Texture Tuesday And More Grunge :)

I am having so much fun combing my photos with mixed media paintings.  For this image I used a texture I created with a piece of my latest mixed media painting (will be sharing the original soon!)  and a photo I shot from the top of the MET in NYC overlooking Central Park.  

I love how the purple tones work so nicely with the sepia in the buildings.  I could play in photoshop for hours!  

Fine Art Grunge is truly an amazing class!!  

Sharing this image today with the lovely peeps over at Kim Klassen's blog!  

Come join us HERE!

Don't Forget To Look Up . . .

You never know what you may find when you happen to glance up to the sky.  I stopped at the walk trail this afternoon not expecting much.  Just wanted to stretch my legs and get some much needed fresh air on this mild NY winter day.  Mild for us is like 45.  

I always have my iphone with me and instead of quickly walking along, I was scanning around for interesting images. I was trying to take the time to stop and look.  Surprisingly there were many cool things I found within a short distance.  And then  I happened to look up.  And there were all these tree tops joining together almost like an umbrella.  When I pointed the lens upward it was like a whole new world.  

It was a moment.  And want more of those . . . 

xo

Digital Collage Love

Created this on my iPhone with the fun art studio app.  I used one of my paintings and a recent photo of some trees along the walk trail I frequent.  

I am a fan of inverting colors.  Not sure why.  And recently I am drawn to yellow, a color I really did not like too much.

Hope you are all doing well.  Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is upon us already!   And I hope that in all the holiday craziness you find some time to remember . . .

"love is everywhere" 

xo

Finding Hearts ♥

image processed with snapseed

Happy Valentine's Day!

I thought sharing this photo today was quite fitting. I was looking at this tree in our yard that was pruned last year. I never realized that there was a heart shape where one of the trunks was cut! So cool!

Love truly is everywhere . . .

Wishing you love today and everyday!!

xo

Back to Black and White

"Grow"

mixed media on 8x8 canvas board

I almost didn't make it to the party today!! I am sharing this new piece over at Paint Party Friday this week hosted by the lovely Kristin and Eva. You may recognize this image from my last post. I was so inspired by that photo that I decided to try it on a black background and get back to some of my altered black and white photo art.

The only supplies I used were black gesso, white gesso, and some of my caran d'ache crayons. Something new I tried for the tree leaves was sponging and I like the effect it gives. I also added some color with my crayon to the photo as well. I worked off of the grays and pinks in the image.

For some reason whenever I am working with images of trees the word "grow" always ends up incorporated somewhere in the piece!

Hope you check out all the great work being shared this week for PPF!

Click HERE!

xo

Wordless Wednesday

Texture Tuesday

click on the image to view larger

This week's challenge was what Kim likes to call her "free and easy edition". The only requirement is that you have to have a layer of any one of her textures. So I chose her new "scripted autumn" texture for this image that I shot in RI. I love this tree lined path. It was taken at the bed and breakfast we stay at out in Newport. We walk it each morning for breakfast from the beach cottage to the main house up on a hill.

For the processing I used 2 layers in soft light, one layer in multiply and for the first time tried a filter in pink and loved what it did for the image. The words came to mind as I was processing the image. I knew that the path would be the perfect spot to add them. I removed a few layers of texture from the path so the words would show up well.

Here is the original image. . .

Hope you will join us over at Kim's blog to see all the great work being shared this week!!

Click HERE :)

xo

Beyond The Trees - New Photo Collage Finished!

For those of you who missed yesterday's post I shared the beginnings to this piece. I decided to go with the blue and raw umber color palette and I am very happy I did! I love how this piece turned out. It looks better in person as I still don't take good photos of my work and this 11x14 was too big to scan. lol

Here is the photo of how it began that I shared yesterday. And I did love what the black background did for my painting process.

I really was able to get in a zone for a bit and smear some paint around trying not to worry about what was happening. Here is part of the process below. I liked it at this point and debated going any farther. This is always the point where I fear ruining it! This canvas had 2 other 'paintings gone bad' on it but that gave great texture to the new painting!

That payne's gray is my fav. I love the shade of blue it becomes when mixed with titanium white! And the raw umber goes so nicely with it. And then there is stamping . . . my dogwood once again (love) and butterflies!

Beyond The Trees

mixed media on 11x14 wrapped canvas

available on etsy

Thanks to those who left a comment on yesterday's PPF post!! I so appreciated all the encouragement at the beginning stage of this piece!

