my art and a lot of others art at Art Esprit.

Monday, July 17, 2006

As an art lover


I love art. I make it, I teach it, I promote it, I live it. That is my job. That is my hobby. It makes me happy. Here I am in a low light no flash scenerio at the MoMa in NYC on Saturday enjoying it.
My favorite sculptor of them all ... Giacometti
Is that man in the sculpture exploring my nose? More about me at Art Esprit.
Lots more interesting portraits at Self Portrait Challenge!

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Self Portrait Challenge ... If I were an Urbanite


me and the metro in montreal on monday

... I would ride the trains each and every day. I would feel a lot less guilty for driving my car. We live a short two miles from our gallery and we drive a lot. We used to live one mile away and would walk. I hope to make a change. Our one small car living is good. Walking or riding our bikes more often would be better. I think about the world our children will inhabit twenty years from now and it frightens me. The change has to come from inside. From each of us. Each day.
Go to see more self portraits at Self Portrait Challenge
Go see more of me at Art Esprit.