Wishing you all a great day!!

xo

Paint Party Friday

I know I say this every week but really . . . its Friday again?! lol This week I continued with my she art class and also started a new abstract collage piece using my photography. The above canvas was a painting gone bad that I decided to use for a new piece. It had already been covered with black gesso and has soft gel medium which now is giving some texture to the canvas. The other night I just started throwing on some papers I had laying around, one of them is a tree photo of mine. I kept going till I liked the layout and yesterday I glued them all down with mod podge. ( I am in love with this stuff! lol)

I am a little antsy about having put the collage down on a black background but figure that I will probably cover it all up with paint anyway! Not sure yet of the color palette but I have it narrowed down to raw umber, titan buff, and some lightened payne's gray. Or black, white and a splash of red. What do you guys think?

Here is a photo collage painting I shared earlier in the week that inspired me to do a similar piece!

If you would like to see the progress of this painting click HERE!

So that is what I am up to lately! Can't wait to stop by and see what you are all sharing this week! And if you want to join us click HERE!

xo

New Photo Collage Painting . . .

"Seek Truth"

mixed media on 12x12 gallery wrapped canvas

available on etsy

I was pretty excited to share this painting and had to post it today! It felt really good getting back to combining my photography with mixed media. I used my tree photo that I shared for texture tuesday last week as well as its inverted image. Thought you would like to see how this came alive so here are a couple of photos showing its first stages. . .

This is how I laid down the collage. I really didn't know where it would go at this point but it took me a few minutes to find placement I was happy with. I printed out the photos on regular printer paper in black and white. And I used mod podge to glue all of them down. I am loving mod podge for collage!

This next photo is not great but I am still trying to figure out how to take good shots of my artwork! Typically I scan them but the size of this canvas prevented me from doing so. At this point I have added washes of burnt sienna and quinacridone nickel azo gold fluid acrylics. I also added some stamping as an attempt to incorporate my images into the background.

This was at the point I was scared to ruin the painting. The ugly stage almost stalled me out. But next I added payne's gray in different areas as you can see from the completed piece. I really love that color with the orange and yellow tones of the other colors. I also added more stamping with my favorite dogwood tree stamp and stenciled the butterflies on with the payne's gray. Lastly I used my caran d'ache crayons for shading. I like to use them dry and just scrub them out with a dry brush. The trees I extended down the canvas using a black pitt pen.

I feel very connected to this piece. The colors look dark yet dreamy and when I incorporate my photography it feels like there is more of me in there.

Hope you guys like it too!

xo

Texture Tuesday

I am still loving Kim's new "dream" texture so I wanted to use it again on this tree photo. And since the challenge for this week was "anything goes" I was excited to share another image with this texture!

I shot this image at a walk trail near my house. I used my point and shoot. I looked up and loved what I saw so I couldn't help but capture it.

Here is the original image (wish I could figure out that mouse over technique!) . . .

Come on over to Kim's blog and check out all the lovelies being shared this week!

Click HERE!

New Sketch And Sharing My Story

"Love is just a touch away . . ."

I sketched this sweet girl a few days ago. I love hearts. I had to get this image out of my head before it was lost. Yes, that tends to happen these days! lol

I have already started the background on a wrapped canvas which will be her home. I am using green for the grass, and peach/yellows for the sky, with a purple tree and possibly lavender hearts. I am thinking her dress will be white with lavender for the heart on her back. Not sure yet if she will be a brunette or blond. As I am looking at the colors I chose for her background I want to change them because they seem so bright to me but I am just gonna go with it! You know how much I struggle with colors. I suppose if I really hate it I can just paint right over it with something else. lol

Also today I am sharing my story over at Do What You Love For Life hosted by the lovely Beth Nicholls. So, for more about me and how I arrived here at Artsy Butterfly hop on over to Beth's website and check it out as well as many other inspiring stories all about doing what you love!

Click HERE!

xo

Find Hope - New Painting! Happy PPF!

"find hope in nature"

mixed media on 6x8 inch canvas board

available on etsy

Is it Friday already?! For this weeks Paint Party Friday I wanted to share this nature inspired piece I did the other day. It happened quite randomly. The only plan I had going in was the stamps I wanted to use. I love the texture that collage provides especially after layers of paint.

I used colors I don't typically lean toward . . . titan buff, raw sienna, and light green but I like the harmony they create with this piece. The dogwood stamp is new and I love it! It is the second painting I have used it in and I am sure not the last! lol I also like using my caran d'ache crayons for shading around the papers and the edges of the canvas board. The words always come to me during the painting process. . . "find hope in nature".

I hope you are able to spend some time with nature this weekend!

Be sure to stop by to see what wonderful work is being shared for this weeks Paint Party Friday!!

Just Click HERE!

xo

Love Is Carved . . . Painting Redo

Love Is Carved In Forever

mixed media on 6x8 flat canvas board

Sold

Thank you for all the wonderful comments on my last post! It means alot to have so much support and encouragement! Hope you all had a good weekend. We had gloomy weather so it was good for staying in, watching movies and doing some art!

This piece I did yesterday. I reused a painting gone bad. I had tried an image transfer on this board and although I liked how the background came out the image transfer did not come out well at all! I think my mistake was using a photo that was too light on a darker background. So I left it sit for a few days. And then I thought of a photo that I could adhere over the bad transfer! The photo I used is the same one in my latest image transfer painting. You can see that post HERE.

I love this photo and thought it would look good with the olive green background. The words popped into my head as I was finishing it up. I used my caran d'ache crayons to add the details and color in the leaves on the photo to integrate it better into the piece. Similar to my black and white work but finally with a splash of color!

Hope you found some time to create too! xo

Image Transfer Update . . . New Painting :)

Let Us Grow . . .

mixed media on 9x12 watercolor paper

Good morning my friends! Hope you are enjoying a lovely Sunday morning wherever you may be! Excited to see so many of you entered my giveaway! Yesterday I had some studio time so I decided to get back to my image transfers that I shared with you a few days ago! I wasn't really sure what I was going to do so I just grabbed pink and green paint and started randomly brushing it on the paper being sure to maintain my images.

I really hated the colors I chose so I grabbed some white gesso to tone them down. And then I added some yellow since it still wasn't looking how I wanted it to. I was trying to work off of the yellow tones I saw in the tree image transfer. Then I grabbed some of my water soluble crayons in an olive green and raw umber and shaded around the outside to give some perspective. I used the raw umber to draw in the tree branches and leaves. Just as I was finishing with that those words popped into my head and I quickly grabbed my letter stamps before I forgot them!

Here is how it started out in case you missed that post!

I typically don't work on watercolor paper but I liked how the transfers came out on the paper and wanted to complete the piece. This scanned image is not as rich as the colors in the original. Ahhh, still struggling with photos of my work! I don't often get in the zone but yesterday I was and I think that is when I connect the most with my work . . .

Wordless Wednesday . . . Love Tree

Love Tree

Botanical Gardens, 2011

Wordless Wednesday. . .

Our Dogwood, 2011

Wordless Wednesday. . .

Progression of a Landscape Painting

I am excited to share the landscape I spoke of in Tuesday's post that I had been working on a for a good friend of mine. It was a special photo of his that I was so struck by when I saw it that I wanted to paint it for him. I hadn't done a landscape in quite awhile but this has renewed my love for the process of landscape painting! It is where I began before discovering mixed media.

The above photo shows the first layer of color that I put down pretty quickly. I did an initial sketch so I would know where to add the lights and darks. I used a combo of ultramarine blue and burnt sienna for a neutral grayish tone along with some acrylic glaze medium to keep the paint moving. I tried to mimic some of the texture of the landscape as I laid down the color. And then I used a rag to wipe out the tiny bit of sky at the top, the path and the sidewall area on the left. You can probably still see some of my sketch with the tree limbs and a person on the path.

Then I began adding another layer of color this time with lots of green, yellows, and orange. I am now also going from dark to light to establish perspective. I must admit I had difficulty with the curved wall on the right side! I tried to work with shades of light and dark to bump it up.

Here is the finished painting! I really like what the yellow does for the gray of the path. It is a nice contrast and the yellow just pops! The person I didn't like initially and almost took it out at the end! But it is a crucial piece to the initial photo that I needed to leave it in.

I saw him Tuesday nite for dinner and surprised him with the painting. He loved it! And it made my heart so happy that I was able to recreate this scene for him in a painting that will hang on a wall in his home!

Emerge . . . My First Layered Collage Painting!

"Emerge"

mixed media on 8x10 canvas board

As I said in yesterday's post I did alot of painting this weekend. This piece is my first attempt at a layered collage. I typically don't have patience for layers and I certainly could have added many more but I will take this as a first step! I initially was going to use this as a background for one of my face sketches but when it was done I decided to fill the blank space in the center with the tree. I used a couple of my own photos for the collage that were printed on plain paper.

The colors I used are not colors I am comfortable with either. I used some hansa yellow, phalto blue (gs) and nickel azo gold. I did begin with a first layer of payne's gray glazed over some stamped tissue paper and of course that got lost when I added the other colors. I used staz on ink for the first time and I love it.

This picture doesn't do it justice. In person there is more depth and some texture from the tissue paper. Hope you like it!